There are no two without three, and that rule also applies to the fantasy world of Scadrial. With the Era 2 of Mistborn conveniently closed in 2022, after the publication of El Metal Perdido, it is time to carry out other projects announced by the author Brandon Sanderson and set in the same universe. Above all, when the next trilogy of its trunk saga adds such promising elements: Sanderson will take the reader from his particular (and experimental) industrial revolution to his review of the 1980s. A new story with its own name: Spectral Blood.
First things first: it’s no secret that Era 2 of Mistborn It came to us through a series of caroms. According to Sanderson himselfinitially wrote the book Alloy Law (which established this Era) as a writing exercise between projects that finally surprised him and he decided to publish as a transition novel between the original trilogy and the next great stage. What he I didn’t suspect is that three more books would come later before taking the next big step: the trilogy Spectral Blood.
With that established, Era 3 is called to make its way beyond the equator of its acclaimed fantasy literary saga that, barring another burst of inspiration, will consist of four more Eras a possible incursion in the Cyberpunk terrain. And although the evolutionary leap that will be made from Era 2 will be substantial for the plot, and will take place long after the last novels, the truth is that it will evoke some genuine nostalgia for many of its readers.
The Spectral Blood trilogy was actually going to be Era 2
As we mentioned, Mistborn is a core literary saga within the Cosmere, the fantasy universe created by Brandon Sanderson, whose works take place jointly on different planets. Of course, it is worth making it clear that you do not need to know about the existence of all of them to address it, but that there are common elements.
The peculiarity of the Eras of Mistborn is that everything takes place in the world of Scadrial, but in different stages of its history: the Era 1 began in a relatively classic fantasy world, while the Era 2 It explored what happened more than 300 years later with elements typical of the beginning of our 20th century. And although the time jump will not be so big for the trilogy of Spectral Blood (which would take place in a stage analogous to our end of the 20th Century), the technological advances in Scadrial will give more nuances and textures to its universe.
Mistborn – the Wax and Wayne series that later became Era 2
In an interview published in 2012 Sanderson himself already gave clues about what would further explore what will end up being Era 2 that began with Alloy Law And, while we were at it, he gave small touches on the plot of the first book of Era 3.
I could do some [libros] more than the era Alloy Law in the middle, they are not the second trilogy [actualmente la Era 3], but I will do them. The [Era 3] will occur between the pause between the first and second series of the The storm archive. There will be two series of five books. And during that break I will stop and do the [Era 3] of Mistborn. So it will depend on how fast you can write them.
As a note to take into account, Sanderson subsequently renamed the four-book Wax and Wayne series of stories to Era 2. In fact, not only did it begin as a transitional work but in 2015 tried that it be considered an Era 1.5, realizing that this would only unnecessarily confuse readers.
In that same interview, Sanderson not only established that in that trilogy we would not only see the world of Scadrial through a lens very similar to that of our decades of the 80s and 90s, but modern technology would be used in them. Not as much as the current one, but rather based on the beginnings of the computer age.
What do we know about Era 3 Mistborn
At this point it is time to clarify: what is the Cosmere and what does it have to do with it? Mistborn? The answer is given by Sanderson himself in its official website:
Cosmere is the fictional universe I created for many of my fantasy novels to take place. Currently, Elantris, Mistborn, The Stormlight Archive, White Sand, and anything from Arcanum Unlimited are part of Cosmere.
Brandon Sanderson has been especially busy tying up his literary projects set in the Cosmere and beyond, but he was always clear about how and where he wanted to take the fantasy of Born from the mist. Although, as we saw, what began as a transition novel ended up being Era 2 of a total of four planned. The essential thing is that his big idea was to show how the civilization of the planet Scadrial is a little more similar to our modern world and has even begun to add elements of technology and computing. Of course, without giving up the fantasy elements.
And what is even more interesting: expected that the protagonist is a programmer and nickel-explosive with whom we will be shown the particular boom in geek culture – or geek – in her universe. A “nerd” from Terris. Although, to be fair, the author himself does not rule out that he ends up making changes or taking us in other directions.
That said, and as we mentioned, the theme itself will not give up fantasy elements, but according to Sanderson it will seek to offer a reading similar to that of spy thrillers. In fact, even he alluded to the work of Tom Clancy. Originally, in the 2012 interview, his plan was to involve a SWAT team of allomants. And, as far as we know, that idea is still on the table.
with the series Alloy Law which covers some of the police procedural aspects of the narrative, I’m slowly moving away from the SWAT idea and closer to the spy thriller, but the SWAT team hasn’t completely disappeared. (Of course, who knows what will happen in the intervening years between now and when I write it.)
As far as writing and formatting go, Sanderson’s plan is to follow the process of the original trilogy of Mistborn [la Era 1] so there will be three books of more or less of the same volume with possible intermediate additions to have the entire story as it was done throughout the saga. In fact, his intentions is to have written the three books before publishing the first and he already anticipates that he hopes to be able to include a detailed map of the planet Scadrial so that new readers and those who come from the two Eras can locate themselves in this new panorama.
The beginning of Era 3 Mistborn and what plans are there beyond
Brandon Sanderson himself a date has been reserved to start shaping Spectral Blood, and although their plans are long-term, there are still several jobs to finish.
According to what he himself commented on his official website at the end of 2023, the writing process for Era 3 will begin in January 2025 after the publication of Wind and Truth of The storm archive (whose drafts are being revised for release this December) and their next major Cosmere project will take shape alongside the sequels to Elantris and the novelized version of the comics White sand.
Sanderson’s idea is to write all three books before the first is published. However, he already has an idea of what will happen in the next three titles that will consolidate Era 4. The last trilogy of Born from the mist. What’s more, he has already dropped his intentions more than 13 years ago.
The general premise is to follow the evolution of the planet Scadrial and take us to a future in which the fantasy saga is directly inspired by the space operas in which the character of Hey, a world-hopper, would take one of the main roles. In addition to this, and as we already mentioned, it does not rule out offering transitional works in which Cyberpunk elements would be introduced. So, looking at Sanderson’s previous career, it is not at all out of the question that this Era 4 ends up being Era 5.
What we do know is that his current priority, once he takes the final versions of the works that will come out this year to the publisher, is Spectral Blood. And it already has the elements to fascinate an entire generation: eighties themes, elements of geek culture and magic and fantasy as common threads for the entire saga. The good news is that between now and when it hits the shelves you have time to catch up on everything that’s happening on Scadrial and, possibly, a couple of neighboring planets.
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