Brandon Sanderson’s Teases Upcoming Book Change Because Of Dungeon Crawler Carl

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Published Nov 14, 2026, 3:00 PM EST

Dani Kessel Odom (they/them) is an autistic lead writer and TV critic who covers sci-fi shows like Doctor Who and Pluribus, fantasy shows like The Magicians and Percy Jackson, and horror of all kinds. They also cover Marvel and DC TV shows and movies, with a robust knowledge of comic books. Their TV reviews can be found on Rotten Tomatoes.

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Brandon Sanderson is taking inspiration from Dungeon Crawler Carl.

Two of the biggest names in genre fiction right now are Brandon Sanderson and Matt Dinniman. On the surface, the authors couldn’t be more different. Sanderson plans his books in detail years in advance, and he writes more traditional high fantasy. Meanwhile, Dinniman is a “pantser,” aka someone who writes without a detailed outline, and he blends together post-apocalyptic sci-fi and fantasy in his LitRPG Dungeon Crawler Carl books. Sanderson, who has written more books, took the traditional publishing route, while Dinniman published his first book two years before Sanderson's debut but didn't become a global sensation until after he self-published the first Dungeon Crawler Carl in 2020.

Luckily, both have massive respect for each other, and Sanderson is even willing to learn from Dinniman, despite being more established. Collider’s Maggie Lovitt interviewed Brandon Sanderson at FanX Salt Lake City on October 8, 2026, and they clipped his discussion of Dungeon Crawler Carl on November 3. Lovitt asked Sanderson what he has learned about himself and his writing process in the past weeks or months. Sanderson replied that he has been studying Matt Dinniman’s use of promise and payoff in Dungeon Crawler Carl. Sanderson stated this:

“What really makes Dungeon Crawler Carl fun is that he’ll give you a tease. He’ll give you a promise—this cool thing is coming. Then he makes you wait just long enough that you’re like, ‘Is this happening?’ and then it happens, and you’re really excited for it. And he’s just so good at that. And it’s a pacing lesson, and I think I’m trying to learn from Matt Dinniman how to do that.”

The fantasy author’s statements about Dungeon Crawler Carl hint at another change in his book pacing, which would be the second or third time in his career. For years, the author has received criticism regarding his pacing. At first, he was too drawn out, spending so much time building up the lore and world that it ended in a “Sanderlanche.”

In his 2009 annotations of The Hero of Ages (accessed via Arcanum), Sanderson acknowledged that he has been rightfully criticized for packing too much into the ending. He wrote that he’s trying to space out character climaxes. Unfortunately, he has struggled to find the right balance since then, losing a lot of the tension by spreading things out too much.

The current shift is particularly noteworthy since he revealed in his November 3, 2026, weekly update on YouTube that he’s starting the outline for The Stormlight Archive book 6 soon. If Sanderson unlocks the formula behind Dinnamin’s Dungeon Crawler Carl, the back 5 of The Stormlight Archive could feel different right off the bat. With a 10-year in-world time jump coming, it would be an appropriate time to introduce a change like that.

Even if the next book in the series uses Dungeon Crawler Carl as a pacing model, The Stormlight Archive books will still feel like the high-fantasy epic that has defined them since the beginning. Brandon Sanderson’s authorial voice and intense magic systems will remain the same, even if he uses a slightly different pacing model for future books.

Source: Collider