Unpublished works

This page lists all of Brandon Sanderson's works, written or unwritten, that have not been published. Some of these are written novels that have been "trunked", some of which have been re-written or cannibalized from. Some are ideas Brandon has talked about briefly but it is unknown if they will ever actually be written. The remainder are forthcoming works that, while unwritten, will come out eventually.
A list of those works that have been published can be found in the Bibliography article.
== Forthcoming Works ==
===Cosmere Works===
; The Stormlight Archive
: Books 6-10
:: Book 6 will feature flashbacks from Lift, Book 7 from Renarin, Book 8 from Ash, Book 9 from Taln, and Book 10 from Jasnah. They will not be written until after the Mistborn: Ghostbloods trilogy.
: Elsecaller
:: A short story about Jasnah Kholin. It was available as a series of trading cards at Dragonsteel Nexus in 2024 and random packs of cards are available for purchase on Brandon's website. It should be published sometime in 2025.
: King Lopen the First of Alethkar
:: A short story about Lopen, set during the end of Words of Radiance. It was available as a series of trading cards at Dragonsteel Nexus in 2024 and random packs of cards are available for purchase on Brandon's website. It should be published sometime in 2025.
: Horneater
:: The tentative title of a novella about Lunamor, the Unkalaki also known as Rock. It is set post-Oathbringer, involving him returning to his homeland. Brandon previously believed it would be available as part of the Words of Radiance leatherbound Kickstarter in 2024, but due to his writing time being booked up, it will be released sometime after.
; Mistborn:
:; Ghostbloods (Mistborn Era 3): A trilogy that takes place in an urban setting with a 1980s technology level, with elements of a Cold War-era spy thriller. To be written between The Stormlight Archive books 5 and 6. Formerly known as the Mistborn Era 3 trilogy.
:; Mistborn Cyberpunk trilogy
:; Mistborn Space Opera trilogy: A space opera, with interplanetary travel. Sanderson has confirmed Hoid to be a main character in this Era. The 1980s trilogy and the space trilogy are "cornerstones" of the Mistborn story and will have wide-ranging consequences in the cosmere. He anticipates the novels in this era to go Stormlight length.
:; Book of Nails
:: Isaac Stewart is working on a story featuring Nicki Savage; he previously wrote her stories in the Elendel broadsheets. He describes it as "an adventurous woman with erratic magical powers travels with an expedition to an island to find a legendary book with the power to raise an undead army." Brandon helped with the outline, but it would be the first full-length cosmere work primarily written by another author. It was intended to be a novella, but grew into a novel, and the first draft was completed in 2022. It was originally referred to as Boatload of Mummies.
; Elantris trilogy 2-3
: Takes place ten years later with an all new cast. Need to be written before the third, 1980s-esque, Mistborn trilogy, and likely to be written between The Stormlight Archive 5 and 6.
:; Elantris sequel: Follows Kaise, Daorn, and Adien as ambassadors to Fjorden. Called Dakhor in Brandon's notes, it will also feature the return of Jaddeth.
:; Elantris finale
; Nightblood: Sequel to Warbreaker. Although Brandon does not necessarily like to write prequels, he has mentioned that the backstory of several Nalthian characters could be explored in the book; he considers this an exception due to the circumstances around the writing and release of Warbreaker, and may also introduce new characters. Will be written sometime after Stormlight 5, possibly after Stormlight 6; Mistborn Era 3 and Elantris sequels are likely to come first.
; Isles of the Emberdark
: A reworking of the planned Sixth of the Dusk sequel with Sixth of the Dusk being folded into the narrative as a flashback. Announced as a Secret Project alongside the Backerkit campaign for the Words of Radiance leatherbound, it is set in the far future Cosmere with high Cosmere connectivity and a planned setting in the Cognitive Realm. Brandon originally read an excerpt for the Rhythm of War virtual release party before reworking it into its current form. It is scheduled to be released in 2025.
; Dragonsteel series
: A series of books that will only be written after the Stormlight Archive is completed. The number of installments has changed over time but it was most recently stated to be three books.
:; The Liar of Partinel/The Lightweaver of Rens: Hoid's origin story. They are likely to be folded into the Dragonsteel sequence, as the series needs to be almost entirely reworked.
; Aether of Night
: A rewrite of Brandon's tenth novel, as various elements of the original were cannibalized for other works (such as Decay becoming Ruin). No longer is trunked. Brandon has said this will be drastically different from the unpublished novel and will only retain the location in the cosmere and the magic system. Brandon is still unsure when he will fit this story into the overall cosmere timeline, but it is planned to be three novels.
; The Night Brigade
: A novel set on Threnody has been part of Brandon's plan for the cosmere since before he was published. Originally planned to be the story of the people who fled to the Forests of Hell after the Evil destroyed their Homeland. He has recently considered changing the story to that of an expedition being sent back to the Homeland. A tentative title was thought to be The Dust Brigade, but in reality it was The Dusk Brigade. Brandon later changed the title to The Night Brigade because a character named Dusk already exists in the cosmere. It would be darker than other cosmere works and have some relation to Silverlight. It is not considered a core cosmere book and could be cut if Brandon does not have time to write it. It will feature a cosmere group that Brandon wants mentioned before the cosmere sequence ends.
; The Silence Divine: A novel set on Ashyn in the Rosharan system, where diseases grant magical abilities. At one point, it was likely to be renamed, as Brandon had recently written another novella with "Silence" in the title, though it has been several years since then. Unlikely to be written anytime soon, as Brandon needs to research more about immunology and has limited time. While being mentioned as a Novella for the longest time, this has most recently been stated to be planned as a Novel.
; Untitled Silverlight story
: A novella set in Silverlight. Would need to follow the Threnody novel, if it is written.
; Unannounced novel
: An unannounced cosmere novel projected at 200k-300k words, set in the future of the cosmere. It is distinct from the 2023 Kickstarter secret projects, and is "perhaps more beastly and epic" than his other side projects.
; White Sand Prose Rewrite
: There will be a prose rewrite of White Sand that would better match the events of the first three graphic novels.
===Non-cosmere Works===
; Cytoverse works
:;Skyward Legacy
::The sequel trilogy to Skyward, written by Janci Patterson. The first of which has the tentative title Blightfall.
;Super Awesome Danger
: A middle grade story written in secret with the help of his sons, Brandon envisions it as a graphic novel.
; The Reckoners sequels
:; Lux (prose)
:: The audio original was released in 2021, and a print version is coming at some point in the future.
; The Original (prose)
: A prose version of the audio original is expected after the exclusivity period with the audio publisher ends.
; Legion audio dramas
: Brandon always envisioned Legion as a TV series; because that has not happened yet, he is instead developing a series of audio dramas. The showrunner is his partner in Mainframe, Max Epstein. The first of these audio dramas is titled Stephen Leeds: Death & Faxes.
; Dark One sequels
: Two sequel graphic novels are planned, as well as a possible TV show and two audio originals. The audio originals are titled Dark One: Forgotten and Dark One: Prophetic Histories. The graphic novels may also be released in prose form.
; The Apocalypse Guard
: A follow-up of The Reckoners for Random House. It was originally set in the Reckoners universe and even had the potential to cross over into the Cytoverse, but the current setting is unknown. Features a team that goes to alternate universes to prevent world-ending events. Planned as a trilogy, initial attempts at writing the first installment "did not work". Brandon attempted a somewhat unusual collaboration with author Dan Wells to try and fix the project. The collaboration progressed with additional revisions and "[got] weirder". After the revisions, neither Brandon nor Dan was totally satisfied and the project was shelved. It has not been abandoned, and Brandon plans to work on it after Skyward 4.
; Songs of the Dead, formerly Death By Pizza
: A novel originally featuring a necromancer pizza deliveryman. Was on hiatus for years. Progress was made, and the main character's job was changed to a heavy metal singer. Brandon decided to collaborate with Peter Orullian due to his knowledge of heavy metal culture. A draft was completed in 2018. It was further revised in 2019-2021. As of 2023, the book was complete and being sent to publishers, with a release expected soon.
;The Rithmatist sequels
: Two sequels are planned, tentatively titled The Aztlanian and The Nebraskian. Writing a sequel to The Rithmatist has proved to be difficult. Brandon still intends to wrap the series up, but has various other projects that will be worked on first.
; Moment Zero
: A long novella that will release in the collection, Tailored Realities, with Snapshot, Perfect State, and Defending Elysium in late 2025. The premise and setting are unknown.
== Potential Works ==
These are projects that Brandon has mentioned as possibilities but there are no firm plans in place.
===Cosmere Works===
;Arcanum Unbounded 2: Will contain more short stories and the Nalthis essay. However, many of the short stories that could have been published in an Arcanum Unbounded 2 became full-length Secret Project novels.
; Mistborn
:; 1940's Mistborn
:: Potentially more short adventures set before Era 3. Could be a novella.
:; Near-future Cyberpunk Mistborn
:: Potentially more adventures set between Era 3 and 4. It is not a cornerstone of the overall Mistborn story, and could be done as a novella or not at all. He has stated as recently as April, 2024 that he has, in his head, committed to writing it. It is, however, not confirmed. 
:; Mistborn: Secret History 2
:: Brandon has mentioned a potential sequel to Secret History on several occasions, potentially including flashbacks and additional backstory related to both Era 1 and Era 2. However, he has explicitly stated that it is a low priority compared to other cosmere works and may never be written, especially since the first Secret History took nearly a decade to write and Brandon considers this type of side project "self-indulgent". Kelsier is planned to be involved in Mistborn Era 3, which increases the likelihood of another Secret History when Brandon gets to that point.
:; Parallel Mistborn novel from Hoid's perspective
:: Like Back to the Future Part II. Last mentioned as of 2018.
; White Sand
:; Second Set of White Sand graphic novels: These would be set on the Darkside of Taldain, and would also be a trilogy. They would not, however, be prose.
; Kingmaker: a young adult novel set on First of the Sun. It would not feature Dusk. Brandon read from the first draft at the Cytonic release event in November, 2021.
; Untitled The Emperor's Soul sequel: a story set in the Rose Empire on Sel. Initial plans were for a story not centered around Wan ShaiLu except perhaps a cameo role. However, Brandon later came up with a story idea for Shai that is more of a direct sequel.
; YA book set in a minor cosmere planet: Set in the future of the cosmere (between Mistborn era 3 and 4), it would follow one of Hoid's apprentices, stranded on a minor planet and trying to figure out their kite-based magic system.
; Mythos series: In the 2022 and 2023 State of Sandersons it was mentioned that Brandon was thinking about writing a series set on Mythos, a planet briefly mentioned in The Lost Metal. No other information has been offered at this time.
; The Grand Apparatus: In the 2023 State of Sanderson it was mentioned that he was planning to write a book called The Grand Apparatus. No other information is known about this work.
; Additional Cosmere stories by Isaac Stewart
: Brandon was originally resistant to collaborating on cosmere stories, but has since noted that Isaac is the only person he would trust to work in the shared universe and do it justice. Isaac now has a "blank slate" to develop cosmere works. The first of these potential projects is Book of Nails, but other ideas have been mentioned, including a story titled Son of Bones and set on Scadrial (possibly on the southern continent), The Arcanist featuring Khriss, and a story set on Threnody. The first draft of Book of Nails was finished as of 2022.
; Additional Cosmere stories by Dan Wells
: It was announced in 2022 that Dan Wells had been appointed as VP of Narrative at Dragonsteel, part of this involves writing new stories set in the Cosmere. Brandon has stated that he is working closely on these with Dan. Dan himself indicated that work has begun on his first novel which is focused upon something that has not been covered by the Cosmere, or the fantasy genre as a whole.
; Cosmere picture books
: Based on cosmere folk tales such as "The Dog and the Dragon" and "The Girl who Looked Up".
===Non-Cosmere Works===
; Additional Cytoverse works
:; The Eyes
:: A short story set in the Cytoverse; it is a space opera inspired by Fermi's paradox. A draft was made available in an early Patreon campaign. Brandon quickly decided that the lore was not working well and shelved it. He repurposed an idea from the story about "living" power sources into the taynix. A tweaked version of the story could still take place in Cytoverse continuity and Brandon has not ruled out rewriting it.
; Additional The Reckoners works
: Brandon has some general ideas for a standalone Mizzy book, but nothing concrete.
; Adamant
:Formerly titled The Lurker. Planned as a sequence of six novellas, two of which will be written by other authors. Brandon wants to wait until all four of his novellas are written before finding co-authors. Only one episode has been written, but he has had a breakthrough in some visuals and worldbuilding. The second novella could be written at any time. There was some consideration of a shared universe with Skyward, but this is not likely. It remains in limbo due to other projects taking precedence.
; I Hate Dragons
: After Brandon made a short story of the same name available for free on his website, as well as 4 chapters of a more fleshed-out version, he created an outline for a full book, which hasn't been further realised, yet.
; Zeek Harbinger, Destroyer of Worlds: Middle grade sci-fi humor, potentially a follow-up to the Alcatraz series. About a young man who whenever he visits a planet, the planet blows up shortly after for various reasons (such as a nuclear catastrophe). Each book would be set on a different world and tell the story of how it blows up.
; Mulholland Homebrew's Sinister Shop of Secret Pets: Middle grade/YA humor, about a girl who accidentally apprentices herself to a guy who runs a fantasy pet shop. First mentioned in 2012, Brandon is still interested in the story as of 2022, but it's more likely to be adapted in a different format, if at all.
; Non-cosmere picture books
: In 2020, Brandon mentioned shopping a non-cosmere picture book. He would prefer to gain some experience in this area before publishing a cosmere picture book. It is possible that this was The Most Boring Book Ever.
== "Trunked" Works ==
These are works that are unlikely to ever be published either because elements have been co-opted for use in other books (as with Mythwalker and Aether of Night) or because the book has been re-written from scratch (as with White Sand Prime and The Way of Kings Prime).
; White Sand Prime
: Brandon's first novel, later re-written as White Sand (prose).
; Star's End
: Brandon's second novel, a short alien-relations/sci-fi story.
; Lord Mastrell
: Brandon's third novel, a sequel to White Sand Prime.
; Knight Life
: Brandon's fourth novel, a fantasy comedy.
; The Sixth Incarnation of Pandora
: Brandon's fifth novel, a far future sci-fi involving immortal warriors
; Dragonsteel Prime
: Brandon's seventh novel, served as his undergraduate honors thesis. Will be rewritten for the main cosmere sequence. Made available as both ebook and hardcover as part of the Words of Radiance leatherbound crowdfunding campaign.
; White Sand (prose)
: Brandon's eighth novel, a complete rewrite of the first. This later served as the basis for his graphic novels.
; Mythwalker
: Brandon's ninth novel, a book that included the characters Vivenna and Siri
; Mistborn Prime
: Brandon's eleventh novel, elements were later combined with Final Empire Prime for Mistborn: The Final Empire.
; Final Empire Prime
: Brandon's twelfth novel, elements were later combined with Mistborn Prime for Mistborn: The Final Empire.
; The Way of Kings Prime
: Brandon's thirteenth novel, later re-written as The Way of Kings. This is being published as part of the Way of Kings 10th edition Kickstarter in hardcover form and is available as an ebook for free on Brandon's website.
; The King's Necromancer
: An early draft was partially completed in 2010. Elements of the magic system were later incorporated into the project that became Songs of the Dead. The text of the original draft has been completely discarded, and there has not been any indication that it is still in the works.
; Climb the Sky
: An early cosmere book that was the origin of the character that eventually became Syl. It would have possibly involved aethers and flying magic.
== Notes ==
 
category: list articles