Brandon Sanderson Books in Order: The Complete Cosmere Reading Guide (2026)

Brandon Sanderson has published over twenty novels set in the Cosmere — a shared fictional universe spanning multiple worlds — plus standalone series, novellas, and science fiction. By volume and ambition, the Cosmere is one of the most substantial undertakings in contemporary fantasy fiction.

The good news for new readers: every series and most standalones are fully self-contained. You do not need to read them in any particular order to enjoy any individual book. The connections between Mistborn and Stormlight and Warbreaker are rewarding discoveries for attentive readers, but they are not prerequisites. You can start anywhere and follow the story without confusion.

This guide covers where to begin, how each series fits together, and the recommended reading order for each.

All Brandon Sanderson Cosmere Books at a Glance

Best starting point: The Final Empire (Mistborn #1) for a self-contained introduction, or The Way of Kings for Sanderson’s most ambitious work.

Where to Start

If You Want to Start With Mistborn

The Mistborn world is one where ash falls from the sky, mists claim the night, and an immortal ruler called the Lord Ruler has reigned for a thousand years. At its core, the original trilogy is a heist story set in a dark fantasy world — a crew of thieves and rebels planning to steal an empire from a god.

The Final Empire is the right entry point. It introduces Vin, an orphaned street thief who discovers she possesses latent Allomantic ability — the power to swallow and burn metals to gain superhuman abilities. Kelsier, the most charismatic of Sanderson’s protagonists, recruits her into his plan to overthrow the Lord Ruler. The magic system (Allomancy) is explained systematically and used inventively throughout; one of the pleasures of Sanderson’s writing is watching characters push the logical limits of the rules he has established. The original trilogy is fully resolved in three books, making it an ideal place to begin before deciding whether to invest further in the Cosmere.

If You Want to Start With The Stormlight Archive

The Way of Kings is Sanderson’s most ambitious work and the beginning of his ten-book magnum opus. It is set on Roshar, a world battered by enormous storms called Highstorms, where the ecology, architecture, and culture have all adapted to the violence of constant weather. The magic system — Stormlight, Shardblades, and the Radiant Orders — is tied to this ecology in ways the story gradually makes clear.

The book follows three main protagonists: Kaladin, a surgeon’s son turned slave turned soldier; Shallan, a scholar with a dangerous secret trying to save her family; and Dalinar, a highprince trying to hold a fractious military alliance together through visions he cannot explain. The Way of Kings demands more initial patience than Mistborn — it is over 1,000 pages, and its world-building is denser — but the emotional payoff is proportionally greater. Readers who commit find it among the most rewarding fantasy series in print.

If You Want to Start Small

The Emperor’s Soul is a 175-page novella set in the Cosmere that stands entirely alone. Shai, a Forger who can rewrite the histories of objects and people through a precise magical art, is captured and given an impossible task: reconstruct the soul of a brain-damaged emperor in 100 days without anyone discovering what she is doing. The novella won the Hugo Award and is widely considered the best possible introduction to Sanderson’s approach — a precise magic system, a morally complex protagonist, and a story that resolves completely within its page count.

Warbreaker is a standalone novel that functions equally well as an entry point. Set on Nalthis, it follows two princesses from a small kingdom sent as tribute to a potentially hostile empire. It also provides significant context for characters who appear in The Stormlight Archive, making it worth reading before or during that series.

Mistborn: Complete Reading Order

Era 1: The Original Trilogy

The original Mistborn trilogy is set on Scadrial — a world that has been fundamentally altered by a god’s experiment. The three books are tightly sequenced and should be read in order; the ending of book three recontextualises much of what came before in book one.

1. The Final Empire — The heist against an immortal god. Vin, an orphaned street thief with latent Allomantic ability, joins Kelsier’s crew in their plan to overthrow the Lord Ruler. The novel establishes Allomancy — the magic of swallowing and burning metals to gain powers — and the political structure of the Final Empire.
2. The Well of Ascension — The aftermath of the heist. The empire is destabilised and new threats converge from multiple directions. The second book is more interested in the political and strategic challenges of filling a power vacuum than in the action-heist mechanics of the first.
3. The Hero of Ages — The conclusion of the original trilogy, in which the full scope of what the Lord Ruler was actually doing — and why — is revealed. The ending rewards readers who have paid attention across all three books.

Era 2: The Wax and Wayne Series

Set approximately three hundred years after the events of Era 1, on a Scadrial that has moved from a medieval setting to something resembling the Victorian era — with electric lights, railways, and firearms. The tone is lighter than Era 1, and the protagonist is a lawman rather than a heist crew. The four books are best read in sequence.

1. The Alloy of Law — Waxillium Ladrian, a Twinborn with both Allomantic and Feruchemical abilities, returns from years as a lawman in the rough outer territories to take up his noble responsibilities in the city of Elendel — and promptly finds himself investigating a series of train robberies.
2. Shadows of Self — The political and supernatural stakes of Elendel’s society deepen. Best read immediately after The Alloy of Law; the two books were originally conceived as a single novel.
3. The Bands of Mourning — The search for a legendary artifact belonging to the Lord Ruler, with the series’ Cosmere connections becoming more prominent.
4. The Lost Metal — The conclusion of Era 2, with the most explicit Cosmere-wide connections of any Mistborn book. Several threads from across the Cosmere converge here.

The Stormlight Archive: Reading Order

The Stormlight Archive is planned for ten books across two five-book arcs. Each volume is over 1,000 pages; the series as a whole is already among the longest in the fantasy genre. The first arc — books one through five — is complete.

1. The Way of Kings — Three protagonists: Kaladin, a slave turned soldier on the Shattered Plains; Shallan, a scholar trying to steal from a renowned academic to save her family; Dalinar, a highprince troubled by visions during Highstorms. The world of Roshar, its Highstorm ecology, and the ancient order of Knights Radiant are established.
2. Words of Radiance — The four Radiant Orders begin to re-emerge. Major revelations shift what readers understood from book one, and the antagonists of the series — the Voidbringers — are given significantly more definition.
3. Edgedancer — A novella following Lift, a minor character from Words of Radiance, in the months between books two and three. Can be read between books 2 and 3 or after finishing book 3; both orderings work.
4. Oathbringer — Dalinar’s backstory is finally and fully revealed. The scope of the conflict with the Voidbringers expands from a military campaign to a civilisational crisis, and the series’ central moral question — what does it mean to keep an oath — is put under maximum pressure.
5. Dawnshard — A novella set between books 3 and 4, following Rysn and introducing concepts that become important in Rhythm of War. Best read between Oathbringer and Rhythm of War.
6. Rhythm of War — The fourth book. Major character arcs reach significant turning points, the nature of the Fused and their connection to Roshar’s history is explored in depth, and several storylines that have been building since book one approach resolution.
7. Wind and Truth — The fifth book and end of the first arc. Resolves the major storylines established across books one through four and closes the first phase of the Stormlight narrative.

Standalone Cosmere Novels and Novellas

Elantris

Sanderson’s debut novel, published in 2005. Set on Sel, a world where a city of near-gods — the Elantrians — suddenly lost their power, leaving its inhabitants trapped in a state between life and death, unable to heal and unable to die. The novel follows three protagonists navigating the city’s collapse and the political instability that followed. It is a complete standalone that requires no other Cosmere reading and remains one of Sanderson’s most accessible novels.

Warbreaker

A standalone set on Nalthis, where the magic system — BioChroma, or Breath — involves the life force that every person is born with, tied to colour and expression. Two princesses of the small kingdom of Idris are sent to the empire of Hallandren: Vivenna, who has prepared for this her whole life, and Siri, who goes in her place. The court they enter is built around a religion involving Returned gods — beings who came back from death. Warbreaker is available for free on Sanderson’s website and provides meaningful context for characters who reappear in The Stormlight Archive.

The Emperor’s Soul

A Hugo Award-winning novella at approximately 175 pages. Shai, a Forger who can rewrite the histories of objects — and people — through a precise and demanding magical art, is imprisoned after a failed theft. The government that holds her offers a bargain: reconstruct the shattered soul of the Emperor in 100 days using her Forgery, and she will go free. The magic system (Soulstamping) is among the most philosophically interesting Sanderson has designed. The best single introduction to his work.

The Secret Projects (2023)

Four novels Sanderson wrote during the COVID lockdown and funded via a record-breaking Kickstarter campaign. All are set in the Cosmere, but all are fully accessible without prior Cosmere reading:

• Tress of the Emerald Sea — A fairy-tale structure in which a girl from a small island goes on a quest to rescue the boy she loves from a Sorceress, navigating seas of coloured spore rather than water. The most overtly playful of the Secret Projects.
• Yumi and the Nightmare Painter — Two people from entirely different worlds — one a sacred spirit-caller, one a painter who fights monsters — are inexplicably connected and must understand their bond to survive.
• The Sunlit Man — A man who cannot stop running finds himself stranded on a world that perpetually chases its own star, where the surface is scorched on one side and frozen on the other, and the inhabitants live in the narrow band between. The most directly connected to wider Cosmere events.

Non-Cosmere Series

The Skyward Series (Science Fiction)

Set in a universe entirely separate from the Cosmere. Spensa is a pilot cadet on a planet under siege by an alien force called the Krell. Grounded from flight because of her father’s alleged cowardice, she discovers a crashed AI ship and a mysterious connection that changes what she knows about the war.

1. Skyward
2. Starsight
3. Cytonic
4. Defiant

The Rithmatist

A standalone fantasy set in an alternate United States where certain individuals — Rithmatists — can bring chalk drawings to life and fight with them. Joel, a student at a prestigious academy who failed to become a Rithmatist, finds himself drawn into an investigation when students begin disappearing. No sequel has been published, though Sanderson has indicated plans to return to the world.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where should I start with Brandon Sanderson?

Most fans recommend starting with either The Final Empire (Mistborn 1) for something more contained, or The Way of Kings (Stormlight 1) for his most ambitious work. Elantris is a good standalone introduction. Warbreaker and The Emperor’s Soul are also excellent entry points for readers who want something shorter first — The Emperor’s Soul in particular is a 175-page novella that demonstrates everything that makes Sanderson’s writing distinctive without asking for a multi-book commitment.

Do I need to read Mistborn before Stormlight Archive?

No. Each series is designed to work independently. The Cosmere connections between Mistborn and Stormlight are rewarding discoveries for attentive readers, but they are not required to understand any individual story. The characters, magic systems, and plots of both series are self-contained. Hints and crossover elements exist for longtime fans but are never load-bearing — you will not be confused reading Stormlight without Mistborn, or Mistborn without Stormlight. Start with whichever series interests you most.

What is the Cosmere?

The Cosmere is Brandon Sanderson’s shared fictional universe — a collection of planets, each with its own magic system and civilisation, connected by an overarching mythology. The connecting thread involves a substance called Investiture (the energy that powers all Cosmere magic systems), beings called Shards (fragments of a god-like entity called Adonalsium that was shattered long before the events of most novels), and a small number of characters who move between worlds. Most of Sanderson’s adult fantasy is set in the Cosmere. His YA and science fiction series — Skyward, The Reckoners — are not.

What order should I read the Cosmere for maximum understanding?

For readers who want the full experience in a logical sequence: Elantris first, then Mistborn Era 1 (The Final Empire through The Hero of Ages), then Warbreaker, then Stormlight books 1 and 2, then Mistborn Era 2 (The Alloy of Law through The Lost Metal), then Stormlight books 3 through 5 — adding novellas as you go. Publication order also works well and is a reasonable alternative. Either approach will be coherent; the differences are mainly in when certain Cosmere-wide connections become apparent.

Brandon Sanderson Cosmere Reading Order

For the precise Cosmere sequence — which standalones to read, when they connect, and spoiler-safe entry points — see our dedicated Brandon Sanderson Cosmere Reading Order guide.

For the Best Fantasy Books

For the definitive guide to fantasy fiction — from Tolkien and Le Guin to Brandon Sanderson and George R.R. Martin — see our Best Fantasy Books of All Time list.

For the full Brandon Sanderson bibliography, reviews, and biography, visit the Brandon Sanderson author page on Editors Reads.

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