Apocalypse Guard Pulled, Some Mystery Project Info, Way of Kings Chapter 5 Annotation

In crazy news yesterday afternoon, Paste Magazine spoke with Brandon Sanderson about how The Apocalypse Guard has been put on hold. Apocalypse Guard was going to be another book in the Reckoners universe. But now, Brandon said there was something broken about the book. Editorial feedback didn't help, and so it is being shelved for now. I suppose that's why the Apocalypse Guard trilogy progress bar disappeared from the site.

I think it's very big of Brandon to say an idea might not quite come together. Even with contracts written and deadlines to meet, Brandon still puts craft first. Good on you. 

He says in the article:

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The bestselling author of both the Mistborn and Stormlight Archive series says he’s actually encouraged by his decision to pull The Apocalypse Guard for now. “I’m glad that I’m still in a place in my writing where I can acknowledge this book didn’t work out,” he says. “I need to work on it longer. Because part of me really fears that day that seems to happen to some creators, where they’re just like, ‘Nope, this is good enough. Boom.’ Obviously, it doesn’t happen to everyone or even the majority. But I don’t want to get there.”

I think we should all know that though Brandon writes very consistently in many things, we all want to read good books. Maybe there comes a time he writes a Mistborn or Stormlight book that isn't so great and he needs to figure out why the book is broken to fix it.

The thing Brandon is working on instead of Apocalypse Guard is the Mystery Project. (This is probably why Brandon said he would need to wait till State of Sanderson to talk about it, since Apocalypse Guard didn't turn out the way he would like.) The Mystery Project is another YA novel, and though it is a project he's been planning on for a while (though it is not Dark One), he outlined it over the course of three days. He's keeping a lid on it because it might not also come out. Hopefully it goes well and we'll hear all about it soon. 

The article ends saying Brandon will update fans on Apocalypse Guard and Mystery Project after Oathbringer's release.

Way of Kings Chapter 5 Annotation

Next up, we got an annotation for Way of Kings Chapter 5. It's very short, and discusses narrowing down the viewpoints in this 2010 rewrite. It also talks a bit about Taravangian and Jasnah's Soulcaster. Check it out!