Brandon Sanderson, the author of famous high fantasy and sci-novels like the “Mistborn” series, made a rare appearance on the final day of the FanX Pop Culture and Comic Convention — and he had big news for his Utah fans.
Sanderson’s LLC, Dragonsteel Entertainment, has bought the land next to what used to be Evermore Park in Pleasant Grove, Utah.
“We’re going to theoretically build a bookstore,” Sanderson said on Saturday. The area will be called Dragonsteel Plaza.
Sanderson is one of a handful well-known fantasy authors from Utah, which has become something of a hub for authors interested in the genre. He’s also a local favorite at Brigham Young University, where he teaches a course on creative writing.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Brandon Sanderson speaks of Dragonsteel Plaza, an upcoming bookstore plaza, during a celebrity panel during FanX at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024.
Evermore Park closed permanently in April, and the land has since been bought by a St. George couple.
Sanderson also revealed that Dragonsteel’s headquarters is now located in a warehouse in Pleasant Grove, which fans cannot visit, but he did show a few photos of the property at the panel.
His panel was cut into three different parts — an update via slides that shared Sanderson’s art process for books, upcoming book bundles fans can buy and on Dragonsteel Plaza, a Q&A session from fans and a reading from the fifth Stormlight book, “Wind and Truth” which will release on Dec. 6.
With Utahns packed into grand ballroom at the Salt Palace Convention Center, Sanderson said the panel, so far has been well-populated, even more than the “Lord of The Rings” panel two days prior. Audience members exemplified their depth of knowledge of Sanderson’s work. They were well-versed in characters stories and the lore of Sanderson’s worlds.
For example, when a fan asked what character has surprised him the most, Sanderson named Adolin Kholin from the Stormlight series.
He also talked about mental health representation in his works. Sanderson said that one of his children has depression and as a dad, he tries to understand it on multiple levels and does his best to help, though he said he isn’t a licensed therapist.
“I want to understand people. That’s one of the main reasons I became a writer [to] understand what it is to be outside of my head,” Sanderson said. “That’s the real sort of challenge for me, is understanding, and I hope it helps.”
Fans were hanging onto Sanderson’s words as he did his live reading, though some left just in case there were any spoilers.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Brandon Sanderson speaks during a celebrity panel during FanX at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024.
When asked by a fan if Sanderson has ever doubted himself as a writer, he said, “multiple times.”
“Every time a book comes out, there is a part of you that says, ‘Well, this is the one that’s going to end your career, Sanderson,’” he said.
One of those moments came when Sanderson was still unpublished. He said he had written 12 novels by then and hadn’t sold any.
“I wasn’t writing the books necessarily because I wanted to be a famous author. I was writing the books because I had stories I needed to tell,” Sanderson said. ”I realized that if I reached my deathbed, and I had finished writing 100 novels, and I loved doing it, then that was a success.”
Sanderson has hit the New York Times Bestseller list 15 times. He also had a Dragonsteel pop-up store on the vendor floor all three days of the convention. Sanderson said he wants to use future appearances at FanX to give updates to fans.
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