Brandon Sanderson Cosmere - Tumblr Posts

Love this!!!! 😍 I wanna join the conversation! So I hope it’s okay if I reblog with my own thoughts…

First, I have to say that I have not read a Brandon Sanderson book that I haven’t loved. The man is a genius and I don’t know how he does what he does, but he is incredible. I 100% agree that you cannot really go wrong with where you start, but there could be better choices based on your own preferences.

@stormblessed95 has really good points that I agree with even when i have my own perspective. For example, I would ironically give Elantris a slight edge over reading before Mistborn because Mistborn did some really uncomfortable things to my emotions. Repeatedly. I was real broken by Era 1 and surprised how sad I was with parts of Era 2 when overall Era 2 had a much different and lighter tone. So I always hesitate a little when recommending where to start. But it’s an incredible series and I have given that one the most rereads.

I agree that Warbreaker is a fantastic place to start. It’s super strong and interesting and thinking about it now makes me want to reread it again… now I have to rethink my future reading plans.

I would probably recommend Elantris after that, but I love that book. (I can’t remember if it was my first Brandon Sanderson or if I did Mistborn first, but it was one of my firsts and probably why I am so attached to it)

I usually recommend holding off on the Stormlight Archive because that series is A LOT! But it’s also a masterpiece and if you have experience tackling that kind of series/content, then why not start there?! There were moments in that story that moved me in ways I can not even explain. I am pretty sure a tattoo is going somewhere on my body inspired by the wisdom of a fictional character. Lol

@stardust-wanderlust PLEASE let us know where you decide to start and what you think of the book you’ve chosen!!!! I am so excited for you! 🤩 And the only reason I am not more jealous of you getting to read Brandon Sanderson for the first time is because I know rereads can be even better!

Stormy - I have been wanting to start reading Brandon Sanderson's cosmere? books, but I can't figure out where to start.

I have seen conflicting arguments. Some say to start with "Mistborn" (which is my default thinking, as it was the first), some say to start with "The Way of Kings".

Several posts and videos have suggested that no matter where you start you don't read them in chronological order?

Help a girl out? 🙏

-From Fantasy girl who is getting really tired of TikTok trying to convince her ACOTAR is the greatest thing since Tolkien. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Friend, if all booktok is giving you is ACOTAR then you need to expand your algorithm! Lol I'm MORE than happy to talk cosmere and reading order!

SO it's important to know that there really isn't a right or wrong way to do this. Everyone will have their own preferred reading order, or the way they did it. As for the chronological comment, it's because each series takes place at a different point in time in the universe.... It can get a little confusing, and I wouldn't necessarily worry too much about it. Lol if you get really into the cosmere and want all the lore, the timeline of each story on each planet, the 17th shard or coppermind websites do a great job and you could spend DAYS going through it all. Lol but it's also spoiler galore, so I would stay away until you read through the books.

Sanderson himself does say that he breaks a ton of rules of writing/in fantasy in the way he starts The Stormlight Archive. That's his center piece of the cosmere really and he personally recommends reading that one after he has earned your trust as an author. And that's fair because boy does that series have a long, slow and confusing start. But DAMN does it pay off. It is my FAVORITE cosmere series. I named my BTS blog after it 😂😂

The cosmere is an multiverse made up of multiple different book series taking place on multiple different planets, each planet is ruled by different shards (their "gods") and they all, in some ways interconnect, mostly right now in smaller ways, but things are coming together more and more. Finding Easter eggs from different series is one of my favorite things. You also have one character, who is a world hopper (there are lots but he is the main one we see) who appears somewhere in every single series. You can read by series.... You can read in publication order.... You can read in phases.... Lol truly, you can't go wrong!

Mistborn is a great start if you want to try that. It's one of his most well known, but it is not his first published work in the cosmere! It's set on the planet Scadriel. It's a solid series, super strong AND it's a great way to *ease* into it, especially if you are newer to fantasy. Which is sounds like you are not! But still. It's the classic fantasy tropes with Brandon's own take/twist on it. Prophecy chosen one hero, an immortal evil god-emperor, a plucky found family band of misfit rebels, with book 1 being a heist story with magic. It's got a metal based magic system that's one of the most unique hard magic systems I've read

Mistborn starts with the Era 1 trilogy, which includes:

- The Final Empire

-The Well of Ascension

- The Hero of Ages

- The Eleventh Metal (novella)

- The Traveler (short story, only found online)

Era 2, which includes:

- The Alloy of Law

- Allomancer Jak (short story)

- Shadows of Self

- Bands of Mourning

- Mistborn: Secret History (novella)

Mistborn will continue into 2 further eras as well in the future on Scadriel. They haven't been published yet, all we know about it is that Era 1 was your classic epic fantasy trilogy world set up for the most part, Era 2 is set 300 years after the end of era 1 and has a steampunk western feel to it. (It also has lesbians with guns as a side couple/character, and one of my FAVORITE cosmere couples in the main pairing). Era 3 will be set more modern fantasy/magic, he said think 80s/90s, and Era 4 will be a scifi/fantasy feel set in space!

You could also start in publication order with Elantris. His first book ever published, and you can low-key tell. It's still a great book, but it's not as strong as the others and so I tend to rec this one as definitely please read it, but maybe not as an intro to Sanderson as an author. Elantris is a standalone and set on the world of Sel. This world has two other novellas set in it, which are Emperor's Soul (one of the best novellas I've ever read in my life) and the Hope of Elantris. Emperor's Soul is the story of a prisoner tasked with reconstructing the mind of the Emperor to save her own life. Elantris is based on a magic system that broke, triad narrative structure and heavy political intrigue that is told in a way that won't go over my head

If you want to ease into the world by way of Graphic Novel, check of White Sand. It's set on the world of Taldain, takes place timeline wise WAY EARLIER than most of the other cosmere and is just pretty fun honestly. There are 3 volumes total.

Warbreaker is one i used to recommend to my friends all the time as an intro to Sanderson as it was super fun, super colorful, a standalone and a fantastic read with a great romance subplot. Since it's a standalone, alot of people find it less daunting to pick up and it hooks a lot of people in to wanting to read more of his stuff. It's set on the planet Nalthis and has one of the more obvious crossovers in the cosmere into another book series. Characters (and a sword) from this book, also appear as side characters in the Stormlight Archive. Brandon Sanderson also gives a download of Warbreaker for free as an ebook on his website. This is a story of two princesses (sisters) who grew up knowing their lot and fate in life, and then suddenly they have to switch. It's got romance, politics, intrigue and crazy twists and a color based magic system.

YouTube

[UNOFFICIAL] The Way of Kings - Opening Credits Animatic (Fan-Made)

Life before death.Strength Before Weakness.Journey before Destination.This is an animatic I've been working on for the past year and a half.

My husband started with Stormlight Archive and has zero regrets. Lol and lots of people do start here and love it. Because again, no wrong way to do this! When I mentioned earlier that it really throws you into the deep end, it does. The first boom has a prelude that shows events 5000 years ago, then a prologue with events 5 years ago, then ch 1 with events 6 months ago, then you finally get to present day with the MCs and have no idea how they got to where they are or what's happening at first. Lol but it's got horribly broken characters who are just desperately trying to save themselves and then the world. It's the most badass fantasy world with epic anime level fight scenes, an intricate and so cool magic system and a truly unique world that you are fully emersed in. The video above is like my favorite trailer make people watch to say "read this!!"

Stormlight is set on Roshar and includes:

- The Way of Kings

- Words of Radiance

- Edgedancer (novella)

- Oathbringer

- Dawnshard

- Rhythm of War

- Wind and Truth (releasing Dec 2024)

And the latest release will conclude the first arc of the Stormlight Archive. He plans to have another arc in this series as well with another 5 books and a few more novellas.

You could also start with a few of his newer cosmere related standalones as well! This are all newer releases that he did as secret projects and could all be good entry points into the cosmere as well with a good fun standalone read!

Tress of the Emerald Sea is set on Lumar. It's like pirates of the Caribbean meets Princess's Bride

Yumi and the Nightmare Painter is set on Komashi. Two people find themselves switching bodies, have to solve a mystery to save their respective people's and slowly fall in love along the way (inspired by Your Name)

And The Sunlit Man, I wouldn't read this one as an intro to the cosmere personally, but you could! Its main character is actually one of the side characters from the Stormlight Archive and is set way in the future from that time as well as on a different planet, Canticle.

You can also just jump into some novellas instead if you would rather. There are two novellas out now that have no connection to a series (yet) but are part of the cosmere and set on different planets.

Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell is my other favorite cosmere novella and is INCREDIBLE and is set on Threnody

Sixth of Dust is set on First of the Sun

This is old, so missing some of the newer books, but still a great resource:

And if you've made it through all that and are still a little like okayyyy but where do I start??? Some extra resources....

Brandon explaining what the cosmere is himself

Brandon recommended where to start:

If you want the closet to chronological, I'd go:

Publication Order can be found here, the cosmere books are in Green:

https://coppermind.net/wiki/Bibliography

And personally? I'd start Mistborn or Warbreaker. Unless you are fully ready to dive deep into trusting him with a story lol then full send it with Stormlight Archive.

AND if you are reading these, please feel free to DM me to chat about it or send your reactions or anything at all!!

Good luck! Hope I didn't just confuse you more!! Lol

I’ve always loved the mental image of Syl warding off the deathspren as Kaladin lay there sick and delirious. He’s fighting for his life, and she’s fighting for his life.