Brandon Sanderson has done it again! At this past weekend's Dragonsteel Nexus convention in Salt Lake City, Utah, Sanderson dropped a bombshell on the audience by revealing that he's once more written a new novel in secret, which he'll be releasing in 2026. Can we even call them Secret Projects anymore if he's putting them out with this sort of staggering consistency? At this point, it might be more shocking if Sanderson didn't have some secret book up his sleeve.
This new book is titled The Fires of December, and just like several of the previous Secret Projects before it, it's set in the Cosmere, the interconnected fictional universe where all of Sanderson's adult fantasy stories take place. It's another story that features Hoid, the world-hopper who appears in some form or other in just about all of Sanderson's Cosmere works.
You can watch Sanderson's announcement at around the 29:00 mark in the Dragonsteel Nexus livestream below, or read on for more details.
The Fires of December is part of "Hoid's Travails"
The announcement for The Fires of December came at the end of Sanderson and his wife/business partner Emily Sanderson's presentation on the Hoid Storybook Collection crowdfunding campaign, which Sanderson's company Dragonsteel plans to run through Backerkit early next year. The Hoid Storybook Collection is a little different than Sanderson's previous crowdfunding campaigns in that it is four books, each done in a different style, which capture some in-universe story or other that Hoid — a notorious storyteller of the Cosmere — has told to other characters. That includes fan-favorites like The Dog and the Dragon from Rhythm of War and Wandersail, the story Hoid performs for Kaladin during The Way of Kings.
The Fires of December is a bonus part of the Backerkit campaign for the Hoid Storybook Collection, much in the same way that Isles of the Emberdark was part of the Words of Radiance leatherbound crowdfunding campaign. Sanderson said that Tor and Gollancz — his traditional publishers in the U.S. and UK, respectively — will later publish their own editions, just like they've done for his previous Secret Project novels. The traditional release for The Fires of December will be around the 2026 Christmas season, according to Sanderson, while the crowdfunding campaign is set to go live earlier in the year in March.
"So, for a number of years now, we've had a Cosmere novel every year. And people started to ask me, 'Brandon, well, 2026, where's the Cosmere novel?' We've gone one," Sanderson said to raucous applause. "I really enjoyed writing Tress of the Emerald Sea and Yumi and the Nightmare Painter. And I thought there are more terrible things that have happened to Hoid in the Cosmere, and so this is now a series. This is the stories of Hoid's travails, in which terrible things happen to Hoid and he tells you a story about it."
I love that this new series about "Hoid's travails" has grown organically, rather than being something that Sanderson has meticulously planned out like he usually does. Tress of the Emerald Sea and Yumi and the Nightmare Painter were two of his original Secret Project books during 2023's Year of Sanderson, and they felt fresh and new for how they delved into different aspects of Hoid's (and Sanderson's) storytelling. That the author enjoyed it so much that he's now written another similar book is very intriguing.
Hoid isn't the only connection to those earlier Secret Projects that The Fires of December has, either. Sanderson revealed that the artist doing the artwork for this new book is Tran Nguyen, the same artist who did the Tor Books version cover art for Yumi and the Nightmare Painter. So they should look good on a shelf beside each other!
But what is The Fires of December actually about? If you were lucky enough to be at Dragonsteel Nexus, you might have caught Sanderson's live reading of some of the book. But for the rest of us, here's the official description:
In the next Cosmere standalone novel, Hoid has an epic tale to share: In a forgotten land sustained by colorful rivers of demon blood, a young woman named December learns a devastating plague is on its way. But who will believe her? Against impossible odds, she sets sail up the River Violet to warn the king's court, determination—and wisdom beyond her years—burning in her eyes. Along the way she’ll navigate incredulous royal officials, twisted court intrigue, and a roguish count with only her wits and her new friends: a talkative priestess and a fledgling fashion designer.
When does The Fires of December release?
While Sanderson didn't specify a solid release date for the Dragonsteel edition of The Fires of December, it sounds like this book will get out to readers a lot faster than Isles of the Emberdark, which went through several delays following the Words of Radiance campaign. Typically, the Tor and Gollancz versions of Sanderson's Secret Projects follow a few months after the Dragonsteel editions, so if those publishers are planning on having this book out for the 2026 holiday season, I'd expect the Dragonsteel edition to ship sometime over the summer. We'll have our ear to the ground for updates on the book's release schedule.
For now, you can learn more about The Fires of December and the books in the Hoid Storybook Collection over at the Dragonsteel Backerkit campaign. For more on Sanderson's latest book, Tailored Realities, check out our spoiler-free review!