Brandon Sanderson facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Brandon Sanderson
Brandon Sanderson at a convention in 2016
Born	Brandon Winn Sanderson (1975-12-19) December 19, 1975 (age 49) Lincoln, Nebraska, U.S.
Education	Brigham Young University (BA, MA)
Period	2005–present
Genre	Fantasy science fiction
Notable works	Mistborn The Stormlight Archive Final three books of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time The Reckoners Rithmatist White Sand
Spouse	Emily Bushman ​ (m. 2006)​
Children	3

Brandon Winn Sanderson (born December 19, 1975) is an American author who writes exciting fantasy and science fiction books, especially for young adults. He is famous for creating the Cosmere universe. This is a special fictional world where most of his fantasy novels take place. His most popular series in the Cosmere are Mistborn and The Stormlight Archive.

Outside of the Cosmere, he has written several popular series for young readers. These include The Reckoners, the Skyward series, and the Alcatraz series. Brandon Sanderson also became well-known for finishing the epic fantasy series The Wheel of Time after its original author, Robert Jordan, passed away. He has also created graphic novel fantasy series like White Sand.

Brandon Sanderson is a New York Times best-selling author. He came up with special ideas for how magic works in stories, which he calls "Sanderson's Laws of Magic." He also helped make the ideas of "hard magic" (where magic has clear rules) and "soft magic" (where magic is more mysterious) popular. In 2008, he started a podcast called Writing Excuses with other authors. They talk about how to write different kinds of stories. In 2022, Brandon Sanderson had a huge Kickstarter campaign that raised over $41 million, making it the most successful crowdfunding project ever!

Personal Life

Early Life

Brandon Sanderson was born on December 19, 1975, in Lincoln, Nebraska. He was the oldest of four children. When he was a kid, he didn't really like reading. But in his teenage years, a teacher gave him a fantasy book called Dragonsbane. After that, he became a huge fan of fantasy stories. He even tried writing his own stories early on.

After high school in 1994, he went to Brigham Young University (BYU) to study biochemistry. From 1995 to 1997, he took a break from college to be a volunteer missionary for his church in South Korea.

Education

When he returned from his mission, Brandon Sanderson went back to BYU. He changed his main subject to English literature. While he was a student, he worked at a hotel in Provo, Utah, as a night auditor. This job was great because it let him write while he worked! One of his roommates at BYU was Ken Jennings, who later became famous for winning many times on the game show Jeopardy!.

Brandon Sanderson earned his first degree from BYU in 2000. He then continued his studies and got a master's degree in English in 2004. While at BYU, he also worked on Leading Edge, a magazine for fantasy and science fiction stories. He was even the editor-in-chief for a year.

Adult Life

In 2006, Brandon Sanderson married Emily Bushman. She was also a BYU graduate and taught English and Spanish. Emily later became his business manager. They have three sons and live in American Fork, Utah.

Career

Early Writing Career

Brandon Sanderson in 2007 with a German copy of his book Elantris

Brandon Sanderson wrote a lot during his college years. By 2003, he had written twelve novels, but no one had agreed to publish them yet. Then, an editor from Tor Books contacted him. The editor wanted to publish his sixth novel, Elantris, which Brandon had sent in a year and a half earlier. Elantris was published in 2005 and got good reviews.

After Elantris, he published Mistborn: The Final Empire in 2006. This was the first book in his Mistborn fantasy series. In these books, some people called "allomancers" can gain special powers by "burning" (or using up) metals they have eaten. This gives them enhanced senses and control over powerful forces.

He continued the Mistborn series with The Well of Ascension in 2007. That same year, he published a children's book called Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians. It's about a boy named Alcatraz who is really good at breaking things. He has to fight a group of evil librarians who want to take over the world! Also in 2007, he shared his first "laws of magic" ideas. The third and final Mistborn book, The Hero of Ages, came out in 2008.

The Wheel of Time

Brandon Sanderson became very famous in 2007. This happened when Harriet McDougal, the wife and editor of author Robert Jordan, chose him to finish the last books in Jordan's huge fantasy series, The Wheel of Time. Robert Jordan had passed away, and Harriet was very impressed by Brandon's first Mistborn novel.

After looking at everything needed to finish the series, Brandon and his publisher decided to release three more books instead of just one. The first of these, The Gathering Storm, came out in 2009. It quickly became a number-one bestseller! Towers of Midnight followed in 2010, also hitting number one. The series was finally completed in 2013 with the publication of A Memory of Light.

More Books and Success

In 2009, Brandon Sanderson published Warbreaker. He had shared this story online for free while he was writing it. He also released the third Alcatraz book, Alcatraz Versus the Knights of Crystallia. In 2010, he started a huge new series called The Stormlight Archive with the book The Way of Kings. This series is planned to have ten books! The Way of Kings also became a bestseller.

He continued to write many more books. In 2011, he published Mistborn: The Alloy of Law, which was a sequel to his original Mistborn trilogy. This book was so popular that it turned into a new four-book series! He also wrote novellas (shorter novels) like Legion and The Emperor's Soul. The Emperor's Soul even won a Hugo Award, which is a very important award for science fiction and fantasy.

In 2013, Brandon Sanderson started two new young adult series: The Rithmatist and Steelheart, the first book in The Reckoners series. He kept adding to The Stormlight Archive with Words of Radiance in 2014 and Oathbringer in 2017. He also finished The Reckoners series with Firefight (2015) and Calamity (2016).

Brandon Sanderson also wrote his first graphic novel called White Sand in 2016. He continued the Skyward series with Skyward (2018) and Starsight (2019). In 2020, he released Rhythm of War, the fourth Stormlight Archive novel. By early 2021, his books had sold over 21 million copies worldwide!

In 2022, Brandon Sanderson surprised everyone by announcing he had secretly written five new books during the pandemic! He released these books through a record-breaking Kickstarter campaign. This campaign raised over $41 million from more than 185,000 supporters, making it the most successful crowdfunding project in history. One of these secret books, Tress of the Emerald Sea, was released in 2023.

Brandon Sanderson also helped create the story for the video game Moonbreaker in 2022. In 2024, he released Wind and Truth, the fifth book in the first part of The Stormlight Archive. He plans to write at least five more books in that series!

Dragonsteel Entertainment, LLC

Dragonsteel Entertainment, LLC is Brandon Sanderson's own company. It helps publish his books, runs his online store, and manages many of his projects. It's also known as Dragonsteel Books. This company holds the copyrights to many of his novels and has published some of his stories itself.

In 2024, Brandon Sanderson announced that Dragonsteel Entertainment bought land near a new theme park in Utah. They plan to build a special bookstore there called Dragonsteel Plaza.

Kickstarter Campaigns

Brandon Sanderson has used Kickstarter several times to fund special projects.

• In 2020, he raised $6.7 million to create a special leather-bound edition of The Way of Kings.
• In 2022, his second Kickstarter project raised over $41.7 million for his four secret books. This became the biggest Kickstarter campaign ever!
• In 2024, he teamed up with Brotherwise Games to create a tabletop role-playing game based on his Cosmere universe. This campaign raised over $14.6 million, setting a new record for tabletop RPGs on Kickstarter.

Community Relations

In 2015, Brandon Sanderson and his wife Emily started a charity called The Lightweaver Foundation. Their goal is to "Feed bodies. Fill minds. Fuel hope."

One of their first projects helped students at Utah Valley University (UVU) and Brigham Young University (BYU) publish their fantasy and science fiction stories in journals. The foundation also raises money to help people and programs in their local community. They have supported the Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital. The Lightweaver Foundation also helps promote reading and writing. They support a writing conference for teens called Teen Author Bootcamp and a program called Book Drop, which brings popular authors to schools and gives away books.

In 2024, Brandon Sanderson partnered with the Maryville University League of Legends team. He helped them financially so they could compete in the North American Challengers League (NACL). This tournament is a path for players to become professional League of Legends players.

Cosmere

The Cosmere is the name of the shared universe where many of Brandon Sanderson's fantasy books take place. These include Elantris, Mistborn, Warbreaker, The Stormlight Archive, White Sand, Tress of the Emerald Sea, and other stories.

Brandon Sanderson wanted to create a huge, epic story without making readers buy too many books for one series. So, he hides connections between his different books within the Cosmere. This creates a "hidden epic" that readers can discover. He was inspired by how Isaac Asimov connected his separate Robot and Foundation series later on. Brandon Sanderson plans for the Cosmere story to have at least 40 books!

The main story of the Cosmere is about a mysterious being called Adonalsium. This being lived on a world called Yolen. Adonalsium was killed by a group of seventeen people, and its power broke into sixteen different pieces called Shards. Each Shard holds immense power. Sixteen of those people, called Vessels, then took these Shards and traveled to new worlds. They brought different magic systems to these worlds or added to ones already there. For example, two Shards called Ruin and Preservation worked together to create a planet and its people (Scadrial, where Mistborn takes place).

Each Shard has a special purpose or "Intent," like Ambition or Honor. The personality of the person holding the Shard changes over time to match its Intent. One Shard, named Odium, has destroyed several other Shards. A character named Hoid appears or is mentioned in most Cosmere books. He is from Yolen and travels between these "Shardworlds," using the people there to help with a secret plan.

Brandon Sanderson has said that a future book in the Cosmere series might even be in the Cyberpunk style, which would be a big change from the fantasy settings he has used so far.

Sanderson's Laws of Magic

Brandon Sanderson talks about "soft" and "hard" magic systems when he creates his fictional worlds. These terms describe how clearly the rules of magic are explained.

• Hard magic systems have specific rules. The author explains how the magic works, and it can be used to solve problems in the story.
• Soft magic systems might not have clear rules. They are used to make readers feel a sense of wonder and mystery.

Brandon Sanderson's three laws of magic are guidelines for writers to create magic systems:

1. An author can use magic to solve problems in a story only if the reader understands how that magic works.
2. The weaknesses, limits, and costs of magic are more interesting than just the powers themselves.
3. Before adding something completely new to a magic system, the author should try to expand on what is already there. This helps keep the magic system consistent in the story.

There is also a "zeroth law":

1. Always choose what is most awesome for the story!

Teaching

Brandon Sanderson teaches a creative writing class once a year at Brigham Young University. He is also part of the weekly podcast Writing Excuses with other authors. In June 2021, he started another podcast called Intentionally Blank with his friend Dan Wells, where they talk about things they enjoy.

Selected Awards and Honors

Brandon Sanderson has won and been nominated for many awards for his books.

See also

In Spanish: Brandon Sanderson para niños