How George R.R. Martin Almost Derailed Brandon Sanderson’s Career Over Game of Thrones
At Utah State Correctional Facility, fantasy powerhouse Brandon Sanderson stripped his origin story to the studs, recalling a blizzard of early rejections as publishers chased the George R.R. Martin Game of Thrones wave. He turned the moment into a master class on storytelling and the hero’s journey—and how grit can write its own ending.
Brandon Sanderson recently dropped by the Utah State Correctional Facility to talk storytelling and the hero's journey, and he used the moment to get real about his early grind, the Game of Thrones shadow over the market, and that time he was a little salty about Elden Ring. It’s a good snapshot of how timing, trends, and stubborn consistency actually shape a career.
When the market only wanted grimdark
In a talk posted to his YouTube channel, Sanderson looked back at the stretch right after he graduated. He had manuscripts, he was sending them out, and no one was buying. A big reason, according to him: publishers were chasing George R.R. Martin’s surge. Gritty, brutal, medieval fantasy was the vibe. Sanderson’s stuff has darkness, sure, but his center of gravity is hope and persistence—light cutting through the dark. That wasn’t what editors were trying to acquire during the initial rise of Game of Thrones, and it made his break-in phase longer and uglier.
How he pushed through: 12 trunk novels and a lot of stubbornness
He kept at it. By his own count, he wrote a dozen novels before one finally got traction. Most writers would have tapped out. He didn’t. These days he gets labeled as the fast guy, but he’s quick to swat that down—he says it isn’t speed, it’s consistency. He writes because he wants to build big, meaningful stories that actually land with people, and he shows up to do that day after day. That discipline, more than any trend-chasing, is what got him from the slush pile to the shelf.
The Elden Ring near-miss
Sanderson also told a story on his Intentionally Blank podcast about a gig he really wanted: shaping the lore for FromSoftware’s Elden Ring. FromSoft picked Martin instead. Sanderson had jokes:
Let me be salty. FromSoftware decides to make a fantasy game and partner with a fantasy novelist, and they choose someone who spends his days blogging about the NFL rather than the person who has played their games since King's Field and has listed their games as among his top 10 consistently over time. What are you thinking people?
He was clearly kidding around, but the sting was real. He’s a long-time FromSoft diehard, and he would have loved to build that world. Martin, for his part, isn’t exactly known as a gamer. Would a Sanderson-flavored Elden Ring have been wild? Absolutely. Different, too. But hey, that’s an alternate timeline.
Where all of this landed
Irony alert: the guy who once couldn’t sell because GoT rewired the market is now constantly compared to Martin, with the Cosmere getting stacked next to A Song of Ice and Fire. He didn’t beat the trend—he outlasted it.
- Game of Thrones quick stats: Showrunners David Benioff & D.B. Weiss; based on A Song of Ice and Fire; 89% on Rotten Tomatoes; streaming on Max (formerly HBO Max)
If Game of Thrones never happened, do you think Sanderson’s career plays out differently? Drop your take below.