Tor Acquires Two More Mistborn Novels from Brandon Sanderson

Good news, Sanderson fans! Tor Books has just acquired two new books by bestselling novelist Brandon Sanderson, set in the world of his beloved Mistborn series. Like 2011’s The Alloy of Law, these novels will follow Wax and Wayne, a team of cowboy detectives who investigate crimes that arise in a Scadrial that is rapidly approaching modernity. More information, including an official statement from Brandon Sanderson and his editor Moshe Feder and a projected publication schedule, below the cut.

Brandon Sanderson:

I am enthusiastic to announce more Alloy of Law-era Mistborn books!

For those who don’t know, my writing process requires me to balance larger, more complicated books with shorter, more standalone books. By jumping between the two, I keep myself from being burned out on any one style of story—and that, in turn, keeps me excited about writing.

I expect the Stormlight Archive books to arrive far more regularly now that the Wheel of Time is done. However, one thing I’ve wanted from the beginning of the Mistborn series was to show the interactions of magic with technology and society through different eras of that world’s development. There is much more to explore with Waxillium Ladrian, his comrade Wayne, and their time period, so we’re going to stay with them for a couple more books.  I think you’re going to like what’s coming.

If you’re curious, I should have a longer blog entry regarding this topic posted on my website later today. [Update: Here it is!]

Thanks for reading!

Moshe Feder

Deep as I am in the process of editing of Words of Radiance, the next blockbuster in the Stormlight Archive series (coming next year!), I couldn’t be more excited that we’ve made our biggest deal ever with Brandon to acquire two more Wax & Wayne books, sequels to The Alloy of Law. The first is currently titled Shadows of Self. The prospect of an early return to Scadrial, the world where the Mistborn series takes place, is delightful.

I have a special place in my heart for the Mistborn books. They confirmed the promise we saw in Elantris and gave us and Brandon his first bestsellers. Like you, I wanted more Mistborn and, actually, that has always been Brandon’s plan.

The Mistborn series was conceived as a trilogy of trilogies. The first was set in what will eventually be thought of as Scadrial’s mythological past. The second will be set in Scadrial’s equivalent of Earth’s 20th century. The third will be in its high-tech future, roughly the Mistborn equivalent of Star Trek’s world. Obviously, the second and third trilogies are going to offer exciting opportunities for science and magic to combine and clash. I can’t wait to see what Brandon will do with that!

However, please don’t jump to conclusions. The Wax & Wayne books are not the second trilogy. Please think of them as bonus books, an unplanned and unexpected result of Brandon’s need to relax and refresh his imagination while completing the Wheel of Time and starting the Stormlight Archive. He started out to write a short Mistborn story just for fun, and it turned into The Alloy of Law, which we, of course, were thrilled to publish.

Wax and Wayne have their adventures about 75 years before the time of the second trilogy. The existence of this side branch to the main Mistborn sequence is more proof, as if we needed it, of the richness and depth of Brandon’s imaginary worlds. It’s going to be fun bringing it to you.

The next book, currently titled Shadows of Self, is tentatively set for release in the fall of 2014, with the third novel in the Wax & Wayne series following one year later.