Brandon Sanderson

The works in The Stormlight Archive are set on the world of Roshar. As of December 2019, three volumes of a projected ten have been released. The Way of Kings establishes the world of Roshar, introducing several important characters: Kaladin, Shallan, Szeth, and Dalinar. Words of Radiance continues the story, expanding on the Voidbringers and the Knights Radiant. The third volume, Oathbringer, was released in 2017. The 4th entry, tentatively titled "The Rhythm of War", is set to be released on November 17th, 2020.

The Mistborn series, which consists of six novels and three short works as of December 2019, is set in the Scadrial system. The first three novels, The Final Empire, The Well of Ascension, and The Hero of Ages, follow the adventures of Vin and company as they defeat the Lord Ruler and deal with the aftermath of that choice.

The first book of the Defiant series, Skyward, was published on November 6, 2018. The second book in the series, Starsight, was released on November 26, 2019.

A three-volume White Sand series was released as a series of graphic novels. Kenton , a young Sand Master from the Dayside of Taldain, must find out why most of the Sand Masters were killed while also avoiding assassins and trying to work with a mysterious woman from the Night side of the planet. The first volume won a 2018 Dragon Award for best graphic novel.

In 2016, the American media company DMG Entertainment licensed the movie rights to Sanderson's entire Cosmere universe.

On January 26, 2016, Mistborn: The Bands of Mourning was published as the sequel to Shadows of Self. On February 16, 2016, the third and final book of the Reckoners trilogy, titled Calamity, was published. In June 2016, Sanderson's first graphic novel White Sand—written with Rik Hoskin—was released. The series is planned as a trilogy. The graphic novels are based on an original manuscript by Sanderson. On September 6, 2016, the fifth Alcatraz book was published, called Alcatraz Versus the Dark Talent.

In October 2016, media company DMG Entertainment acquired the film and licensing rights to Sanderson's entire Cosmere universe. As part of the deal, DMG committed to spending at least $270 million, which they estimate will cover half of the money needed to produce the first three film adaptations of Sanderson's books, and is fast-tracking the development of a script for a film adaptation of Sanderson's book The Way of Kings. Sanderson will receive a minimum guarantee on each film, plus a "backend" giving him a percentage of each film's profits, which will allow him to earn several million dollars from the films. On November 22, 2016, an anthology of Cosmere short stories and novellas was published, titled Arcanum Unbounded: A Cosmere Collection. The third book in The Stormlight Archive Oathbringer was published on November 14, 2017.

In October 2016, the movie rights to the entire Cosmere universe were licensed by DMG Entertainment.

The Alcatraz series follows the adventures of Alcatraz Smedry as he matches wits with evil librarians bent on controlling the world. The first four volumes, Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians, Alcatraz Versus the Scrivener's Bones, Alcatraz Versus the Knights of Crystallia, and Alcatraz Versus the Shattered Lens, were originally published by Scholastic Press. After the rights reverted back to Sanderson, Tor Books picked up the rights and republished the first four volumes with new cover and interior art. The fifth volume, The Dark Talent, was released in 2016. A sixth volume has been announced for an unknown future date.

Later that year, Sanderson also published the second novella in the Legion series, Legion: Skin Deep. In January 2015, the second book of The Reckoners, titled Firefight, was published. Nine months later, Sanderson published Mistborn: Shadows of Self as a direct sequel to The Alloy of Law. On November 16, 2015, Sanderson's agency (JABberwocky Literary Agency) announced that Sanderson officially sold over 7 million copies worldwide.

Each Shard has an Intent, such as Ambition or Honor, and a Vessel's personality is changed over time to bring them more in-line with their Intent. Odium has killed—or Splintered—several shards. On Sel, he splintered Devotion and Dominion, accidentally creating the Dor, from which Seons and Skaze have emerged. On Roshar, Odium splintered Honor, and brought about the Everstorm and the True Desolation. He has also Splintered Ambition, in the Threnody system. A man named Hoid is seen or mentioned in most Cosmere books. He travels the so-called Shardworlds, using the people of those worlds to further an unknown agenda.

The Alloy of Law—set on Scadrial 300 years after the original Mistborn trilogy—was originally slated to be a standalone novel, but Sanderson eventually expanded the story into four books, creating the Wax and Wayne series. The second book, Shadows of Self, was released in 2015, and the third, The Bands of Mourning, in 2016. The Lost Metal, the final book in the Wax and Wayne series, is projected for 2020 or 2021.

Sixth of the Dusk—a novellette set on the world in the Drominad system—and Shadows For Silence in the Forests of Hell—a novella set in the Threnody system—contain more horror elements than the other Cosmere works. A collection of Cosmere short works, Arcanum Unbounded: The Cosmere Collection, was released in November 2016.

The first released book in the Cosmere was his first novel, Elantris, set on the world of Sel. The short story, "The Hope of Elantris", was set during the events of the novel. The novella, The Emperor's Soul, is set in a different location on Sel from Elantris. This novella won the 2013 Hugo Award for best novella.

On August 31, 2012, Sanderson published a science fiction novella entitled Legion, followed by another short work titled The Emperor's Soul. A few months later, on January 8, 2013, A Memory of Light was published, the final book in The Wheel of Time series. In 2013, Sanderson published two new young adult series. These series included The Rithmatist and the first of The Reckoners. series titled Steelheart In March 2014, Words of Radiance, the second book in The Stormlight Archive, was published.

In October 2011, he finished a novella e-book, Infinity Blade: Awakening, based on the action role-playing, iOS video game Infinity Blade, developed by Chair Entertainment and Epic Games. In November 2011, he published a sequel to the Mistborn trilogy, Mistborn: The Alloy of Law. It was originally planned as a standalone novel set about 300 years after the original trilogy, but it was later expanded into a four-book series. It debuted at number seven on the New York Times bestseller list.

In 2010, Sanderson published The Way of Kings, the first of a planned ten-book series called The Stormlight Archive. It achieved the number seven slot on the New York Times hardcover fiction bestseller list. Towers of Midnight, the second-to-last Wheel of Time book, was published just over a year after The Gathering Storm on November 2, 2010, debuting at number one on the bestseller list. The fourth Alcatraz novel, Alcatraz Versus the Shattered Lens, was published a month later on December 1.

In 2009, Tor Books published Warbreaker, which originally appeared serially on Sanderson's website while he was writing the novel from 2006 to 2009. In the same year, the third Alcatraz book was published, titled Alcatraz Versus the Knights of Crystallia.

He created Sanderson's Laws of Magic and popularized the terms hard magic and soft magic systems. In 2008 Sanderson started a podcast with author Dan Wells and cartoonist Howard Tayler called Writing Excuses, involving topics about creating genre writing and webcomics.

A novelette, "Defending Elysium" (2008), was the first work released in this series. The first novel, Skyward, was released in 2018. It begins the story of Spensa, a young girl wishing to restore honor to her father's name after he apparently abandoned his flight while fighting the alien Krell. She has to deal with an academy faculty that doesn't like her and the seemingly-impossible task of finding a way to defeat the ever-present Krell. The second book, Starsight, was released in 2019. The third and fourth books in the series are expected to be released in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

He published the second book of the Mistborn series The Well of Ascension in 2007. Later that year, Sanderson published the children's novel Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians, about a boy named Alcatraz with a talent for breaking things. Alcatraz confronts a group of evil librarians who are bent on taking over the world. The first of his "laws of magic" were first published in 2007, with the second and third published in 2012 and 2013 (respectively). In 2008, the third and final book in the Mistborn trilogy was published, titled The Hero of Ages, as well as the second book in the Alcatraz series, titled Alcatraz Versus the Scrivener's Bones. That same year, he started the podcast Writing Excuses with Howard Tayler and Dan Wells. Brandon Sanderson is in the process of writing the sixth book of the Alcatraz series, called Bastille Versus The World Spire.

Sanderson became well known in late 2007 after he was selected by the author Robert Jordan's widow and editor, Harriet McDougal, to complete the final books in Jordan's epic fantasy series The Wheel of Time. McDougal asked him to finish the series after being deeply impressed by his first Mistborn novel. Tor Books made the announcement on December 7, 2007. After reviewing what was necessary to complete the series, Sanderson and Tor announced on March 30, 2009, that a final three books would be published instead of just one. The first of these, The Gathering Storm, was published on October 27, 2009, and reached the number-one spot on the New York Times bestseller list for hardcover fiction.

In 2006, Sanderson married Emily Bushman, a fellow English major and teacher, who later became his business manager. They have three sons and reside in American Fork, Utah.

Sanderson wrote consistently throughout his undergraduate and graduate studies, and by 2003 he had written twelve novels, though no publisher had accepted any of them for publication. While in the middle of a graduate program at BYU, Tor Books editor Moshe Feder contacted him to say that he wanted to acquire one of his books. Sanderson had submitted the manuscript of his sixth novel, Elantris, a year and a half earlier. Elantris was published by Tor Books on April 21, 2005, to generally positive reviews. This was followed in 2006 by Mistborn: The Final Empire, the first book in his Mistborn fantasy trilogy, in which "allomancers"—people with the ability to 'burn' metals and alloys after ingesting them—gain enhanced senses and control over powerful supernatural forces.

After completing his missionary service, Sanderson returned to BYU and changed his major to English literature. While an undergraduate, Sanderson took a job as a night desk clerk at a local hotel in Provo, Utah, as it allowed him to write while working. One of Sanderson's roommates at BYU was Ken Jennings, who nearly ten years later became famous during his 74-game win streak on the American game show Jeopardy!. Sanderson graduated with a B.A. in English in 2000, then continued on as a graduate student at BYU, receiving an M.A. in English with an emphasis in creative writing in 2004. While at BYU, Sanderson was on the staff of Leading Edge, a semi-professional speculative fiction magazine published by the university, and served as its editor-in-chief for one year.

Brandon Sanderson (born December 19, 1975) is an American fantasy and science fiction writer. He is best known for the Cosmere universe, in which most of his fantasy novels (most notably the Mistborn series and The Stormlight Archive) are set. He is also known for finishing Robert Jordan's high fantasy series The Wheel of Time.

Brandon Sanderson was born on December 19, 1975, in Lincoln, Nebraska. He has a younger brother, Jordan, and two younger sisters, Jane and Lauren. He became a passionate reader of high fantasy novels while a teenager, and he made several early attempts at writing his own stories. After graduating from high school in 1994, he matriculated at Brigham Young University (BYU) as a biochemistry major. He took a two-year leave of absence from 1995 to 1997 to serve as a volunteer full-time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was assigned to serve in South Korea.