Brandon Sanderson

Brandon Winn Sanderson (born December 19, 1975) is an American author of high fantasy, science fiction, and young adult books. His best known novels include the Mistborn series and The Stormlight Archive, which are set in the "Cosmere", a fictional universe. Outside of the Cosmere, he has written several young adult and juvenile series including The Reckoners, the Skyward series, and the Alcatraz series. He is also known for finishing author Robert Jordan's high fantasy series The Wheel of Time. Sanderson has created two graphic novels, White Sand and Dark One. He is credited with coining Sanderson's Laws of Magic, which popularized the idea of "hard" and "soft" magic systems. In 2008, Sanderson started a creative writing podcast with the horror writer Dan Wells and the cartoonist Howard Tayler called Writing Excuses. In mid-2022, Sanderson and Wells started another podcast, Intentionally Blank, which is focused on writing and pop culture. Sanderson's writing has received numerous nominations and awards. He has been noted for his prolific level of writing output, having written 71 books as of 2023, several of which have topped The New York Times best seller list. Sanderson's March 2022 Kickstarter campaign to self-publish four novels became one of the most successful in history, finishing with 185,341 backers pledging US$41,754,153. In January 2026, Apple TV purchased the film and television rights to Sanderson's Cosmere universe, in a deal which gives Sanderson extensive creative control over the content.