Brandon Sanderson just sold his Cosmere universe to Apple TV • Hacker News Board

Re: Brandon Sanderson just sold his Cosmere universe to Apple TV

#11

Post by afiori » Thu, Jan 29, 2026, 6:28 AM UTC

CobrastanJorji wrote: post #5

N_Lens wrote: post #3

I do love reading Sanderson, even though his characters are quite robotic and video-gamey. Can't fault the magic system building or the action.

Yeah, the books are formulaic, but it's a good formula. "Act 1: Okay, here's a neat magic system with well defined rules. Act 4: surprise, there was an extra rule you didn't know about! Act 5: we killed God with the surprise, extra rule." It's hard for me to fault Mistborn. It has the tightest ending to a fantasy trilogy I've ever seen. And then, as an afterthought, Sanderson somehow managed to end the Wheel of Time,…

The thing that make the formula click to me is that it is written as a thriller.

By the last 10% of the book/serie he has created a problem you are 100% sure is insurmountable but by the last 5% you realise how small hints through the story could be composed to create a solution.

Re: Brandon Sanderson just sold his Cosmere universe to Apple TV

#12

Post by tstrimple » Thu, Jan 29, 2026, 6:29 AM UTC

blinded wrote: post #2

Apple has proven with numerous shows over the past few years that they can be trusted with this task. Foundation, Silo, etc. Exciting stuff.

A far better home than Netflix. And Sanderson isn't built for HBO.

Re: Brandon Sanderson just sold his Cosmere universe to Apple TV

#13

Post by beAbU » Thu, Jan 29, 2026, 10:08 AM UTC

CobrastanJorji wrote: post #5

N_Lens wrote: post #3

I do love reading Sanderson, even though his characters are quite robotic and video-gamey. Can't fault the magic system building or the action.

Yeah, the books are formulaic, but it's a good formula. "Act 1: Okay, here's a neat magic system with well defined rules. Act 4: surprise, there was an extra rule you didn't know about! Act 5: we killed God with the surprise, extra rule." It's hard for me to fault Mistborn. It has the tightest ending to a fantasy trilogy I've ever seen. And then, as an afterthought, Sanderson somehow managed to end the Wheel of Time,…

Mistborn left me breathless at the end. During the last couple of chapters of the third book I uttered many a "holy shit" and "no way" under my breath. Much to my wife's pleasure, who bought the books for me on a whim.

The whole earring thing blew my mind, and it was so obvious from book 3 onwards.

The ending of the Mistborn series is indeed, incredibly tight. The whole series had a roundedness to it that I have not encountered before, every word, theme, event and character has a place in the Bigger Scheme. I think this is because he wrote all 3 books together, so he would regularly go back to book one to make edits based on new things he thought of in book 3.

Re: Brandon Sanderson just sold his Cosmere universe to Apple TV

#14

Post by subjectsigma » Thu, Jan 29, 2026, 3:48 PM UTC

scuff3d wrote: post #8

subjectsigma wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> even though his characters are quite robotic and video-gamey This is what made early Sanderson so great for me though. I’m constantly inundated by media through which the author demands a soapbox. This can be anything from politics to just the author’s personal preferences. Mistborn 1-3 was a fairly simple and satisfying plot with likeable (if somewhat predictable) characters and fun world building. Perfect set of…

Talk about an unpopular opinion. Nightmare Painter is well liked, but Tress is far and away the fan favorite.

If others enjoyed it that’s great, but I personally couldn’t finish it.

Re: Brandon Sanderson just sold his Cosmere universe to Apple TV

#15

Post by jmholla » Thu, Jan 29, 2026, 5:49 PM UTC

CobrastanJorji wrote: post #5

N_Lens wrote: post #3

I do love reading Sanderson, even though his characters are quite robotic and video-gamey. Can't fault the magic system building or the action.

Yeah, the books are formulaic, but it's a good formula. "Act 1: Okay, here's a neat magic system with well defined rules. Act 4: surprise, there was an extra rule you didn't know about! Act 5: we killed God with the surprise, extra rule." It's hard for me to fault Mistborn. It has the tightest ending to a fantasy trilogy I've ever seen. And then, as an afterthought, Sanderson somehow managed to end the Wheel of Time,…

I think your summary of act 4 is uncharitable. Every book of Sanderson's I've read has been about showing unexpected ways the rules could be combined, not surprise new rules.