Brandon Sanderson's Next Book Is Coming Sooner Than You Think

Published Sep 16, 2026, 8:30 AM EDT

Dani Kessel Odom (they/them) is an autistic lead writer and TV critic who covers sci-fi shows like Doctor Who and Pluribus, fantasy shows like The Magicians and Percy Jackson, and horror of all kinds. They also cover Marvel and DC TV shows and movies, with a robust knowledge of comic books. Their TV reviews can be found on Rotten Tomatoes.

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Brandon Sanderson’s next book officially releases in December, but you can get your hands on it sooner.

The prolific author continues to delight readers with entertaining stories that introduce us to new worlds and characters. The last release, Blightfall, came out earlier this month and hit #2 on the NYT Bestseller list at the time of publication. Next up is The Fires of December, one of the most anticipated winter releases you can preorder now. Many passionate Sanderson fans backed the BackerKit campaign, giving them access to the ebook and audiobook versions. Sanderson confirmed in his September 15 YouTube update that physical books will start going out by the end of November. The official release date is December 8, 2026.

However, those who don’t have the book yet don’t have to wait another four months or so to enjoy the newest addition to Hoid’s Travails. The Fires of December releases digitally on October 6, 2026, and is already available to pre-order. The ebooks will be available on Amazon Kindle, Google Play, and Kobo. Meanwhile, the audiobook will be available through Audible and Libro.fm. This makes the book available to a wide range of readers. Unfortunately, those who cannot read digital formats will have to wait until December to read Brandon Sanderson’s new book.

You can pre-order The Fires of December here.

No matter when readers get the book, The Fires of December should be a unique reading experience compared to other Cosmere books because of the way Brandon Sanderson created it. The author is well known for meticulously planning his books long before they come out, but The Fires of December was different. He wanted to write a book for fun in December 2025. He tried to flesh out two others, and they just didn’t work.

The idea for The Fires of December came to him spontaneously while he thought about what would happen if he could go back in time but keep all his memories. The inspiration is clear when looking at the description of Sanderson’s upcoming book. A woman named December lives a whole life, but she wakes up as a 21-year-old with knowledge of a devastating plague that destroys her world. If she wants to save everyone, she must convince the kingdom of what’s to come, but nobody will listen.

Unlike other books, Brandon Sanderson wasn’t obliged to write The Fires of December. He didn’t have a deadline to hit. Nobody even knew he was writing it. Instead, Sanderson wrote the book because he felt he needed to tell it. He connected it to other books in the Cosmere by having Hoid narrate the story. This makes it the third standalone alongside The Tress of the Emerald Sea and Yumi and the Nightmare Painter. The author seems proud of The Fires of December. Sanderson stated, “I’m very proud of the book.” Similarly, early reviews have praised it as incredible and extremely re-readable.