The Stormlight Archive is an epic fantasy series by Brandon Sanderson. The series is expected to be comprised of 10 books, in keeping with the series' symmetrical focus in combinations of ten.
Books in the Series
The series is estimated to require 10 books to complete, in two 5-book arcs. The first book in the series, The Way of Kings, was published in 2010. A Fall 2013 release was planned for its sequel, but was then postponed to March 4, 2014.
The second book was initially titled Highprince of War (referring to Highprince Dalinar), but the title was changed after Brandon decided to change the book's focus to Shallan. The working title was then The Book of Endless Pages, but that title was later changed after Sanderson was asked if he really wanted a large fantasy novel titled as such. Sanderson then changed it to Words of Radiance, which became the novel's actual title.
The third book was originally to focus on Szeth and was tentatively titled, Stones Unhallowed, previously thought - though incorrectly - to have been changed to Skybreaker.[1] However, the third book in the series is now to focus on Dalinar and is tentatively titled Oathbringer.
It has been 'tweeted' that the fourth book may focus on Eshonai, though this focus remains unconfirmed.[2] The fourth book may otherwise focus on Szeth, at Brandon's discretion.
The fifth book, therefore, will focus on either Eshonai or Szeth, with the previously referenced working title for Szeth intact ... until or unless it changes, of course.[3]
| # | Title | Pages | Chapters | Words | 1st Edition | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | The Way of Kings | 1008 | 75 | 389,544 | August 31, 2010 | Focus on Kaladin. |
| 2. | Words of Radiance | 1087 | 89 | March 4, 2014 | Focus on Shallan. | |
| 3. | Oathbringer | November 14, 2017 | Focus on Dalinar. | |||
| 4. | Stones Unhallowed | Focus on Szeth; unconfirmed. | ||||
| 5. | Untitled | Focus on Eshonai; unconfirmed. | ||||
| 6. | Untitled | Focus on Renarin; unconfirmed. | ||||
| 7. | Untitled | Focus on Jasnah; unconfirmed. | ||||
| 8. | Untitled | Focus on Lift; unconfirmed. | ||||
| 9. | Untitled | Focus on Taln; unconfirmed. | ||||
| 10. | Untitled | Focus on another Herald |
Major Characters
Brandon has revealed that each of the 10 books in the series will have a focal character who gets flashbacks.[4] Brandon listed the 10 major viewpoint characters for the series to be:[5]
- Kaladin, featured in The Way of Kings
- Shallan, featured in Words of Radiance
- Dalinar, featured in Oathbringer
- Szeth, featured in Stones Unhallowed
- Eshonai
- Renarin
- Jasnah
- Lift
- Taln
- Another Herald
Untitled
Fan art by 77chen[1]
Addendum
Given that Brandon 'tweeted' that Eshonai might be the focal character in book four, this list of major characters has changed since first comprised.[6]
Q&A with Brandon
Q: One thing I've noticed around the release of Words of Radiance was you pointing out that The Stormlight Archive is really two series of 5 books each. Was that something you wanted to make clear so as not to be daunting to perspective readers or just more about how the story has developed since you began?
A: It's a mixture of both, honestly. I do want to be wary of not being too daunting to readers who are jumping into this thing and have been reading The Wheel of Time. They might think, "The Wheel of Time was 'promised' to be six books and it ended up at fourteen. If you promise six, how long is this one going to be?"
But it's also because I want to start preparing readers for the break that's going to happen at book five. I'm going to stop writing the series for a few years, and then the "back five" (as I'm calling it) will focus on some different characters than the front five. So I have a lot of good reasons to be preparing people for what's going to happen there. Our expectations are a very big part of our enjoyment of all different kinds of entertainment mediums.[7]
Q: Concerning everything on Roshar, is it safe to say The Stormlight Archive will become the backbone series of the story of the Cosmere?
A: There are three backbone series: Dragonsteel, Mistborn, and The Stormlight Archive. And Mistborn is past, present, future ... Stormlight is the center, and Dragonsteel is the beginning. So really it goes: Dragonsteel, Mistborn, Stormlight, Mistborn, Stormlight, Mistborn.
References
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