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Brandon Sanderson Books (Non-Stormlight)

Discussion in 'Books & Comics' started by Use the Falchion, Mar 8, 2021.

  1. Use the Falchion

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    And in a THIRD update this week (don't worry, next week only has two planned - the weekly update and the monthly signing) Brandon updated his progress bar. He took off Rhythm of War and Dawnshard and replaced them with the names of the first two Skyward novellas - Sunreach and ReDawn. There is an in-world reason for the second novella's title, but I'm not sure about the first one just yet.

    According to the progress bar, Sunreach is about 10% through it's final draft while ReDawn is about 10% through it's first draft. I imagine the progress bar for Sunreach will move pretty quickly alongside W&W 4, while ReDawn may take a little more time. The progress of the novellas shouldn't interfere with W&W 4 too much, as Brandon really only needs to provide feedback and direction, since he's not actually writing them himself.

    I'll keep an eye on this and probably (hopefully) post an update about the progress bars next Thursday/Friday with the Q&A signing.

    For those who want to watch the progress bars, head over to Sanderson's website if you're on a desktop, and to his subreddit for mobile (the website's progress bar doesn't work for mobile users).

    https://www.brandonsanderson.com/

    https://www.reddit.com/r/brandonsanderson/
     
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  2. Use the Falchion

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    Another dual post, so enjoy!

    First of, we have this week's update. It really just lets us know where Brandon was at his progress at the beginning of last week and the poll outcome for his Stormlight board game poll last week.


    Next, we have the actual progress, as set by the most current progress bar. We're at 20%, which is apparently right on track. The first draft of the second Skyward novella is also standing at 20%, while the final draft of the first Skyward novella is finished! I believe that means it's ready to go (either for formatting or to be recorded). We won't see it until later in the year though, so don't get too excited. There's a high chance we'll see the Reckoners audio novellas first.

    Third, we have Dark One! As of May 5, it's officially available in comic book stories and book retailers! I know I'm a week late, but the Amazon release date confused me (it's listed as May 18 there, but other retails got it last Wednesday). Just to be perfectly clear, this is a second release for the comic. Last summer it had a limited release due to the pandemic. It wasn't too hard to get a copy, but I don't think that many people were interested. Hopefully the more copies can be found, the more people can read this awesome comic.

    The red cover was from last year's release and I think it's still available from Sanderson's store and the Vault Comics store, while the gold cover is the release available in bookstores.

    upload_2021-5-14_8-11-35.png


    Lastly, Sanderson's signing from last night. There weren't very many interesting tidbits in terms of upcoming stuff, but we did have three potential gems:

    1. Sanderson didn't have his signing last week because he was meeting people in the film industry. This is cool, but it's not exciting or a promise of something happening. This has happened a dozen times before and nothing's come out of it, and it may happen another dozen times before we get something.

    2. Something about Mistborn that I can't remember.

    3. Next week is the SIX MONTH SPOILER STREAM. DO NOT WATCH IF YOU WANT TO BE SPOILED.

    (Skip to 5:12 for audio)
     
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  3. Use the Falchion

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    Here's the weekly update! Yeah, I just found out about the B&N exclusive Dark One cover on Friday, AFTER I had already bought the normal golden cover. And while the temptation is there to buy a third copy, it'd just go to waste for me. Probably.



    The Progress Bar is actually now at 25% so that's awesome! Brandon just started W&W 4 about a month ago, and to be a quarter of the way done is very impressive. ReDawn, the second Skyward novella is 35% through it's first draft as well. At this rate the two will finish within a couple weeks of each other. Between a few more revisions and the release of Skyward 3, I'm not sure there will be much time for Janci to write that third novella, but we can wait and see.
     
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  4. Use the Falchion

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    Announcements on Wednesday and Thursday!



    The general concensus is that the Wednesday announcement will probably be Skyward 3's title and possibly a cover reveal. The Thursday news has guesses ranging from The Rithmatist 2 announcements to Sanderson working on a videogame. We honestly have no clue. But I'll inform y'all as soon as it drops (and I'm awake and near a computer).

    The progress bar of TLM is at 30% today, which feels pretty accurate this time around, since it changed over the weekend.
     
  5. Use the Falchion

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    Well, the Wednesday guesses were correct! Skyward 3 is officially titled Cytonic and we have a cover! (So the leaks in March were right!)

    upload_2021-5-26_12-35-51.jpeg

    The blurb is attached to Sanderson's website below, but don't read it if you don't want spoilers for the previous two books. Cytonic's release date is November 23, 2021, so we still have a little ways to go before it's here. And of the three books, this is the shortest one yet (roughly 100k words compared to Skyward's 140k and Starsight's 123k). But we're also getting the three novellas to supplement the story, so hopefully it won't feel too short.

    Speaking of the novellas, ReDawn is roughly 43% done with it's first draft! Almost halfway there!

    Tomorrow's reveal is still anyone's guess, but Sanderson wrote in a Reddit comment that

    So let's not get our hopes up too much.

    https://www.brandonsanderson.com/cytonic-skyward-3-cover-and-title-reveal/
    --- Double Post Merged, May 26, 2021, Original Post Date: May 26, 2021 ---
    I found the quote! It's from the State of the Sanderson 2020 Reddit thread.

     
  6. Use the Falchion

    Use the Falchion Jedi Contrarian

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    Well, Announcement 2 is here, and it's a teaser for the one and only Kelsier, Survivor of the Pits, to be in Fortnite!



    Now Fortnite and the Star Wars fanbase don't have the best history - TROS' cross-promotion stunt falling flat due to the demographic that plays the game not overlapping with the hardcore Star Wars fandom - but this is a good thing! The cross-promotion here may get more fans into Mistborn as they learn about who this new character is. It also makes sense, given that one of the head people at Epic Games - if not the head person - is a personal friend of Brandon's, and Brandon has written novellas for Epic's Infinity Blade series. What is throwing people off is how soon this is. I don't think people doubted that this would happen if Sanderson got a movie or big-budget announcement, but that hasn't happened yet. Mistborn is relatively small compared to other cameos and skins that make it into Fortnite. But regardless, Sanderson's made it, and who knows, maybe this is a prelude to an even larger announcement later this year...

    (I can see it now, at the end of the year, Brandon announces in his State of the Sanderson that a studio picked up and is dedicated to filming Mistborn. This news will reverberate back into Fortnite, which will make people curious. From there, at the end of The Wheel of Time Season 2 in 2022, Sanderson comes on and offers either a behind-the-scenes look at the filming, or an "exclusive look" at the movie itself, which would then be slated for a 2023 release.)
     
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  7. Use the Falchion

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    REMINDER - THIS THURSDAY IS THE ALL SPOILER Q&A STREAM. I WILL BE LINKING IT HERE, BUT WATCH AT YOUR OWN RISK.



    Weekly Update!
    It includes:
    An explanation as to the name Cytonic over the previous (and always tentative) title Nowhere.
    An explanation behind Kelsier's appearance in Fortnite.
    Brandon hints at more crazy news, and then his friend and fellow writer Dan Wells pops his head out. This is may just be a fun cameo, but many Sanderson fans - myself included - have taken it to mean good news about either The Apocalypse Guard or the prose version of Dark One, both of which Dan has been cowriting. My Copy-and-Paste analysis from Reddit is below. But remember that Sanderson plays his own rules, and I've usually wrong when it comes to guessing what his next move will be.

    Most Likely For Each:

    Dark One Prose, coming out 2022. This one is most likely one IMO, since Dan and Brandon already have a formula to follow in the form of the first graphic novel, and it would work well with the release of the second graphic novel.

    The Apocalypse Guard, coming out 2022. This makes sense to me if it's coupled with an announcement about the Deathrise novellas and release dates.* 2022 would also be a great year to release it since that year won't have a YA book in the form of Skyward. (Although if Skyward Novella 3 isn't finished in time, it'll definitely bleed over to 2022.) Although for this to happen, Brandon would have had to have been working on either revisions of Skyward 3 and TAG at the same time, or the first draft of W&W4 and TAG revisions at the same time. Both are possible, but neither sound very appealing.


    Less Likely For Each:

    Dark One Prose coming out this year. Yeah...I feel like the marketing would have needed to start around the release of the graphic novel to get things going.

    The Apocalypse Guard trilogy. I do feel like this will happen in due time, but I don't think it'll happen until Skyward 4 and Stormlight 5 are out. This feels like a State of the Sanderson 2023 announcement.



    Least Likely For Each:

    An announcement that both are finished and will come out in 2022 and/or 2023. I can see this happening, but I don't know why it would happen this way.



    *It's also weird to me that the Deathrise novellas are apparently done and being/have been recorded, but there hasn't been a formal announcement or release yet. One would think he'd want those out by the end of summer, so they can lead straight into the Skyward novellas in the fall. But there hasn't been anything. Maybe he's saving the reveal for a dual reveal with The Apocalypse Guard. Maybe they want a surprise release, and want to use that as promotion for something else down the line. Maybe it's contract stuff. I honestly don't know.
     
  8. Use the Falchion

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    The spoiler stream was yesterday! There were a lot of fun answers and enticing RAFOs, none of which I'll talk about. What I WILL say is that at the end, Brandon did mention how he'd still like to do the Cyberpunk Mistobrn trilogy, so that the Mistborn series would have 16 novels in full.* But he has far too much to write, so let's not count on it.



    The Progress Bars have updated as well. The first draft of Mistborn 7 stands at 42% complete, while ReDawn's first draft stands at 72% complete - if ReDawn keeps this up (and depending on how fast revisions go), we may actually get the third Skyward novella before the book launches!


    *There would be five eras of Mistborn books
    Era 1 aka The Original Trilogy: The Final Empire, the Well of Ascension, the Hero of Ages

    Era 2 aka Wax and Wayne series: The Alloy of Law, Shadows of Self, the Bands of Mourning

    Era 3 aka the Modern Trilogy: Books 8-10 (will be written from 2024-2026 or so)

    Era 4 aka the Cyberpunk Trilogy: Books 11-13

    Era 5 aka the Sci-Fi/Space Opera Trilogy (and end of the Cosmere): Books 14-16
     
  9. Use the Falchion

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    The Dan and Brandon collaboration from last week is a podcast!
     
  10. Use the Falchion

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    Sanderson's podcast is out! They're still deciding on a title, but the from the fan response I've seen, people prefer "Intentionally Blank" over what Brandon and Dan are vying between. I started it today, but I probably won't finish it until tomorrow.

    https://www.brandonsanderson.com/intentionally-blank-episode-1-popcornture-vs-stubad/

    In other news, ReDawn, Skyward's second novella, has finished it's first draft! The bar moved extremely quickly towards the last third of the novella, which makes me think that either Janci works like Brandon (aka she works faster when the end of the story is in sight, and speeds up her writing at the end), or Brandon took over the final third of the book to put in his (in)famous "Sanderlanche." Janci notes on her blog that she's better at fixing bad writing than writing good right off the bat, so revisions should be very helpful for her. That being said, I don't know how long those will take. She and Sanderson have roughly five months to revise and record this novella while also writing, revising, and recording a second novella as well. (Which is already work on top of Janci and Brandon's other projects.) So we'll see if that third novella makes it out before Cytonic releases.
     
  11. Use the Falchion

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    This week we have more than just one update! Well...most of it was from last week, but still!

    First up is the Sanderson weekly update! Brandon has a question about unsigned leatherbounds attached, so fill that form out if you just want a leatherbound and don't care if it's signed or not. Brandon also pushed back the finishing date for Wax & Wayne 4 a week, since he spent this (last?) week revising the second Skyward novella.





    Next up is the new podcast, Intentionally Blank. While I linked the podcast's release on Wednesday, I hadn't actually listened to it yet. I have since done so, and three things really stood out. The first was Sanderson and Dan talking about their collaboration on Dark One. It's a novella titled Dark One: Forgotten. The novella is a prequel story, framed as six episodes of an in-world podcast going through how the serial killer in the story was captured. This isn't the first time we've heard this description or title, and there's no release date yet, but it's nice to hear such positive things about it.*

    The second thing is how much Sanderson dislikes the DCEU and the Snyder Cut as a whole, but still enjoys the fact they both exist.

    The third thing is at the end, where Dan and Brandon (...mostly Brandon, sadly...) talk about artists going back and revising their work. Star Wars inevitably comes up, and it's a fun talk. Overall, the first episode of the podcast was a good one, and we'll see what they do next.


    When it comes to the podcast, instead of linking it on Wednesday, I'm going to bundle it in with the Monday updates of the next week - unless there's another major announcement that week or it's a week with a signing Q&A, then I'll bundle it with those. This just cuts down on the posting some.





    After that, we have a new subreddit, called r/Sanderson. This will apparently be Sanderson's new "direct feed" to fans; a place where he can share updates and information without needing to worry about interrupting fan discussion or whatnot. Right now it's sort of a "live chat" option for the podcast. I'll link it below, but just as an FYI, it did pop up with a NSFW tag on my phone. No idea why...

    https://www.reddit.com/r/Sanderson/



    Lastly, we have a video essay from Brandon talking about the themes and emotions behind the finale of The Good Place. (And the book Sanderon's apologizing about is his YA book The Rithmatist. He promised a sequel, but has yet to write one...or even find the time to do so. It may be written sometime between 2023-2026, but we'll see.)




    As a sort of bonus thing, Sabaa Tahir's not yet published book is getting a live-action adaptation! That is great news for the genre, even greater news for the author, and still even greater news for those she has and will continue to inspire as well as those who are touched by her works. But it did bring up a thought. Between the Grishaverse adaptation, the Expanse, the Wheel of Time, the LOTR stuff coming, and even smaller adaptations like the Powder Mage trilogy...is Brandon waiting too long for an adaptation? We know Brandon wants the best quality of - and more control over - his adaptations, but things are moving fast in the fantasy adaptation world. Will waiting for his moment mean he might actually miss his shot? Or is he playing the long game where everyone else is looking for a quick buck? Or are there more dynamics I'm not considering? Is it possible that other authors need the paychecks and adaptation revenue stream, but since Sanderson doesn't, he can afford to wait for a...less predatory(?) offer? I don't know.**



    *We can add it to the ever-growing list of audio-novellas that have no release date or official information. My gut tells me that we won't see this novella - or the Deathrise novellas for that matter - until 2022, but that works out just fine.
    **And honestly, my thoughts change by the day. When I wrote the first part of this ahead of time (aka most of it), I was worried about this. Today, I'm not as worried - the longer it takes for an adaptation to work, the more things Sanderson can write in the meantime. And ideally, the more things written, the more books future fans can enjoy; and that always puts a smile on my face.
     
  12. Use the Falchion

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    It's time for that weekly update! But that's not all we have!



    The progress bars have moved to 56% for Wax & Wayne 4, as shown in the video, and 33% for the third draft of ReDawn, the second Skyward novella. Things are moving fast and furiously!

    We also have last week's episode of the new podcast, which is still titled "Intentionally Blank." I think fans like the name, but Sanderson doesn't. We'll see who wins this war. (Also, Brandon apparently has THE CELL PHONE NUMBER OF JOE RUSSO, OF THE RUSSO BROS FAME. Sanderson just casually dropped that into the conversation, as a related fact to a tangent the two hosts were on. My dreams of a Russo Bros' directed Mistborn movie simultaneously grew closer and farther apart in those five minutes.)





    On Thursday, Brandon did a live Q&A with The Dusty Wheel, a long-running call-and-talk show about The Wheel of Time. Brandon is friends with the host of the podcast, who was a Beta Reader on Sanderson's Wheel of Time books, and is currently a Beta Reader for Stormlight books. The first part of the show is Sanderson answering non-spoiler questions. They then switch to WoT spoiler questions, and finally Cosmere spoiler questions. My questions, sadly, were not asked. But someday they'll be asked and answered.





    Lastly, mere hours after I had posted the update on Monday, some information came out about some of Sanderson's audio-novellas and collaborations. Apparently, the final Skyward novella is titled Evershore. Next up, the Reckoners novellas Steven Bohls had written and finished have at least one title other than Deathrise attached to them - Lux. No idea if this is a place, an Epic, or a sort of "this is what the novella feels like" title, but we're sure to find out soon enough. After that, we have the release orders of the two Dark One audio novellas - Forgotten, the in-world serial killer podcast; and Prophetic Histories, a potential retelling of the graphic novel - have been switched. Prophetic Histories was supposed to be released first, but now Forgotten will be. (This isn't surprising, given Dan and Brandon's talk.) Lastly, we know that the latest Legion story - its first audio-novella - titled Legion: Death and Faxes, will be about stopping a dangerous hacker.


    https://www.17thshard.com/news/bran...eals-and-brandons-june-14-weekly-update-r724/

    Overall, this is is a lot of cool new information. But information without a release date doesn't mean much right now. So let's see what the summer has in store, and then we can get excited.
     
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  13. Use the Falchion

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    Double post this week, as Sanderson did more than just his podcast.

    Always keeping us on our toes, earlier today Brandon decided to officially give us the cover, title, and first chapter of Lux, a Reckoners novella. (Written in collaboration with Steven Michael Bohls.) I believe this takes place post-Calamity, the third book in the Reckoners trilogy, but there are very few hard confirmations about this. Once it comes out, I'll give it a full listen and review. For now, enjoy the chapter.



    upload_2021-6-24_22-11-47.jpeg

    Next up is the podcast. This week didn't offer any glimpse into what Dan and Brandon are working on, but it did have a lot of movies. For movie buffs out there, enjoy!



    Third we have an interview with the charity called Worldbuilders over on Twitch. The interview featured Brandon and a few other guests, all of whom are known in the Magic: The Gathering sphere. There isn't much new there, but it's a fun interview to watch.

    https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1066634588


    Lastly is the progress bar. While it's not a giant jump, the Wax & Wayne 4 is now at 60%! This is great progress for the week, and I'm curious if this speedy progress could lead to Brandon actually finishing ahead of schedule. I'd like this, but I'd only give it a 20% or so chance of happening - Brandon will be heading to JordanCon with the rest of his team, and that's going to take about half of his workdays out to be there, along with however long it'll take to travel back, recover, and readjust to things. So basically, getting a week ahead will allow him to take off a week for JordanCon. However, if he gets far enough ahead, then maybe the momentum of the climax of the book will speed things up.
     
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    Weekly update time!


    I didn’t have a lot of free time this week, so what would usually be two posts will be combined into one mega-post. Unless Brandon decides to drop more information…


    First up is a correction from last week. Later in the day after the announcement of Lux, a member of the 17th Shard contacted Brandon’s editor Peter and asked if Lux was a novel or novella. Peter confirmed it was a full novel. The three novellas felt off as such, and so Brandon Sanderson and Steven Bohls (BS-SB...heh) decided to make it one full book - Sanderson also talks about this in the Weekly Update. If it sells well, Lux will continue on to become a trilogy. So go out there and support the book! And yes, a print version will arrive in time.


    Second is the Progress Bar. The third novella, officially titled Evershore, has started on its first draft. From the look of things, Janci is about a third of the way through revising the second novella as well, after Brandon did a quick revision. I’m not sure how working on both stories will affect the completion of either, but we’ll just have to wait and see. (I have two potential theories as to why this is. The first is that there is something happening in ReDawn that requires more details from Evershore to be complete. So Janci will work on Everyshore to make sure the timeline works out, and then head back to ReDawn while Brandon revises the third novella. The second theory is that Brandon wants to get these out before Cytonic releases very badly. So he encourages Janci to finish the hardest part for her in writing Evershore’s first draft asap, and then circle back to revisions that he knows she’ll speed through. Or maybe the Progress Bar is behind, and Janci actually finished the third draft already - it wouldn’t be the first time something like that has happened.)


    Next up is the Weekly Update.



    It’s a short one this week, but Brandon does go into a little detail on his current writing process. He’s writing the climax of the book for individual characters separately, something also done during Rhythm of War. Part of me wonders if this will be a trend going forward, but there won’t be enough proof this year, given that Skyward is a first person-based book.


    Sanderson also talked about Lux, but it’s not really new information. What caught my eye was Brandon’s planning for the rest of the year. Apparently Brandon plans out his (non-Stormlight year) writing and outcome in six month chunks. Since June has officially ended, Brandon is now looking at what he’ll be doing for the rest of the year. In the Update, Sanderson mentioned that he wants to plan some “exciting” stuff hopefully. We know that Wax & Wayne revisions, Skyward 4’s first few drafts, and the Skyward novellas are on the docket, but I wonder about what else Sanderson could have up his sleeve that interests him. Maybe we’ll find out in the State of the Sanderson. Maybe sooner!


    Oh! And the weekend of the release, Brandon will have a Q&A. It’ll probably focus on Reckoners stuff, but definitely have your non-spoiler questions ready!


    Third is the podcast. I'm only halfway through right now, but there are some fun movies mentioned!




    Fourth we have the second chapter of Lux! I think Brandon may be putting out chapters every week until the book's release. If they all release on Fridays, then Star Wars and Sanderson fans have TWO things to look forward to every Friday! I'll be listening along. I have a 50/50 track record with this so far - I didn't read along for Oathbringer or Rhythm of War, as I wanted to experience the Stormlight books in full. But I did do so for Skyward, since it was a new series and I wanted to see what it was about, and Starsight, since the first few chapters were accidentally uploaded and I wanted to take part before things were fixed. Here is a little different. I'm following along because I'm not a giant audiobook fan. There are very few audio-original stuff I like, and they take me days to get through, which feels impossibly slow at times for me. So any head-start I'm given, I'm going to take.

    The chapter itself is action-packed, so enjoy!





    Lastly is the monthly Q&A...of which there is none. Maybe because it's a holiday weekend, or because it was the first of the month and that threw Sanderson and Co off, or because there's another one later this month. Regardless, I have my questions written and ready to be asked, and I'll keep you all informed of the next one.
     
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    Time to post! This week I decided to wait and combine everything into one post. This will also be my last post here for the month more likely than not, as after Sunday I plan on logging out and finishing up some real-life stuff for a bit. I'll talk about it at the end of this post.

    First up we have the progress bars! (Which changed twice today; and I wouldn't have caught that second time if I hadn't double checked.)

    Mistborn 7 aka Wax & Wayne 4 aka The Lost Metal is 72% done with its first draft! Brandon talks about the writing progress of this book in the update below, so check it out!

    ReDawn, the second Skyward novella, has had its progress bar move a couple times in the past week. It's now at 59% done.

    Evershore, the third novella, has its first draft 25% complete! It's moving fast, and I can't wait to see how its done.


    So let's see how Wax & Wayne are being written in the Weekly Progress Update. It came out on Tuesday this week, which is part of the reason why I decided to wait to put this post out. (Also please remember that the videos are recorded on a Thursday and usually uploaded on Mondays, so the discrepancies within what Brandon says in the videos and what's on the website are due to that difference, not his own inability to gauge book lengths.)




    Next up we have the podcast Intentionally Blank. ...I'm still behind on episodes, but it's promising to be a good one!




    Lastly we have the latest chapter of LUX.




    And as a closer, let's talk about the updates to this thread:

    As I said above, after Sunday I plan on logging out and taking some time to finish up some real-world things and prep for some big book posts I really want to make. That being said, if something big breaks, like news of another book or project, or a Wheel of Time show trailer, then I'll be back for that. What this means for this thread is that it won't be updated for a time. However, when I come back, I'll be sure to link all of the podcast episodes and preview trailers that will have come out since. I'll also do a review of LUX itself, assuming I finish it by the time I log back in (which is far from a guarantee with audiobooks). In terms of the Weekly Progress Update, unless there's a major announcement or a breakdown of a major announcement in the video, I'll just link the most recent one to come out upon my return.
    Any Q&A streams will also be uploaded when I return.

    But that's it for now!
     
  16. Use the Falchion

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    I'm back for a bit, and we have some fun news!

    First up is that Wax & Wayne 4, The Lost Metal, has finished it's first draft! Brandon wrote an update on Reddit earlier this morning, so go read it! It's coming out November 2022, so if you haven't read the rest of the Wax & Wayne series, you have time.



    Brandon also did a reading of the prologue of The Lost Metal at JordanCon a few weeks ago, along with a mostly non-spoiler Q&A. Enjoy!



    Next up on the progress bars, Cytonic's second proofread is at 100%, ReDawn is 100% with its third draft, and the third novella Evershore is 100% finished with its first draft. I'm curious when Sanderson will squeeze in a week to revise Evershore between his W&W revisions, but he has time.

    We also have confirmation that Dark One Volume 2 is being worked on by a tweet from some people at Vault Comics, including one of the writers himself. There's no release date or official plans, and I'm pretty sure we won't get any until the State of the Sanderson, but it's still nice to know!




    After that, we have the release of Lux! I did listen to it within a week. I'll post my review below. There won't be any spoilers, but I'll spoiler-tag it just in case.
    There was one final preview chapter released before the book came out, so if you haven't checked it out, here it is.



    I think this was the second best of the Reckoners book, with Steelheart in first place. And that's saying something since I'm not a fan of audiobooks AT ALL. I have maybe four total, and none of them are finished. (Dan Wells' Zero-G audio-novellas, and The Original are exceptions; but those were built for audio, which is a very different beast than something like Lux that's really made to be both print and audio.) Listening to this made for a weird experience. Had this just been a book, I probably could have knocked it out in a single day and have put on a nice soundtrack for the experience. But the audio form meant I had to sneak in almost fourteen hours of listening time, which was far more than ever before. I guess it wouldn't have been a problem if it wasn't a Sanderson book, but still...

    I really liked the science-y aspect of this book, but it felt a lot like Rhythm of War in a way, where Sanderson had characters discover secrets, explain the secrets, and then use the secrets. There were times where this became repetitive, but it all worked out in the end.

    Jax is a solid leading man. He's a lot like a Science Hero in an Action Hero's world, contrasting David's Action Hero with a Science Hero's demeanor. Zeff (which I couldn't help but think of "Szeth" until I saw the spelling), Abigail, Hersh, and Wade were all solid characters as well. Each had their own flavor and dynamic with Jax, and none felt too cartoonish, like the side characters in the original trilogy sometimes felt. Paige was the heart and soul of this book, and I'm very excited to see where her story takes her.

    Lastly, leading up to this book, Brandon kept saying that the story of Lux takes place during and after Calamity. This is a technical truth at best - Lux takes place at the same time of Calamity, with their endings lining up pretty well. If the Reckoners was a series, it'd be easy to imagine the two books' finales happening at the same time.* (YMMV on whether or not this would be a good thing, considering the stakes are different in each, but it's food for thought.)



    Overall, Lux was a very good addition into the Reckoners fold. It's a lot darker in tone than David's story, and I like that aspect of it. I'd love to see this turn into a complete trilogy over the next few years, because Jax and Paige's story is far from over. The twists and turns in this novel are pure Sanderson, and the writing is world is crisp and distinct from other Reckoners locations. I'd give this a solid 8.5/10.



    Other notes:

    I know it's not stated, but I imagine Jax as black.

    *While listening, I kept thinking about the Reckoners as a television show, and how to balance both stories. I currently have it as two dual stories being told. Season 1 would deal with David's story in the present and Hersh's backstory in the past. Season 2 would begin with Mitosis in the present and Jax's backstory in the past, and then the two would ultimately sync up. Season 3 would be the dual stories of Calamity and Lux. This is all subject to change, but that's how I have it now.

    I still worry about The Apocalypse Guard and how it'll fit into all of this. I really want to see the book someday. Given Dan's reading of it last year, it'd probably do really well as an audiobook. But I honestly don't care about the form so long as it comes out. And who knows, maybe we'll get that Mizzy story too.

    Lux's first novella's working title was Deathrise. I kept wondering why that was when the book came out, but it makes some sense as of why by the end.

    Not really related to Lux, but as much fun as this surprise drop was, I think I'd like something of a scheduled window for future Mainframe drop dates. Maybe not specific days, but something like "Coming, Spring 2022" or whatnot whenever possible.

    With Lux's release, Brandon did a small marketing push along with a Q&A with his coauthor Seven Michael Bohls. The two have a fun talk about their history and the origin of Lux, so check it out.






    After that we have a few episodes of Brandon and Dan's podcast Intentionally Blank. No new tidbits during them, but the talks are pretty fun! THE LATEST EPISODE IS A FULL SPOILER TALK ABOUT BLACK WIDOW. DO NOT WATCH IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN BLACK WIDOW.







    Lastly, there's a signing today! It's earlier than usual so the Eurpean fans can watch. Definitely check it out! Don't worry, I'll make note of any interesting tidbits in the Monday video with the update.

     
    #36 Use the Falchion, Aug 5, 2021
    Last edited: Aug 5, 2021
  17. Use the Falchion

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    I don't have a lot of time this week, so here are the updates and videos of the week, along with the stream from last week! (No new tidbits during the stream either.)







     
  18. Use the Falchion

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    It’s time for another Sanderson update, and boy do we have some fun stuff to talk about!


    First up is the Progress Bar. Sanderson is 100% through his revision of the third Skyward novella, and about 70% through his second draft of Wax & Wayne 4 aka Mistborn 7 aka The Lost Metal as per the latest update. (Coming Fall - most likely November - 2022.) He plans to finish up this revision by the end of September and then move onto Skyward 4, wrapping up that quadrilogy as well. (Coming Spring 2023.) The predicted finish time for W&W 4’s second draft is a little later than he previously estimated, but this is nothing to be worried about.

    Next up is this week’s update, which is a big one.



    Yes, Brandon is now putting on his own convention. Does it feel (a little more than) slightly narcissistic? Absolutely. But it also makes sense - Brandon is getting to the point where his audience is large enough to do something like this - his live action Q&As are constantly in the thousands in terms of viewership and he is one of the bestselling SFF authors currently. This also stops Brandon from hogging the attention of JordanCon, which should really be focused on Robert Jordan and The Wheel of Time. Since since that fandom is growing as well and will probably experience an exponential boost if the television show becomes popular (and hopefully is good), announcing a separate event now is very smart. All of that said, I'm not sure that Cytonic is the best book to try out this convention with, but I can see some logic to it - if the mini-con works well this year, they have next year to hone in on trouble areas, and by the time Stormlight 5 rolls around, the convention should be running pretty smoothly.
    Yes, I AM worried about this being something of a super-spreader event, but I myself am vaccinated, and while the vaccine I took doesn't require a third booster shot, I'm very much hoping that a third one will come out by the time this convention takes place in order for me to be as safe as I can be.

    https://minicon.dragonsteelbooks.com/


    After that, we have the monthly Q&A. It was pretty entertaining, and one of my (many) questions was asked at the very end, so that was super exciting! Let’s start there, and it should feed into the other interesting tidbits, talking points, and speculation:




    My question was about a timeline/release schedule for Brandon’s Mainframe projects. To this, Brandon noted that he’s really focused on the projects in front of him, and then will turn his attention to the other stuff afterwards. Right now that means the three Skyward novellas: Sunreach, ReDawn, and Evershore. The good news is that these novellas are getting a simultaneous eBook/Audio release unlike other mainframe projects*, and will be combined into a print form next year. So print-only fans will have a Skyward release in 2021, 2022, and 2023 if all goes well.


    After that, Brandon will turn his attention to the Dark One novelization with Dan Wells. Brandon did mention that Dan recently turned in a first draft of something related to that project, but nothing else was said on this. Brandon’s wording is sort of vague here, and I can’t tell if by novelization he means the actual novelization of the Dark One graphic novel, or the “audiobook but framed as a podcast” story about the serial killer in Dark One that the two were working on titled Dark One: Forgotten, or if that related project is Dark One: Forgotten. We honestly probably won’t find out until the State of the Sanderson, but that will be a fun thing to keep an eye on!


    Lastly is the Legion novella that Sanderson Sleuths spotted earlier this year, along with the Cytonic title leak - Legion: Death and Faxes. Brandon said that a first draft of that has been completed, but that’s all we know for now.


    There are no release dates or window mentioned for the Legion or Dark One stories, but we do have some for Skyward, that Brandon has mentioned in previous updates as well as towards the beginning of the stream.****

    The Skyward novellas will be released in the months leading up to Cytonic, with Evershore releasing soon after. Brandon called it something along the lines of a “four month extravaganza” and likened it to what the MCU has done this year, releasing one project shortly after another.

    Sunreach is slated for late September/early October, ReDawn for late October, and then Cytonic will release in late November. We’ll probably get Evershore in late-to-mid December.

    The novellas are almost novel-length according to Sanderson, but that leaves a lot of wiggle room in my opinion. Novellas are often far longer than what we think they are, but “almost novel length” could be anywhere from 40k words to about 70k words, if we’re talking Sanderson-length novels. My personal guess is that these novellas won’t be longer than 50k, but part of me desperately hopes I’m wrong - as far as I’m concerned, the more Cytoverse we get, the better.

    Skyward’s publishers, Delecorte, aren’t as pleased with this release strategy, fearing that there will be a major loss of interest and a steep drop-off before the Cytonic even releases, but Brandon has a little more faith in his fans.

    Personally, I’m torn. Usually I’d agree with Brandon, given how devoted his fanbase can be, but I’m not sure that enough people will care about the novellas to make them profitable. The good news is that both Brandon and Delacorte will get to have their cake and eat it too, since the novellas will be combined into one volume and released in 2022, meaning that those who didn’t know about the novellas are treated to a welcome surprise!


    But the Brandon-Janci collaboration train doesn’t end there, as we’ll be getting Alcatraz 6 early next year!

    We’ll also get two streams in October. The first will be a regular Q&A stream, while the second will be Brandon and his wife Emily opening up fan mail in full costume. Both are sure to have plenty of laughs.



    After that but continuing the video onslaught, we have the episodes of Intentionally Blank that have come out! They’re really good episodes, so have fun watching and/or listening!









    There’s no good place to put this either, but here’s a panel Brandon was one recently.




    Lastly, a bit of speculation. Early in the stream, Brandon’s mic was acting up. As his producer Adam went to fix it, it cut out right when Brandon was talking about what he did that day. (The timing literally couldn’t have been any better.) The sound came back on as Brandon mentioned something about a “demo getting better each time he plays.” This honestly could be about anything, from a Stormlight (which Brandon did have a poll for earlier in the year) to a different, unknown project. But there’s apparently a theory that Brandon may be providing lore for an upcoming game called Forspoken for the PS5, not unlike what George RR Martin did for Elden Ring.

    The earliest bits of this rumor I can find trace back to an interview last year, where Brandon talked about proving lore for a game from a “very large developer.” This coincided with Gary Whitta (writer of Rogue One) mentioning that he was working on a game and leading a team of people from the worlds of film, tv, and fantasy literature. Other associated links were found between this game that Gary was working on, and composer Bear McCreary. These latter connections were confirmed just last week, with the additional information revealed around Forspoken. Brandon’s involvement is still a rumor and will probably be so for a while assuming it’s true, but where there’s smoke, there’s fire.








    Brandon Sanderson Working On Game For "Fairly Large Developer" | TechRaptor

    Uncharted's Amy Hennig And Gary Whitta Are Working On Forspoken - Game Informer



    My own thoughts about this are...mixed. I’m still a believer in Soulburner, since it fits several of the pieces:

    Soulburner was first described as a sci-fi/space opera setting that had no story attached, making it perfect for a game-team to come in and create their own story within the world.

    Soulburner was potentially renamed Starburner, but Brandon still talks about Starburner a little differently than he does about Soulburner.**

    Soulburner has also had some interesting moves these past few years, and has gone from “nothing is happening with this so don’t get your hopes up” to “some secret stuff is happening with this and it’s all hush-hush.” If it was a movie, Brandon probably wouldn’t have an NDA about it, or at least would tell us there’s an NDA involving this; if it was a book, Brandon could probably just tell us; if it was a Mainframe project, Brandon would definitely just tell us, as many of these aren’t secret in what they are, just how far along they are. A game fits the criteria of a slow-moving project that has a lot of secrecy surrounding it but can be kept under the radar, and that Brandon can give lore advice and recommendations about without being too attached to the story.


    Granted, Soulburner and Forsaken may be the same project. In that case, everybody wins.


    Other things - Brandon has mentioned recording a full movie review. When that hits YouTube - and when it coincides with something else - I’ll upload it here.



    Well, that’s it for now. I’m not on this forum as much as I used to be at this time, and I don’t expect that to change for the remainder of the year. Due to that, I want to give y’all a schedule of things I WILL be here to post for:


    September:
    Sunreach release and review (If released in September. If not, I'll add the review into the Skyward 4 Draft 1 Update)


    October:
    Skyward 4 Draft 1 Update
    ReDawn release and review


    November:
    Cytonic release and review/Dragonsteel Mini-Con recap and review


    December:
    State of the Sanderson release and analysis
    Evershore release and review (if released in December)
    Skyward 4 Draft 1 Update


    Of course, any major reveals or surprise releases will be uploaded and talked about as soon as possible. However, if Forspoken IS the game rumored game Brandon has been assisting with, I most likely will not be covering it next year. I do not plan on buying a PS5 until 2023, when Spider-Man 2 is out (and hopefully when all of the Horizon: Forbidden West’s inevitable DLC is out, so I can buy the game and DLC in one disc, like I did with the first game). I may buy the game and play it with my brother-in-law, but that isn’t a guarantee or promise, only a slim possibility based on a rumor.*** We should know more about this either by this year's end or by the release of the game, but I make no promises either way.


    *This isn’t new information, nor is it entirely accurate. Lux will have have a print release sometime in the future, but Amazon wants to hold it as an audiobook for now, and have the right to do so as they were the ones who pushed for the project to get made. I wouldn’t expect a print version of Lux until 2023 or 2024.

    **Answering questions about Soulburner/Starburner is now my priority question for Brandon in a Q&A.

    ***I mean, if the reviews are good and the gameplay looks fun, I’ll probably buy the game anyways, since I’m usually a fan of Square Enix’s work, but if it’s not associated with Sanderson, I probably won’t buy it Day 1.

    ****My guess on the release of the Dark One and Legion stuff is that we'll see it next year. Lux had about a 6-7 month difference between its first draft and release, as will Sunreach, which was first officially revealed when its first draft was finished back at the end of April. So if Dan just turned this in, and Legion's has been sitting around for a bit, I can see those coming out in March/April 2022 or even towards the summer if they need to push it back. It'd be a nice treat for fans between Alcatraz 6 at the beginning of the year and Wax & Wayne 4 at the end.
     
  19. Use the Falchion

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    A minor update with some fun/major news - we have a cover for Sunreach, by Charlie Bowater (aka the guy behind the rest of the American Cytoverse covers) no less!

    [​IMG]

    Anyways, this week's update talks about Wax & Wayne 4's progress and the official release of Sunreach, along with an apology for the Dragonsteel Mini-Con website issues. (It was resolved by Friday, and I have since bought my ticket.) W&W 4's second draft should be finished up this week, with Brandon starting Skyward 4 next week. That doesn't mean we should expect him to do a reading of Skyward 4 at the release party of Skyward 3 or in the Newsletter...but I wouldn't be too surprised if that happened.



    Sunreach comes out next Tuesday, September 28.* ReDawn will release October 26, Cytonic on November 23, and Evershore on December 28.

    Preorders for Sunreach are here:
    https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/...94BA11C66BC4&aid=37245&linkid=PRH94BA11C66BC4

    Speaking of Cytonic, Tor has released the first chapter of the book. Check it out!
    https://www.tor.com/2021/09/17/excerpts-cytonic-by-brandon-sanderson-skyward-book-3/


    EDIT: In The 17th Shard's review of Lux, it's mentioned that Amazon Prime has the audio exclusive rights for two years. That would mean that Lux would have a physical release in 2023...lining up perfectly of when a sequel would ideally come out, and would fit perfectly right between Skyward 4 and Stormlight 5.


    Lastly is last week's episode of Intentionally Blank. It was a great one, but sadly ends with a not-too-surprising franchise cameo. I highly recommend this one for film fans.




    *This means I have a week to read Project Hail Mary as well as reread the Cytoverse stuff before Sunreach releases...challenge accepted. Now, if I was smarter, I would download Sunreach and ReDawn when it comes out, and then save them for the day of/before Dragonsteel Mini-Con so that I can read the novellas and then dive straight into Book 3 when it's in my hands. ...but I don't have enough self-control to save a Sanderson project for a little under two months. Besides, there should be plenty of time to reread them in the ideal order before Book 4 comes out.
     
  20. Use the Falchion

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    And by "this week," Brandon means officially marking the progress as 100% the very next day. Now it's off to the editors and beta readers IIRC, and Skyward 4 will start next week.
    Part of me thinks that Sanderson may actually start it this week, but I have a feeling he's going to use the time to outline Skyward 4 and double-check to make sure he's hit all of the major points from the series outline. But if we see a Skyward 4 Draft 1 Update on Reddit or a progress bar on his website later this week, I wouldn't be surprised.
     

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