My first time

[Colors]

OG Mistborn trilogy first on recommendation from my brother.

Then Alloy of Law, Warbreaker, Way of Kings, Shadows of Self...etc

I read in a weird order.

[Hoids4thApprentice he/him]

I was living in the smallish city of Newport in Wales from 2006 to 2013. At that time, it had a Waterstones (large British Bookstore chain), and the staff there were adding hand written cards of  recomendations to shelves under the books they had enjoyed. As someone who had loved Ursula Le Guin, Isaac Asimov, Frank Herbert and J R R Tolkein (among others) as a teenager, I always looked at the Sci Fi and Fantasy sections and read the recomendation cards. Fairly early in my time in Newport (when I had already started George R R Martin's song of Ice and Fire) there was a card recommending Robin Hobb's  Assasin Trilogy. I read that and loved it. A year or two later, there was a card next to the Mistborn trilogy (which was available as a 3 book paperback set in a slipcase already) and the fact it was from the the same person at the bookstore who had recommended Robin Hobb (combined with Robin Hobb's own endorement of Brandon) sold me. 

Once I'd finished the Mistborn trilogy, I was hooked and immediately read Elantris and Warbreaker. Just after that, I managed to find a single volume (smaller print) paperback of Way of Kings at a Bookstore on a visit to Berlin (it was only avilable as two paperback volumes in the UK at the time). This was probably December 2010 or 2011. Knowing there were no other Cosemere books to read, I ended up buying the Eye of the World (my brother, who is 11 years older than me, had previously recommended the Wheel of Time. I had always assumed it would have that certain dated 70s/80s vibe that came with Michael Moorcock and other books he had recommended to me in my teens and twentys, so I hadn't previously taken up the recomendation). I literally only started the Wheel of Time (and read through the whole thing) so that I could enjoy Brandon's writing in the three books at the end! I am really lad I went on that journey, though I did fo on it at lightning speed (two years or so) compared to Robert Jordans original fans. The continuing journey through the Cosmere feels for  me more like the long lasting companion through life that I talked to many WoT fans about when they were finally able to get the conclusion to the story with Brandon completing the last three books.

[Lightspen of the Glass Sea she/her]

A family friend recommended Mistborn to my dad. He started reading it and thought I would like it. I started the prologue, bounced off, and came back a while later. It happened to be the summer of 2020, so I managed to do nothing but eat, sleep, and read Mistborn for several days. I loved it.
When I decided to start reading The Way of Kings, my dad warned me that he’d heard it was a big commitment.  I gave him a look that meant “do not underestimate my powers of binge reading” and henceforth read through Brandon’s entire body of work. 
It has been my mission since to convert all who will listen to the ways of the Cosmere. By my last count, I’ve gotten at least seven other people hooked via my magic powers of Persistent Bugging.

[Glorfs Tresses she/her]

The first time I was introduced to the Cosmere was when I was a college freshman in 2019. My brother lived in the same town and we decided to carpool home for Christmas. He was playing an audiobook that he was in the middle of and I found it really interesting. I never got the name or author (or I just could not remember it) and when I described what I heard he could not really help me figure out based on the details I gave him. So I just went on listening to or reading other books hoping that I could stumble on it one day.

Well, after a couple years, I started having friends recommend the Stormlight Archives to me. I asked my brother if he had heard of it and he said it was his favorite series he has ever read (I don't know why he couldn't have pointed me to it before). Within the year, I had read or listened to all the Stormlight Archives and started to look up some theories online. That was when I found out that there was so much more to the story that I had yet discovered and started on the first Mistborn Era. I kept going through the Cosmere related books and a few of Brandon Sanderson's other works. I still have a ways to go, but I am so grateful for how well he treats his fans and how Brandon and his team made it fun to be a part of the community. Now I would definitely say I have favorite author!

[AlastorBM He]

A year and a half ago I think, one of my best friends and I were talking about starting to read Brandon, he had already read the first part of msitborne, elantris and warbreaker. Unfortunately I didn't have enough money to buy the books and in my country it is quite difficult to get books at a good price,  they are very expensive.
Being the great guy he is, he lent me all of them, one at a time, starting with Elantris, then Msitborne and then Warbreaker.

After a few months I was finally able to buy the way of kings but only that one, so he lent me words of radiance. After quite a bit of effort I was able to buy Oathbringer and from there I was finally able to start with the cosmere, mistborne era 2, RoW and the secret projects. I was even able to give him a copy of The sunlitman!

in addition to the arcanum It was very helpful in a very bad time and today those books and the talks we have were one of the best. 

Truly a great friend 

And very evil too, now I can't leave the cosmere, yes, it was part of his plan

[LittleHandAlex]

A friend of mine used to rave about the Stormlight Archive. I actually picked it up, the first novel in... who knows how many years? But I put it back down after a couple of chapters. Nothing to do with the book itself. 

A different friend of mine was reading The Wheel of Time, and when he finished he moved on to Mistborn and would simply not stop talking about them. So I bought the trilogy, read it, and fell in love. And since then I've read almost every Sanderson novel, and have become obsessed with Stormlight hahaha.

 

I always say Mistborn gave me my love of reading back, but Stormlight taught me a book can be more than a book.

[chongjasmine]

I first heard of Brandon Sanderson through the wheel of time series. I was a long time fan of wheel of time and when Robert Jordan passed away, the series was to be concluded by Brandon Sanderson. I was worried that the series would be done badly but Brandon did a good job with wheel of time. I was glad to read the conclusions to the wheel of time series and also became a Brandon's fan.

[lilmage99 She/Her]

Elantris was my first Sanderson Book, looking back I'm glad I started there because it's one of his weakest Books as it was so early into his writing career. Getting to see his development as a writer as I read more of his work was so satisfying and absolutely got me hooked. I can now easily say Brandon Sanderson IS my favorite author (probably wouldn't be here if he wasn't haha) 

Although I'm glad I started with Elantris, when I'm trying to get other people into the Cosmere I usually recommend Warbreaker or Mistborn depending on who I'm talking to and what they usually like to read. Very rarely I will recommend someone start out with Way of Kings, I only give that rec to people who I think can easily handle an in depth chunky series like Stormlight. 

[Treamayne]

50 minutes ago, lilmage99 said:

Although I'm glad I started with Elantris, when I'm trying to get other people into the Cosmere I usually recommend Warbreaker or Mistborn depending on who I'm talking to and what they usually like to read.

Welcome to the Shard.
A solid method of recommendation - discussed here. Also, consider checking out non-Sanderson recommendations here, and if your other favorites are not already listed, feel free to add your recommendations as well (please see first post of theat thread). 

[BinarySecond]

I started with Stormlight Archive but my friend insisted I go through Mistborn prior to Rhythm of War.

[CoderDrag0n8 He/They]

I started with rithmatist, thinking of it as a one-off, I read a single series from an author most of the time. Then I got introduced to Brandon as a whole by reading Steelheart. After that, I got introduced into, and fell in love with, the cosmere through mistborn

[Conure1243 He/Him]

The first Brandon Sanderson series I read was Alcatraz vs the Evil Librarians, by the end of the year I had finished reading the Way of Kings, having also finished the Alcatraz, and Skyward series at that point.

[Vatsug]

Way of Kings. 

 A friend nagged me for a long time, and eventually I kind of randomly picked it up at the local nerd store. 

[Spahc11 He/Him]

I got introduced to Brandon with the Skyward series a few months ago. Thought it would be like every other fiction book but boy was I wrong. The detail on battles, tidbits of romance and the overall character development was nothing I've read before. Now I'm trying to get my hands on the Well of Ascension, as I've already read the Final Empire.

[Usseewa ✾ She♡Her ✾]

I was first introduced through Stormlight (tho it took be a few months to actually go out and get the book), but I learned about the rest of the Cosmere'n'stuff either while reading WoK or after (but before starting the next book).

[Through The Living Grub He/Him]

I first read Alcatraz, but didn’t really pay attention to who the author was. Mistborn was recommended to me by my brother, and the rest is history.

Spoiler

And I can’t TALK to anyone in my family about the books, because they haven’t read them in YEARS!

 

[Through The Living Star She/Her]

3 minutes ago, Through The Living Grub said:

I first read Alcatraz, but didn’t really pay attention to who the author was. Mistborn was recommended to me by my brother, and the rest is history.

  Reveal hidden contents

And I can’t TALK to anyone in my family about the books, because they haven’t read them in YEARS!

 

Holy cow that is almost exactly like me. 

I technically started with Alcatraz, but I didn't realize who the author was. It wasn't until a few years ago when I won a competition and obtained Mistborn as a prize that I really joined Cosmere. 

Once I hit SA I never looked back. 

[Through The Living Grub He/Him]

1 minute ago, Through The Living Star said:

Holy cow that is almost exactly like me. 

I technically started with Alcatraz, but I didn't realize who the author was. It wasn't until a few years ago when I won a competition and obtained Mistborn as a prize that I really joined Cosmere. 

Once I hit SA I never looked back. 

It’s been hard to branch out. Not that I’ve tried, it’s just some stories have a things like intense cussing that make them difficult to enjoy.

There are some other issues, like weird names that are hard to remember and have little to no relevance to the story, but I might be ignoring these issues in Sanderson because I’m so familiar with them.

[Through The Living Star She/Her]

Just now, Through The Living Grub said:

It’s been hard to branch out. Not that I’ve tried, it’s just some stories have a things like intense cussing that make them difficult to enjoy.

I keep finding it hard to find good books. I, for one, refuse to read a book if it cusses too much. That rules out a lot of options. 

3 minutes ago, Through The Living Grub said:

There are some other issues, like weird names that are hard to remember and have little to no relevance to the story, but I might be ignoring these issues in Sanderson because I’m so familiar with them.

Yeah certain books have that. With Sanderson, I keep forgetting all the minor characters, but I'm so used to it because it is Sanderson that I just dismiss it as normal

[Through The Living Grub He/Him]

4 minutes ago, Through The Living Star said:

Yeah certain books have that. With Sanderson, I keep forgetting all the minor characters, but I'm so used to it because it is Sanderson that I just dismiss it as normal

Yeah, minor characters kinda get neglected. The main problem I harp on though is things like Eragon (good magic don’t get me wrong) where they go to 5 different ancient places with complicated names, stay for a chapter, then go somewhere else. Doesn’t add much to the story.

Spoiler for Wheel of time book 1

Spoiler

They go through the magic Way, but it adds nothing to the story imo. Just one more thing on the pile of stuff the book doesn’t tell. Unless I missed lore in later books because I didn’t read anything after book 1.

I can understand if other love these, but they’re just not for me.

Edited April 2 by Through The Living Grub
Clarification

[Ink and Embers Any pronouns]

My friend was reading The Final Empire. I thought it looked interesting so got it from the library and read it at the same time. I read the rest of the series, then the Sunlit Man, then decided to Google a reading order... I am now mostly up-to-date with the books, though my friend is halfway through Bands of Mourning having read no books outside Mistborn.

[Factor She/Her]

When I was probably around first grade, barely graduating from chapter books to novels, my parents gave me a copy of Alcatraz for Christmas. He got me fully into novels… and when I was getting into YA Steelheart and Skyward helped me there (actually, they were the only YA books I really liked much…) and finally I decided I was ready to read adult books, and decided to start with Brandon Sanderson… I actually looked up his books and saw that Mistborn seemed his most popular one and thought I would rather ease in, so I tried starting with a easier series by him instead. So I tried to get WoK… *coughs* Once I saw its size in person I ended up getting Mistborn to start with instead. Ah well…