Fantasy author Brandon Sanderson has given fans of his Cosmire universe a quiet but exciting update. On his weekly podcast Intentionally Blank, Sanderson and his wife Emily sat down to review the first season of Apple TV’s Murderbot series, an adaptation of Martha Wells’ Murderbot Diaries books, which first premiered in May 2025, according to ign.
Sanderson was clearly impressed. “I think I’d give it a nine,” he said on the podcast, “but I’m also comparing it to the books. It’s possible it’s a 10 because: Is there anything I can imagine they should have done better?” His wife rated it slightly lower, closer to 8 out of 10.
The surprising link between Murderbot and Stormlight
For Sanderson this review was not just a casual sighting and was more of a scouting mission. Later in the same episode, he reveals that one of the executives working on the Murderbot series is also attached to their upcoming Stormlight Archive adaptation for Apple TV.
According to IGN, Sanderson said, “It’s actually one of the same TV artists as Stormlight, so I’m glad it was good because I looked at it and I was like ‘Oh, cool. I sold him this.’ “I didn’t know which executive I was going to get, but it’s one of the Murderbot executives.”
For Sanderson, it was clearly a relief to see that executive produce a well-received show. This provided them with direct proof that the people handling their beloved Stormlight Archive understand how to bring a complex book series to the screen in a way that satisfies both fans and general audiences.
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Where do the Stormlight, Mistborn projects stand now
While the Stormlight Archive series is in its early stages, Sanderson has confirmed that he will serve as co-showrunner once production begins. Currently, his main focus is on finishing the script for the Mistborn film, which his website shows is already 72% complete according to IGN. He also confirmed in his latest weekly YouTube update that putting together a pilot for Stormlight is on his to-do list.
Both projects are still likely to take a lot of time.
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The unprecedented Apple TV deal is behind it all
Apple TV secures rights to Brandon Sanderson’s entire Cosmere universe hollywood reporter It has been described as an “unprecedented deal”. According to the outlet, the first major projects being developed are a Mistborn film and a Stormlight Archive TV series, with production company Blue Marble attached.
What makes the deal particularly unusual is the amount of creative control retained by Sanderson. He will reportedly write, produce, consult and also have approval rights on the projects. THR noted that even authors such as JK Rowling and George RR Martin did not have this level of involvement in their screen adaptations.
The deal was made possible in part due to Sanderson’s huge fan following. According to THR, his books have sold over 50 million copies worldwide. They raised approximately $100 million through crowdfunding, including a Kickstarter campaign that earned approximately $42 million, making it the most successful publishing campaign in Kickstarter history.