Brandon Sanderson: “The Lost Metal” release date

Bestselling author Brandon Sanderson released a new novel on Tuesday called “The Lost Metal.”

Sanderson is a Utah County resident who has written several popular fantasy novels, including the “perennially popular ‘Mistborn’ series,” as Lee Benson wrote for the Deseret News. He graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in English literature and wrote 12 novels before Tor Books published his first one.

So far, there are eight books in the “Mistborn” series, with three more books announced. The “Mistborn” series is compromised of different, smaller series within the larger series, with all of the stories taking place on the fictional planet Scadrial.

The “Mistborn” series started with Sanderson asking a question — the Deseret News reported that Sanderson wanted to know what would happen if the bad guy won.

Kurt Manwaring, of From the Desk, asked Sanderson for his inspiration behind the novel series and Sanderson said, “The ‘Mistborn’ series started with me wondering what would happen if, in one of these fantasy stories like ‘Harry Potter’ or ‘Lord of the Rings,’ the Dark Lord won. What if Frodo had gotten to the end of the long journey through Mordor and the Dark Lord Sauron said, ‘Hey, that’s my ring. Thanks for bringing it back. I’ve been looking for it.’”

Novels in the series include “The Hero of Ages,” “The Alloy of Law” and “The Final Empire,” among other popular titles.

Excerpts from “The Lost Metal” are available on Tor.com. According to the synopsis, the novel explores how “Wax must choose whether to set aside his rocky relationship with God and once again become the Sword that Harmony has groomed him to be. If no one steps forward to be the hero Scadrial needs, the planet and its millions of people will come to a sudden and calamitous ruin.”

In Sanderson’s newsletter, he said the book is available through Amazon. It is currently the No. 1 bestseller in Amazon’s Epic Fantasy section.