Not many authors are quite as consistently prolific as Brandon Sanderson, and happily, he’s not showing any signs of slowing down any time soon! For those of you who might be curious about what all the fuss is about, I’ve put together this general introduction to his work. It covers a bit about Brandon himself, addresses the awesome fact that all of his epic fantasies are connected, and suggests some titles for first-time readers to start on…
Who is Brandon Sanderson?
Brandon Sanderson is a New York Times bestselling author, who has been published for ten years, but writing for a lot longer than that. Born in Nebraska, but currently residing in Utah, Sanderson wasn’t much of a bookworm as a child until he was given a copy of Dragonsbane by Barbara Hambly by a favorite teacher. He’s been hooked on epic fantasy ever since. Even though he originally planned to study biochemistry in college, he gave himself over to his love of stories and switched to English, hoping to be a writer. After many years of writing whenever he could—at night, at work, whenever he had free time—Brandon sold his first novel and by May 2005, he was holding Elantris in his hands.
Following the success of Elantris, Brandon gained an even wider audience with the Mistborn trilogy and in 2007, Sanderson was catapulted into the spotlight when he was asked by Robert Jordan’s widow, Harriet McDougal, to take over The Wheel of Time series following the unfortunate passing of Robert Jordan. Over the next few years, Sanderson performed double duty, not only working vigorously on the finale to The Wheel of Time, but also producing fiction set in his own worlds, including The Way of Kings, the inaugural book of The Stormlight Archive series, which was published in 2010 and followed by its sequel, Words of Radiance, in 2014.
If that last bit sounds nuts, don’t worry, it’s standard. Sanderson is known for his incredible work ethic and furious pace—not only has he released full-length epic fantasy novels before, during, and after completing Robert Jordan’s iconic series, he’s also written a handful of middle-grade and YA novels, a multitude of short stories and novellas (one of which won the Hugo a few years ago), and still manages to find time to participate in the award-winning “Writing Excuses” podcast he started with Dan Wells and Howard Taylor, with Mary Robinette Kowal joining in the sixth season.
Sanderson manages to strike a fine balance in his work, providing the fun, magical, and epic fantasy adventures he loved growing up while simultaneously pushing those stories into new territory; finding ways to ask important questions about culture, character, religion, society, history, and more without sacrificing a breakneck, page-turning pace.
So where do I start?
Sanderson has put out a lot of books out and any number of them can act as a great gateway to his work! I, myself, was first introduced to him through his novel Warbreaker, released through his website for free. Brandon wanted to showcase his work for people online to see what would happen, and guess what? I went out and bought the first Mistborn book that same week.
I suppose it all depends on your preference. While Sanderson has a certain writing style, the flavor can vary per book, so here’s a quick guide to finding a starting point that’s right for you:
Mistborn – Do you enjoy seeing fantasy tropes turned on their head, love heist stories, and wish you could soar through massive cities like Spider-Man? Then try the Mistborn series! Set in a dying world, ruled by a sinister immortal emperor who hides a dark secret about the prophesied Hero of Ages, the series follows Vin, a young girl who joins up with a group of thieves, miscreants, and revolutionaries, on a mission to end the Final Empire once and for all, with plenty of metal magic, intrigue, guys with spikes for eyes, and adrenaline along the way…
Elantris – Are you looking for more of a classic fantasy read but with a twist? Elantris has a shining city, magical god-like beings, and a beautiful princess being sent off to marry a handsome prince. Oh wait, ha, oops. The shining city of Elantris has been quarantined, the magic that turned men and women into god-like beings has been poisoned, and the handsome prince is now cursed with that very magic, while his bride-to-be is abandoned on strange shores, wondering what the heck to do now. Symbol magic, big questions about life, philosophy, and religion, and float-y, glowing artificial intelligences soon follow.
Warbreaker – Looking for something along similar lines to Elantris? Well, give Warbreaker a shot! Set in a world where the magical energy of Breath can imbue a mortal with godlike abilities, a young princess is sent to marry the God-King of her neighboring, warring nation, and it’s up to her older sister to bring her back home safely, while avoiding the conspiracy against the crown. Incredibly deadly (yet naïve) talking swords, marble-sculpted immortal men and women, and a delightful conversation about sarcasm ensue.
Steelheart – Ah, so these options are interesting, but you’re not much of an epic fantasy person. That’s fine, we’re still friends, (I guess). Maybe Sanderson’s Young Adult novel Steelheart is more your thing? It’s set in our world, except years ago something exploded in the sky and stayed there, called “Calamity.” It gifted certain people on the world, dubbed “Epics,” with incredible superpowers. Except if you get powers, that’s basically confirmation that you’re a super evil person. When the worst Epic of all, Steelheart, kills David’s father, our young hero vows to find Steelheart’s special weakness and kill him. Questions of good and evil, cultural change, and some really, deliberately bad metaphors lay within.
Any one of these would be great book to start with for anyone interested in finding out what all the fuss is about. Of course, there’s also the aforementioned Way of Kings—which is brilliant and does so many cool things—but to paraphrase Brandon’s comments in a recent episode of “Writing Excuses,” The Way of Kings is the novel to read once you trust him. But if you’re the type of reader who likes an epic challenge, go right ahead!
What the heck is this Cosmere I keep hearing about?
Another good question! You’re good at these, these question things. Quite good. A Question Master, even. Put it on your resume.
Now, don’t panic, but all of Brandon’s epic fantasy novels are connected. This is a really neat thing that doesn’t impact your individual enjoyment of any one book, but is something that will only add to the reading experience itself.
So, without any spoilers, here’s what you need to know: Brandon’s epic fantasy novels take place in a same universe, known as the Cosmere. Across the many novels and worlds, there is a secret story playing out behind the scenes, as characters from one book suddenly pop up in others, with new sides and facets being revealed with every new story; ultimately, this story is something that will thread throughout every novel, and not just hide in the shadows as we move forward.
You absolutely do not need to be aware of this behind-the-scenes story in order to enjoy the novels. But if you pay close attention, you’ll recognize that one character from a different world cutting through a scene, or you’ll recognize a familiar name from another book, and so on. Brandon is playing the long game, and while eventually you’ll need to have some knowledge of the Cosmere to see the whole picture, right now, rest easy and enjoy the story.
But, if you do want to get to know the Cosmere, here are just a few tantalizing thoughts that may be of interest:
- There is a certain character that has shown up in every one of Brandon’s epic fantasy novels, and he’s not always helpful.
- Brandon is theorizing a universal system of how the various magic systems work in his universe, and it makes me so happy to wonder about it and the interplay of all the individual systems.
- This cosmic struggle has been going on for thousands of years, and getting a glimpse at events on such an vast chronological scale is, frankly, awesome.
- Look closely at the way his magic systems work in every book. Note the similarities, differences, and potential points of intersection. Interesting, eh?
So, Now What?
Go! Read! Enjoy!
Martin Cahill is glad you paid the price and read his essay. A publicist by day, a bartender by night, and a writer in between, when he’s not slinging words at Tor.com, he’s contributing to Book Riot, Strange Horizons, and blogging at his own website when the mood strikes him. A proud graduate of the Clarion Writers’ Workshop 2014, you can find him on Twitter @McflyCahill90; tweet him about how barrel-aging beers are kick-ass, tips on how to properly mourn Parks and Rec, and if you have any idea on what he should read next, and you’ll be sure to become fast friends.
Since you include it in the list, you should mention that Steelheart is not Cosmere. No story set on Earth (even an alternate Earth) is Cosmere.
Start with The Emperor’s Sole. You will not be disappointed. You will not go wrong with any of the bools that Martin mentions. Myself, I started with the Robert Jordan and thought…who is this Brandon guy and what has he written. What a fine ride it has been since.
How could you leave off the list his Alcatraz series (also not Cosmere)….Oh yeah, because it was published by another company, who refused to publish further on books. Maybe if Tor had agreed to publish them, he could conclude the series, also other good ones left off, are “The Emperor’s Soul,” and “Legion,” not to mention other good shorts that are too many to list.
I started with Mistborn, then go through Elantris. After that started Warbreaker and its been a month since I finished The Way of Kings. Its an amazing writter, but sometimes i feel like im reading the same novel, its funny how in every novel that he wrotes he talks about politics, aristocracy, religion and of course, some sort of magic… and that makes some of their plots being easy to me to discover his intentions.
Still got me reading everything that he wrotes.
Just waiting june to Word of Radiance being translated (to spanish).
For me, it was:
1) Elantris
2) Warbreaker
3) Mistborn series
4) Stormlight Archive
As his books get bigger, they start to feel more and more connected. Hoid is more of a presence in Way of Kings, and I loved how it was treated.
truthfully Stephen King was the one who first came up with the connected worlds, story ideas. Something that obviously was borrowed by Brandon. Although an excellent author, the idea of this has already been done.
@3 Brandon bought back the rights to Alcatraz and Tor will be publishing them, along with the fifth and final book.
@6. starfire
Asimov did it before King, and I’m sure he wasn’t the first.
“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.”
As Carl mentions here in the comments, I first heard of Brandon through his work on the Wheel of Time series for Robert Jordan. I was a huge fan of Jordan’s and wanted to get acquainted with the Sanderson style before he took over. I first read Elantris, and since then all of his published work except Alcatraz.
Marvel and DC Comics are each also good examples of connected universes between different series … although I’m not sure they were doing it before Asimov.
I first heard of him when he was announced as the new WoT writer, and went out and read Elantris. I was impressed, and then read the Mistborn trilogy, which I loved so much I almost cried when I was done with it becuase it meant I was done, haha.
Aside from his WoT stuff, I haven’t had time to check out anything else he’s done, and now of course he has totally outpaced me meaning it’s going to be hard to catch up! I did put Alloy of Law on my New Year’s Reading Resolutions this year though…
Yep, starfire, and it’s totally not a feature of comics, the Grimms, Anderson, nor Cervantes, either ;-)
@2 The Emperor’s Sole? Is that book about the Emperor’s New Shoes (aka The Emperor’s New Groove pt3)?
Walker @1 makes a good point: so far, none of his YA or middle-grade books are part of the Cosmere. That means the Reckoners series (Steelheart, Firefight, Calamity), The Rithmatist, and the Alcatraz series are not Cosmere. That said, I have heard rumors of him possibly writing some things that are more YA-style, but still Cosmere; we’ll have to wait and see.
I’ve actually known people who started with Alloy of Law, which is set on the same world as Mistborn but about 300 years later. Personally, I wouldn’t recommend it; while that book only leaves you wondering about a few historical references, the next ones will leave you completely baffled as you try to figure out all manner of things relating to history, world-building, and magic.
I generally recommend Mistborn as a starting point, because I think it’s probably the easiest entry to the Cosmere, but like Martin, it depends a lot on the individual reader.
Mistborn is a great place to start. I went from there to Elantris, Warbreaker, and then the Stormlight Archive. And don’t forget all the short stories. Only a few of those are Cosmere (Sixth of the Dusk, Shadows from Silence in the Forests of Hell, The Emperor’s Soul) but those can make a great starting point too. I think the last one there gives as much insight into some aspects of the Cosmere as the full length novels. The characters get into it body, mind, and soul (so to speak). There’s only one of his stories that I didn’t love, and it was just co-written by Brandon.
This is a thing I’ve been wondering: the idea of the Cosmere; if a person wasn’t told about it could he or she discover the Cosmere simply from reading the books? As far as I can tell, there have only been vague hints at this in the Way of Kings and really in no other books. Like… Sanderson himself has made tons of comments at conventions and online that “confirm” this or that Cosmere theory (if you subscribe to Word of God rules). But if you only go by what’s written would it simply appear that names randomly get repeated from novel to novel? I could see a reader simply interpreting the occurence of names as like an easter egg, and nothing else.
I recently got my mother and a colleague that I like to call “Prof” into reading Brandon’s Cosmere-related books. Here’s my suggested reading order:
1) Mistbor Series (including Alloy of Law)
2) Warbreaker
3) Elantris (always with the caveat that it’s his first book and the writing/plotting/characterization/etc. may not be as strong as the previous 5 books suggested)
4) The Emperor’s Soul
5) Stormlight Archive
I tell them to read the novellas and short stories as well, but only after reading the Mistborn series as a great entry into the world of the Cosmere.
Mistborn or The Emperor’s Soul are probably the best places to start: Mistborn is probably the easiest Cosmere magic system introduction, since Vin gets training in the basics (where a lot of the other systems, the characters there are getting a grasp – etc.). That said, The Emperor’s Soul is such a quick read, and it’s a perfect example of how Sanderson builds up to his climaxes in his stories.
@juanito: I think I’ve read that there will be an explicit Cosmere novel at some point
Another great non-cosmere series is the Legion set. Completely different stuff, there. For a certain reader, I’d definitely recommend them – but they aren’t classic fantasy. Just… great, short books.
ChubbyMonkey @3 – While I can’t answer for Martin as to why he didn’t include Alcatraz, I can point out that it’s not because Alcatraz isn’t a Tor publication. As noted by crapaflapnasti @7, the whole series is being republished by Tor; the first four are coming out soon with new artwork, followed by the yet-unpublished fifth book.
starfire @6 – King isn’t the first to come up with the idea either. (See Werechull @8, McKayB @10, Jacob @12…) In fact, very rarely is any one aspect of writing “new” with any author, and Brandon has repeatedly acknowledged his debt to those who went before, in this and many other areas. The beauty in writing is in new ways of combining existing ideas so that it tells a new story in a way that delights the reader. There’s an awesome piece on the subject that you might be able to find here: https://plus.google.com/u/0/103674399065634804648/posts
Seerow @13 – LOL!
Juanito @16 – A very observant reader will catch on after a few books; others might not catch it ever if no one pointed it out to them. (That latter would be me.) Eventually, as he starts taking cultures out into space and they run into each other, it would become obvious, but IIRC he doesn’t plan to get there for quite a few years yet. At this point, he really doesn’t want people to feel like they have to get into the Cosmere thing, so he’s deliberately placing the crossovers with a light touch. The only time it would “bite” is when you get into discussion with other readers who are into the Cosmere connections.
@16. Juanito
Words of Radiance has a fairly explicit tie-in to Warbreaker that you can’t miss if you’d already read Warbreaker first. As for understanding the Cosmere at large, you won’t get that within the books for awhile yet. A future series (Dragonsteel) will tell the world hopper’s story.
Werechull @21 – And may I just say, I adore your user name? :D
I have read any number of fantasy novels and the Stormlight Light books are as good as it gets!! I was introduced to Mr. Sanderson’s writing through the W.O.T. I thought he masterfully concluded that epic story. I have since read all of the Mistborn books and the Stromlight books. I will tackle Elantris next. :)
I started with Mistborn 1 and as a result of loving it completely I finally bit the bullet and got into WoT when I found out he was finishing up the series. Then I read Way of Kings, Steelheart, Warbreaker, Mistborn 2 and 3, finished WoT, Words of Radience, and then Alloy of Law. I have Elantris, but haven’t read it yet, and haven’t read any Alcatraz or Rithmatist books.
I agree with the comment that his stories take on a “sameness”, but I’m just amazed by the worlds and the detail he is able to build.
Mistborn was the perfect entry point for me.
I know a lot of people get into Brandon through Mistborn. However, I must admit that I almost stopped reading him over Mistborn (I started with Elantris right after the WOT announcement in 2007). The characters in that series felt too slight for me. I am not surprised that Tor repackaged Mistborn for the YA market, because it reads like YA fantasy.
The characterization in Way of Kings is light-years ahead of Mistborn, and that pulled me back.
re interconnected series: King? Asimov? Latecomers. I’m surprised no mention of Michael Moorcock’s Eternal Champion multiverse, which is usually cited as the prime example of such.
(I’d dismiss Asimov’s Robots/Foundation crossovers as a late-life fixup. The original books weren’t originally envisioned as interconnected.)
Going even further back, the works of James Branch Cabell have numerous interconnections, though they’re all readable as stand-alones.
@14-Wetlandernw: You listed Calamity as one of Sanderson’s books, and got me all excited. Now I see that it’s not out yet, and he only finished writing it five days ago! Fie upon thee, for raising/dashing my hopes!
I was out of work, broke and bored out of my mind so I was desperate for free online reading material. I found his Warbreaker novel on his site for free and devoured it in a day. As soon as I was back to work I had to get Mistborn and have been a huge fan ever since.
Perhaps my favorite of his works is one that hasn’t been mentioned yet. I LOVED Legion. Freaking brilliant character. The sequal is also quite good though it didn’t blow me away quite as hard as the first one.
I started by reading Way of Kings, which I just finished today. I’ll get into Words of Radiance either tonight or tomorrow. I suppose between that and Stormlight #3, I’ll stick my nose into his other books, in addition to everything else I’m following and planning to read.
Warbreaker was the first thing of Sanderson that I set my eyes on after hearing that he would be finishing up the WoT. I devoured it, fell in love with it, and proceeded to tear through Elantris and Mistborn.
As for the Cosmere, I noticed the worldhopper showing up, but I didn’t connect the dots on what was going on until his bizarre exchange with Dalinar in Way of Kings. Then I turned to google, and my brain exploded, and I have been a die-hard fan ever since. The only things I haven’t read of his are the Rithmatist and the Alcatraz novels.
started with Mistborn like others and found it interesting not as genre bending as advertized in reality but still an interesting slight inversion. Elantris was also interesting though not sure as deep as discussed here. Dune and Foundation ask similar questions better I think. Stormlight archive is very interesting and looks like it is going to be very deep and I have enjoyed both.
I do have to ask – how is elantris connected? I can see it as playing with ideas (lake of power, Dor, etc.) but it doesn’t seem to have any similar characters from others and the magic system seems different. Mistborn and Way of Kings seemed closer together. Certainly didn’t see a character I remembered from Mistborn or way of kings – (but then I didn’t see the one in way of kings from Mistborn either … suppose I need to reread those now).
Didn’t know warbreaker was free – going to download now.
MackTheFife @27 – Oh, d-d-d-d-dear! I’m sorry. I think of them together, so even though he just finished the first draft, it’s in my head as “this trilogy.” :( That was totally cruel. I grovel in abject apology.
(Seriously – I hate it when that happens! Nothing like getting pumped for something and then finding out it’s still the better part of a year away. I’ll try to be more careful.)
zaldar @31 – I’m whiting this out in case anyone is worried about spoilers. Highlight the following to read:
Hoid is in every cosmere novel so far. Sometimes he’s actually called Hoid, other times he’s just there as an informant or a beggar who knows too much. In Elantris, he’s the beggar who helps Sarene smuggle weapons in to the city of Elantris; in The Emperor’s Soul, he’s the Imperial Fool. In Mistborn, he mostly shows up as an informant; in Alloy of Law, he’s the beggar at the wedding. In Warbreaker, he’s the storyteller. In the Stormlight Archive, he’s the King’s Wit. There are other characters who cross worlds; some of them are still not known for sure. In The Way of Kings, the three men looking for Hoid in the Ishikk interlude are all worldhoppers: one from Scadrial (Mistborn world), one from Sel (Elantris world), and one from Taldain (White Sand world, which is not published yet). There’s a Terriswoman in… Warbreaker, I think? that no one has postiviely identified yet.
As for how Elantris is connected, you have to remember that it was his first published novel, and things weren’t quite as firmly tied together as they are now. Even if he’d had all the Cosmere stuff fully planned, he couldn’t make his first book too clearly dependent on the hope of publishing more. That said, the magics on Elantris are affected by Shards of Adonalsium in the same way as the magics on all the other worlds – which is to say, each magic system is different partly because of the inherent properties of the world, and partly because of the intent of the Shard involved. Mistborn’s magic is due partly to the nature of the planet Scadrial, and partly to the intents of the two Shards, Ruin and Preservation. In Elantris, the magic is due partly to the nature of the planet Sel, and partly to the Shards Devotion and Dominion. You mostly see the magic invested by Devotion; the other system isn’t so central to the story. I would expect that the sequel, whenever he writes it, will involve more of the magic invested by Dominion.
Does that help? Or did I just make it worse?
Also, several years ago this very site published a short scifi story by him that I’m exceedingly fond of. Firstborn
#8 Werechull – Solomon, Ecclesiastes right?
Also, not sure why the Stormlight Archive is recommended as last. WoK got me hooked on Sanderson in the first place, my brother and another friend were the same.
I asked Brandon on Twitter: “I’ve read the original Mistborn trilogy and the first two Stormlight Archive books. What do you recommend next?”
Brandon responded: “Steelheart if you want action, emporer’s soul if you want philosophy, warbreaker for humor/romance.”
I’m going with Steelheart, then Mitosis, then Firefight. I’m excited for the shorter books (in comparison to WoK & WoR at least). I think I will follow the Reckoners series with Emporer’s Soul.
Who knows what he’ll have released by the time I’m finished with these, though.
Great article! And great comments!
I also first heard about Brandon when he was announced as the one who will carry on with WoT. It quite conceded with the publishing of Way of Kings soon, so this was the first for me – I dug in head over heels :) And after that, I’ve been as hooked as you can be. Love, love, LOVE this man and his work. All of his work. Heck, his name works as a quality proof for me.
And I’m so glad Wetlandernw and wingracer pointed out Legion and Skin Deep – I’ve always had a soft spot for them and they are brilliant. Still consider the first two lines of Legion the best opening ever.
werechull … *chuckles*
“I’m not schizophrenic, but some of my aspects are.” Heh.
@34 Sparksfly’n, I would put Stormlight Archive last because there are a ton of references to all of his other Cosmere books. The first books by Brandon that I read after WoT were his Stormlight Archive series, but I missed all of the references because I had no idea they were there. For example (whited out in case you don’t want to read the spoilers)
Mraize’s trophies come from many, if not all, of the Shardworlds. Then there are the various worldhoppers in the Purelake interlude, as well as several other worldhoppers from other worlds like Nalthis.
Now that I’ve gone back and re-read Stormlight Archive, I realized how much I missed! It makes them deeper and more complex books knowing that there are hints to so many things in that series. Also, it appears that this series will be where much of the Cosmere converges
(Moderator note: edited the message to fix spoiler white-out! SR)
Now, that is interesting. Is this the first line in your edition, Wetlandernw, or is it from somewhere farther in the book? Because in mine, it starts with “My name is Stephen Leeds, and I am perfectly sane. My hallucinations, however, are all quite mad.”
I was just wondering, are there two slightly different editions or you quoted by heart?
Well, 37 could totally be true in a non-ironic way, as schizophrenia doesn’t have anything to do with multiple personalities ;)
Celebrinnen @40 – That was off the top of my head, recalled from somewhere in the second book. It’s not a direct quote, but a couple of times he explains to the reader that he’s actually probably not schizophrenic. However, at least one of his aspects (Tobias) is, which makes it really twisty. Your comment @36 had me thinking about one-liners from the books; I had forgotten that the first line was so close to the bit I was thinking about. My bad.
I always suggest Warbreaker first, on account of the fact that it’s free. People are much more willing to give it a try for that reason. Then, I move to the original Mistborn trilogy, which is the best showcase of a cosmere world (Scadrial is an Earth-analogue, so it’s not too alien to the average reader). Then I have them read Alloy of Law, to show off Brandon’s love for easter eggs (‘high imperial’ XD). If I haven’t lost them by that point, I direct them to the Stormlight Archive. I never push Elantris on a new reader; it’s poorly paced when compared with his other books, and while the behind-the-scenes aspects of Sel are fascinating, the surface-level worldbuilding is rather bland.
NOTE: I am a 17th Sharder. I delve way deeper into these books than is necessary, and I tend to find interesting things that bore other readers. I’ve tried to keep most of the really techincal details out of my explanations.
(Note: the following contains some potentially spoiler-y information about the cosmere–readers who would rather read and find out for themselves should skip ahead)
@juanito: Right now, most characters don’t have the means or knowledge to get to other Shardworlds (planets), so the cosmere doesn’t have a lot interaction with the plot. Instead, the novels are connected by the fact that they are all built on the same framework and rules.
One of the most critical aspects of the cosmere in all its books is the Shards of Adonalsium. Long story short, there was once (like, millennia ago) a godlike being or force called Adonalsium, but then it was Shattered into sixteen pieces (we’re not really clear on why). If you come across a ‘god’ in one of Brandon’s cosmere novels, chances are it’s one of those Shards.
The other major aspect is Realmatic theory, which is really complicated, and is the origin of most of the magic systems. Basically, all things exist on three overlapping Realms (Physical, Cognitive, and Spiritual), and magic arises as a result of interactions between these Realms.
There are a bunch of minor connections between the novels, as there are some characters who know how to get from world to world, but for now, it’s more of a setting thing. As we move forward, and characters grow more and more knowledgable about the world, there will be a bigger impact on the plot. Here’s a couple of things we know are coming:
According to Hoid, the “very pillars of the sky will shake” with the results of the war on Roshar (The Stormlight Archive), so I expect that series will have some serious impact on the Cosmere.
The Dragonsteel series will be a sort of backstory for the cosmere, beginning pre-Shattering. Hoid and the original Shard-holders will be major characters.
Mistborn is arranged into three major trilogies, plus the Mistborn Adventures (Alloy of Law and sequels). WoB says that by the time of the third trilogy, technology on Scadrial (the Mistborn world) will have progressed to the point that they will have FTL spaceships, and will be able to travel to other Shardworlds without magic. That’s when things will really start kicking off.
@zaldar: Sel (the Elantris and Emperor’s Soul world) is a weird case. The Shards there, Devotion and Dominion, were Splintered (basically, destroyed) by another Shard named Odium (yes, the same Odium who is shaping up to be the Big Bad of the Stormlight Archive). Because of that, there are now huge torrents of Investiture (Shardic energy) loose in the Cognitive Realm there, which make travel to and from the planet exceedingly difficult and dangerous.
This unguided Investiture is also the reason why the magic system there is so different; where other planets only have the power that their Shards were willing to Invest in the world, on Sel the Dor is pushing huge amounts of power (nearly two full Shards’ worth) at anything that it can.
Wetlandernw @42, no bad :) Your wording was actually quite close to the original beginning, so much so that I got curious if it really was from some slightly different version (since you’re his beta-reader, right?) or just remembered so well :) Mystery explained :)
Moderators – should any of the details @43 be whited out? Or perhaps just a note inserted to let people know that there’s a lot of Cosmere stuff that they might prefer to find in the books first?
Celebrinnen @44 – Yes, I am one of Brandon’s beta-reader team, though I don’t read everything before it’s published. Sometimes he uses different sets of readers, depending on the book and the timing. I love the Legion books, though – just the concept makes me snicker every time I think about it. :)
@Wetlandernw: Thanks for the heads up! I just put in a warning, so hopefully that will do the trick :)
@wonko the Sane: Thanks for posting! I just added the extra note to give newer readers fair warning before they get in too deep…
I read the Wheel of Time for the first time last year and it was something I’d been meaning to read for a while, so I first heard about Brandon Sanderson from seeing things about WoT online before I read it. I decided I didn’t want to read anything else by him until I’d finished WoT, because I didn’t want any feelings about his personal style to affect my reading of the Wheel of Time.
I was always going to go on to read more Brandon Sanderson, though, because I saw he was writing a series called “The Stormlight Archive” and if it has the word ‘archive’ in it, I read it. (The sole reason I purchased “The Name of the Wind” was because a girl next to me on a train was reading it and I saw the word ‘archive’ on a page.) I’m an archivist and a lover of fantasy, so anything combining the two is always going to draw me in.
I decided to fully prepare myself before embarking on the Stormlight Archive. I read Elantris first, because it felt only right to begin with his first book and see how things developed. Then I moved on to the Mistborn trilogy, and then Alloy of Law. I’m yet to read anything else of his because I was too eager and am currently halfway through The Way of Kings.
I think it’s a good thing to have an understanding of the author you’re reading (or the writer/director/etc you’re watching) because I think it really enhances the experience if you have more of an idea about where it’s coming from, and someone’s whole set of works can really bring together and develop themes in a much greater way than a single book or series. His discussions of religion are what really intrigue me the most. (I must curtail my thoughts here…)
I’d have a rather different view of the books I’ve read if I’d read them in a different order. I would certainly have a read WoT differently if I’d read any Brandon Sanderson before reading books 12-14; when I look back now, his style and ideas stand out much more clearly to me. So I really like the order I’ve read in so far, and look forward to reading more, and will definitely rely on articles such as this when I do so, in order to pick out the best possible reading order and understand which books fall where!
Sian17 @47 – Can I recommend you take a quick break after The Way of Kings and switch over to Warbreaker? Read that, then come back and read Words of Radiance. I can’t recommend this strongly enough. Really.
Thanks all! The info was quite helpful. I will have to go back and see if I can see the characters mentioned in the ones I have read. Did have the correct character in stormlight but missed him in the others it seems.
And yes read warbreaker before words of radiance …. one part will have sooo much more meaning if you do. I read it in reverse and it was a mistake. First big hint ever for a casual reader that same universie is going on is … ;).
@47, @48 – I would actually strongly recommend both Warbreaker and Emperor’s Soul between Way of Kings and Words of Radiance.
@34 – I think that Stormlight isn’t recommended as a starting point simply for the fact that it might be a bit more daunting, especially with the fact that we only have two books out of a planned ten so far.
So yeah, I’m the chick who saw a very interesting fantasy novel and dove right in with Way of Kings. I had never heard of Sanderson. But oh, that novel was what I’m always looking for in fantasy! Sweeping, epic, truly creative, and not copying the common stuff fantasy writers seem to rely on these days. I’m looking for what I should read next and I think I’m leaning towards Mistborn. I’m also really interested in Elantra and Warbringer. Are they a series? If so what order do they go in?
Elantris and Warbreaker are both standalone novels on separate worlds. Someday they might have sequels. The Emperor’s Soul is a short story in the same world as Elantris.
I was introduced to Elantris by my parents, of all people. But I’m a huge fantasy fan and quickly read Mistborn, Warbreaker, and most of Sanderson’s other books. I recently finished Rithmatist and Firefight. But I haven’t gotten into the Stormlight Archive yet.
I started reading A Way of Kings, and liked it, but for some reason I keep getting distracted by reading other things and then have to start over because I forgot who all the characters are. Maybe I should take notes? Something in me is reluctant to jump into a new mega-series that may last for years. The only reason I read A Song of Ice and Fire was to find out what happens to Arya after watching the first two seasons of Game of Thrones. This is ironically the same reason I never read Wheel of Time. Even now that it’s finished, that reluctance holds me back. I get very invested in characters and fantasy worlds, so I need some extra push to get me to really dive in and commit to a new series. Somebody push me.
Elantris and Warbreaker are the only books in the series so far, although sequels are planned eventually.
As for reading order:
A friend gave me Mistborn and i was skeptical (I had never heard of Brandon Sanderson before, since Wheel of Time was never my cup of tea). I was asking him if he had any suggestions to what i shall read over christmas. He gave me a look, strolled over to his bookshelf, and without hesitation, presented me the trilogy. He only said. “Read this, you wont regret it.”
I replied: “Dude, i am not sure if i will read the entire frikkin trilogy, i was thi -“
He chuckled and prophesied “You will. Tread the books well, those paperbacks arent particularly sturdy, i read them twice already.” And he had never been so right in his life.
Next was Alloy of Law [the next book set on Scadrial (the mistborn world) ] Which I also enjoyed, but, unlike the previous, its story wasnt as enticing as the characters.
Then came Steelheart which was just as awesome. (Although Firefight didnt convince me. )
I find it strange why the author cautions people to start the Stormlight Archives. The series is pure awesomeness in ink form (and just as awesome as audio ). For the experienced fantasy reader, its not more difficult to pick up than, lets say Mistborn. There is only one reason why i wouldnt recommend the series to anyone – you have to wait longer in between books!
One caveat though: Really try to read the books in English – I sampled the German translation of Mistborn (Because i wanted to give them for a friends birthday and her english is just barely copacetic) and was apalled. I honestly didnt recognize the novel.
@31 zaldar
The world of Elantris and some of the major events that took place in the novel of its namesake are specifically mentioned in Way of Kings:
(in white for those who haven’t read Elantris):
In the Letter in Way of Kings there is the statement “One need only look at the aftermath of his brief visit to Sel to see proof of what I say.[8] In case you have turned a blind eye to that disaster, know that Aona and Skai are both dead, and that which they held has been Splintered.” in reference to what Rayse did. Sel is the planet on which Elantris takes place. His killing of Aona and Skai is what caused Elantris to break (my guess is Rayse killing the shards it what caused the chasm to form and thus hinder the AonDor) and the magic system to be in the state we see at the beginning of the novel.
[…] recently published a handy primer for newcomers to Brandon Sanderson‘s rich […]
I posted this on the Cosmere thread, but this is a chart I created to give people an idea of where to start reading Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere books.
I’m kind of in love with this.
For various reasons I have decided to read Sanderson’s works in their order of publication. Here is that order (bulleted items are books and starred ones are short stories):
• Elantris
* The Hope of Elantris (free on Sanderson’s website)
• The Final Empire
• The Well of Ascension
• Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians
• The Hero of Ages
* Defending Elysium (free on website)
• Alcatraz Versus the Scrivener’s Bones
* Firstborn (free on website)
• Warbreaker (free on website)
• Alcatraz Versus the Knights of Crystallia
• The Way of Kings
• Alcatraz Versus the Shattered Lens
* I Hate Dragons (free on website)
• Awakening
• The Alloy of Law
* Heuristic Algorithm and Reasoning Response Engine (free on website)
* The Eleventh Metal (free on website)
• Legion
• The Emperor’s Soul
• The Rithmatist
* River of Souls (free on website) (read after the Wheel of Time)
• Redemption
• Steelheart
* Mitosis
• Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell (on website)
• Words of Radiance
* Dreamer (free on website)
• Sixth of the Dusk
• Skin Deep
• Firefight
• Perfect State (free on website)
• Shadows of Self
• The Bands of Mourning
• Mistborn: Secret History
As you can see, Mitosis (part of the Reckoners series) is the only short story not available for free on Sanderson’s website. I have just barely started reading his stuff so I have a long way to go. The fact that he typically puts out 2-3 books a year just makes it more difficult to keep up but I love that about him. I have heard incredible things about him especially his later works so I am very excited to progress through this large list.
@59 Quick correction: Heuristic Algorithm and Reasoning Response Engine, The Eleventh Metal, Dreamer and Perfect State all have free samples on his website, but the whole stories aren’t available for free AFAIK. I think River of Souls is the same, but I’m not sure.
Also, if you’re a really dedicated fan, don’t forget about his unpublished works! The entirety of Mythwalker (though it was never finished) is on his website under the Warbreaker annotations, part of Liar of Partinel is also on his website, and you can get White Sand and Aether of Night if you email him. But don’t seek these out unless, again, you’re a pretty dedicated fan. I personally have read Mythwalker and White Sand, and found them very fun mostly because I knew Sanderson’s writing style well enough to see the seeds of it in those stories. And the bad parts were amusing because I know that Sanderson can do so much better now!
In writing order, these unpublished works are:
* White Sand
* Mythwalker
* Aether of Night
* Liar of Partinel
@60 – What?! Oh that sucks. Thanks for the heads up. I totally didn’t know that those stories only have parts. I knew about Aether of Night (my wife and I read it together and really liked it) and White Sand being available in their unpolished forms but had not heard of the others you mentioned. Thanks again.
I completely messed up on the recommended order…I started with Wheel of Time finale and thought he did such a fantastic job on those that I read the next books by Sanderson that I was able to get my hands on: the Stormlight Archive. Went from there to the Reckoners series, which I really loved (gosh I love David’s bad metaphors!!). So now I’m trying to figure out where to start on the Mistborn series and was led to this thread. :-) Thank you for the explanation.
I recently started the Stormlight Archives, having never read any Sanderson except the WoT finale, and am quite enjoying it. Maybe I’ll investigate some of the others after I finish it — they sound less interesting in summary, but he clearly writes very well.
I finished the extant Stormlight Archive books, which happened to look more interesting than the others and also longer, and will now check out Elantris and Warbreaker because I don’t have access to any Mistborn books. Maybe I would’ve “gotten more out of’ Stormlight Archive if I’d read the ithers first, but it did a fine job of seizing and holding my interest in Sanderson’s books.
Guess I’ll start with Steelheart. (Chill! We’re still friends)
I know who is the character that shows up in every book. I first noticed it when reading Elantris, there is a small character named Hoid who ran an errand. Got to go, but to sum it up, Hoid, or the King’s Wit is in all of the
Just so you know, in the third book that recently came out, the cause of the “recreance” implies that the inhabitants of Roshar are from earth. Everything except the humans seems unknown and wierd to us. But following Shalans experience with strawberry jam we found that there are some things relatable in this world. Then after the girl training to be a trade master is given a pot of grass that “didn’t retract” from the same area as Shallan had gotten the strawbery jam, we been to wonder. After the explanation of the recreance in the third book, it becomes clear. The old text told us that they brought plants and put them in the only area that they could grow. It just so happened that that same area was where all the fimilear things had come from, from the grass to the jam. If this is not evidence enough, it stated clearly in the third book that the humans were not from that planet. Then what planet would they come from? Most of you would think some random planet, but think again! It would be a random planet that just so happened to have all of the same things that earth did. In another part of the series, it said that the place that had compeatly difrient types of plants and animals. That is because all of them were from earth! From my hypothesis, the whole Mistborn thing started of the use of stormlight, al though it may not of worked the same way back then. After the thing hit it had put the world into chaos. After everything was steightend out, they found the planet drained of reasorses and therefor uninhabitable. So they used the new gift of stormlight to create a vessel that could get to another star system. They found roshar and the first desolation began. Scolars in this world have figured out that technology was lost between desolations. So my guess is that the humans battled it out with modern technology against the parshende and whatever tech they had. They ended up so crippled by a war between populations that they ended up losing tech. This proses repeated until they had to get boosts of tech from the hearlds to survive the parshendie desolations. Then you step onto familiar ground. But you may ne wondering, how did the plants get there? The awnser is litarly said plainly in the book. They were instucted by the gods to take them in. So they put plants in the place they could grow. This provovces more questions, but those are for another time. But one last thing, I believe that wit is the author of the book put into the cosmere tryoligy. Just think about that for a while…