Fantasy Novelist Brandon Sanderson Makes Shocking Announcement

Prolific fantasy writer Brandon Sanderson made a shocking announcement to his fans today, which could have a major impact for fantasy and sci-fi fans in 2023. Sanderson, the writer of a popular series of fantasy novels set in a single shared universe known as the Cosmere, announced that he had written four "extra" full-length novels over the past two years, using the extra time in his schedule from not traveling to conventions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sanderson kept these novels secret from everyone but his family and only revealed them to his editing and business team late last year. Three of the novels are set in Sanderson's cosmere universe, while a fourth is "something completely different." The full video of the announcement can be seen below:

Instead of releasing these novels through a traditional publisher, Sanderson announced that he was holding a Kickstarter campaign to directly sell the books to his fans, with options for eBooks, audio books, or hardcover books. Sanderson will release all four books in 2023, in addition to eight "swag boxes" that will serve as a limited time subscription box for fans. The Kickstarter went live in conjunction with a YouTube video announcing the new novels, and had raised nearly $4.7 million after just three hours.

Sanderson is a prolific writer of fantasy and sci-fi novels best known for completing The Wheel of Time series after Robert Jordan's death and for his own fantasy novels that feature intricate and varied magic systems. The majority of Sanderson's books are set in the Cosmere, with a shared underlying mythology that's slowly revealed over the course of the books' releases. While the majority of Sanderson's Cosmere books can be enjoyed either as standalone books or as part of a novel series, the Cosmere acts as an equivalent to a "cinematic universe" with characters from one novel series occasionally popping up as minor characters in other series. The "core" Cosmere book series is the epic-length Stormlight Archives series, which serves to progress the main plot of the overall Cosmere mythos. 

You can check out Sanderson's Kickstarter here.