It’s official! With the first draft of Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive Book 4 now completed, the epic fantasy author has announced that the definitive title for the volume will be Rhythm of War.

Readers who hang about on the various forums where the epic world(s) of Roshar and the Cosmere are discussed have known “Rhythm of War” as a placeholder title up until now. So what prompted its official adoption?

Author Brandon Sanderson explains:

The time has come! Though I’ve had an instinct for many months that the title of Book Four would be Rhythm of War, I had to make certain it fit into the last chapters of the book as I wrote them. Indeed it does, and I feel comfortable announcing this at long last as the official title of the book. Like previous titles in this series (The Way of Kings, Words of Radiance, and Oathbringer) this one is taken from the title of an in-world volume of text. To tell you more would, of course, be a spoiler. Let’s just say that this is the first of one of these in-world books that has involved the writings of someone who is not human. I’m hard at work on revisions, and am excited for the end of the year—when I can finally share Rhythm of War with you all!

Debuting in 2010 with The Way of Kings, the Stormlight Archive has been the central epic upon which Brandon Sanderson’s larger literary universe currently revolves. Known formally as the Cosmere, this universe includes the Mistborn book series, Elantris, Warbreaker, White Sand, and a multitude of short tales and ephemera. Like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, certain peoples and aspects from one book series can unexpectedly appear in other series, even when other book series take place in entirely different solar systems.

The conclusion to Oathbringer, the third volume in the Stormlight Archive series, brought massive upheaval to Roshar, and series readers are understandably eager to see what comes next.

There’s a title now. Is there a cover?

Not yet! Artist Michael Whelan is hard at work on the cover to Rhythm of War, but in the meantime…

…a Herald approaches!

Stormlight Archive mapmaker and artist Isaac Stewart explains:

It’s been a dream of ours here at Dragonsteel to get to work with Donato on a piece of epic fantasy art depicting a scene or character from one of Brandon’s books. We were admirers of Donato’s work even before he created the illustration for “Firstborn” on Tor.com, and wow, did he create something beautiful there. So when Brandon came to me with the idea of paintings of all ten Heralds from the Stormlight Archive, the first person that came to both of our minds was Donato. And again, Donato has knocked this one out of the park. His rendition of Taln (Talenelat’Elin) is gorgeous. It strikes the right balance between realism and symbolism, and gives us a heroic, yet tormented, version of this beloved Herald. We love what Donato has done! We have several paintings of the Heralds in the works, so this one is likely to appear on the end pages of this book or the next, depending on which Heralds we feel look good together and best represent the themes of the books.

More about Rhythm of War:

“It has been almost twenty years since I first outlined The Stormlight Archive,” Sanderson spoke back in December. “Back then, I didn’t think anyone would be interested in this crazy epic I’d devised–and it’s been so thrilling to see enthusiasm for it grow to such heights over the years. Book four finally gets to one of the foundational scenes I conceived from the beginning. In fact, it might be the very first big scene I imagined, and my favorite in the entire series. A part of me can’t believe people are finally going to be able to read it. Less than one year now! Life before death, Radiants.”

Rhythm of War, Book 4 of The Stormlight Archive, is available for pre-order now from your preferred retailer.