A few months have passed since Brandon Sanderson officially confirmed his partnership with Apple TV to adapt his Cosmere universe. Since that announcement he has been regularly updating fans on his weekly podcast, Intentionally Blank, sharing progress and fresh details. In the most recent episode he welcomed his wife, Emily Sanderson, to chat about their thoughts on Season 1 of Apple TV’s Murderbot series.
“I think I would give it a nine,” Sanderson said, “but I also am comparing it to the books. It’s possible that this is a 10 because: Is there anything I can imagine they should have done better?”
Why bring up Murderbot when the discussion usually centres on the Stormlight Archive TV adaptation, and why speak of it long after the first season concluded? A little further into the podcast, Sanderson drops a clue about a key executive involved in the show.
“It’s actually one of the same TV execs as on Stormlight, so I’m glad it was good because I watched it and I’m like ‘Oh, good. I sold him this.’ I didn’t know which exec I was going to get, but it is one of the execs on Murderbot,” Sanderson said.
Updates on the Stormlight Archive series have been sparse since the initial announcement, yet Sanderson has previously said he will be co-showrunner once production begins. In his latest weekly update on YouTube he explained that his main focus right now is drafting the script for the upcoming Mistborn film, while also developing a pilot for Stormlight. According to the progress bar on his official website, the Mistborn screenplay is already 72 % complete.
Although both the Stormlight Archive series and the Mistborn movie appear to be some way off, Sanderson’s recent comments are a hopeful sign. They also provide another reason to explore Martha Wells’ Murderbot novels if you haven’t yet. She just released a new novel in the series, titled Platform Decay, which is now available to read.
