Tor Books has just released lots of new details on Brandon Sanderson’s next work, Mistborn: The Alloy of Law, including the revelation of Chris McGrath’s steampunk-ish cover for the new title! (Oh, how we’re clamoring to get a peek at the manuscript….)
For those yet unaware, The Alloy of Law came about from a short story that Brandon Sanderson wrote last fall while taking a well-deserved break after writing The Gathering Storm, The Way of Kings, and Towers of Midnight. Of course, fantasy stories being what they are, what was a short story soon ballooned into a proper novel. (A novel that, funnily enough, takes Mistborn out of the epic fantasy genre it started within.) Sanderson still reportedly intends on crafting a follow-up trilogy to the original Mistborn trilogy after his current projects are completed.
A longer synopsis for The Allow of Law has emerged, as well.
The short synopsis (mild spoilers for the Mistborn trilogy):
Three hundred years after the events of the Mistborn trilogy, Scadrial is on the verge of modernity, with railroads to supplement the canals, electric lighting in the streets and the homes of the wealthy, and the first steel-framed skyscrapers racing for the clouds.
Kelsier, Vin, Elend, Sazed, Spook, and the rest are now part of history—or religion. Yet even as science and technology are reaching new heights, the old magics of Allomancy and Feruchemy continue to play a role in this reborn world. Out in the frontier lands known as the Roughs, they are crucial tools for the brave men and women attempting to establish order and justice.
One such is Waxillium Ladrian, a rare Twinborn who can Push on metals with his Allomancy and use Feruchemy to become lighter or heavier at will. After twenty years in the Roughs, Wax has been forced by family tragedy to return to the metropolis of Elendel. Now he must reluctantly put away his guns and assume the duties and dignity incumbent upon the head of a noble house. Or so he thinks, until he learns the hard way that the mansions and elegant tree-lined streets of the city can be even more dangerous than the dusty plains of the Roughs.
The fourth Mistborn novel is currently set for release in November of this year in hardcover and ebook.
I am already in line.
I don’t know how Brandon Sanderson manages to be so prolific, he wrote this while on break, afterall, but of course I’m going to read this one. I love Allomancy (and all of Sanderson’s magic systems) too damn much. XD
I’m so damn excited now.
BANGARANG
I am so pumped to read this. The Mistborn trilogy was one of my favorite series and the system was shockingly simple but intricate all in the same. Whoever said they were in line just got line jumped by me.
Crap. Now I’m going to be useless at work for the rest of the day…
I want this now.
When can I preorder?
Yay, can’t wait!
wait, so MAoL is coming out in November and so is AMoL?
Bleh. While I am eagerly anticipating this, it’s always frustrated me that he has always felt Mistborn needed sequels but Elantris does not. Elantris practically ended in a cliffhanger, hinting at SO much more. Mistborn was complete and finished. Why, damn you? WHY?!?!
Fairly certain AMoL isn’t coming out til 2k12.
@ThePendragon
According to past blog posts, Sanderson fully intends on writing sequels to both Elantris and Warbreaker. I assume Mistborn is a higher priority simply because it was more popular and thus his publishers probably want it more.
ThePendragon, Brandon has said he’ll write a sequel to Elantris after he writes the third Stormlight Archive book.
Elantris will have a sequel, he just hasn’t been able to get around to it. Mistborn: The Alloy of Law wasn’t planned, it was a diversion for him to relax between epic series novels that TOR became interested in and optioned. Don’t worry, he still has plans for Elantris. There is only so much the man can do!
I want Elantris sequels just so I can get another Martiniere cover!
(She says, putting on her art director hat.)
Should I also mention that Brandon is going to do a sequel to Elantris…oh, wait…still, I agree that it ended with seven pints of intense potential still waiting in the wings.
Capt. Redbeard @5 – You can’t cut me – I never left my post. I even have empty 2-liter bottles in case…well, you know…it’s going to be a long wait until November.
I’ll agree with Pendragon, I suppose. Mistborn was complete and felt finished, and I would have loved a sequel to Elantris instead. That was actually the first Sanderson that I read!
I’ll still pick up and enjoy this novel, however. :)
The cover looks AWESOME! Muchly looking forward to it :)
I want it now! Gimme Gimme Gimme.
In related news: Brandon Sanderson tripped and fell down some stairs yesterday. By the time he was half way down he had written another book.
Today word is: Prolific
@riggor,
marry me
lol@riggor
Also, for everyone else who responded, thanks. I guess I’m lost because I remember reading an interview a while back where he mentioned there would be no sequel to Elantris, but he mentioned the Mistborn sequels, and I’ve been a bit miffed at him for it since then. Then I see this and I figure it’s set in stone. Good to hear we’ll finally get to find out what happens in that world. Still, seems like a long wait. I know he writes fast, but it will still be at least 2-3 years.
@pendragon: He wasn’t planning a fourth Mistborn book. This one came about when he was trying to clear his head between the Wheel of Time series and working on his The Way of Kings series. People he knew started pressuring him to flesh it out and next thing you know he’s got a book.
Not this book, but he has a second Mistborn Trilogy planned. He had previously mentioned that, of that I AM sure.
So The Alloy of Law is the first book in the sequel trilogy to the Mistborn trilogy or is it a standalone in the same world?
@Natasa
The Alloy of Law is a stand alone story. There will be another trilogy set after this time period and then a third trilogy which if im not mitaken will be a sci-fi book. but dont hold your breath
Ridiculously awesome cover and this:
The fourth Mistborn novel is currently set for release in November of this year in hardcover and ebook.
actually made me squee. I buy stuff I want on release on hardcover, but I dislike reading them intensely. Really happy if the ebook coming out alongside hardcover is true.
And the fact that it is set in the future of the world is fantastic. All in chills here, damn.
First of all, this is not the beginning of the sequel it is just a random stand-alone novel that he just wrote for fun. Second, Elantris isn’t having a sequel, persay, it’s going to be another stand-alone novel in the same world as Elantris based at a different time with different characters. He will be doing two more Mistborn trilogies, the next trilogy will be in contemporary times and the last trilogy will be a sci-fi Mistborn. But don’t expect those for awhile because he is busy with AWoT, and The Stormlight Series, plus everything else on his plate.
Cover looks fantastic. Still, count me with the fans of an Elantris sequel. Still his best non-WOT book by far. Fresh and moving.
Oh HELL yes!
@istillcantthinkofone
Really? I always felt Elantris was clearly his most immature work as an author. I’m always surprised when people like it better than Mistborn or Warbreaker, and Stormlight Archive looks to be his best works to date. But I’m sure Brandon is happy to hear it!
IMO, I’d rather he focus on Stormlight after AMoL, but I’m sure an Elantris sequel could fit in nicely as a “diversion” work between epics.
I am really excited for a new Sanderson book this year. A big thanks to the author and Tor for providing us with our next Brandon fix.
A quick question, does anyone have a page count for “The Alloy of Law”? I know the word count is around 85 000, but depending on the format the publisher selects can effect the page count a lot.
Thanks.
Woohoo! I can’t wait!!! I’m actually kind of sad it will be a stand-alone, it looks to be awesome!
@28. Talrax
I don’t really need it to be a direct sequel. I just need him to resolve all of those loose ends at the end of the first book. He sets up a giant sinister plot of impending doom coming at the end of the book and that’s it. Very frustrating.
@31. WaitForIt
IMO Elantris is much better than Warbreaker, which is by far his weakest IMO. I would say Mistborn is better, but that series is complete IMO and had no need of sequels, whereas Elantris begged for one. That’s why I was hoping to get one there before any Mistborn stuff.
@AQuestion: The book is around 95,000 words. They may want to make it around 300 pages. It just depends how many words they put per page.
This is just silly. I don’t believe Brandon Sanderson exists. Clearly he is some sort of super-advanced robot collective. How else could he write this quickly.
@34 ThePendragon
Completely disagree with you about Warbreaker. I enjoyed both it and Elantris, but WB was for me the more interesting of the two.
That being said, one thing seems clear from all this: Mr. Sanderson needs to clone himself and get busy writin’. :P
So pleased to hear we won’t have to wait a year to get our next B. Sanderson! Yes, I read that post on his website where he apologized to all his fans and explained his need for a break. And I supported it! Despite wondering what I was going to do until then (re-read all his books, of course!).
But, hey! If your idea of a “break” is to give us a juicy morsal like this, take all the time you need Sanderson.
And thank you for the stories.
Birthday present to myself!!! I can’t wait!!!!
Can’t wait. Interesting cover. Does the guy in front remind anyone else a little of Tom Cruise?
Ben M
@31: I’d agree it’s the most immature published writing (he did write 11 novels before that one), but the world itself is amazingly fresh, and the characters very worthy of more adventures. I’d love to see another Elantris novel, especially now that he’s really hit his stride writing.
That is an awesome cover. (I wish my vacations were as productive as Sanderson’s are, btw…)
Is it just me, or does the cover look like it’s got Liev Schreiber with a shotgun and Tom Cruise looking pensive and wearing goggles around his neck…
Ah, so it’s not just me.
Pretty sure Sanderson mentioned in one of his twitter posts that Elantris, Mistborn and Stormlight all belong in one big superuniverse, he just needs to figure out a way to tie them together. Apparently if you look close enough in Mistborn you can pick up on a few Duladel characters…
Wow, Sanderson sure is speedy. So many books.
I squeeeed when I read this… YAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!
So excited, Mistborn is the best of his works, my opinion and I stand by
it. WB was okay, but didn’t have the depth that MB has. The use of
color never seemed fully explained in the magic system, at least too me.
Maybe someone can fill me in? It just seemed that breath was the most
important part. Another question, do I need to read all the WoT books
to get to his books? I haven’t read the series yet, they seem daunting.
I see Tom Cruise and Mark Sheppard.
It’s going to be a LONG time until November. But I have no doubt the wait will be worth it. It will, won’t it? Please? PLEASE?????
Tom Cruise and Jude Law in the background
@killerjello Probably is a good idea to read all the other books first.
Also, can’t wait for this one to come out.
@killerjello u would be totally lost if u skipped the first one million pages Robert Jordan wrote for the WoT series and jumped to where Sanderson took up! With WoT daunting is too mild a word lol. Even after u read all the books you will still be lost I think one needs metal minds to be able to keep everything straight in that monumental treatise.
@killerjello too, yes read them all. How can you be daunted by a story that keeps you so deeply entrenched that you don’t want to come up for air?
I started reading Brandon Sandersons work after he started to write the last three books of the WoT series, and now have only read Warbreaker, and Way of Kings #1. That means I have a whole lot of CATCHING UP TO DO, AND by the time I finish doing that I will have a whole lot of new stuff to work on. Bottomline is, hey dude, it’s entertainment. I no longer even notice the doctors office or dentist office visits. Just another opportunity to disappear from reality.
i just started re reading mistrborn trilogy and then i found out that this is coming in november 2011. awesome.
I didn’t think Mistborn needed another book UNTIL I READ IT!! Now I want more!