# Brandon Sanderson - Maker: Novelist - Date: b. 1975 - Houses: Tor Books - Canonical: https://www.lanternhall.org/makers/brandon-sanderson/ > The prolific architect of the Cosmere, author of Mistborn and The Stormlight Archive, finisher of The Wheel of Time, and the writer whose 2022 Kickstarter raised $41.7 million for four secret novels. **Why it matters:** Sanderson popularized rule-bound "hard" magic systems that read almost like game mechanics, built a fan-driven publishing business around a shared universe, and set crowdfunding records in both books and tabletop RPGs. ## Quick answers **Who is Brandon Sanderson?** The prolific architect of the Cosmere, author of Mistborn and The Stormlight Archive, finisher of The Wheel of Time, and the writer whose 2022 Kickstarter raised $41.7 million for four secret novels. **When was Brandon Sanderson born?** Brandon Sanderson was born in 1975 in Lincoln, Nebraska. **What is Brandon Sanderson known for?** Brandon Sanderson is best known for Mistborn, The Stormlight Archive and The Wheel of Time. **Why does Brandon Sanderson matter to fantasy and games?** Sanderson popularized rule-bound "hard" magic systems that read almost like game mechanics, built a fan-driven publishing business around a shared universe, and set crowdfunding records in both books and tabletop RPGs. ## Life Brandon Winn Sanderson was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, on December 19, 1975, the eldest of four children, and was raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A reluctant reader as a child, he was converted to fantasy when a teacher handed him Barbara Hambly's *Dragonsbane*. He entered Brigham Young University as a biochemistry major in 1994, served a two-year mission in South Korea, and came back to switch to English. His Korean experience, he has said, helped him design the magic of his first published novel. Working as a night auditor at a Provo hotel let him write through the graveyard shift; one of his roommates was future *Jeopardy!* champion Ken Jennings. He edited BYU's speculative magazine *Leading Edge*, earned an MA in creative writing in 2004, and for years taught a creative writing class at BYU. In 2006 he married Emily Bushman, who became business manager of his company, Dragonsteel Entertainment. They live in American Fork, Utah, with their three sons, and in 2015 founded the Lightweaver Foundation, a charity supporting literacy and local causes. ## Work By 2003 Sanderson had written twelve novels and sold none. Then Tor's Moshe Feder, who had held the manuscript of *Elantris* for eighteen months, called to buy it; it appeared in April 2005. *Mistborn: The Final Empire* (2006) followed: a heist story in a world of ash where "allomancers" swallow and "burn" metals for specific, precisely defined powers. That precision became his signature. In essays beginning in 2007 he set out what fans call Sanderson's Laws of Magic, above all that an author's ability to solve conflicts with magic depends on how well readers understand it, and they became a common vocabulary for "hard" and "soft" [magic systems](https://www.lanternhall.org/lexicon/magic-system/). The idea resonated with readers raised on game rules, where powers have costs, limits and combinations to master. In December 2007, [Robert Jordan](https://www.lanternhall.org/makers/robert-jordan/)'s widow and editor Harriet McDougal chose him to finish [The Wheel of Time](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/the-wheel-of-time/). Working from Jordan's notes, Sanderson expanded the planned final volume into *The Gathering Storm* (2009), *Towers of Midnight* (2010) and *A Memory of Light* (2013); the first two debuted at number one on the *New York Times* list. Meanwhile he launched [The Stormlight Archive](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/the-stormlight-archive/) with *The Way of Kings* (2010), a planned ten-book epic of storm-scoured Roshar, knightly orders and oaths that grant powers; *Wind and Truth* (December 2024) closed its first five-book arc. [Mistborn](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/mistborn/) continued into a second era beginning with *The Alloy of Law* (2011). Nearly all these books share one hidden universe, the Cosmere, linked by recurring characters and a cosmology of shattered divine power. He also writes young-adult and science fiction series such as *The Reckoners* and *Skyward*, and co-hosts the long-running podcast *Writing Excuses*. ## Legacy Sanderson has reshaped the business of fantasy as much as its style. His agency reported more than 50 million copies sold by late 2025. In March 2022 he revealed that he had secretly written several novels during the pandemic and offered four through [Kickstarter](https://www.lanternhall.org/culture/crowdfunding-tabletop/); the campaign raised some $15 million in its first day and finished with $41,754,153 from 185,341 backers. The books, among them *Tress of the Emerald Sea*, arrived through 2023, followed by *Isles of the Emberdark* in 2025. He has moved easily between books and games. Crafty Games published the *Mistborn Adventure Game* RPG in 2011; he wrote a novella tied to Epic Games' iOS game *Infinity Blade* (2011), the [Magic: The Gathering](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/magic-the-gathering/) story *Children of the Nameless* (2018), and the setting of Unknown Worlds' *Moonbreaker* (2022). In 2024 a Kickstarter for Brotherwise Games' Cosmere roleplaying game raised about $15.1 million, a Kickstarter record for a [Tabletop Roleplaying Games](https://www.lanternhall.org/atlas/tabletop-rpg/). DMG Entertainment had optioned the Cosmere in 2016; in January 2026 Apple TV secured its screen rights, with Sanderson in an unusually strong creative role, planning Mistborn films and a Stormlight Archive television series. ## Facts - He wrote twelve unpublished novels before Tor editor Moshe Feder, a year and a half after receiving the manuscript, bought Elantris (2005). - Harriet McDougal chose him to finish The Wheel of Time after reading Mistborn: The Final Empire; the ending grew into three books (2009–13). - His Laws of Magic essays, from 2007, popularized the distinction between "hard" and "soft" magic systems. - His March 2022 Kickstarter drew 185,341 backers and $41,754,153, then the largest campaign in the platform's history. - A 2024 Kickstarter for the Cosmere tabletop RPG with Brotherwise Games raised about $15.1 million, a Kickstarter record for a tabletop RPG. - In January 2026 Apple TV secured screen rights to the Cosmere, planning Mistborn films and a Stormlight Archive series. ## Sources and further reading - [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandon_Sanderson) - [The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction](https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/sanderson_brandon) - [Official site](https://www.brandonsanderson.com/) --- From The Lantern Hall (https://www.lanternhall.org/), a museum of fantasy literature and roleplaying games.