Editing Dragonsteel (series)

'''Dragonsteel''' refers to an unpublished series set on [[Yolen]] that has been called the prequel to the [[cosmere]]. It takes place first chronologically and will feature the [[Shattering]],{{wob ref|1024}} [[Hoid]]'s backstory,{{wob ref|8130}} and dragons.{{wob ref|3374}} One reason Brandon has not prioritized this series, though, is that he doesn't want readers to feel that they have to read his other books in order to understand what is happening, and he probably won't publish Hoid's story until it becomes relevant.{{wob ref|10021}}

He plans to rewrite and publish Dragonsteel at some point after the full arc of [[The Stormlight Archive]] has been completed.{{bws ref|another-long-and-rambling-post-on-future-books|Another Long and Rambling Post™ on Future Books|date=2010-10-12}}

Brandon began work on the ''Dragonsteel'' series with ''[[Dragonsteel Prime]]'', which was written as part of Brandon Sanderson's Masters Thesis and has provided source material for some of his later work, particularly ''[[The Way of Kings]]''. Brandon regularly reminds readers that he wrote this version of the story when he was a much younger author and that it isn't his best work.{{wob ref|8601}} After positive response to his release of ''[[The Way of Kings Prime]]'', he has discussed a possible release of this draft as part of a "Sanderson Curiosities" series.

In 2007, Brandon attempted to rewrite the series for publishing, this time beginning with prequels ''[[The Liar of Partinel]]'' and ''[[The Lightweaver of Rens]]''. Taking place five hundred years before the events of ''Dragonsteel'' Prime, they were intended to explore the setting and Hoid's backstory in greater detail and borrowed the magic system from another unpublished work, ''[[Aether of Night]]''. At this point, Brandon's plan was to release a total of seven ''Dragonsteel'' books, including the two prequels and a five-book main story arc beginning with ''The Eternal War'', which would be a rewrite of ''Dragonsteel'' Prime.{{wob ref|7825}} Brandon wrote all of ''The Liar of Partinel'' and had outlined ''The Lightweaver of Rens'', but was unsatisfied with the result and decided to put the series on hold while he worked on finishing Robert Jordan's ''[[The Wheel of Time]]'' series. He then shifted his focus to revisiting ''The Way of Kings'' instead, which he went on to publish in 2010, and Dragonsteel was rescheduled to be written after the ''Stormlight'' series. Of this attempt, Brandon has said that "every chapter was a chore to write."{{wob ref|7609}} He also felt that the characters did not quite work and does not share this book with fans because it will give them a wrong impression of certain characters.{{wob ref|7142}}

In his 2019 State of the Sanderson post, Brandon published an updated outline of the cosmere in which Dragonsteel was reduced from seven books to three. By this point, significant parts of the original Dragonsteel story arc had been used elsewhere, and so the series was envisioned as a tighter story about Hoid's origins and the Shattering. A rewritten Dragonsteel series is still not planned for release until after book 10 of ''The Stormlight Archive''.

It is currently planned to be written in first-person. It is the only series in the cosmere planned to be done in first-person.{{wob ref|4165}}{{wob ref|14646}} Two of the 2023-released 'secret project' novels, ''[[Tress of the Emerald Sea]]'' and ''[[Yumi and the Nightmare Painter]]'', were written in Hoid's voice partly as practice for telling this series in that fashion.{{wob ref|15474}} As of 2024, it is still in development and is planned to be a trilogy.{{wob ref|16540}}