Do we like Brandon Sanderson?
Our score: 8 out of 10. Clean record, public support for LGBTQ+ people in his own words, and real giving, with a couple of gaps in what I could find.
Sanderson is the Utah-based fantasy writer behind the Cosmere, the shared universe that links Mistborn, the Stormlight Archive and a pile of other books. He describes himself as a faithful Latter-day Saint, and his fans gather every year at his own convention, Dragonsteel Nexus, in Salt Lake City.
The big moment in his career came in 2022, when he ran a Kickstarter for four secret novels and it closed on about US$41.7 million, a record at the time. For a bloke who writes doorstopper fantasy, that is a very nice bit of fan trust.
His biggest stoush was with the press, not the law. In 2023 Wired ran a profile titled “Brandon Sanderson Is Your God”, and a Deseret News columnist objected to its labels like “weirdo Mormon”. Sanderson replied that the writer “seems to be a sincere man who tried very hard to find a story”, which is a pretty classy way to cop a hit piece.
On the harm check, his own FAQ (January 2023) says he supports LGBTQ+ rights, including same-sex marriage, trans and non-binary people's rights and anti-discrimination laws. He says he has voted for such laws and donated to LGBTQ+ groups, though I couldn't verify the donations independently. He also apologises for a 2007 essay containing views he says he no longer holds, and says he puts LGBTQ+ characters in his books. He says he hopes his church will come around, and I found no climate, vaccine or migrant material from him either way.
The recent news is a business one. Apple TV signed a deal in January 2026 for Cosmere films and shows, with Sanderson set to write, produce and consult, and he says he will write the Mistborn screenplay himself. He frames it as “more about partnership” than control.
On the good stuff, his Lightweaver Foundation helped put 1,300 of his books into the hands of students at West High School in Salt Lake City in 2023, aimed at literacy on the city's west side. That is practical, not performative.