The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson is a fantasy novel series of epic proportions, planned to have 10 books in total by the time of its completion. Presently, there are four books in the series: The Way of Kings (2010), Words of Radiance (2014), Oathbringer (2017), and the recently published Rhythm of War (2020).
The series takes place on the planet of Roshar – also the name of the continent where the story unfolds – a world with three moons and a large number of fantasy races, human and nonhuman. The series has been praised for its luscious world-building, characterization, and plot and the books have scored pretty high as New York Time bestsellers.
But what about Book 5 of the series? With the newest addition Rhythm of War only having come out in 2020, little has been revealed about Sanderson’s next book. Here’s what we know so far:
Stormlight Archive Book 5 Release Date
There is currently no official release date for Book 5 of the Stormlight Archive series, also known by the working title Stones Unhallowed. But we do have an idea about the timeline. Judging from the pattern so far, Brandon Sanderson normally takes 3-4 years between books. Unless the next book turns into a Winds of Winter, we can trust the Goodreads’ estimation that Stones Unhallowed will be released at some point in 2023.
Stormlight Archive Book 5 Audible Information
The Rhythm of War audiobook was narrated by Michael Kramer and Kate Reading, both of them experienced readers of Sanderson’s works. Both have a long history of narrating fantasy novels for Audible, with some of their notable readings including the works of Robert Jordan and V. E. Schwab’s A Darker Shade of Magic.
Stormlight Archive Book 5 Main Character
So far, different Stormlight Archive books have had different characters as their focus. Originally, the third book, now known as Oathbringer was given the working title of Stones Unhallowed, now the working title of book 5. Before changing its title and focus, book 3 was supposed to focus on Szeth, a character from the mountainous Shin, who is considered Truthless, a betrayer of his people.
Given that book 5 took the working title of book 3, it’s safe to assume that it will also take its focus on Szeth… unless, of course, Sanderson decides differently once again.
Stormlight Archive Book 5 Chapters
Once again, little can be said about the chapters of Book 5 for now, but it’s worth mentioning that there’s a steady increase from the first book’s 75 chapters to 122 in the third. Book 4 only had 118, but this is still a large number of chapters and there’s nothing to suggest that Sanderson will return to under 100-chapter books anytime soon.
Stormlight Archive Book 5 Spoilers
Naturally, there has been quite a lot of speculation about possible plot points that will become important in Book 5 of Stormlight Archive particularly since Rhythm of War is so recent. Here is a short synopsis of book 4 to refresh your memory:
As for book 5, it can be suggested that the working title “Stones Unhallowed” itself is a spoiler about the book’s main character. Fans on Reddit and other social media have speculated that Kaladin will swear by the Fifth Ideal, the final part of the set of rules followed by Knights Radiant.
Fans also expect that since there will be a significant time leap between books 5 and 6, book 5 will feature the battle between Odium’s Champion versus Honor’s and there is much speculation as to who Odium’s Champion is going to be. Since the last five books of the series will almost be a different chapter in themselves, we can at least hope that book 5 of Stormlight will provide some much-needed answers.
In the meantime, if you are interested in 2021 book releases, you might want to check out Project Hail Mary or A Court of Silver Flames.
Related: Kingkiller Chronicles Book 3: The Doors of Stone Release Date, Characters, Maps, Spoilers, Chapter Excerpts, News, Updates, and Everything To Know About Patrick Rothfuss Series Finale
