Cosmere reading order

[The Lord of The Mists He/Him]

Hello, I've been reading Brandon Sanderson for the past 3 years and am still confused on the order in which to read the Cosmere, if anyone can please tell me the reading order that'd be appreciated.

[Through the Living Hopper He/Him]

1 hour ago, The Lord of The Mists said:

Hello, I've been reading Brandon Sanderson for the past 3 years and am still confused on the order in which to read the Cosmere, if anyone can please tell me the reading order that'd be appreciated.

No one knows. There are lots of topics on this question, but it's really just subjective. I went Stormlight - Mistborn - Elantris - Warbreaker, I think, but that's just me.

This is the one I gave my friend who's just starting out:

WoK

Warbreaker 

WoR

MB Era 1

OB

MB Era 2

RoW

Elantris

WaT

{

Arcanum Unbounded

Tress

Yumi

TSM

IotE

}

Also, this type of topic is probably better suited for the Cosmere Discussion subforum, as the Q&A is more for lore questions that have definitive answers.

[PanLin they/he]

Honestly, release order is fine.

That said, this post on the Cosmere Discussion forum has exactly what you're looking for.

Be careful though, there are some minor spoilers further down that page if you haven't read everything yet (but it's spoiler free up until the 'Reading Order' section afaik).

If you don't want to risk the spoilers, then really just go with release order. I will just paste two bullet points from the Reading Order I linked to:

Quote

• We highly encourage reading Warbreaker sometime before Words of Radiance.
• We highly encourage reading Mistborn: Secret History after The Bands of Mourning.

 

[Treamayne]

Thank you for the introductory post, please consider checking out the Sharder FAQ for some useful forum info and tips. 

4 hours ago, The Lord of The Mists said:

Hello, I've been reading Brandon Sanderson for the past 3 years and am still confused on the order in which to read the Cosmere, if anyone can please tell me the reading order that'd be appreciated.

I have a post in the Q&A - Cosmere Reading Order. I think there is no best reading order, but fans should have enough information to make their own informed decisions. To that end, I tried to point out which Cosmere works reference others, and if those references may spoil another work. Excerpt from linked thread:

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

Stormlight Archive Reference Notes:

Spoiler

Books and their references - Labelled as Major - Important references impacting story, Minor - References that clarify story, Easter Egg - Tidbits that are just interesting when you notice, but not impacting story. Some Major and Minor references also have Easter Eggs, but titles are listed in their highest classification only.

1. Way of Kings has references and/or cameos from:
   • Major: None
   • Minor: None
   • Easter Egg: Elantris, White Sand, Mistborn Era 1
2. Words of Radiance has references and/or cameos from:
   • Major: Warbreaker
   • Minor: None
   • Easter Egg: White Sand, Mistborn Era 2, Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell, and multiple Curiosities[1]
3. Oathbringer has references and/or cameos from:
   • Major: Warbreaker
   • Minor: Elantris
   • Easter Egg: White Sand, Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell, Mistborn (both Eras)
4. Rhythm of War has references and/or cameos from:
   • Major: Warbreaker, White Sand, Elantris
   • Minor: Sixth of the Dusk, Mistborn (both Eras)
   • Easter Egg: Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell
5. Wind and Truth
   • Major: Warbreaker, Elantris
   • Minor: Sixth of the Dusk, Mistborn Era 1
   • Easter Egg: White Sand

Other Reference notes:

Spoiler

• Mistborn: Secret History
  • Do not read before Bands of Mourning (Spoilers for HoA and BoM)
• White Sand (prose or graphic novel/omnibus - Link explains the differences and other important information)
  • Anytime after The Emperor's Soul
  • Read before Rhythm of War
  • Non-canon unpublished Prose version available by joining the newsletter) - The forum section discusses differences to Canon Graphic Novel
  • See the link above for more data on versions and customizing your experience.
• Alloy of Law
  • Anytime after The Emperor's Soul and Mistborn Era 1
• Mistborn Era 2 Trilogy 
  • Shadows of Self - Anytime after Alloy of Law
  • Bands of Mourning - Anytime after Shadows of Self
  • The Lost Metal - Recommended after Rhythm of War (Spoilers for WoR, OB, and RoW)
• Sixth of the Dusk (novella)
  • Anytime after The Emperor's Soul (Highly recommend the Shadows Beneath version*)
  • Best before Oathbringer due to Easter Eggs - Minor references for RoW.
  • Included and updated for Isles of the Emberdark
• Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell (novella)
  • Anytime after The Emperor's Soul
  • Best before Oathbringer due to Easter Eggs
• Silverlight Essays (from the section headers in Arcanum Unbounded)
  • Each essay (except one) should be read after reading at least the primary work for that "world"
    • Scadrial Essay has Spoilers for Hero of Ages and Alloy of Law
  • 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
• Yumi and the Nightmare Painter
  • Anytime after The Emperor's Soul and Sixth of the Dusk
  • Do not read before Oathbringer (Spoilers)
• The Sunlit Man
  • Do not read before Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell
  • Recommended after Rhythm of War/Wind and Truth and The Lost Metal (Spoilers/Context)
• Isles of the Emberdark
  • Spoilers for Tress
  • References to Mistborn Era 2, not recommended before The Lost Metal. 

 

 

Hope that helps

[Frustration]

45 minutes ago, Treamayne said:

Thank you for the introductory post, please consider checking out the Sharder FAQ for some useful forum info and tips. 

I have a post in the Q&A - Cosmere Reading Order. I think there is no best reading order, but fans should have enough information to make their own informed decisions. To that end, I tried to point out which Cosmere works reference others, and if those references may spoil another work. Excerpt from linked thread:

 

Hope that helps

I'm curious as to what you consider so spoilery in ES.

I can understand reading it before TLM, but WS, SoD, and SoS don't make much sense to me.

[Qianweilian He/him]

On 3/8/2026 at 3:41 PM, The Lord of The Mists said:

Hello, I've been reading Brandon Sanderson for the past 3 years and am still confused on the order in which to read the Cosmere, if anyone can please tell me the reading order that'd be appreciated.

I personally think this is a great discussion about reading orders and should be followed.

Edit: There are some spoilers in that thread.

Edited March 16 by Qianweilian

[Treamayne]

On 3/8/2026 at 4:41 PM, The Lord of The Mists said:

Hello, I've been reading Brandon Sanderson for the past 3 years and am still confused on the order in which to read the Cosmere, if anyone can please tell me the reading order that'd be appreciated.

9 hours ago, Qianweilian said:

I personally think this is a great discussion about reading orders and should be followed.

Edit: There are some spoilers in that thread.

Just to be clear, the link from @Qianweilian is a joke thread about the worst (most confusing) way to read Cosmere.