News

We said there would be a December episode, and here we are on New Year's Eve with one! This month we have an extra long episode as well: over an hour and twenty minutes digging through the Arcanum Unbounded essays and picking apart everything in them. Shockingly, we were more than able to talk about these for a very long time. We dig through each of Khriss's essays. I feel we could have even talked longer, but I'm sure we will mention them a lot in the future.

Last year, following the release of the 2015 State of the Sanderson I did a lengthy post comparing it to previous States. Well, with the release of this year's State earlier this week (http://brandonsanderson.com/state-of-the-sanderson-2016/), I've updated last year's post with all of the new information. Now, without further ado:

Finished books being released in the near future:

Snapshot

This is a novella Brandon wrote during his trip to Dubai back in March. It’s a science fiction story where the police solve crimes using exact re-creations of a given day. Brandon did a reading from it back in June and I must say I found it quite interesting. Also of note is that it takes place in one of the other worlds in the Reckoners multiverse. It is due out in February.

Shortly ago, late this night, Brandon has completed the first draft of Oathbringer, the third Stormlight Archive novel. This draft weighs in at a tiny word count of 461,233 words--which, as a comparison, is longer than Way of Kings (which was 387,000), Words of Radiance (at about 400,000), and the Lord of the Rings trilogy (at 455,000 words). So, you know, it'll fit right in your pocket. Brandon says, of course, there is much work to do and that it will be out November 2017. In the process of editing, generally the word count is trimmed quite a bit as prose tightens. 

THE END IS NIGH! Or at least the end of the first draft of Stormlight 3 is almost here. The progress bar on Brandon's site is currently sitting at 98% and should reach 100% very soon. At Wednesday's San Fransisco confirmed that it will be released in November 2017. Unfortunately that is still about a year away. I think last week's release of Edgedancer has helped cut the worst of our cravings, but if it still wasn't enough I have good news. The Unfettered II anthology, originally scheduled to release on December 6th has had its ebook released early, and as we reported earlier, it includes the first FOUR Dalinar flashback chapters! I for one plan on picking it up as soon as I can and there will be a spoiler forum where they can be discuss them soon.

In other news forum member @David_Fonti just released a computer animated Stormlight fan film that he and a team made. I really must say, they did a fantastic job. It gives a taste of what a Stormlight adaptation could be, and I hope we see more. In addition to the film itself he's posted a behind-the-scenes documentary on how the film was created which I found quite interesting. Discuss it here!

The time is here. There is an anniversary edition of the first Mistborn book, in gorgeous leatherbound, and it's going on sale tonight, December 1st, at midnight EST. That's just over six hours away. It does have a hefty price tag, like the Elantris leatherbound, at $100. But I will say that the Elantris leatherbound was spectacular, and its first printing went out of stock rapidly. If you're interested, don't delay. Note that these Mistborn leatherbounds will not be guaranteed for a Christmas delivery, due to Brandon's tour schedule and tour delays.

Arcanum Unbounded: The Cosmere Collection is finally here. This is a big, 670+ page book, with a ton of stuff. This has every single cosmere story that has been published outside of the main novels in one convenient collection. It has: The Hope of Elantris, The Emperor's Soul (which is incredible), The Eleventh Metal, "Allomancer Jak and the Pits of Eltania, Episodes 28 and 30", an excerpt from White Sand (both graphic novel and from prose), Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell, The Sixth of Dusk, and, for the first time in physical print, Mistborn: Secret History. That's a ton of value, just considering Secret History and Emperor's Soul. 

But that is not all. Its main headline feature is a large, 40,000 word long Stormlight Archive novella: Edgedancer. It's a novella about Lift, of course, and covers her story after we saw her interlude up until the end of Words of Radiance. Not only that, but Arcanum Unbounded has some crazy cosmere information--essays from the author of the Ars Arcanum, Khriss, on each of the star systems--and star charts.

What! A podcast that isn't Splintercast Reads A Book? I know, it does seem crazy, but it's true. Welcome to the Shardkeepers Podcast, our theory podcast where we discuss all sorts of minutiae of the cosmere. As I learned when recording, this usually results in headaches, but we make that sacrifice for you.

Today, we're going to talk about an amazing quote that we got earlier this year about Nightblood that blew our minds.

Today on Tor.com, Brandon has posted a preview of Edgedancer, the new Stormlight novella that comes in Arcanum Unbounded. It includes Chapters 1-3 of the novella, featuring Lift being, well, awesome. (That's not a spoiler.) This snippet is the same as from the newsletter Brandon sent off earlier this year. Edgedancer is brand-new, and only found in Arcanum Unbounded, but it is quite a long novella, so there's a lot of value there. Plus, as Lift would say, it is awesome.

There's just a few days until the Arcanum Unbounded release on Tuesday, but there's plenty of news to discuss! This week, Oathbringer--Stormlight 3--passed 93% on the progress bar on Brandon's site. As is customary, Brandon posted another Oathbringer Update on Reddit, with this one being his fifth. He thinks there will be one or two more to discuss the editing process, but this will be the last one for the writing portion. I'll do my best to sum it up! 

Hey everyone, just in case you forget (and not obsessively counting down the days like I am) Arcanum Unbounded comes out a week from tomorrow! Following last week's reveal of the Drominad system essay, Google Play has released a preview from Arcanum Unbounded as well. It includes a preface from Brandon discussing the collection and the origins of the Cosmere, Khriss' essay on Scadrial, and the text of The Eleventh Metal. Check it out here!

Also, if you are interested, don't forget about the HumbleBundle including three Mistborn Adventure Game books. There's just under two days left!

Hey everyone, just a reminder Arcanum Unbounded comes out in 15 days! Before we get on that particular hype train though I do want to let everyone know that three of the rulebooks for the Mistborn Adventure Game from Crafty Games are in a HumbleBudle. Specifically it's the core rulebook, the Alloy of Law supplement, and the Terris: Wrought of Copper supplement. This particular HumbleBundle has the theme of pen and paper rpg's based on popular science fiction and fantasy fiction, such as A Song of Ice and Fire and The Dresden Files.

Last week Tor.com posted the table of contents for the collection, which showed how the books was set up, and also revealed the name of the system First of the Sun (the setting of Sixth of the Dusk) is in. Today they posted a sneak preview of the system map and essay, written by Khriss, about the system. Go check out the Drominad system essay over on Tor.com and then join in on the conversation about it on the forums. The two art pieces, a symbol that seems to represent First of the Sun and the system map are both really well done.

Today came out with some crazy, crazy news: the entire cosmere has been optioned for films by DMG Entertainment, according to Variety. That's right, all of the cosmere. Stormlight Archive, Mistborn, Elantris, Warbreaker, Emperor's Soul, and all other rights are all in one place, with the intent to create the universe for the big screen.

You might not recognize that the name of that company, but they aren't nobodies. DMG has produced real movies that you've absolutely heard of or seen: Iron Man 3, Transcendence, and Looper. DMG is serious about these, too. According to Variety, DMG has committed to spending $270 million so far, which supposedly will cover "half the money needed to back the first three movies made."

Hey everyone, Tor.com just posted the tour locations for Brandon's Arcanum Unbounded tour in late November/early December, check them out below! Remember if you are planning to go to any of these signings to read the details carefully. Some of these events are ticketed and some are being held at separate location from the store hosting them.

In other news Brandon recently revealed over on Reddit that his submission to the Unfettered II anthology, edited by Shawn Speakman, is the first four Dalinar flashback chapters from Stormlight 3! That anthology will be released on December 6, 2016 and you can check out the full list of contributing authors here.

The day has finally come. The day that many have been waiting for, for far longer than is fair (Thanks, Scholastic! Clearly the best time to drop a series is at the cliffhanger before the last book! Clearly, they’ve been taken over by Librarians, in order to keep this story under wraps). Alcatraz 5 is upon us, and Brandon’s been promising that we’ll finally see the long foretold altar scene.

This is going to be a review of both the Starscape re-releases of the first four Alcatraz books, as well as a review of the fifth book in the series, though it will fail spectacularly on the latter point.

Hey there Sanderfans, we are officially less than a week a way from the release of The Dark Talent! Brandon will be doing two signings for it, a release party on September 6th in Salt Lake City, UT and a signing on September 10th in Springville, UT (check Brandon's Upcoming Events page for more information). Brandon is also currently at DragonCon in Atlanta, GA with quite a few signing events and panels. Not to mention The Missing Volume booth has early copies of The Dark Talent for sale! Check out Brandon's schedule here.

Hey there Sanderfans, those of us who are also fans of board games certainly have a lot to look forward to! Not only do we have Mistborn: House War (and Mistborn: The Siege of Luthadel) on the horizon but board game company Nauvoo Games just recently announced they will be creating and releasing a board game based on The Reckoners series.

For Alcatraz fans the Tor/Forge blog has posted the first chapter of The Dark Talent (which is only a little over a month away from release)! Check it out here.

I’m pretty salty about that. However, I’ll try to keep most of my salt contained to like, that one event, and not let it completely overtake this episode. Like, I don’t want this to be a salt-fest.

The end is upon us! Unfortunately, as I said last episode, this is not my original reaction file, because for reasons unknown, that recording up and disappeared on me. It has fled. So instead, you get backup Current!Feather’s reactions, but hey, we’re gonna have fun with it anyway.

Hey great news everyone, the Mistborn: House War Kickstarter reached 250,000 USD earlier this morning which means Crafty Games will begin development on Mistborn: The Siege of Luthadel! They've also announced a surprise stretch goal to add a new card to the game.  And fans of the cosmere will be pleased to here that there will be a Hoid card, though it's not exactly clear if it will be in the base game or be available some other way.

In other news a new novella by Brandon has been announced.  It is called Snapshot and a print run will be released by Vault books in February 2017.

Hey Sanderfans, just want to remind everyone that the Mistborn: House War Kickstarter is ending this Wednesday (i.e. two days from now).  It is currently sitting at just over 231,000 USD raised and has blown through almost all of the stretch goals.  The final stretch goal, to be unlocked at 250,000 USD, is for them to start work on a supplement, Mistborn: The Siege of Luthadel, which will cover the events of The Well of Ascension and feature a new "Siege" mechanic.  They have a post discussing it here.

Hey everyone, so the first volume of the White Sand graphic novel has been out for two weeks and guess what.  It just hit #2 on the New York Times Graphic Novel Bestseller List! I for one can't wait until the next one. If you've read it and want to discuss it check out our reactions thread here (we also have a thread to discuss it within the context of the prose version here).

In other news the Mistborn: House War Kickstarter is still going strong.

Mistborn: Secret History. Also known as, ‘Kelsier Punches Literally All of the Deities.’

Our trip through the Cognitive Realm leads us to some unexpected new acquaintances as we start to leave Scadrial behind… Kelsier makes friends and cons them, because that’s what he does. I go back and forth on how to pronounce the word “Ire” before finally actually figuring it out and we finally figure out what gave Vin the heebie-jeebies before she met with Hoid in Hero of Ages!

Hey all, and welcome back to the theory column. Last time's Cosmere 102 was such a long post, that I'm trying to keep this one a little more succinct for you all. Today I am going to highlight a theory post by our very own FeatherWriter (whose excellent podcasts you should definitely check out, if you haven't already). This theory is Roshar's Afterlife and the Tranquiline Halls. This theory contains spoilers for most cosmere books including Mistborn, Warbreaker, and Shadows for Silence, but particularly for The Stormlight Archive and Mistborn: Secret History. I am going to begin by outlining Feather's arguments for the theory, and then I will add my own comments and analysis. 

The main premise of this theory is that unlike most places in the cosmere, the souls of people who die on Roshar are unable to move on to the Beyond like they do on most other planets. Instead of passing on to whatever the cosmere's afterlife looks like, they are instead interrupted somehow by either Odium or one of his agents, such as the Unmade.

“He’d saved the boy’s life once, so that would make them even”? Kell, that’s not how saving someone’s life works. You don’t just get like a free pass to murder them whenever you want later!

Mistborn: Secret History continues, as we travel through Realms previously unseen. We meet some interesting characters, have a chat with a few old villainous friends, and watch as our intrepid hero makes a very long journey. 

Hello everyone! Voidus here again for this months segment on the RPs and social groups! Sorry the update is a little late, but this month we'll be talking more about the up-and-coming Hogwarts Roleplay, a famous Epic Coward, and the chilling Newcago court. 

Hey everyone, this has been a busy week for news but before we get into I do want to remind you all that the first volume of the White Sand graphic novel is releasing this week!

Crafty Games' Kickstarter for Mistborn: House War is still going strong. It's currently sitting at over 125 thousand dollars and is currently working towards adding House Haught as a playable faction (bringing the game up to 10 playable Houses.

The Tor/Forge Blog has also revealed the cover art for Arcanum Unbounded, done by Dave Palumbo.  Look it's Khriss!