Cosmere

The Cosmere is a fictional shared universe created by Brandon Sanderson, serving as the setting for many of his fantasy novels and related works. It includes series such as Mistborn, The Stormlight Archive, Elantris, and Warbreaker, along with novellas, short fiction, and graphic works. Individual series are set on different fictional worlds but are linked through shared cosmological elements and narrative connections.

Development Sanderson conceived the Cosmere prior to the publication of his debut novel Elantris (2005). During early development, he established a unified fictional universe intended to support multiple independent narratives within a shared cosmology. He has stated that Isaac Asimov's interconnected Robot and Foundation series influenced the concept, though the Cosmere was designed as a unified setting from the outset.

In spring 2022, Brandon Sanderson announced a Kickstarter campaign of "Secret Projects" to publish four secret and brand-new novels written during the COVID-19 pandemic. The campaign reached its goal within a day, and accumulated a total of $41.7 million. Three of the four secret projects take place in the Cosmere universe: Tress of the Emerald Sea, Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, and The Sunlit Man all of which released in 2023. Sanderson continued using this surprise-release model for subsequent novels, publishing a fifth secret project, Isles of the Emberdark, in 2025. A sixth secret project, The Fires of December, was released in 2026. While written as a standalone novel, December also serves as the third installment in the Hoid’s Travails anthology series, following the storytelling model established in Tress and Yumi. Like its predecessors, the book features a standalone narrative framed as a story narrated by the overarching Cosmere character Hoid.

Narrative The story of the Cosmere is about a mysterious being called Adonalsium, who existed on a world known as Yolen. Adonalsium was killed by a group of at least seventeen conspirators, causing its power to shatter into sixteen different Shards, each of which bears immense power. Sixteen of those people—referred to as Vesselsthen took these Shards and traveled to new worlds, populating them with different systems of magic or extending on ones already present. In one case, the Shards known as Ruin and Preservation worked together to create the planet Scadrial, the setting of the Mistborn series.

Each Shard has an Intent, such as Ambition or Honor, and a Vessel's personality is changed over time to bring them more in-line with their Intent. One such Shard, Odium, has killedor "splintered"several other Shards. On Sel, he splintered Devotion and Dominion, accidentally creating the Dor, from which Seons and Skaze have emerged. He has also splintered Ambition, in the Threnody system. A man known as Hoid is seen or mentioned in most Cosmere books. He is from Yolen and travels the so-called Shardworlds, using the people of those worlds to further an unknown agenda.

Reception Awards and recognition Cosmere works have received extensive recognition across major speculative fiction awards, including the Hugo Awards, World Fantasy Awards, David Gemmell Awards, and several reader-voted honors such as the Dragon Awards and Goodreads Choice Awards. The Emperor's Soul (2012) received the Hugo Award for Best Novella in 2013 and was also nominated for the World Fantasy Award for Best Novella, marking the highest individual critical recognition for a Cosmere novella. Elantris (2005) won the Reviewers' Choice Best Epic Fantasy Novel Award from Romantic Times, establishing early critical recognition for Sanderson's Cosmere work. The Hero of Ages (2008) received both the Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award and the Whitney Award for Best Speculative Fiction. The Stormlight Archive has been widely recognized as one of the most prominent modern epic fantasy series. It won the David Gemmell Legend Award for Best Novel for The Way of Kings (2011) and Words of Radiance (2015), and received multiple Whitney Awards across its volumes. The series was also nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Series in both 2018 and 2025, reflecting sustained long-form recognition across its publication span. The Mistborn series has received sustained genre recognition across both its eras. The Alloy of Law won the Whitney Award for Best Speculative Fiction in 2011, while later entries such as The Bands of Mourning received nominations for the David Gemmell Awards. Earlier works in the series, including The Hero of Ages, were recognized with multiple Romantic Times and Whitney Awards in 2008. Oathbringer (2017) won the Dragon Award for Best Fantasy Novel, while Rhythm of War (2020) and Tress of the Emerald Sea (2023) were nominated in the same category. White Sand Volume 1 received the Dragon Award for Best Graphic Novel in 2018.

Publications

Series

Series Title Year Notes Mistborn The Final Empire 2006 Era 1 The Well of Ascension 2007 The Hero of Ages 2008 The Alloy of Law 2011 Era 2 Shadows of Self 2015 The Bands of Mourning 2016 The Lost Metal 2022 The Stormlight Archive The Way of Kings 2010 Arc 1 Words of Radiance 2014 Oathbringer 2017 Rhythm of War 2020 Wind and Truth 2024

Standalone novels Title Year Notes Elantris 2005 Warbreaker 2009 Tress of the Emerald Sea 2023 Hoid's Travails anthology series Yumi and the Nightmare Painter 2023 Hoid's Travails anthology series The Sunlit Man 2023 Isles of the Emberdark 2025 The Fires of December 2026 Hoid's Travails anthology series

Collections and short fiction Title Year Notes The Emperor's Soul 2012 Novella Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell 2013 Novella Sixth of the Dusk 2014 Novella Edgedancer 2016 Stormlight Archive novella Arcanum Unbounded: The Cosmere Collection 2016 Cosmere anthology collection Dawnshard 2020 Stormlight Archive novella

Graphic novels Title Year Notes White Sand Volume 1 2016 White Sand Volume 2 2018 White Sand Volume 3 2019 White Sand Omnibus 2022 Collections of all three volumes with revised material

Picture Books Title Year Notes The Dog and the Dragon 2026 Hoid’s Storybook Collection, illustrated by Howard Lyon Wandersail 2026 Hoid’s Storybook Collection, illustrated by Alexis and Justin Hernandez The Girl Who Looked Up 2026 Hoid’s Storybook Collection, illustrated by Steve Argyle The ChasmFriends Get a Pet 2026 Hoid’s Storybook Collection, written by Dan Wells, illustrated by Anna Earley

Adaptations Adaptations of Cosmere works were discussed within the film and television industry for more than a decade, with multiple projects entering development without reaching production.

In January 2026, Apple TV purchased the film and television rights to Sanderson's Cosmere universe and announced plans for a film franchise based on Mistborn and a television adaptation of The Stormlight Archive Industry coverage highlighted the unusual degree of creative control retained by Sanderson, who was reported to serve as writer, producer, consultant, and final creative approver on major adaptation decisions. As of 2026, both projects remained in early development and no release dates had been announced.

Games

The Cosmere Roleplaying Game is a tabletop role-playing game developed by Brotherwise Games in partnership with Dragonsteel Entertainment, based on Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere shared universe. First announced in 2023 and launched via Kickstarter in 2024, the project became one of the most successful tabletop crowdfunding campaigns in history, raising over $14 million from more than 50,000 backers. The game uses a modified d20-based system featuring narrative-focused mechanics, flexible talent-based character progression, and skill-driven magic systems designed to reflect Cosmere Invested Arts. Initial releases focused on The Stormlight Archive setting, with a full campaign book released in 2025, followed by planned expansions including a Mistborn campaign setting and additional Cosmere worlds.

Cosmere

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