What should I read next? (as to not spoil/ confuse myself)

[Mags she/they]

I started with the Stormlight Archive (a big mistake on my part really), and I read all the way up to RoW. But after getting about halfway through, I randomly decided to start Mistborn. I am now almost done with Shadows of Self, and I'm wondering what I should read next.

-First the obvious choice: Bands of mourning, it's the next book in the series.

-But, I could go back and finish RoW first, would this make the later Mistborn era 2 books make more sense? Or can I read them without finishing RoW?

-A similar question: when should I read Mistborn Secret History? probably after I finish all of Mistborn? or before The Lost Metal?

-I'm assuming that I can read the Eleventh Metal because its a prequel to Mistborn era 1, please correct me if that's not true?

-I also know that there's Warbreaker and Elantris (and the short stories that go after elantris), I'll probably just read these after everything else, though I know you're supposed to start with them.

For context, I started the Stormlight Archive before I knew the cosmere was a thing, otherwise, I might have chosen a better starting place. I just found a cool looking fantasy book that was bigger then my head and thought "oh this will be a fun read."

Edited April 20, 2023 by Justice_Magician

[Nogo]

Plenty of input on reading above...

2 hours ago, Justice_Magician said:

Does Emperor's soul require any previous knowledge of Elantris? (Its set in the same world right?)

OMG I read these two back and forth 3 or 4 times because I figured that I had missed connections.   Nope.  Well, there are connections, but only very subtle in the magic arena.   Emperor's Soul is very easily read as a stand alone and one of my very favorites because it keeps my mind running for days afterwards.

If you go by copyright dates... you can't go wrong.  If you try to go by Cosmere timelines... you might have to do a whole buncha rereading.

[Quantus he/him]

Warbreaker, you'll understand why very quickly once you get into it...  

I think people recommend holding off on Secret History until after BoM, and I'd say before TLM.

The Eleventh metal is a prequel to Era1 mistborn, but I think it does have some spoilery bits that could ruin some dramatic reveals in the main novels, so I would hold off.  Kind of like how watching Star Wars prequels first (as is apparently possible these day....Humbug) can ruin the big reveal in Empire Strikes Back.  It's also a lot more mechanically expository since it was written as a companion to the mistborn adventure game.  

Edited April 20, 2023 by Quantus

[The Isochronism he/him]

I'll take these questions one by one:

-Bands of Mourning is a wonderful book, so that's a great option. One of my all time favorites for sure.

-RoW (as far as I remember) doesn't make anything make that much more sense, the confusion that you run into from Era 2 of Mistborn all comes from complex Cosmere stuff that you kind of just pick up after spending a lot of time in the Cosmere. Then again, a lot of it you don't really need to understand in all its complexity, so I wouldn't worry too much. Still, I also love RoW, so you're welcome to go back to it. Brandon is pretty careful not to let anything spoil other series.

-Don't read secret history until you're done with Bands of Mourning, but read it immediately following. I would read it before the Lost Metal if I were you.

-You are correct Eleventh Metal is a prequel, read it whenever you desire.

-Don't worry too much about Warbreaker and Elantris, although they're both fun reads I also waited until I'd read lots of stuff before diving into those.

At the end of the day it's up to you, but you should just read whatever you're feeling is the most fun on the moment!

[Mags she/they]

15 minutes ago, Quantus said:

Warbreaker, you'll understand why very quickly once you get into it...  

Are you saying that I should read Warbreaker before finishing RoW? I understand that there are some characters and references form Warbreaker in the Stormlight Archive, does it make RoW more enjoyable?

Edited April 20, 2023 by Justice_Magician

[Quantus he/him]

21 minutes ago, Bondsmith-Edgedancer said:

I'll take these questions one by one:

-Bands of Mourning is a wonderful book, so that's a great option. One of my all time favorites for sure.

-RoW (as far as I remember) doesn't make anything make that much more sense, the confusion that you run into from Era 2 of Mistborn all comes from complex Cosmere stuff that you kind of just pick up after spending a lot of time in the Cosmere. Then again, a lot of it you don't really need to understand in all its complexity, so I wouldn't worry too much. Still, I also love RoW, so you're welcome to go back to it. Brandon is pretty careful not to let anything spoil other series.

-Don't read secret history until you're done with Bands of Mourning, but read it immediately following. I would read it before the Lost Metal if I were you.

-You are correct Eleventh Metal is a prequel, read it whenever you desire.

-Don't worry too much about Warbreaker and Elantris, although they're both fun reads I also waited until I'd read lots of stuff before diving into those.

At the end of the day it's up to you, but you should just read whatever you're feeling is the most fun on the moment!

RoW is one of the most Cosmere-dense books released so far, and with more overlap to all the other series (and it might be literally ALL, now that I think about it).  It doesnt make anything else make more sense, but there is a whole lot to miss if you havent read the broader cosmere first.  

And No, Seriously: Warbreaker should be next.  It's one of the only cosmere books that has a fairly specific "You Should Read X before Y" slots, and the OP has already passed it by.  

 

7 minutes ago, Justice_Magician said:

Are you saying that I should read Warbreaker before finishing RoW? I understand that there are some characters and references form Warbreaker in the Stormlight Archive, does it make RoW more enjoyable?

Enjoyable is always subjective, but for me it was a very big Yes.  RoW is where the Cosmere interconnections felt like they moved past hints and similarities and background cameo's and into real plot relevance.  

 

Edited April 20, 2023 by Quantus

[Treamayne]

This Thread has alot of good information on a similar topic, and I'll just quote the relevant section of my post there.

35 minutes ago, Justice_Magician said:

I started with the Stormlight Archive (a big mistake on my part really), and I read all the way up to RoW. But after getting about halfway through, I randomly decided to start Mistborn. I am now almost done with Shadows of Self, and I'm wondering what I should read next.

So, to summarize and make sure I am on the right track; your completed books are:

• Way of Kings
• Words of Radiance
• Edgedancer
• Oathbringer
• Dawnshard
• (only half) Rhythm of War
• Mistborn: The Final Empire
• Well of Ascension
• Hero of Ages
• Alloy of Law
• Shadows of Self

I would suggest you move to:

• Emperor's Soul - great, simple intro to Realmatics as seen in SA so far so it may explain things you want to know more about. Also, it is a quick Novella.
• Warbreaker - Connections to Words of Radiance and Oathbringer that @Quantus mentioned
• Bands of Mourning
• Mistborn Secret History
• (finish) Rhythm of War
• <other works as you desire>

Here's the relevant section of my other post, in case it helps:

Spoiler

On 2/24/2023 at 4:31 PM, Treamayne said:

This is what I generally tell people at work (order is publishing order) - is to start with these three in any order that appeals to you:

1. Elantris - It's a stand-alone (for now - 1 Short Story and one tangentially related Novella) and was the first published. Start here if you really like political intrigue books and a cerebral atmosphere. Less action than Mistborn or Warbreaker, until the end. 
2. Mistborn Trilogy (Book 1 Mistborn: The Final Empire / Era 1) - It's a Trilogy (so more initial time investment) but it is packed with action, great magic, great (dystopian) worldbuilding. Some political intrigue - can be a lot to take in at once for some readers. 
3. Warbreaker - Stand-alone (for now - no short stories). About mid-way between the the first two in both action and politics. The world is specifically meant to contrast to Mistborn's setting (so I recommend reading this either right before or right after Mistborn) and introduces many important things for shared universe (Cosmere)

The list I made for friends and coworkers (recommendations, not requirements):

Spoiler

Followed by these caveates for the remaining works

• Elantris
  • Read before Tress of the Emerald Sea and The Lost Metal
• Stormlight Archive
  • Read at least Warbreaker and Mistborn Era 1 before starting this
  • Can fit other works between SA novels if you like to switch things up and not tackle 4 1000+ page books in a row
  • Note that if you prefer Audio or eBook, the books contain some amazing and important art that you may miss in audio or only see well with an eBook on PC
• Mistborn: Secret History
  • Do not read before Bands of Mourning (Spoilers)
• White Sand (prose or graphic novel/omnibus just released on the Dynamite website)
  • Anytime after The Emperor's Soul
  • Non-canon unpublished Prose version available by joining the newsletter) - The forum section discusses differences to Canon Graphic Novel
• Allow of Law
  • Anytime after The Emperor's Soul
• Mistborn Era 2 Trilogy 
  • Shadows of Self - Anytime after Alloy of Law
  • Bands of Mourning - Anytime after Shadows of Self
  • The Lost Metal - Do not read before Rhythm of War
• Sixth of the Dusk (novella)
  • Anytime after The Emperor's Soul
• Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell (novella)
  • Anytime after The Emperor's Soul
  • Read before Oathbringer
• Silverlight Essays (from the section headers in Arcanum Unbounded)
  • Each essay should be read after reading at least the primary work for that "world"
  • If you want to read them all together, read at least Mistborn Era 1, Allow of Law, Elantris, the Way of Kings then you can read all of them in Arcanum Unbounded and read the Novellas (except below) there paired with their essay
    • Edgedancer comes after Words of Radiance
    • Mistborn: Secret History has spoilers for Bands of Mourning
• Tress of the Emerald Sea
  • Anytime after The Emperor's Soul and Sixth of the Dusk

 

 

Edited April 20, 2023 by Treamayne
SPAG

[Mags she/they]

3 minutes ago, Treamayne said:

Emporer's Soul - great, simple intro to Realmatics as seen in SA so far so it may explain things you want to know more about. Also, it is a quick Novella.

Does Emperor's soul require any previous knowledge of Elantris? (Its set in the same world right?)

[Quantus he/him]

2 minutes ago, Justice_Magician said:

Does Emperor's soul require any previous knowledge of Elantris? (Its set in the same world right?)

Nope.  It's set on the same planet but a completely different country with a wildly different magic system and no cross-over characters or anything.  

Edited April 20, 2023 by Quantus

[Treamayne]

1 minute ago, Justice_Magician said:

Does Emperor's soul require any previous knowledge of Elantris? (Its set in the same world right?)

Not at all.

The story is a different continent in a region unrelated to the setting for Elantris. There are a few terms that were also in Elantris (like country names) but that's the extent of it. 

[alder24]

31 minutes ago, Justice_Magician said:

I started with the Stormlight Archive (a big mistake on my part really), and I read all the way up to RoW. But after getting about halfway through, I randomly decided to start Mistborn. I am now almost done with Shadows of Self, and I'm wondering what I should read next.

-First the obvious choice: Bands of mourning, it's the next book in the series.

-But, I could go back and finish RoW first, would this make the later Mistborn era 2 books make more sense? Or can I read them without finishing RoW?

-A similar question: when should I read Mistborn Secret History? probably after I finish all of Mistborn? or before The Lost Metal?

-I'm assuming that I can read the Eleventh Metal because its a prequel to Mistborn era 1, please correct me if that's not true?

-I also know that there's Warbreaker and Elantris (and the short stories that go after elantris), I'll probably just read these after everything else, though I know you're supposed to start with them.

For context, I started the Stormlight Archive before I knew the cosmere was a thing, otherwise, I might have chosen a better starting place. I just found a cool looking fantasy book that was bigger then my head and thought "oh this will be a fun read."

Ouch, yeah, that's a mess.

I would say go read BoM -> Secret History -> RoW -> The Lost Metal. But 11th Metal you can read just now (or anytime tbf, you don't need to focus on that one too much). Warbreaker and Elantris (and Emperor's Soul) should be read before TLM and it's good to read Warbreaker before SA book 2, but that's too late, but before finishing RoW is also a good idea (very good I would say). 

In the end I will suggest BoM/Warbreaker/Elantris (order doesn't matter here just read them before the rest) -> Emperor's Soul/Secret History -> RoW -> TLM

But there are also other stories from Arcanum Unbounded, like "Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell" or "Sixth of the Dusk" but those can be read anytime tbf, like 11th Metal. Did you also read Edgedancer and Dawnshard? Short novelas in between the main Stormlight books? If not, it's good to  read those two before RoW.

[Mags she/they]

1 hour ago, alder24 said:

Did you also read Edgedancer and Dawnshard? Short novelas in between the main Stormlight books? If not, it's good to  read those two before RoW.

I have read those, thankfully

okay so I think the general consensus, and what I think I'll go with is this:

-Warbreaker

-Emperors soul

-Bands of Mourning

-Secret history

-Rhythm of War

-The Lost metal

-and then Elantris and the other stuff that doesn't really need to fit anywhere

Does that seem good?

[alder24]

14 minutes ago, Justice_Magician said:

-and then Elantris and the other stuff that doesn't really need to fit anywhere

Elantris has to be read before The Lost Metal. No questions asked. I think it's ideal to read it before Secret history as well. But the rest is a good order.

[Mags she/they]

9 minutes ago, alder24 said:

Elantris has to be read before The Lost Metal. No questions asked. I think it's ideal to read it before Secret history as well. But the rest is a good order.

Oh okay, cool

(I'm just gonna quickly revise the list so I can come back to it later-- I'm terrible at remembering things)

-Warbreaker

-Elantris (putting it here so I don't confuse myself by jumping around too much)

-Emperors soul

-Bands of Mourning

-Secret history

-Rhythm of War

-The Lost metal

-and then the other stuff that doesn't really need to fit anywhere

 

[Veledsier]

I would definitely finish RoW before reading lost metal, and read secret history directly after BoM