#threnody novel

[cosmerelists]

The Other Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse But Make It Cosmere

As requested by @round-hatches-are-terrifying. :)

In the Good Omens novel, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (War, Famine, Pollution, and Death), who are bikers, are followed by four other biker dudes who chose their own names to be, uh, equally ominous:

Grievous Bodily Harm, Cruelty to Animals, Really Cool People, and Treading In Dogshit (formerly All Foreigners Especially The French, formerly Things Not Working Properly Even After You’ve Given Them A Good Thumping, never actually No Alcohol Lager, briefly Embarrassing Personal Problems, and finally People Covered in Fish)

So let's say we had other Horsemen on various Cosmere planets. What would they be named?

1. Roshar (Stormlight Archive)

The Main Horsemen: War, Famine, Desolation, and Death

The Other Horsemen: Man-Eating Giant Crabs, Running Out Of Stormlight Right In The Middle of the Weeping, Ill-Conceived Boons, and Reified Gender Norms (formerly Men Reading, formerly Predicting the Future But Not Like Storm Wardens Do Because That's Just Math Basically, briefly just Predicting the Future)

2. Scadrial (Era 1) (Mistborn)

The Main Horsemen: Famine, Pestilence, Ash, and Death

The Other Horsemen: Child Abuse, Dangerous Piercings, Trying to Keep Literally Anything Clean, and Getting Hit in The Head With A Coin Like Every Night Because of Those Blasted Mistborn Flying About Everywhere

3. Scadrial (Era 2) (Mistborn)

The Main Horsemen: War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death

The Other Horsemen: Social Unrest, Rich Bastards, ACAB, and Getting Hit in The Head With A Coin Like Every Night Because of Those Blasted Coinshots Flying About Everywhere

4. Nalthis (Warbreaker)

The Main Horsemen: War, Famine, Death, and Second Death

The Other Horsemen: Undead Squirrel Attacks, Being Out of Breath, The Haunting Realization that the Gods Who Live Among Us Are Actually Pretty Daft, and All Foreigners But Especially the Idrians

5. Threnody (Shadows for Silence)

The Main Horsemen: Fire, Blood, Running, and Death

The Other Horsemen: Fortfolk-Acting-Too-Big-For-Their-Britches, Withering-That-Does-Not-Kill-You-But-Does-Make-Life-Just-That-Much-Harder-Forever, Ghost-Grandmother, and Adonalsium-May-Remember-Our-Plight-Eventually-But-For-Now-It-Is-Pretty-Bleak-Out-Here-Guys

6. Komashi (Yumi and the Nightmare Painter)

The Main Horsemen: Nightmares, Famine, Pestilence, and Death

The Other Horsemen: Artist's Block, Being Straight on a Planet Where Even the Lighting is Bisexual, AI Art, and A Stiff Breeze Coming At Exactly The Wrong Time Noooo My Rock Stacks

7. First of the Sun (Sixth of Dusk)

The Main Horsemen: Bad Death, Worst Death, Quick Death, and Slow Death

The Other Horsemen: Mainlanders, Mainlander Capitalism, Kids These Days, and Suspicious Invaders (?) From Outer Space

8. Sel (Elantris)

The Main Horsemen: War, Famine, the Shaod, and Death

The Other Horsemen: Aggressive Proselytizers, Stubbing your Toe, People Who Do Not Accept The Word of Shu-Dereth And So Seal For Themselves Their Own Inevitable Doom, and I'm With The First Guy Who Said Proselytizers (formerly People Covered in Slime)

[onlycosmere]

Questioner: Have we met the Admiral of the Night Brigade, or the family of said Admiral, before?

Brandon Sanderson: The Admiral of the Night Brigade is the protagonist of the unnamed Threnody novel. You have not met her yet.

I didn't say "hero" on purpose, I said "protagonist"! But when I write the Night Brigade novel (it'll probably just be called The Night Brigade), she's the protagonist.

[yesistolethisurl]

11 and 18 for the fic writer ask!!

11. What's an idea for a fic you've had that you'll probably never write?

I think I may have mentioned it before, but Red Dragon AU with Threnody as Hannibal Lector, and I keep alternating between Atavian or Daisy as Will Graham, from Gortash's POV. I think it deviates too much from the novel and NBC's Hannibal to truly be called an AU, but I do still think about it every once in a while

18. Is there some headcanon you've included in more than one fic?

[Minor Fate's Spindle Spoilers]

I had to wrack my brain for this one lol. They're sequential fics in the same series, so I'm not sure that counts towards the spirit of the question, but I have a head canon that the reason Atavian insists on sleeping by the fire instead of a proper tent is because it feels too close to being stuck in his prison cell again. He'd rather risk getting caught out in the rain than wake up confused in an enclosed space, and potentially doing something regrettable.

[harmony-discord-pipeline]

So I finished secret project 3 about seven hours ago, and I need to vent my love for this abomination of a wonder that is this book before I squeal loudly enough to wake the neighbors!

Brandon Sanderson, I direct this at you with all of my appreciation, nearly hyperventilating while grinning and cackling and tearing up from happiness:

What the (highly) absolute fuck was that?!

Seriously how?! Why!? I love this book so so so so much! But WHY?!?!

He made a world that was messed up weirder than Threnody, the weirdness disaster god death planet itself?!

He made a planet that was so Invested that it heated the ground to death-inducing levels, and that was before the activation of the undead world-destroying nightmare-supported time-lord-prison-utilizing spirit-trapping art-blaspheming neon machine.

Seriously, this novel features an undead world-destroying nightmare-supported time-lord-prison-utilizing spirit-trapping art-blaspheming neon machine!

Yet it’s the world I find the most beautiful and fascinating in the entirety of the Cosmere? I’ll be chewing on best-planet Komashi for the foreseeable future, so that’s great! Especially since we’re probably never going to visit this planet again!

And somehow secret project 3 is also a heartwarming tear inducing story of purpose and passion and connection. A story with characters I’ll be spinning around in my head for the next several months, if not longer. With a Sanderlanche that emotionally wrecked me.

By the way, let’s talk about the Sanderlanche! This Sanderlanche read to me like a love child of the Elantris and Warbreaker Sanderlanches, only with with Brandon’s current writing skill and Cosmere worldbuilding. Both of which had a strong willingness to let main characters die! I mean come on, there’s a hidden second epilogue not in the table of contents, solely to fuck with us into thinking this story would end with the major character death!

But this book not only gets a happy ending, but also has the fewest named character deaths of any full-length Cosmere novel to date?! (not counting those that were already dead from the start I mean, the only death is Usasha I think?).

To make my composure break even further, I found the artwork of the book itself be absolutely gorgeous! Aliya Chen’s showcase for this novel is beautiful while being perfectly suited for the vibe of the novel. The emotion and chemistry on display in the art? Fantastic. The colors and textures are so amazing! The way the artistry of the stacked rocks are captured on the page?! While also conveying just how overwhelming the nightmares would feel?! And the endpapers, those endpapers!

And the cosmere connections! The Hoid powers lore had me squealing! The discussion of Komashi’s Investitures and Yumi’s abilities in relation to other Invested beings! Design in general, Design best spren! And that’s only part of it!

Brando Sando, what made you decide to go this hard on this standalone novel?! I know you said you’re taking the gloves off, but this is ridiculous!

I don’t think this is going to be a novel that all Brandon Sanderson fans are going to love to this extent, since taste and individual standards are a thing that exists and that’s valid! Still, wow!

I can’t keep the grin off my face and tears of happiness from my eyes and I’m so so so so glad this book exists now!

[satoshi-mochida]

Some indie game recommendations from ones I’ve played or know enough about them to suggest them to others(mostly in no particular order), Part 6.

Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9

Esperia ~ Uprising of the Scarlet Witch ~

Meg’s Monster

Graveyard Girls

Analogue: A Hate Story/Hate Plus

Bistro Days

Dust to Dusk

Kind Words

Legends of Ethernal

Love Choice

Lucid9

Synergia

Vestaria Saga series

Please Be Happy

Journey

Neon White

Hindsight

Florence

If Found...

Don’t Escape series

Deep Sleep Series

The Spirit and the Mouse

The Messenger

Return of the Obra Dinn

Rakuen

Serment - Contract with a Devil

The Letter - Horror Visual Novel

Virgo Versus The Zodiac

ConnecTank

The Sekimeiya: Spun Glass

SPOOKWARE

Knock-knock

Wolfstride

This Way Madness Lies

Deluge: Threnody of Crashing Waves

Cooking Companions

Helltaker

Young Souls

Ghostrunner

Long Live The Queen

SeaBed

Astalon: Tears of the Earth

[patrickdiomedes]

RWBY/X-Men crossover thoughts

So, I've been thinking recently about a "What if Magneto was Pyrrha's dad?" fic, what with the magnetism. And then I started wondering about just bringing all the X-characters into RWBY. (possibly in the wake of whatever shitshow the end of the Krakoa Era turns into.)

Now, on the one hand, it'd make sense to have all the Mutants be faunus, but I don't wanna go that route. So instead, various mutants have been appearing for all of Remnant's history. Some of them remember their past in the 616 universe, most don't, only having vague feelings of deja vu sometimes when meeting another mutant. Not that they're technically "mutants" here, as the X-Gene is replaced by semblances. So on the one hand, mutants are no longer hated and feared. On the other hand, they're living on a death world with an immortal being who controls an army of monsters. (It's honestly kinda nostalgic for the Arakki mutants).

So far, the only concrete idea I have for any of the mutants is Magneto being Pyrrha's dad, and Wanda, Pietro, and Lorna being her siblings (Fuck you marvel, Wanda and Pietro are his kids and they're mutants) I'm thinking that Charles actually was part of Oz's inner circle several lifetimes ago, and they tried using his telepathy (along with some kind of power amplifier) to tell a whole kingdom (or a chunk of one) about Salem. It went...poorly, and was a contributing factor in Oz's secrecy in the present day.

Other ideas:

Sebastian Shaw is one of Jacques Schnee's chief business rivals. Doesn't remember his previous life, other than the odd bit of deja vu, and having an instinctive knowledge of how his semblance worked as soon as it activated. Worked in either a dust mine, or a dust refinery, and his semblance activated during a workplace accident. Ghira Belladonna's chief competition in the "Remnant's Most Glorious Chest Hair" contest.

En Sabah Nur would be a relic of the early humans, before the gods wiped them out. He still sleeps beneath the sands of Vacuo (possibly along with his kids and wife). Could do something with the Crown from the two Team CFVY novels wanting to awaken him, rather than just restoring the Vacuan Monarchy.

Just realized that the Aura Transfer tech Ironwood was developing could've been developed by someone who studied Apocalypse's mind transfer stuff. Even though if this is krakoa era Apoc, he no longer needs to do that.

the O5 x-men would be contemporaries of team STRQ, along with the team from Giant Size #1. That's Cyclops, Jean, Beast, Bobby, Warren, Nightcrawler, Storm, Wolverine, Banshee, Colossus, Thunderbird, and Sunfire, which does make for 3 teams of 4, if we're assuming that all of them were students of the huntsman academies. Maybe they were all from the other 3 academies, with STRQ at Beacon? Though Rogue, Havok and Polaris throw those numbers off. Though Rachel and Betsy bring it up to 16, so i guess it still works out.

I personally would have Hank as part of Ironwood's inner circle after the fall of beacon, with both of them exacerbating each others negative tendencies. I like Hank's villain turn, and feel like it's a natural progression of his character since at least the 90s (Justice for Threnody, motherfucker)

I'd put the New Mutants as a bit older than team RWBY, probably around the same age range as Winter, Cinder and the Ace Ops.

That's Cannonball, Mirage, Karma, Cypher, Magik, Wolfsbane, Magma, Sunspot, and Warlock. Not counting Warlock (who I have no idea how to work him in) that makes 8. Kitty would probably fall into this group too

This leaves Generation X and Academy X as contemporaries of team RWBY.

this is the group I know the least about. But that would be Chamber, Jubilee, Monet, Skin, Synch, Bling!, Eye Boy, and Quentin Quire for Generation X. Maybe have them be upperclassmen to RWBY's freshmen

then Academy X is Elixir, Icarus, Prodigy, Surge, Wallflower, Wind Dancer, Dust, Hellion, Mercury, Rockslide, Laura Kinney and Wither. Anyone else from the X-Men training squads would fall in this age group too.

Deadly Genesis was obviously not a thing in this universe, and the only one of those X-Men I care about is Darwin.

Selene is...around. Honestly I think it'd be hilarious if she just hung out in the Land of Darkness, eating grimm and really annoying Salem, after they figured out that Selene couldn't kill her. She still busts down Salem's door to drain some of her life force occasionally, but honestly it's the closest thing to friendship either of them has.

Mystique predates the Great War, and does Huntress work occasionally, but these days she mostly stays home with Irene (At least that's the official story). No one knows if she's human or faunus. Her relationship with her biological son Kurt (we're going with Claremont's original plan here, Mystique was the 'father' and Irene was the mother) and her adopted daughter Anna Marie is...strained.

Fuck it, replace Glynda with Emma Frost, it's not like Glynda is that important in the grand scheme of things. (y'all know I'm right)

Characters I'm not sure what to do with:

Forge (combine him with pietro pollendina/have them be colleagues?)

the Stepford Cuckoos

Cable

Bishop

Sage

Toad

Dazzler

Boom-Boom

Stryfe

honestly, it might streamline things to have all the time traveler characters come from the same dystopian future

Rictor

Akihiro

[cithaerons]

The War works with unparalleled diligence, Yet no one gives it a word of praise —Dunya Mikhail

Praise the war that cannot change course of rivers in this valley of omens and bomb-wounds.

Dear son, last evening, it took us forty-five minutes to defrost a tomato in water heated from Kerosene brought here last October.

Praise the war that could not puncture peaks—4590, 5140, Tololing; adorning them instead with ghosts of new martyrs and old narrative.

We don’t bathe from October to March. The truancy of hope keeps Chillblains away.

Praise the war that cannot melt ice, grow a tree, father fruits— in this valley of ‘whispers and small town clamour’

Ponies the size of logs carry 25 litre barrels in minus three degree. I accompanied a sprightly pony called Tillu. During our climb, Naik Birju Ram got frostbite. The pony was okay.

Praise the war that cannot not end; rising like a threnody from mountains, always approaching, but never quite there, until we find it like a stray bullet and silence

We take blood thinners. We melt ice water for drinking. Canned food slowly grows on you. Birju's ankle was amputated. The pony is okay.

Praise the war that gives us memorials, stories, films, novels, museums, advertising jingles, a reason, perhaps

The last blizzard blocked the TV antenna. I need to put out this Kerosene lamp. Moon shines on snow. I miss birdsong. I miss that pony called Tillu.

Ankush Banerjee, Kargil

[kunaiman]

I HAVE COMPLETED THE COSMERE!

Every book, every short story, every graphic novel, all done.

Overall, I started this journey on October 19th, 2022, and ended it on March 23rd, 2023.

Overall, this franchise has been a blast to read through. Of all of them, my favorite book is Words of Radiance. I love the Fleet chapter, it just is The Cosmere for me.

My least favorite book, without a doubt, is Hero of Ages. They make The Lord Ruler out to be some misunderstood hero. They flat out call him a good man on multiple occasions. Like. No. Honestly I feel like a large part of Dalinar's 3rd Oath scene is because of criticism I assume he got from that, where they imply that he hadn't actually been a terrible person, he was just being manipulated by Ruin. Sorry, buddy, but no, just because Ruin was telling you that you should do something doesn't give you amnesty.

Also is it just me or did Breeze just flat out get away with people not knowing he was a Noble? He mentions he was a Noble in his POV in Well of Ascension, but that's only his thoughts, and Sazed in Hero of Ages calls him a Skaa in one of his POV segments.

My favorite series in the Cosmere is undoubtedly Elantris, though this may change. I Just love Raoden as a protagonist, and I looooove Shai in Emperor's Soul.

My least favorite series is White Sand. I like the concept, but I'm just not a fan of graphic novels. They're valid, but I just prefer having words. If we're going by story, it's Threnody. Sorry, Shadows for Silence is just not enough to get me invested in this planet. Maybe later.

[rathalthisass]

Legit between Threnody and the description of the nightmares in Yumi, I would love to see what he would come up with actually TRYING to write a horror novel...

can someone please enlighten me as to why these two pages of a FANTASY NOVEL have scared me more than any sort of horror media i’ve been consuming for the last 2 years.

why is it brandon sanderson can conjure up more dread in me than stephen king or david lynch or kubrik or or or. like my heart rate actually spiked.

[writ-in-violant]

8 and 15 for Vivian!

Ok!

8. Do they collect anything? If so what and why?

As a nod to just the ridiculous quantity of things you pick up and carry around in Fallen London, Vivian is a bit of a hoarder. The main things that they directly hoard, though, are Storm Threnodies and other similar high-level Wild Words items. High-level Mysteries items also get hoarded; it took needing money to get into the Marvellous for Vivian to finally agree to sell some of their Searing Enigmata or Uncanny Incunabuli.

They don't hoard Black Wings Absinthe but Wines keeps foisting it upon them so they have a lot of it that they don't really drink so they just. Have it. Around. Currently they are also hoarding Cellars of Wine but there's a practical end to those eventually.

15. What kind of sense of humor do they have? Or do they have one at all?

Vivian does have a sense of humor! They tend to be wry and playful in a way that can come off as childish at various times; they like messing with people amiably or getting away with outlandish things (threesome on the Empress's throne, for example). They like puns, they like poking at people (such as when they published a romance novel ft. Wines as the love interest) but they're generally good-natured in it. They'd tease someone about a crush but comfort them through a bad breakup, you know? And they have a very high tolerance for jokes at their expense. While they can be extremely cutting to people they're angry with, that typically is less about humor and more about digging at someone's insecurities or inflicting nightmares upon them.

Send me more questions from this ask meme, if you’d like!

[lorewright]

Anybody looking for a good read?

Let me tell you about MERMICIDE!

https://www.instagram.com/p/CBbKQpEFWKB/?igshid=8zwve3mpgr5s

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Miss Mina Rose (Admin~Chan) (@m1ssm1) on Jun 14, 2020 at 10:46am PDT

It’s about a girl named Piper who lives on the island of Illyria, and the island is infested with a very unique pest- Mermaids. But boy are this mermaids interesting and pretty, especially Astrid who Piper is starting to befriend- but there are laws against human-mermaid relationships.

It’s also hella gay so if you’re looking for a good LGBT book written by a LGBT author- Mermicde got you covered!

Also seeing it’s free ebook day you can even get it for free!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Miss Mina Rose (Admin~Chan) (@m1ssm1) on Jul 12, 2020 at 10:12am PDT

https://www.instagram.com/p/CCjMsZSlqTa/?igshid=1nrubr033w1zi

[cosmerelists]

Ranking Various Cosmere Fantasy Swears

If there's one thing Brandon Sanderson likes, it's avoiding any real swear words in favor of Fantasy Swears. I am genuinely a huge fan of this technique. So here how I'd rank some of the ones I can remember! (And thanks to 17th Shard [here and here] and to Reddit for compiling some lists!).

#14: Colors (Warbreaker)

This one feels a little bit...lazy, I guess? Like yes, Warbreaker's magic is color-dependent, so colors are a big part of the world-building, so I guess it makes sense that people use it as a swear. But it feels like if, in fantasy USA, people swore by "eagles" all the time: "Eagles! I dropped my hamburger!"

#13: Moons (Tress of the Emerald Sea)

I mean same problem as with "colors"! Yes, the moons are a big aspect of the worldbuilding, but it just feels like a semi-boring swear. Although maybe that's just the swear that Tress tends to use.

#12: Shadows/Shades (Shadows for Silence/Sunlit Man)

Okay, maybe this one is a bit boring, but anything Threndy-related gets extra credit from me. So therefore I think this is one of the least boring of the "basically boring descriptors of world building elements" swears.

#11: By the Lord Ruler (Mistborn)

I mean...eh. This one is world specific, but it's basically like swearing by god only in this case the god is the Lord Ruler, right? It makes sense 'n' all but isn't as interesting as some of the later ones.

#10: By the Survivor's Scars (Mistborn)

This one is better because it's more specific--Kelsier's scars are rich with meaning, and swearing by them does feel like it carries cultural weight.

#9: By Harmony's Armbands (Mistborn)

Putting them all in a line like this...I just like how they get ever more specific. Now we're swearing by Harmony's feruchemical armlets? Okay!

#8: God Beyond (Shadows for Silence)

I mean, Threnody is, like, haunted by a god's corpse, so I think any of their god-related swears are more interesting as a result.

#7: Nights / Nights afire (Emperor's Soul)

I like this one because I just don't know what it refers to and it seems kinda creepy. What are nights on fire for??

#6: Rust and Ruin (Mistborn)

Frankly, the alliteration gets this one extra points. And "Rust and Ruin!" just feels like a good thing to shout when you've stubbed your toe.

#5: Storms/storming/Stormfather (Stormlight Archive)

I know this one SHOULD lose points for being exactly the sort of boring descriptive swear I maligned above...but I enjoy this one simply because it's such a clear linguistic stand-in for "fuck" and that leads to such amusing translations as "Kaladin Fuckblessed" or the "Fuckfather" and that just never stops being funny to me.

#4: Herald body parts (Stormlight Archive)

I didn't notice until looking at various compiled lists of Cosmere Fantasy Swears, but Rosharans really like to swear by specific Herald body parts, huh? From here: Kelek's breadth, Kelek's tongue, Ash's eyes, Ishar's soul, Nalan's hand, Pali's mind, Talat's hand...I'm a fan of this. It's interesting and feels culturally relevant.

#3: Glories Within (Stormlight Archive)

This one is just Szeth so far, but people speculate it's probably a Shin curse. That makes it interesting to me since we don't know a whole lot about the Shin. What inner glory are they using to swear?

#2: Starving (Stormlight Archive)

This one is pretty similar to "Storming," I suppose, in being a pretty clear linguistic stand-in for "fucking." But I just like that the food-obsessed Lift has her own personal swear relating to starvation.

#1: Lowly/Highly (Yumi and the Nightmare Painter)

I'm a big fan of the lowly/highly thing from Yumi & the Nightmare Painter, where words can be linguistically marked as meant in either a high way (complimentary) or a low way (insultingly). It's fun worldbuilding and leads to some comic beats in the novel. Plus, this post tickled me greatly: https://www.tumblr.com/cabinetcreature/722030379790401536?source=share. It's so true!

[onlycosmere]

C.K.: Will you delve more into the Threnody system?

Brandon Sanderson: I do intend to do more in the Threnody system. If I can get to it, there is a novel I want to write set on Threnody.

I have, I would say, 30% of an outline, right now, for that book. Whether I'll have time for it or not is, like most other side projects, up in the air. But I do think that something will happen there, eventually.

Isaac has a book that he's outlined that he would like to set on Threnody, because Isaac's gonna take a stab at writing some Cosmere fiction.

If you don't know, Isaac is my art director, and basically my first collaborator in the Cosmere, way back on Mistborn. He was one of my very first beta readers and did all the maps and things, and now works for me full time.

Rhapsody (paraphrased): Will the Threnody book take place in the Homeland?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased): A group wants to free the homeland of the Evil. It doesn't go well for them. Opening scene is all ships sinking and people washing up on shore.

AviH: So, the Shades on Threnody, they're enforcing the Three Rules. Would something bad happen if they weren't enforcing those rules?

Brandon Sanderson: I'm gonna RAFO that. The book on Threnody will not take place in [the Forests of] Hell, it will take place on the continent where the Evil is, but I hope to get into some of the rules for Hell when we're there.

simon_thekillerewok: You've talked about an upcoming book on Threnody called The Dust Brigade. What are we supposed to understand now that we've learned about the Night Brigade?

Brandon Sanderson: I've canonized that as the Night Brigade instead. I like the term "the Dusk Brigade" better, but I already have a character named Dusk, and so I decided to go with a name that's just a little more generic but doesn't copy one of the character names.

So The Night Brigade will be the title of the Threnody novel. When and if I get around to writing it, you will find out who the Dusk Brigade is!

Adam Horne: Is this a homage to the Night Watch?

Brandon Sanderson: It is more an homage to the Black Company.

[strikerez]

So, with the recent news that has come out in the past month, I have been inspired to come up with a new list for all of the cosmere stories. This time I will have sections for already published stories, upcoming releases, and then potential stories (anything that is not coming out in the next 2 years)

Note: any novellas/short stories will be marked with an *

Published Works

Elantris

The Hope of Elantris*

The Final Empire

The Well of Ascension

Hero of Ages

Warbreaker

The Way of Kings

The Alloy of Law

The Eleventh Metal*

The Emperor's Soul*

Words of Radiance

Sixth of the Dusk*

Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell*

Shadows of Self

The Bands of Morning

Mistborn: Secret History*

Allomancer Jak and the Pits of Eltania

White Sand Vol. 1-3 (with an omnibus edition of all 3 volumes, a bonus prologue, bonus content, and some updated art coming out later this year)

Edgedancer*

Oathbringer

Dawnshard*

Rhythm of War

Upcoming Releases

White Sand Omnibus (mass market release in November 2022)

The Lost Metal (November 15, 2022)

Secret Project 1 (January 2023)

Secret Project 3 (July 2023)

Secret Project 4 (October 2023)

Horneater* (no confirmed release, but presumably before SA5)

Stormlight 5 (Either November 2023 or Spring 2024, depending on if it gets pushed back or not; potential title of Knights of Woeful Truth)

Potential Releases (somewhat in a guess for publication order, though mostly not really)

A Boatload of Mummies (not written by Brandon, but a Mistborn story currently being written by Isaac Stewart, Brandon's art director; title subject to change)

Mistborn 3.1

Mistborn 3.2

Mistborn 3.3

Elantris 2

Elantris 3

Nightblood (Warbreaker sequel)

Stormlight 6

Stormlight 7

Stormlight 8

Stormlight 9

Stormlight 10

Dust Brigade (Threnody novel)

Other Threnody novel (Brandon has mentioned the existence of this story, separate from The Dust Brigade, and that's about all we know) This story doesn’t actually exist, it’s just something my brain didn’t realize was what Brandon has referred to as The Dust Brigade

Silence Divine*

The Arcanist (a story that will probably follow Khriss on the Darkside of Taldain; potentially written by Isaac Stewart instead of Brandon)

Silverlight Novella*

Secret Cosmere Standalone (for context, see the following WoB: https://wob.coppermind.net/events/491/#e15472)

Sixth of the Dusk sequel* (Brandon has done a reading for it, though it is somewhat spoilery for the general vibe of the future of the cosmere; read at your own risk here: https://wob.coppermind.net/events/448/#e14408)

Kingmaker (a more YA-ish story set on the First of the Sun; you can read a sample that Brandon read here: https://wob.coppermind.net/events/479/#e15153)

The Emperor's Soul Sequel* (Brandon has mentioned that he has some decent plans for a potential sequel)

Cyberpunk Mistborn (potentially 1-3 books, this is something Brandon has mentioned wanting to do but is not necessarily likely, unless Brandon gets very ahead of schedule at some point)

Aether of Night 1

Aether of Night 2

Aether of Night 3

Dragonsteel 1

Dragonsteel 2

Dragonsteel 3

Mistborn 4.1

Mistborn 4.2

Mistborn 4.3

I speculate that the Elantris and Warbreaker sequels, if they are written, will be written during breaks from writing Mistborn Era 3. If not then, then we might get them between SA books. All of the stories listed between SA10 and Dragonsteel 1 are most likely to happen as side projects between SA books, and potentially between Dragonsteel or Era 4 books.

If you combine all of these story counts, by the time SA5 has released there will be a total 28 published Cosmere stories. If you take out the potential stories that I consider least likely to actually happen (Boatload of Mummies, The Arcanist, the Silverlight Novella, and the Cyberpunk Mistborn book(s)), then we are looking at a potential total of 53 published Cosmere books, novellas, and short stories when this is all over. Which is just crazy. If all of the potential side stories also get published someday, we won't be halfway through the Cosmere yet even by the time SA5 is published. This doesn't even account for all of the non-cosmere things he has published and will probably continue to publish. Even if they might be co-authored.

I, for one, am very excited to continue this journey through the Cosmere and any other worlds Brandon writes in.

[pussyqueenslay]

So in the state of the Sanderson, he mentioned as soon as he was done with mistborn Era 3 he'd go right into Stormlight 6. I was kinda torn about this, cause in the one hand stormlight back five sooner than we thought, but also he has mentioned in the past the elantris sequels and nightblood book were slated to be before stormlight 6, and I've been looking forward to those for a while. But I looked back and realized he publishes about an average of ~3 novels in between stormlights. This means up to 12 throughout the back 5, meaning this is probably when elantris sequels and nightblood will happen. He's also mentioned a threnody novel, a first of the sun novel called Kingmaker, a "wacky YA cosmere story with magic kites" which has gotta be Whimsy's place, a "super secret standalone Cosmere novel" wonder what the hell THAT is, and Aethers of night. All in all, that's between 7-9 books. The last three could be random cosmere novels or stuff outside the cosmere, but he's also mentioned doing a mistborn era 3.5 that's like cyberpunk so maybe that? Idk man the future of the cosmere is nuts lol that's completely ignoring short stories, graphic novels, and cosmere collaborations with other authors which is something he mentioned before there is gonna be so much cosmere stuff for so long lmaoo

[wyndlerunner]

My Ranking of the Cosmere Novellas/Short Stories

(Going to try to avoid major spoilers for these works in case you haven’t gotten to them yet, but proceed at your own risk)

1) The Emperor’s Soul - An absolute 10/10.  Beautiful in every way.  A piece of art to rival Shai’s own work.  One of Branderson’s most unique protagonists.  Commentary about art and its relationship to its creator.  The dynamic between Shai and Gaotona *chef’s kiss*.  One of the few Sanderson works that acknowledges that good people in government does not benefit the people unless they’re willing to make systemic changes and pursue justice for everyone in their society.  Not surprised that this is the piece that finally got Branderson his Hugo award

2) Mistborn: Secret History - 9/10.  An automatic second place because of how critical it is to the greater Cosmere.  An in-text reference to Adonalsium? Check.  Confirmed worldhoppers from Threnody, Taldain, and Sel, with the bonus appearance of a fabrial? Check.  Kelsier’s tenderness towards Vin? Anime fight between Hoid and Kelsier?  Closure for some of our favs from Era 1?  Check, check, and check.  Not as beautifully crafted as the Emperor’s Soul, which is why I’m not giving it a 10, but a must-read for the Cosmere

3)  Dawnshard - 9/10.  Refreshingly different from the other Stormlight books. Representation of disabilities and bilingualism/experiences of immigrants.  Automatic two-stars for cat/larken mom, Rysn. Lopen’s little arc was also a punch in the gut, and so different from other character arcs in Sanderson’s books.  The Lore implications in this book are arguably almost as important as Secret History’s, but I’m placing it third because Sanderson kind of cheated with this novel-length “novella”.

4) Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell - 8/10.  A wild ride that I absolutely enjoyed.  Silence Montane is one of my favorite Cosmere women.  A mother willing to do anything for her children?  Down for murder?  Savvy, clever, and subtle in her craft?  This woman is everything to me.  Very different compared to the rest of the Cosmere, but not as unique when compared to the greater genre.  If someone chose this as their first Sanderson read, they wouldn’t get a good idea of his style or world building, but the implications to the Cosmere endgame are wild.  Ripe for fan theories

5) Sixth of the Dusk - 7/10.  I would die on Patji.  Actually, I wouldn’t even get to shore.  But I loved it still.  The recurring symbolism with the feather and individual arrogance?  The secret behind the Aviar? The relationship between the trappers and their love for their Aviar above all else?  The ending theme about how unchecked capitalism leads to exploitation?  A solid Sanderson read

6) Edgedancer - 6.5/10.  I like Lift as a character, but 50k words of her POV narration is a little tiring.  A full star for grumpy Wyndle and his usefulness in giving us good Lore. I liked getting to see parts of Roshar we hadn’t encountered yet, and seeing parts that often get left out of the royal POVs that make up the main series. A solid read but not particularly outstanding amongst Sanderson’s other short works

7) The Eleventh Metal  - 5/10.  Good backstory for Kelsier but didn’t have a ton of substance and wasn’t particularly memorable.  Didn’t dislike it, but wouldn’t go back to reread, whereas  the other works above add value with each reread

8) The Hope of Elantris - 4/10.  An underwhelming read that was alright, and just short enough that I didn’t get too annoyed with it.   It gets a star because Dashe is a legitimately good father and we know that the Cosmere could use every one of those that it can get.  An extra star because of the author’s note at the end of it and the kindness that compelled Branderson to even write this little piece.  If 13-year-old me knew that my favorite author made me the main character in one of his stories, I would have wept.  I’m sure real life Matisse was similarly moved

9) Allomancer Jak and the Pits of Eltania - 1/10  I know he was writing this to feel like an old-timey western story but I couldn’t stand it.  A few paragraphs from the newspaper clippings in Era 2 were fun and refreshing, but a whole short story made me want to bang my head on the wall.  I skimmed through this purely for the Lore, and I really only got some information about how the Koloss are made, but not much more than you can glean yourself from reading the Mistborn novels and other shorts. Not really worth reading except for the street-cred of claiming you’ve read every Cosmere work