Fedcomic

The class is great. The best part is not the lectures (which anyone can watch online), but getting Brandon's feedback (limited though it is) on your writing. That's invaluable. If you have the opportunity to take the class, do it.

Given that Brandon is a teetotaller, I think he might find it extra awesomely hilarious that his quote ended up on your bar menu.

Personally, I have enjoyed the romances in Brandon's books (some more than others, of course). But romance isn't my primary genre (in either the bookstore sense or the elemental sense as discussed in the current season of Writing Excuses) so maybe I'm just looking for different things when I crack open a book. De gustibus non est disputandum and all that. And this might be the best evidence that tastes vary: The very thing that the original post points out as defective in Brandon's books (romance) has actually won him a number of awards (from the Romantic Times, no less). All I can say in the end is, hooray for the vast divergence of human preferences. It maximizes individual pleasure in a world of scarce resources. (In other words, thank goodness my wife hates jalapeno-stuffed green olives. More for me!)

Wouldn't you know it, we have a new project announced. Or, rather, Brandon has finally revealed the Unnamed YA Series he will be writing after Stormlight 3. It's called Apocalypse Guard, and it's set in the same multiverse as The Reckoners. (Since this means we have multiple book series set on different worlds in a shared setting, there is some speculation that we are witnessing the birth of another Cosmere.) Book 1 is tentatively slated for a 2018 release. You can find a movie-poster-ish thing on Brandon's website, here: http://brandonsanderson.com/the-apocalypse-guard/. Looks great!

Volume 1 of the White Sand graphic novel is now available for preorder, here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1606908855. The release date is listed as June 21, 2016. Not sure whether we'll ever see a completely prose novel version published.

Well, this year he's releasing 6 new books: Bands of Mourning, Mistborn: Secret History, Calamity, Alcatraz vs. the Dark Talent, White Sand, Volume 1, and Arcanum Unbounded. And of course, he could always surprise us again with a book or story popping up when we least expect it. We've got another ten months in 2016. Although the final page count can't be tallied until the books are all out, we're probably looking at something more than 1,500 pages of new Brandon. (I'm not counting the re-release of the first four Alcatraz novels in new, illustrated hardback editions.) So, an excellent year-- even better than his (awe-inspiring) average. Of these six, at least three are entirely new novels, written recently. Of the others, MSH sounds like he's had at least the story in his mind for a while, although I don't if it the book was written and "in the trunk." The original WS was written years ago, and it sounds like it's mostly been another author doing the work of adapting it to graphic novel format, but I have to imagine that it still takes some time to do quality control, etc. And AU has a lot of already published material in it, but also will include at least one new novella and maybe an additional new short story. So these three books probably took a lot less time to get ready for publication than the other three, but he's not just publishing trunk novels. Next year, we're going to get another gigantic Stormlight novel, plus at least one more new book. So again it looks like another year of 1,500-ish new pages. After that, who knows? But I don't think we should consider a measly (!) 900 pages a year to be Brandon's new ceiling. I think it's closer to the floor.

Sweet! And now they also have White Sand listed, although they're not showing us a cover yet. But now that Amazon is listing release dates for all of these books, it looks like a truly amazing year for Branderson fans. Four new novels, a new graphic novel, a collection of shorts with a new novella (and maybe more), and four old books back in print. Wow! And we're just over two months into 2016! And the man loves surprises! Hold on to your hats, everyone. This is going to be a really good year.

Brandon's newsletter came out today, revealing that the secret project alluded to in the State of the Sanderson is a short novel called Mistborn: Secret History. Awesome! And it's already been released as an ebook. Double awesome! http://brandonsanderson.com/books/mistborn/secret-history/ He also says that because Stormlight 3 is very unlikely to come out this year, he will be releasing the Cosmere short story collection, including a new Stormlight novella and maybe a new Stormlight short story as well. Triple awesome! Thanks, Brandon.

It's not just a feeling. 2015 was a slow year for Brandon: only 2 new novels and one new novella released. (I'm not counting the re-release of Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell as a standalone ebook, or the 10th anniversary edition of Elantris, or the beautiful special edition leatherbound hardback of Elantris from Subterranean.) Bottom line, we got less than a thousand pages of new Sanderson fiction this year. And believe it or not, that really is a sub-par year for him. (He averages almost 1,400 new pages published per year.) Which, when you think about it, shows how spoiled we are as fans. Thanks, Brandon! But anyway, 2016 should see at least 3 new novels and the first volume of the White Sand graphic novels (plus the re-releases of the first 4 Alcatraz books). In addition, we should get either Stormlight 3, or (perhaps more likely) a collection of Cosmere short stories including a new Stormlight novella. So we're probably looking at something between 1,200 pages and 2,500 pages of new Brandon in the next 12 months. I don't know about you, but I like the sound of that.

Well, when I look back at State of the Sanderson posts for previous years, they look to me a bit like a weather forecast. Predictions for this afternoon are pretty solid, predictions for tomorrow are reasonably close, and predictions for next week are really hit or miss. The only thing I'm quite sure of is that El Brandón will continue to pump out high quality fiction at a rate that I wish most of my other favorite authors would try to emulate.

Another December, another State of the Sanderson. Lot of information on upcoming releases here, plus some insight as to what it's like to be a famously productive writer with an eager (rabid?) fan base. As always, please drop me some knowledge if you know something I don't have here. And if possible, link the place where you found your information. Thanks! RELEASED AND AVAILABLE NOW * Bands of Mourning (Wax & Wayne 3) - January 26 * Mistborn: Secret History - ebook only - January 30 * Calamity (Reckoners 3) - February 16 - Ends the series, at least for now. * Alcatraz 1 - reprint - February 16 * Alcatraz 2 - reprint - February 16 * Alcatraz 3 - reprint - April 19 * White Sand, Volume 1 - graphic novel - June 28/29 * Alcatraz 4 - reprint - July 19 TO BE RELEASED IN 2016 * Alcatraz 5 - coming September 6 * Arcanum Unbound - coming November 8. This is a Cosmere short story collection, featuring a new Stormlight novella (Edgedancer). * Short story, title unknown, featured in Unfettered II anthology edited by Shawn Speakman, coming in November. COMING SOON IN 2017 and 2018 * Snapshot - new novella - February 2017 * The Atzlanian (Rithmatist 2) - 2017 * Oathbringer,aka Stones Unhallowed (Stormlight 3) - The June 2016 newsletter says: " I’m hoping to finish sometime later this year, with a 2017 release." A July 2016 Q&A on Reddit says: "November or October next year is very likely." * Apocalypse Guard, book 1 - new YA series - 2018 * The Lost Metal (Wax and Wayne 4) (final book) - 2018 THE INCREASINGLY FUZZY FUTURE * Stormlight 4 - 2019 * Apocalypse Guard 2 - 2019 * Elantris 2 - 2020 * Apocalypse Guard 3 (final book) - 2020 * Stormlight 5 (ending of first arc) - 2021 * Elantris 3 (final book) - 2022 LONG WAY OFF STILL * 1980s Mistborn series - some time after Elantris sequels * Nightblood (Warbreaker 2) - some time after Elantris sequels * Stormlights 6-10 * Mistborn SF series * Dragonsteel / Liar of Partinel WILD CARDS AND POTENTIAL SURPRISES * Legion 3 - "It could happen literally at any time, but I don't expect it in 2017, to be honest." * Adamant - Done, but no plans to release it in 2016. Sounds like he doesn't plan to publish this until he's written some other stories in this same world. * Dark One - "bound to get done someday" * Death by Pizza - "perhaps eventually" * Silence Divine - "Could be a long way off still." * Soulburner - "The setting is awesome... I don't have a story for it yet." * Aether of Night - "I'll likely so something with it someday." Wow! Lots of great stuff coming our way, both sooner and later. Fandersons, it's a good time to be alive.

Yup, I saw the something similar. I liked it. It's the last link in my most recent update.

It's been six months, and we have some new information, so I'm updating. As always, this is just one man's attempt to pull together all the relevant info. If you have something better or more up-to-date, please reply and include a link. Thanks! THIS YEAR (2015) * Firefight (Reckoners 2) - released January 6 * Perfect State - released March 31 * Shadows of Self (Wax & Wayne 2) - preorder set up for an October 6 release * White Sand graphic novel #1 - Last year's press release said: "Dynamite plans to produce White Sand as a series of 3 original graphic novels, the first of which will be published in 2015." Brandon's assistant Peter now says that a 2015 release "depends on production," although apparently they had the scripts and pencils done for the first issue a while ago. NEXT YEAR (2016) * Bands of Mourning (Wax & Wayne 3) - preorder set up for a January 26 release * Calamity (Reckoners 3) - Second draft finished in May 2015. Last year they were hoping this would be done in time for an early 2016 release. Now they say spring 2016 some time. * Unnamed Stormlight novella - Brandon says he might release one next spring as a teaser. * Alcatraz vs. the Dark Talent (Alcatraz 5) - Still on track for a summer 2016 release. * Stones Unhallowed (Stormlight 3) - "Writing the book should consume the entire rest of 2015, with a 2016 release." The latest word confirms my previous guess of a release just in time for Christmas. NEAR FUTURE (2017-2019) * Stormlight 4 - Mentioned in the latest update. He also mentioned three other projects (listed below) that he will consider doing first. My guess is that one or two of them get released before Stormlight 4 and the other 1 or 2 not long after. * The Lost Metal (Wax & Wayne 4) - sounds like it's outlined * The Aztlanian (Rithmatist 2) - Six months ago he was still doing research. Now he says it might be the next project after Stormlight 3. * A "new teen project to follow up the Reckoners." This could be Dark One, a YA series he mentioned in the last State of the Sanderson. Or it could be something we've never heard of before. Brandon loves to surprise us. There are three other short projects that got mentioned in the last complete State of the Sanderson which were not mentioned in the most recent update. Given that these are all novella-length, and that Brandon works quickly, I think we should just be ready for any one of them to pop out without warning-- like Perfect State did. * Lurker / Adamant - This is a science fiction novella with at least one draft finished. Last year he said he would revise it during 2015. Not sure if that's still the plan. * Silence Divine - to be renamed - novella - did readings from it in 2014. * Legion 3 - He says he has no ideas yet, but these seem to come quickly. LONGER TERM This far out, any real prediction is impossible. Not that it stops us from trying, of course. (You can find another good effort here, with the information presented as a flowchart.) Stormlight 5 - 2020, if we get a new one about every two years Elantris sequels - He says he'll do these after Stormlight 5 if he hasn't done them before then. Mistborn 1980s-era - After Elantris sequels NIghtblood (Warbreaker 2) - Probably after Elantris sequels Stormlights 6-10 Mistborn SF series Dragonsteel - after Stormlight 10 - Coming soon, in 2031! So the bottom line is that we're in for lots of good stories for decades to come.

Also 40 and with kids. *Waves back to Mrs. K.*

Yes. That is the correct order for that series.

And of course Brandon surprises us all by releasing a novella that he didn't even mention three or four months ago in the State of the Sanderson. Hooray! http://brandonsanderson.com/perfect-state/

Has anyone read the full story? Can we confirm that it's not Cosmere?

I guess I just see the glass as 3/18 full.

Starting with the 10th anniversary edition, Elantris will be getting some post-publication edits. Brandon says they pretty much boil down to two kinds of changes: (1) correcting errors in geography and (2) fixing "some of the quirks of my earlier prose." The first I don't have a problem with. Having a particular building be north instead of south (or whatever) seems like it would fall in the same category as accidentally mixing up a minor character's gender from one scene to another, or finding that you had dropped into present tense for part of a sentence. It's an error. So why not fix it? (Although, Jim Butcher apparently made plenty of geographical mistakes in his descriptions of Chicago in early Harry Dresden books, and I think he has left them alone. Anyone know better than I do on this?) The second kind of change I am a little more hesitant about. I like Brandon's prose, including its quirks. And I like seeing it evolve from book to book. I can understand the impulse. I've got a book in print, and there are lots of things that I wish I had done better. But going back and changing those feels a bit to me like trying to airbrush awkward photos from middle school. That was me. I had that haircut. I wore those clothes. Maybe Elantris captured Brandon in the middle of a growth spurt, but that's a Brandon I love. The real problem is I don't know if these changes are like taking the red-eye out of an image or full-on photoshopping. Anyone have an ARC or anything? I'd love to see a more in-depth description of the changes, as well as a critical reaction from someone who's actually seen what this looks like in print.

So, Brandon is making some changes to new editions of Elantris and Words of Radiance. What do you think of authors doing this? He points to "Tolkien’s after-publication tweaks" as an example of how changing the text of a beloved story can be a good thing. And I do agree that the changes to Riddles in the Dark were good-- but even better was Tolkein's meta-textual explanation, namely that Bilbo had been lying. That's awesome. But there are definitely other examples of post-publication meddling. Ray Bradbury (though I love him) just couldn't leave Martian Chronicles alone and was constantly tinkering with it. I find that kind of thing annoying. Anyone have other examples? And when are you (or would you be) okay with this?

What? The last nine books in that series take place in less than a year? My mind is blown. I'm going to have to go back and re-read those.

Nice! I had heard that the book was stolen, or removed from circulation. Glad to see that it's still out there. Also, you're going to have to post a review for those of us that can't make the trek to the HBLL.

Hooray! We didn't have to wait 18 months! http://www.17thshard.com/news/brandon-news/shadows-for-silence-now-available-individually-r205

The dude wrote The Emperor's Soul on a plane ride back from Taiwan in February 2012. It was released that November, so we can tell that he didn't spend a lot of time rewriting and revising. And it later won a Hugo so I think there's not much arguing about the quality. http://www.writingexcuses.com/2012/11/11/writing-excuses-7-46-project-in-depth-the-emperors-soul/ Bottom line, I'm okay with him taking some trips.