№ 2 · Secret Projects
A man awakens in a rain-slicked field in what appears to be medieval England with nothing but a few scraps of scorched paper and a total lack of memory. He does not know his name, his profession, or why his clothing seems to be from a century far in the future. As he navigates a landscape of mud, iron-age politics, and local superstition, he is forced to reconstruct his identity from zero while evading a group of high-tech pursuers who clearly know more about his past than he does.
The central conflict hinges on the tension between the protagonist’s desperate need for survival and the piecemeal revelations provided by the fragments of a guidebook. This manual, "The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England," suggests that the world around him is not a historical recreation, but a commodity—an alternate dimension purchased by those seeking to play at being wizards or kings. The protagonist must determine if he is the architect of this exploit or merely another victim of a corporate interdimensional tourism industry gone wrong.
The setting operates on the premise that private companies have mastered the ability to locate and "rent" alternate dimensions to wealthy clients. These dimensions are often slight variations of Earth’s history, allowing for a "low-cost" experience where the user can introduce advanced technology to pass as a sorcerer. In this specific iteration of medieval England, the atmosphere is grounded and gritty, yet punctuated by the "Wyrd"—strange, semi-corporeal entities that the locals appease with rituals. The world-building explores the ethical rot of "dimension-hopping," where an entire timeline of people is treated as a playground for tourists, and the "magic" is simply a matter of possessing the right hardware from a more advanced reality.
The protagonist’s initial arc is defined by a profound sense of inadequacy. Even without his memories, he suffers from a lingering feeling of being "second best"—a man who was never the hero in his own story. This amnesia serves as a psychological crucible; without the weight of his previous failures, he is forced to act based on immediate moral necessity rather than ingrained habits. His relationship with the local villagers is built on a foundation of mutual utility, but it quickly evolves into a question of responsibility: does he owe anything to these people if his very presence is an intrusion by a predatory corporation?
The novel utilizes and then deconstructs the "Stranger in a Strange Land" and "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" tropes. While many portal fantasies focus on the wonder of a new world, this narrative treats the transition as a commercial transaction. It subverts the "Chosen One" narrative by suggesting that the protagonist’s "powers" were likely bought on a budget plan, hence the "frugal" nature of his handbook. By framing the fantasy elements through the lens of cynical corporate enterprise and middle-management anxiety, the story moves away from epic destiny and toward a grounded exploration of personal redemption and the consequences of colonialist-style exploitation of "lesser" timelines.
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The creation of the Cosmere, a vast interconnected universe where magic systems are governed by distinct physical laws, has redefined the scope of modern epic fantasy. Brandon Sanderson established this shared setting through a series of novels that began with the publication of Elantris and expanded into the multi-volume saga The Stormlight Archive.
His work is characterized by intricate world-building and a commitment to "hard magic," where the limitations of supernatural abilities are as important as the powers themselves. This approach has made his books, such as Mistborn: The Final Empire and The Way of Kings, central to contemporary discussions of genre construction and narrative consistency.
Born on December 19, 1975, in Lincoln, Nebraska, Brandon Winn Sanderson was the eldest of four children born to Barbara and Winn Sanderson. Although he was a reluctant reader in his early youth, his perspective changed in the eighth grade when his teacher, Mrs. Reeder, gave him a copy of Dragonsbane by Barbara Hambly. This encounter led him to explore the works of Robert Jordan, Melanie Rawn, David Eddings, Anne McCaffrey, and Orson Scott Card, eventually inspiring his own early attempts at fiction. In 1994, he enrolled at Brigham Young University (BYU) as a biochemistry major. However, a two-year hiatus from 1995 to 1997 to serve as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Seoul, South Korea, shifted his focus. During this time, he realized he missed writing more than chemistry. Upon returning to BYU, he changed his major to English, much to the dismay of his mother, who had hoped he would become a doctor.
To support his education while maximizing his writing time, Sanderson worked as a night desk clerk at a local hotel, writing between midnight and 5:00 AM. By the time he finished his undergraduate degree, he had completed seven novels, though he faced a steady stream of rejections from publishers. He also volunteered for The Leading Edge, BYU’s science fiction and fantasy magazine, where he served as Editor in Chief during his senior year. This role allowed him to read many submissions and form lifelong friendships within the industry. He learned about the business side of writing by taking a class from David Farland, author of the Runelords series, who advised him to attend conventions like WorldCon and World Fantasy to connect with professionals. He eventually met his current agent and one of his editors at these events.
His persistence paid off in 2003 when editor Moshe Feder at Tor Books discovered the manuscript for Elantris in a slush pile. The novel was published in May 2005, marking the official start of his professional career. Shortly after, he launched the Mistborn trilogy, which includes Mistborn: The Final Empire (2006), The Well of Ascension (2007), and The Hero of Ages. In 2004, after graduating with his Master’s degree in creative writing from BYU, he was asked to teach the same genre-focused writing class he had once taken as an undergraduate. He continues to teach this section because he enjoys helping aspiring writers. In July 2006, he married Emily Bushman, a fellow English major from BYU. Emily began working as his business manager following the birth of their first child in October 2007.
A significant turning point occurred in December 2007 when Harriet McDougal Rigney selected Sanderson to complete Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time series following Jordan's death. This massive undertaking resulted in three volumes: The Gathering Storm (2009), Towers of Midnight (2010), and A Memory of Light (2013). During this same period, Sanderson began his own magnum opus, The Stormlight Archive, starting with The Way of Kings in 2010. He has since balanced these epic projects with middle-grade series like Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians (2007) and young adult science fiction such as Skyward. His novella The Emperor’s Soul won the Hugo Award in 2013, and he has been a judge for Writers of the Future since 2016. He also co-hosts the podcast Writing Excuses, which has won multiple awards for its writing advice.
Sanderson is widely recognized for his development of "Sanderson’s Laws of Magic," a set of guidelines for authors to create consistent and logical magic systems. His approach emphasizes that an author's ability to solve problems with magic is directly proportional to how well the reader understands said magic. This philosophy is evident in the "Allomancy" of the Mistborn series, where characters ingest and "burn" metals to gain specific abilities, and the "Surgebinding" found in The Stormlight Archive. By establishing clear costs and limitations, he ensures that magical resolutions feel earned rather than arbitrary. This dedication to internal logic has influenced a generation of fantasy writers seeking to move away from "soft" magic systems where powers are ill-defined.
His world-building often incorporates unique geological and ecological elements that directly influence the cultures and technologies of his characters. For instance, the landscape of Roshar in The Stormlight Archive features a rocky terrain and flora that retracts into the ground, a design inspired by the sandstone buttes and slot canyons of southeastern Utah. Similarly, the world of Scadrial in Mistborn is defined by falling ash and a red sun, environmental factors that shape the social hierarchy and survival strategies of its inhabitants. His background in linguistics, influenced by his time in Korea, often informs the naming conventions and structural logic of his fictional languages, adding a layer of authenticity to his diverse civilizations.
Thematic depth in his work often explores the intersection of leadership, morality, and mental health. Characters in The Stormlight Archive frequently struggle with depression, post-traumatic stress, or identity crises, reflecting a nuanced approach to heroism that acknowledges human vulnerability. The "Cosmere" framework allows for subtle cross-over elements, where characters known as "Worldhoppers" appear in different series, rewarding observant readers with a deeper layer of narrative connectivity. This interconnectedness is further explored in his "Secret Projects," such as Tress of the Emerald Sea and The Sunlit Man, which expand the boundaries of his shared universe into new genres and planetary systems, including the transition into a space age as seen in Wind and Truth.
Secret Projects
