The Cosmere wasn’t always the plan: How Brandon Sanderson “accidentally” built his shared universe
Before becoming epic fantasy’s most ambitious setting, the Cosmere was a workaround for a first-time author.
For years, fans of epic fantasy have been drawn into the Cosmere, the vast, interconnected universe that underpins much of Brandon Sanderson’s work. From the magic of Mistborn to the conflicts of The Stormlight Archive, these stories share more than a genre—they are pieces of a much larger design. But the decision to make these books part of a shared world wasn’t originally Sanderson’s plan, as he explained in his latest SanderFAQ.
Before Elantris became his debut novel in 2005, Sanderson had already written 13 books, most of them conceived as standalones. As he explains, convincing a publisher to buy a sequel from an unknown author is notoriously difficult if the first book fails to sell. “If you write book one and it doesn’t sell to a publisher, it’s very hard to send them book two. But if you have a different standalone, you can send that to them, particularly if they kind of liked book one but were like It just doesn’t mesh with what we do as a publisher.”
The shattering of a divine plan
What started as something inspired by authors he read during his teens, like Stephen King, with interconnected books, led him to create a connected world behind the scenes. “I started connecting all these books behind the scenes in ways that wouldn’t be obvious so that I could still be submitting them all, but I thought of them as one giant mega-series,” he said.
Related stories
The Cosmere is set within a dwarf galaxy containing hundreds of stars, all governed by a pivotal ancient event known as the Shattering of Adonalsium. This cataclysm, which took place roughly 10,000 years before the main narratives, split a god-like being into 16 distinct Shards. Each Shard went on to shape different worlds, becoming the source of their gods, their magic systems, and—crucially—their conflicts.
Follow MeriStation USA on X (formerly known as Twitter). Your video game and entertainment website for all the news, updates, and breaking news from the world of video games, movies, series, manga, and anime. Previews, reviews, interviews, trailers, gameplay, podcasts and more! Follow us now!
Complete your personal details to comment