Stormlight hiatus, Mistborn Era 3 and Elantris sequels: Brandon Sanderson outlines the next phase of the Cosmere

Mistborn Era 3 and Elantris sequel release windows revealed

One thing Sanderson always does in these yearly blog posts is lay out a rough sketch of what he thinks he'll be working on for the next few years. With the end of Stormlight's first arc in sight, the author has an unusual opportunity for a bit of a break ahead, without the usual Stormlight book in his immediate writing rotation.

Instead, the next major Cosmere books he'll be working on are the third trilogy of Mistborn novels—working titled Ghostbloods—and two sequels to his debut novel and first published entry in the Cosmere, Elantris (2005). "I expect to start Ghostbloods (the name of the Era Three series) on January 1st, 2025. Half of next year will be revisions on Stormlight, and the rest I’ll spend catching up on things (like doing a White Sand prose novel update) that I’ve let languish a little too much lately," Sanderson explained. "I’ll be writing Ghostbloods straight through, maybe with Elantris sequels in between, and don’t want to release any of them until they are all done."

Here are Sanderson's projected release windows for the Ghostbloods trilogy as well as the two Elantris sequels he has planned:

• December 2028: Ghostbloods 1
• Summer 2029: Elantris 2
• December 2029: Ghostbloods 2
• Summer 2030: Elantris 3
• December 2030: Ghostbloods 3

Now, you might notice that those dates go quite a while past 2024, when the fifth Stormlight book Wind and Truth releases. There will still be other Sanderson books out between then and 2028—you'd be crazy to think there won't. But according to his projected schedule those will primarily be part of the Skyward sequel series, which Sanderson is participating in in an advisory and editorial role as author Janci Patterson writes the books. Skyward is officially Sanderson's "best received, best selling, and best reviewed non-Cosmere work." The fourth and final novel in the original series, Defiant, landed on shelves in late November, 2023.

Sanderson will also be working on some other projects, like the "definitive novelization" of his story White Sand, as well as a Stormlight novella called Horneater about the Bridge Four member Rock.

Mistborn movie is "on pause," as Sanderson "decide[s] on a strategy"

Sanderson also gave us updates about film adaptations of his work. Despite his popularity, Sanderson has yet to have any of his books turned into movies or television shows. That's not for lack of trying; the author has occassionally updated fans on his YouTube channel about his progress in Hollywood, especially since the success of the Secret Project Kickstarter in 2022.

Mistborn is the main Cosmere property that Sanderson has spoken about turning into a movie, even discussing writing a script for a screen treatment. It sounds like for now, the Mistborn movie is on ice.

"The Mistborn film has been in development but has run into some hiccups and is on pause for now, but I hope to have more news to share in 2024. But really, there’s not much else to report. Snapshot (the novella) is still being tinkered with at Universal. It might be the only thing under option right now, because I basically put everything else on hold, despite interest, as I decide on a strategy.

Tress would make a pretty great animated feature though, don’t you think?"

- Brandon Sanderson

Tress of the Emerald Sea was the first of Sanderson's released Secret Projects, a whimsical story inspired in part by The Princess Bride. And...yeah, that would make a pretty great animated movie now that I think about it.

Let's end the round-up in Roshar, the setting for Sanderon's biggest series: