Brandon Sanderson's adaptation of the Apple TV archive Stormlight will have 10 episodes

It's a busy time for Brandon Sanderson – the prolific fantasy writer continues to publish novels in his beloved Cosmere series on a regular basis, but now has to balance writing the feature-length adaptation of Mistborn and the multi-episode adaptation of Stormlight Archive for Apple TV on top of his regular writing duties.

Sanderson was given unprecedented control over these adaptations and acted as the main writer, which is highly unusual as the author rarely dabbled in screenwriting. It speaks to how much Apple trusts Sanderson and how desperately the author wants these adaptations to feel authentic; understandable given the number of authors who have given up adapting their work to the screen.

Stormlight Archive will have 10 episodes

In a recent interview with Waterstones, Sanderson, along with fellow writer Joe Abercrombie, revealed how many episodes there are to be in the first season of Stormlight Archive.

“Stormlight, I'm going to write a big chunk of it, which is a 10-part TV show. I'm the lead writer on both [Mistborn and Stormlight Archive]” Sanderson revealed.

10 episodes is what you'd expect from the first season of a prestigious fantasy series in 2026. The inaugural season of HBO's House of the Dragon also had 10 episodes, while A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms only had 6.

It will be interesting to see how Sanderson decides to adapt The Way of Kings, which is a hefty 1,000 pages in hardcover. Much of the plot concerns the emotional growth of co-protagonist Kaladin; in other words, the opening novel is not the most action-packed of the series. In all likelihood, Sanderson will speed up the plot of the show to keep the narrative moving.

I don't know what I'm going to do with myself after I finish Cosmere by Brandon Sanderson

My year-long journey through an interconnected fantasy world is coming to an end.

The fifth book in the series, Wind and Truth, was released in late 2024, ending the first phase of the Stormlight Archive. Before the sixth book picks up the story, there is a big time jump in the universe.

Another of Hoid's Travails will be published this year, entitled The Fires of December. In what is supposed to be a quieter year for Sanderson – presumably due to his film commitments – this is the only book to be published as part of Cosmere this year.

There is no official release date yet for any of Sanderson's Apple TV adaptations.