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Tor.com posted the preview of Chapter 3 of The Bands of Mourning, and good Harmony is it a doozy. Check it out here! I don't want to say too much about it beyond this: a long standing question in the fandom is answered and the main plot of the book is introduced. (Seriously just go read it). In case you missed it on Friday Brandon posted his third annual State of the Sanderson, discussing what he worked on over the course of 2015 and his plans going forward. Check it out here! This tradition has definitely become one of my absolute favorite things about Brandon. He has such a great reputation for transparency when it comes to his work (except of course when it comes to secret projects, but more on that later) and it is lengthy posts like this one that just goes to show how much he deserves that reputation. Before we get into the nitty-gritty details of the State, how about those pages from the White Sand graphic novel Brandon shared with us in his post? It’s been about a year and a half since it was announced that Dynamite would be adapting White Sand into a series of graphic novels, and while we’ve had some progress reports along the way, it is really nice to finally see these pages. Looking at them reminded me of how much I really did like the prose draft I read a couple years ago, it’s a fun story and it looks like a re-read maybe close in my future… The art and the colors just look fantastic, I can’t wait to see how they depict other characters, not to mention certain aspects of the world. Well, Brandon is giving us an estimated release of some time next year, so we don’t have too much longer to wait. Finished books being released in the near future: The Bands of Mourning Brandon wrote this last year, as a surprise to all of us. The Gamma/proofread was done awhile back and the book is on track for its January 26 release (only a little over a month from now!). Calamity Brandon was able to write the rough draft of the final Reckoners book over the course of January to May of this year (which is longer than he had planned on as in the 2014 State he mentioned wanting to finish by the end of March, this in turn has pushed back his other projects). The Gamma/proofread of this has been completed and the book is on track for a February 16 release. Works in progress: Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians Brandon wrote the rough draft of The Dark Talent last year and is currently working on edits for it. Tor originally announced a June release for this book but it has been pushed back (in the State Brandon says it was pushed to August, but Amazon has a September 6 release date). The re-releases are, according to Amazon, scheduled for February 2 (Books 1 and 2), April 5 (Book 3), and July 19 (Book 4). They’re going to have new covers, by Scott Brundage, and interior illustrations by Hayley Lazo. Brandon has also mentioned that the hardcover dust jackets will have a map printed on the inside. Unnamed Secret Novella This is a project that Brandon has been working on for 10 years and finally finished up during revisions over September/October. Not much is currently known about it, but it is coming “soon”. I for one can’t wait for this one to come out. Stormlight 3 This is Brandon’s current main project that he is drafting, and he’s about a third of the way through. He did start writing it, in earnest, in June (which is later than what he had planned in the 2014 State, due to the extended time on Calamity) but it’s been slow going because of numerous revisions for other works he had to work on, as well as a fairly lengthy tour for Shadows of Self. At this point, it is most likely going to be a 2017 release, just because there is so much work that goes into a Stormlight book above and beyond the text itself. Peter, Isaac and co really need the time to get everything done at a reasonable pace (and we really do not want them to stage a mutiny, now do we). There is plenty of Sanderson-goodness coming in the next year (three novels, one graphic novel, plus a potential Stormlight novella and maybe the secret novella project) that I think it will be 2017 before we even notice the wait. Upcoming projects… Arcanum Unbound This an anthology of all the cosmere short fiction published up until now that Brandon has been thinking about doing. He also mentioned during the never-ending AMA that Tor had been wanting to an anthology like this. If Stormlight 3 doesn’t make it out in 2016 (which it probably won’t) this will probably come out as a “replacement” with a new Stormlight novella to help tide us over. He also mentioned wanting to release a star chart of the cosmere as part of this as well, which is exciting, to say the least. He has mentioned wanting to do a star chart before, but I never expected for it to be released this quickly. The Aztlanian Nothing really new on this one, beyond the fact that he is planning on working on it after Stormlight 3. The Lost Metal This is the final Wax and Wayne book, Brandon didn’t have much to say besides that he is planning for it to be one of the three books he writes between Stormlight 3 and 4. New YA Project This is a new YA trilogy that Brandon is developing with Random House as a follow-up (of sorts) to The Reckoners. Brandon doesn’t say too much about it in the State but he did talk about it at the Shadows of Self release party. It is tentatively called “Apocalypse Guard” and deals with a team that travels to parallel universes to prevent world-ending events. It definitely sounds exciting. The first book is planned to be the last of the three books Brandon will write between Stormlight 3 and 4. Elantris sequels These are getting closer to being written. The 2014 State said that they had to be written before the 1980s-esque Mistborn trilogy for “behind-the-scenes Cosmere bits”. This State is currently putting the first as one of the books between Stormlight 4 and 5. That’s still projected out for a release in 2020, but at least we have a rough date! Backburner projects Legion 3 The only news on this is that Brandon is planning on this to be the last Legion novella, and that he doesn’t see himself writing it any time soon. Nightblood No change on this. Doesn’t seem to plan on writing it until at least after the Elantris sequels are finished. Adamant (previously The Lurker) A science fiction novella that Brandon has described as “Silence of the Lambs in Space”. He had mentioned wanting to do a sequence 5 or 6 novellas as a mini-series of sorts for this. Brandon does mention that he is finished and happy with the first novella, but he has no plans to release it during 2016. This is likely because he doesn’t want there to be too much of a wait between it and its sequels and he has no plans to write them in the near future. Since it is a new story/setting there isn’t as much of a push for immediate release. During the summer he did mention that he was contemplating sliding it into the cosmere, but there is no mention of that in the State. Dark One No news on this one. The 2014 State did mention this as a possible follow-up to The Reckoners for Random House, but they and Brandon decided to go with Apocalypse Guard instead. Brandon is working on the outlines though. Death by Pizza This is a project that Brandon recently had a breakthrough with. While it was left out of the 2014 State it was include in the 2013 one (though at the time Brandon seemed doubtful of it ever progressing). No real idea when or if it will be released, though Brandon did pitch it as a follow-up to The Reckoners. Dragonsteel No change on this one, it’s not going to be on the docket until after Stormlight 10. The Silence Divine No real news on this one either. Soulburner This actually another brand new, never before discussed project. Brandon doesn't say all that much about it and it is not coming any time soon. Aether of Night This is an old project, one of the thirteen novels Brandon wrote before getting published. Long thought to be a trunked novel, as various concepts from it were cannibalized for other projects, it seems Brandon is thinking about reworking it for a published release. I'm interested in seeing how this will turn out. Skyward A YA cosmere series Brandon mentioned in the 2013 State, the current status of this is a complete mystery as not only was it missing from last year’s State but this year’s as well. Check out our forum topics here to discuss the preview chapter and here to discuss the State of the Sanderson!