Earlier this month, author Brandon Sanderson released Wind and Truth, the highly-anticipated fifth novel in his epic fantasy series The Stormlight Archive. Sanderson has upwards of 50 books under his belt at this point, but few hold the gravity of Stormlight, which he considers his magnum opus. And while any Stormlight book is a big deal, Wind and Truth is extra special because it marks the end of the first phase of this massive series, wrapping up major plotlines and setting the stage for what's to come. Book 6 will be set 10 years after Wind and Truth, and who knows what will have changed during the time jump?
To go with that in-world time jump, Sanderson is taking a hiatus from The Stormlight Archive for a while to work on a few other book series, namely Era Three of Mistborn and two sequels to Elantris, his first published novel. Sanderson discussed the upcoming hiatus in his yearly "State of the Sanderson" blog post, where he goes through everything he's done in the previous year and lays out what's to come.
"With Wind and Truth out as of a few days ago, it is finally time to move Stormlight to the back burner for a while," Sanderson wrote. "It was a fifteen-year-effort to get this sequence done, and I need some time off from the series. I do still love it, and consider it my opus, but writing on it is quite draining—and I’m ready for a break."
In case you're worried this means we won't see the world of Roshar for a long time, don't fret. Sanderson also confirmed that while he'll be working on Mistborn and Elantris for the next five or so years, he'll also be slotting a Stormlight novella into the mix. "I have scheduled the Horneater novella (about Rock, taking place during Book Four) to be written in about eighteen months, to give us another taste of Stormlight," he said.
Brandon Sanderson lays out his next five years of novels
In true Sanderson fashion, the author drilled down into specifics about what he envisions for this next phase of his career. "My plan is to finish the entire Ghostbloods trilogy, along with Elantris 2 and 3 (which will finish that series), before jumping back to Stormlight," he said.
As with the first Mistborn trilogy, Sanderson plans to write all three books of Ghostbloods before releasing the first, so that they can come out once a year. Right now he's eyeing a late 2028 release window for the first Ghostbloods book, followed by sequels in late 2029 and late 2030. The second and third Elantris novels will hopefully release in the summer of 2029 and 2030 respectively, between Ghostbloods installments. And then there's the Stormlight novella Horneater, which Sanderson tentatively predicts will be out in late 2026. That's a lot of new Brandon Sanderson books over those few years!
"Looking at that, I hope you can understand why it will take me a little time to get back to Stormlight, which I should spend 2030 and 2031 on, for a late 2031 release," Sanderson explained. "I’ve seen 2033 bandied about online, which I don’t think is likely. Remember, while books are coming out 2029-2030, I’ll be writing on Stormlight."
That means we're looking at a seven-year window before the next Stormlight book. While that might feel disappointing if you're itching to see what happens next on the world of Roshar, it also feels pretty understandable. The Stormlight Archive books are massive, and after the way Wind and Truth left off, it'll be important for Sanderson to bring some of his other series up to date in order to launch into the next phase of the Cosmere, where the dark god Odium stands as a greater threat than ever before.
And hey, if you are a little sad you'll have to wait, just remember: Brandon Sanderson is a writing machine. These are his projections, but it's all subject to change, something Sanderson himself is keeping in mind. "I think I’ll likely be faster than some of our projections, but I want to be careful to make a conservative estimate of when I’ll get back to Stormlight," he said. "So for now, enjoy Book Five, and savor it."
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