If you’ve ever felt daunted by the sprawling worlds and intricate magic systems of Brandon Sanderson, you’re not alone. With over 70 books weaving together epic tales of heroism, intrigue, and cosmic mysteries, where does a new reader even begin? This guide will cut through the complexity, revealing the perfect entry points into Sanderson’s universe-from the gritty heist thrills of Mistborn to the storm-swept landscapes of The Stormlight Archive-so you can finally unlock the magic that has captivated millions worldwide.
But his expansive bibliography can make it difficult to figure out where to start if you want to jump into his many worlds and series. With new books set for this spring, we’ve put together a primer to help guide you through the Cosmere and beyond.
Where to start
If you’re new to Brandon Sanderson’s works, the best place to start depends on your reading preferences. For those who don’t usually read fantasy, try Steelheart or Elantris. If you’re a fantasy fan, Mistborn: The Final Empire or The Way of Kings are excellent entry points. Romance readers might enjoy Warbreaker, while younger readers or those looking for something lighter and humorous can start with Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians. For young adult readers, Steelheart, Mistborn, or The Rithmatist are great choices. Sanderson recommends reading his Cosmere books in order but notes that any of the series can be a good starting point since each story stands well on its own, with subtle connections that enrich the experience upon rereading.
Sanderson published his first novel, Elantris, in 2005 and began building an audience with impressive world-building and a focus on complex magic systems. Sanderson recommends Elantrisas a starting point for his work, especially for readers who don’t have much experience with the fantasy genre.
Elantris is a strong debut, a twisty tale of a cursed prince, a princess who won’t let a failed engagement get in the way of doing her duty, and a warrior priest on a mission of salvation. It’s not too long or full of jargon to be intimidating, and it introduces many of the themes of faith and hope against despair that would be iconic of Sanderson’s work. It’s the first book of his I read, and I immediately wanted more.
Elantris
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Elantris doesn’t currently have a sequel, but the Hugo Award-winning novella The Emperor’s Soul shares its setting. (Technically, so do a lot of Sanderson’s books, but I’ll get to that later.) The Emperor’s Soul, which tells the tale of a jailed forger given an impossible task, is also on Sanderson’s list of good starting points. It’s perfect if you want to get a tiny taste of the level of creativity and detail the author brings to the genre without much commitment.
My personal favorite Sanderson book is Warbreaker, and it’s where Sanderson recommends fans who like a good romance begin. Warbreaker follows a princess wedded to a terrifying God King, her sister on a mission to save her, and an amnesiac trying to puzzle out the mystery of his own past and the truth about his faith. The book stands alone, but it’s a must-read if you want to delve into Sanderson’s later books given that some of its characters appear in his Stormlight Archive series.
Warbreaker
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Sanderson kicked off his first series with the 2006 release of Mistborn. Set in a grim world controlled by an immortal tyrant, it follows a young woman with great power who joins a thieving crew with a plan to change things that involves equal parts ballroom dancing and rooftop fighting. The rest of the trilogy gets progressively more political and cosmic, and Sanderson offers Mistborn as a starting point for veteran fantasy fans who don’t mind diving into the deep end.
Mistborn
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The Wheel of Time and Sanderson’s ascension
Brandon Sanderson’s ascension in the fantasy world was marked by his pivotal role in completing Robert Jordan’s monumental series, The Wheel of Time. After Jordan’s death in 2007, Sanderson, then a rising author, was chosen by Jordan’s widow and editor Harriet McDougal to finish the series based on extensive notes left by Jordan. Originally planned as a single final volume, Sanderson expanded the conclusion into three books-The Gathering Storm, Towers of Midnight, and A Memory of Light-which were critically acclaimed for capturing Jordan’s style while bringing the sprawling saga to a satisfying close. This monumental task not only cemented Sanderson’s reputation but also introduced millions of readers to his own works, marking a significant turning point in his career and solidifying his status as a leading figure in modern epic fantasy.
Mistborn caught the attention of Harriet McDougal, wife of Robert Jordan, who died in 2007 without finishing his epic series The Wheel of Time. He’d asked McDougal to find someone to complete his work and she chose Sanderson for the job. The release of The Gathering Storm, the first of three books Sanderson wrote based on Jordan’s notes for how the series would end, propelled him to the New York Times bestseller list.
The Gathering Storm
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Reading The Wheel of Time is its own massive 15-novel undertaking, but anyone who put down the series wondering if they should revisit it will find that Sanderson used his deep respect for Jordan’s work and his own skills juggling big casts of powerful characters to bring it to a satisfying conclusion. The generally positive reception to Sanderson’s work on the series brought him a new influx of fans. There were even jokes that Sanderson would finish George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, though it would be hard to pick a worse candidate given how different the authors are tonally.
But Sanderson’s reputation as a closer gave publishers and readers the confidence to invest in his ambitions for a series of his own that would rival The Wheel of Time. After completing the Mistborn trilogy with the The Hero of Ages in 2008, Sanderson released The Way of Kings in 2010 as the first entry in a planned 10-book series called The Stormlight Archive. But it’s turned out to be a lot more than that.
What is the Cosmere?
The Cosmere is the fictional universe in which many of Brandon Sanderson’s fantasy novels take place. Books set in the Cosmere share a single cosmology and underlying rules of magic, and some characters from one world sometimes appear in other series. Though these worlds are connected, knowledge of the Cosmere is not needed to understand or enjoy the books set within it.
It turns out Sanderson always intended to make his books part of a shared universe, even though it didn’t seem like it at first glance. The ending of the Mistborn trilogy provided the first real glimpse of his ambitions to tell the story of the Cosmere – a universe based around a murder.
A long, long time ago, the story goes, a being known as Adonalsium – a riff on a Hebrew name for God – was killed and its power was split into 16 Shards taken by people who then scattered to different planets. Whatever they were before gaining those Shards, those people became known by the power they became Vessels for, embodying abstract concepts such as Honor, Ruin, and Devotion.
Sanderson has invented several distinct magic systems over the years, with Mistborn operating on properties of consuming different metals while Warbreaker is all about color and breath. And it turns out the variation is caused by which Shards inhabit which planet, and those who know enough about the way Shards work can move between Sanderson’s worlds, furthering their own ambitions. Sanderson is a huge fan of Magic: The Gathering, and there are strong parallels to that game’s Planeswalkers in his books.
The Way of Kings
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The Way of Kings starts off much like many of Sanderson’s other books, introducing a fascinating world and a big cast of characters. The world of Roshar is filled with squabbling princes, giant crabs with gems for hearts, powerful storms, and warriors carrying oversized swords. Along with releasing four 1,000-plus-page books in the series so far, Sanderson has also published two Stormlight Archive novellas, Edgedancer and Dawnshard, between books. Edgedancer is a particularly fun read, following a very hungry thief who gets embroiled in a complicated attempt at a succession. The fifth Stormlight Archive book, Wind and Truth, is due out at the end of this year.
You can enjoy The Way of Kings without having read any of Sanderson’s other books, but if you have, the series quickly becomes much more complex, with Sanderson’s world-building growing to encompass thousands of years of history spread across multiple planets. The clashes on Roshar turn out to be just a front in a war between Shards that has roped in characters from previous books. Even if you’ve read everything Sanderson’s written, it can be hard to figure out who’s who, since characters often go by different names or hide the full extent of their abilities and knowledge.
Working on one epic series would be enough for most authors, but from 2010 to 2022 Sanderson also penned four more Mistborn books, starting with Shadows of Self in 2015. These are set 300 years after the original trilogy in a version of the world that’s more akin to urban fantasy or a Western. The characters from the first three books are revered as religious figures, though some are actually still around due to their powers. The events of the fourth book in the series, The Lost Metal, are closely tied to The Stormlight Archive.
Reading all of the Cosmere books in order isn’t necessary. You just might be baffled by why there’s a talking sword or who’s explaining the nature of Shards in a chapter’s intro text. The real problem can come if you get hooked and want to go backward in Sanderson’s bibliography, because you may become unknowingly spoiled for some events.
An easy workaround is to read the Cosmere books in the chronological order here:
- Elantris (2005)
- Mistborn (2006)
- The Well of Ascension (2007)
- The Hero of Ages (2008)
- Warbreaker (2009)
- The Way of Kings (2010)
- The Alloy of Law (2011)
- The Emperor’s Soul (2012)
- Words of Radiance (2014)
- Shadows of Self (2015)
- The Bands of Mourning (2016)
- Edgedancer (2017)
- Oathbringer (2017)
- Dawnshard (2020)
- Rhythm of War (2020)
- The Lost Metal (2022)
If you want to focus on individual series to follow the same set of characters, here’s how you would do that, with notes on books you should read first to avoid major spoilers.
- Elantris
- The Emperor’s Soul
- Warbreaker
- The Way of Kings
- Words of Radiance
- Edgedancer
- Oathbringer (read Warbreaker before Oathbringer)
- Dawnshard
- Rhythm of War (read the Mistborn trilogy before Rhythm of War)
- Mistborn
- The Well of Ascension
- The Hero of Ages
- The Alloy of Law
- Shadows of Self
- The Bands of Mourning
- The Lost Metal (read Elantris, The Emperor’s Soul, and Rhythm of War before The Lost Metal)
The ’secret projects’
Brandon Sanderson’s “Secret Projects” are a remarkable collection of four standalone novels written during the COVID-19 pandemic when his usual travel and event schedule was halted. These books were initially kept under wraps and later released through a record-breaking Kickstarter campaign in 2022, with staggered releases throughout 2023. Three of the novels are set within Sanderson’s expansive Cosmere universe, while one, The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England, ventures into a humorous, time-traveling alternate history. The Secret Projects showcase Sanderson’s versatility and creativity, offering fresh stories that both longtime fans and new readers can enjoy, with premium editions that have become prized collector’s items.
Unable to go on book tours, attend conventions, or do any other type of traveling during the COVID-19 lockdowns, Sanderson did what he does best and wrote four more books. He turned to Kickstarter in 2022 to fund their publication and raised nearly $42 million. The campaign remains the site’s most successful campaign of all time.
All of the books have since been delivered and are widely for sale. The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England is a stand-alone story about an amnesiac time traveler. Tress of the Emerald Sea, Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, and The Sunlit Man are Cosmere novels, each set on a different planet that hasn’t appeared in any of Sanderson’s other works and narrated by Hoid, a mysterious character who is prominent in The Stormlight Archive.
They all work as stand-alones, though they do have concepts that are integrated into other series, and knowing Sanderson, they’ll probably tie back into his greater plans eventually. You can read them in any order while waiting for the next Stormlight Archive book or potentially even as an intro to Sanderson based on if you like post-apocalyptic settings (The Sunlit Man), The Princess Bride (Tress of the Emerald Sea), body swapping (Yumi and the Nightmare Painter), or just want to try something that has nothing at all to do with the rest of his bibliography (The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England).
A new secret project is also expected to ship in 2025 as part of a crowdfunding campaign for leather-bound copies of Words of Radiance, the second (and, in my opinion, best so far) book in The Stormlight Archive.
Sanderson for young adults
Brandon Sanderson offers a fantastic entry point for young adult readers with several accessible and engaging series. Notably, Skyward is a thrilling sci-fi adventure about a determined young pilot fighting to protect her world, blending humor, aerial combat, and a compelling coming-of-age story. Other excellent YA choices include Steelheart, a superhero-themed novel, and The Reckoners series, which combines action and moral complexity. For younger teens or those seeking lighter fare, Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians provides a whimsical and humorous fantasy experience with a unique narrative style. These books showcase Sanderson’s skill at crafting imaginative worlds and relatable characters, making them perfect for young adults new to his work.
While Sanderson’s books often deal with heavy themes like genocide, mental illness, and abuse, he’s never gratuitous or explicit with his sex or violence. He also doesn’t curse, preferring to use swears made up for each world, like “Storms” or “Rust and Ruin.” That means there isn’t anything parents are likely to find objectionable in most of his novels. He’s also written plenty specifically for kids and young adults. The main difference is really the age of the protagonists and the complexity of the plots.
The Alcatraz series about a disaster-prone teen was Sanderson’s first entry in kids’ fantasy and now includes six novels. The Cytoverse series, which focuses on pilots fighting aliens, includes four novels and three novellas. Janci Patterson worked with Sanderson on some of the entries in both series.
The Reckoners trilogy is Sanderson’s YA exploration of the superhero genre, set in a world where almost everyone with powers is an evil tyrant. The Rithmatist is a stand-alone magical school novel.
The Reckoners trilogy
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What else is Sanderson working on?
Brandon Sanderson’s creative schedule remains packed with both new novels and ambitious multimedia projects. In the near term, fans can look forward to Isles of the Emberdark, the fifth Secret Project, set for release in late 2025. He’s also preparing Tailored Realities, a collection of science fiction and fantasy short stories, expected around the same time. On the Cosmere front, Sanderson’s next major undertaking is the third era of the Mistborn series, tentatively titled “Ghostbloods,” which he plans to begin after the recent release of Wind and Truth; sequels to Elantris are also in early development, though both are likely several years away. Beyond novels, Sanderson is involved in multimedia adaptations, including the Dark One project-a sprawling venture encompassing a TV series, graphic novel, book series, and podcast. Meanwhile, adaptations of works like Snapshot, Skyward, and Tress of the Emerald Sea are in various stages of television development, although progress on a Mistborn film has stalled for now.
Sanderson penned a theory of magic systems in 2007, dividing them into hard and soft – like hard and soft science fiction – based on how much time an author devotes to explaining how they work and adhering to the rules they set out. Sanderson is a believer in hard fantasy to the point that his books all feel like they could easily be converted into settings for tabletop RPGs, so it’s not particularly surprising that one is in the works.
After the publication of Wind and Truth, Sanderson plans to put The Stormlight Archive on hiatus and work on some of his other projects. That will include more Mistborn books, sequels to Elantris, and a novel based on his White Sand graphic novels, which are also part of the Cosmere.
What’s the best starting point to dive into Brandon Sanderson’s complex worlds
The best starting point to dive into Brandon Sanderson’s complex worlds depends on your reading preferences, but several clear entryways stand out:
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For readers new to fantasy or seeking a fast-paced, action-oriented introduction, Mistborn: The Final Empire is widely recommended. It’s a complete trilogy centered on a fantasy heist with accessible worldbuilding and gripping characters, making it an ideal gateway into Sanderson’s Cosmere universe.
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If you prefer epic, sprawling fantasy with deep worldbuilding and political intrigue, The Way of Kings, the first book in The Stormlight Archive, is the ultimate entry point. It’s Sanderson’s most ambitious series, though it requires a bigger time commitment and patience as the story unfolds.
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For a standalone novel that showcases Sanderson’s early style and worldbuilding without a large commitment, Elantris is a solid choice, especially for those new to fantasy.
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If you want a shorter, award-winning introduction to Sanderson’s writing style, the novella The Emperor’s Soul offers a literary and self-contained story.
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For readers interested in science fiction or something lighter, Steelheart (superhero dystopia) or Tress of the Emerald Sea (whimsical standalone) provide alternative entry points outside the Cosmere.
In summary, Mistborn: The Final Empire is generally the best starting point for most readers looking to enter Sanderson’s complex fantasy worlds, with The Way of Kings as the next step for those ready to dive deep into epic fantasy.
What makes Mistborn a good entry point for new Sanderson readers
Mistborn: The Final Empire is an excellent entry point for new Sanderson readers because it offers a contained, approachable world with clear and accessible worldbuilding focused on a single city and a small cast of characters, making it less overwhelming than sprawling epic fantasies. The story’s heist-like structure provides fast-paced, gripping action that hooks readers early, while the magic system-Allomancy-is detailed yet explained clearly and repeatedly, allowing readers to grasp its rules without confusion. Additionally, Mistborn subverts typical fantasy tropes by setting the story in a world where the Dark Lord has already won, offering originality that feels fresh and engaging. The first book also delivers a satisfying, mostly self-contained narrative, so readers can enjoy a complete experience without committing immediately to a long series. Sanderson’s straightforward, descriptive writing style further aids accessibility, making Mistborn a smooth and enjoyable starting point for those new to his complex worlds.
