Will the Cosmere ever be completed?

[dhamma]

Wanted to start out saying he's probably my favorite fantasy author. I think I've 'read' everything that's been done on audio except Alcatraz (for some reason haven't gotten to it), and I don't think I did the latest legion yet.  The way Stormlight is done is just awesome, the structure of it is so refreshing, and the way he is planning it out too.  To avoid stories getting dragged out and 'lost' like a number of series out there (goodkind, WOT a little, etc).  It seems like Abecrombie is planning his 1st law continuation out too, that's why he's probably my 2nd favorite   And the very scope of the Cosmere is incredible. 

Anyways.  I was just reading the latest transcript from a Q&A signing.  And Brandon mentioned that it will probably take 20 years to complete Stormlight.  I recall something about this being one of two major series he plans in the cosmere, that he will write after he completes this one.  So, probably 20-30 years to do the second one.  

So do the math, he's 43 now, stormlight will be done when he's 63, another 30 for the other series, that's 93......  Not trying to be grim here, just realistic.  With the whole life expectancy thing, the author's and the reader's, it doesn't seem like we will get a chance to see his vision completed.  The estimates above barely even account for the other series/books/plans he has for the whole Cosmere story. And you know he will continue publishing works that are outside it too.

I don't know if this has been addressed by anyone or not.  Just something I thought about.  Has anyone else considered it?

 

On a side note.  I was just watching GOT, and was like "WTF, why are the men able to read????"  *facepalm*

[+Invocation]

He has considered it and has a preferred author to finish it up should he not be able to, but I still think he can make it.

There was another thread about this a while back but I can't find it at the moment. Maybe someone else will be able to link it.

[RShara she/her]

Well he writes multiple books at once. So it might take 20 years to finish SA, but after that, there's only supposed to be another 6 books or so. He's going to write the Elantris sequel(s?) and (start?) MB Era 3 or Warbreaker sequel(s) between SA 5 and 6, write whichever he didn't get to between SA 6-10, then he'll just have Dragonsteel and Era 4. So probably about 30 years.

Edited February 24, 2019 by RShara

[dhamma]

I would really like to see that thread, if anyone could find it.

There's going to be BM era 4??  I thought there would be a 'trilogy of trilogies'. Info please

Well Sanderson said it himself 20 years for SA.  Certainly he will write other stuff in between.  That's why we have several books between his epics.  I would think that it would be more than 6 more within this world.  I think a few books at least about Hoid, that would be separate to Dragonsteel.  TBH I don't know too much about this one except it should be in the similar scope as SA, and maybe set on the world where Adonalium lived.  Three books at least for MB era 3, Nightbllood (is there one still in the works? Arcanum unbound part 2, etc.

Well, regardless of what is in the works as of now.  We know that Dragonsteel will be a major epic like SA.  We know that Brandon won't simply focus on his epics.  He will be releasing at least 2 books for every epic.  He will certainly come up with other ideas and stories to write about.

So yea, I think that 20 + 30 years is a reasonable number.  

Edit:  We currently have published works for 9 out of 16 shards, that's just over half.   We can probably expect at least a few books on each of the other shard.  No?

Edited February 24, 2019 by dhamma

[+Invocation]

1 hour ago, dhamma said:

There's going to be BM era 4??  I thought there would be a 'trilogy of trilogies'. Info please

Well, it was. Era 2, as we know it, wasn't supposed to exist. He just enjoyed writing Alloy of Law so much he decided to write another three books continuing that story,

[king of nowhere]

this crops up every once in a while.

the answer, ultimately, is "depends on how many side projects he undertakes".

he would have enough time to finish all the cosmere if he wrote nothing else. but he's not going to write nothing else. alcatraz, rithmatist, reckoners, skyward... all those are great books, but they are also side projects that suck time away from the cosmere.

Ultimately, I'm pessimistic about our chances to see a whole cosmere. every state of the sanderson, the list of hanging projects keep getting bigger and bigger. For every book brandon writes, there are two more he pledges to write eventually.

But then again, he's still writing awesome books. Each one of those side projects, I was skeptical about at first, being all "oh geez, here is ANOTHER thing he started instead of completing what's already on his plate". And every time I eventually tried the book out of curiosity, and I ended up glad that he took the time to write it. Well, since skyward I've started to read any new book immediately, because he's gained enough trust with me.

So as long as he keeps churning out great books, I'm not going to complain about whether they are cosmere or not.

[dhamma]

Yea i'm not really complaining about it either.  His other works are pretty awesome too.  The Reckoners is a prime example of this.  It was such a fun series, and I'm glad he wrote it.  And I'm not even sure if I will be interested as much in Fantasy in the years to come, same with many of his current readers.

It was just something I was thinking about and wanted to discuss.  The very scope of what he's doing is just so vast.  And I'm in the same thought as you on this.  Even if all he did is write cosmere novels, it might still not be too much for him to finish within his lifetime.  It would be awesome if it was completed though, even if I won't get a chance to read it all.  He should start training his kids so they can finish it lol.