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Brandon Sanderson has never exactly been a slow-and-steady writer, but his newly detailed 2026 schedule makes even his past years look tame. A fresh breakdown of his latest “State of the Sanderson” update plus new reporting shows a year stuffed with major novels, tabletop expansions, and long-awaited steps into video games and film.
Cosmere novels, new trilogies, and global releases
The headline news for most readers is still the books. Sanderson has already revealed The Fires of December, a Hoid-connected standalone Cosmere novel slated for a December 2026 commercial release, with a premium edition arriving first via crowdfunding in March.* Now that project sits inside an even denser year.
Joining it on the calendar is The Strata Wars, a new fantasy trilogy co-written with Peter Orullian and launching in 2026, which adds another major series to Sanderson’s busy slate.* On the YA side, Blightfall, first in the Riftwake series with Janci Patterson and a follow-up to the Skyward universe, is planned as the opening salvo in a new three-book arc.
International readers won’t be left behind. Publishers around the world are timing releases like Wind and Truth and Isles of the Emberdark into 2026, underscoring how far the Cosmere’s global reach has grown in the past decade.* Picture books based on Hoid’s in-world storybooks, illustrated by Howard Lyon, are also set to ship over the 2026 holidays through the same crowdfund driving The Fires of December.
Mistborn game talks, new RPG, and cross‑media expansion
Sanderson’s to-do list for 2026 isn’t just about prose. After years of false starts, he recently confirmed that AAA developers he “likes a lot” are in active discussions to finally make a Mistborn video game happen, and says he’s handling adaptation rights differently this time to keep more creative control.* That tracks with his long-stated belief that his worlds deserve larger multimedia empires than Hollywood has yet delivered.
Tabletop fans have plenty to circle on their calendars too. Following last year’s Stormlight RPG, a new crowdfunded role‑playing game is planned for 2026 in partnership with Brotherwise, with a Mistborn campaign setting for the Cosmere Roleplaying Game also in the works. That momentum builds on how the Stormlight game is already reshaping fantasy tabletop expectations, as we explored in our look at the Stormlight RPG’s bold rule tweaks.
On the screen side, multiple film and TV prospects continue to simmer, including renewed interest in Mistborn and Stormlight adaptations. In his latest update, Sanderson notes he’s now “taking meetings with heads of studios instead of low-level producers” — a quiet but telling sign that these conversations are more serious than earlier, stalled attempts.
For readers, all of this adds up to a pivotal, almost MCU-style year for the Cosmere. 2026 won’t just deliver new doorstop novels; it’s poised to test whether Sanderson’s interconnected universe can thrive across bookshelves, game tables, and consoles at the same time. However you enter his worlds — via a Hoid story, a new trilogy, or a Mistborn controller in hand — it looks like there’ll be a doorway waiting next year.
