A Mental Health Shout-Out: Brandon Sanderson and Dragonsteel

When I'm not reading psychology or history, I gravitate toward sci-fi and fantasy works (as you might have surmised from my March 2026 posts about telepathy and mind uploading). A writer whose work consistently feeds my inner geek is Brandon Sanderson, author of the Mistborn and Stormlight Archive series, as well as the Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians books that my daughter enjoyed in elementary school, and for those of us of a certain age, also the completer of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time. In addition to his excellent novels, Mr. Sanderson has developed quite a large side hustle selling Sanderverse-themed merchandise, hosting his own annual convention, and other ancillary businesses. But something that I have always admired is his willingness to give some of his work away -- early on, in the form of a "free sample" novel for people to discover whether they liked him, and a blog where he would write about his own writing process. More recently, he announced a larger effort to give back to his supporters, in a way that also addresses unmet mental health needs. Here's the initiative, called the "Next Step Coin," which follows the model of a military "challenge coin," similar to others that are already sold on his website. But this one is free if you need it, and it's likely to have special meaning to Mr. Sanderson's readers.

To understand what this is about, I have to give you a little background about one of the Sanderverse series, the Stormlight Archive. This set of 5 fantasy books (and counting) recounts the history of a world beset with magical conflict. The details are less important than the overall sense of doom hanging over the place, with ancient enemies with awesome powers awakening from a sleep of thousands of years, and opposed by a handful of people who don't seem to have the knowledge, strength, or abilities to resist them. The world is a gritty, "real-world" type of setting with cruel leaders, systematic oppression, terrible living conditions, political conflict, and all the other things that differentiate many modern books in this genre from their Tolkienesque high-fantasy roots. It also has magic, of course, but that's hard to access and most people don't believe in it or want anything to do with it. 

Additionally, the main characters in this series are all struggling with one or more types of major mental illness. (On Facebook, someone has been profiling their specific diagnoses in a series of "mental health Monday" postings). One has a self-critical type of depression and at one point decides to kill himself (he reconsiders). Another dissociates to such an extent that she loses track of her real self. A third struggles with guilt and self-doubt to such an extent that he lets others make all the decisions in his life (more specifically, he unquestioningly obeys whoever happens to be holding a particular rock). A fourth struggles with anxiety that's connected to his gender identity. And the leader of this group has problems with anger and alcohol use. Additional characters struggle with drugs, self-loathing, and envy. These suffering souls are the books' heroic protagonists, the Knights Radiant.

In each case, the characters have very significant histories of trauma that contributed to their feelings, brought about by the massive structural problems of the world they inhabit and the choices of people who came before them. That's not to say they aren't responsible for their own lives: Indeed, one of the core messages of the series is about learning to take ownership of your own experiences and to be deliberate about your own future choices, rather than blaming past circumstances and going whichever way the wind buffets you. The characters achieve psychological growth through a succession of "ideals" that increase their magical powers, each one requiring them to accept or move beyond some aspect of themselves that they would rather not face at all. These differ according to the "order" of knights, but the common ideal that starts all of them on their paths is this one: life before death, strength before weakness, journey before destination. 

Readers, and the characters themselves, have varied interpretations of these "words of radiance," but a common theme is that one needs to be present, do what's possible in the moment, and hold on, rather than giving in to hopelessness. This requires facing the world as it is, which in this series is pretty awful, without being crushed by that reality. In an often-cited scene, a distraught father sees his son being beaten while the authorities do nothing, and asks, "where is our honor?" Our hero Kaladin's response: "honor is dead, but I'll see what I can do." As a character grows in power, their underlying mental health concerns are not overcome or set aside; the heroism of these characters lies in getting up every day with those concerns still there and trying to make a positive contribution anyway. Many readers have found these themes to be inspirational in their real lives, giving them strength in difficult times. Additionally, readers have formed online and real-world communities in which they provide encouragement to fellow fans who are struggling, even sometimes addressing one another as "Radiant." 

Now, back to the coin at the top of the page: Recognizing this trend among his readers, Mr. Sanderson and his organization decided to amplify it with a mental-health-focused challenge coin. Although collectors can purchase it, the primary motivation is not profit. Instead, they are giving the coin away to anyone who says that they need it, either for themselves or for a friend or family member who is struggling. The sponsors have also partnered with a group called "Nerd HQ" to underwrite free psychotherapy and a national suicide/crisis hotline. The coin comes with a letter from Mr. Sanderson that references concepts from the book series and asks the recipient for a promise to reach out for help before deciding to kill themself -- a character-defining choice that is faced by Kaladin in the first book of the series. The coin's name, too, is a reference, to another character, Dalinar, who learns that "the most important step a man can take" is not the first one (as he initially thinks), but rather the next step, a choice to go forward despite past trauma and failures. And the back of the coin includes words of encouragement offered to Kaladin at a particularly hopeless time: "you will be warm again."

Now, maybe all of this is a little too nerdy for your taste, and that's fine. But it's a fantastic example of a grassroots effort to improve mental health in a community of people who might find themselves a bit outside the social norm. It's also a great example of corporate responsibility, attempting to give back to fans by meeting an identified need. Kudos to this great author for using his resources to support others, and to build on strengths that fans are already taking from his writing.