Want to start reading Sanderson

[Turius]

Where do I begin? I need it to be in audiobook format as the only time I have to read is in the car during my commute. So where do I begin? I know he finished the wheel of time series but i would like to read something newer and that is entirely his own work? Thanks!

[DeTess she/her]

There isn't a mandatory reading order, but personally I'd start with the Mistborn era 1 trilogy. The first book is called 'Mistborn' or 'The final Empire' depending on where you are.

[Argent he/him]

Brandon's thoughts on the topic

[Turius]

On 2/7/2017 at 11:17 AM, jofwu said:

13 minutes ago, randuir said:

There isn't a mandatory reading order, but personally I'd start with the Mistborn era 1 trilogy. The first book is called 'Mistborn' or 'The final Empire' depending on where you are.

So you recommend reading the Miscaller series before I begin The Way of Kings?

 

[Turius]

6 minutes ago, Argent said:

Brandon's thoughts on the topic

Perfect! Thanks, I appreciate it. 

[DeTess she/her]

6 minutes ago, Turius said:

So you recommend reading the Miscaller series before I begin The Way of Kings?

Yes, I would. The mistborn era 1 trilogy is already finished, and gives you an idea of what Sanderson's books are like in a more 'compact' package than the Way of Kings.

[Pagerunner he/him]

Hey there, welcome to the forums! If you're looking into the cosmere, I say basically publication order. (With an exception or two.) Here's why: when Brandon finished up Wheel of Time, he became a much better writer. I enjoyed Mistborn 2 when I first read it, but when I've tried to reread it more recently, I've found it much more difficult to get through. (Not that it's a bad book, I'll say; but next to his other cosmere books, I'd rank it as the weakest.)

Before he picked up the Wheel of Time, Brandon had written five books: Elantris, the Mistborn trilogy (Final Empire, Well of Ascenscion, Hero of Ages), and Warbreaker. There are points to be made for mixing up the order; Elantris was his first published book, Final Empire is probably the best of the five, and Warbreaker is available for free on Brandon's website. But, as long as you read the trilogy straight through the order of these five don't make that much of a difference.

Starting with Way of Kings, Brandon starts to play a lot more with the overall universe of the cosmere. You can very easily read his first five books with no knowledge that there are any connections. (In fact, no one on the forums was really talking about any of the interconnection until after Mistborn 3 was released.) With Way of Kings, some things become more prominent (not too in-your-face though), so if you're paying attention and asking questions you will naturally find out about the larger universe. These hints build as Brandon alternates between additional Mistborn books (following new characters set hundreds of years later) and Stormlight books. These, you'll want to read in order: Stormlight 1 (Way of Kings), Mistborn 4 (Alloy of Law), Stormlight 2 (Words of Radiance), Mistborn 5 and 6 (Shadows of Self/Bands of Mourning), and Arcanum Unbounded (a collection of cosmere short fiction). Although, I guess you could swap Stormlight 2 and Mistborn 4 if you don't want to break up a series. (But fair warning, both of them are ongoing; Stormlight will be 10 books, and there will be one more Mistborn book for now that will wrap up the current era.)

I haven't read any of his non-cosmere stuff, but on the whole they're shorter, so depending on how long your commute is, one of those series might be better for you.

Also, I'll plug the Wheel of Time. It's a good series; it might feel a little dated, since its first book was published in 1990 and the fantasy landscape has changed so much, but I don't think it detracts from the quality. And, let's be honest, it will take you a while to run out of audiobooks to listen to.

[Fedcomic he/him]

Where you should start probably depends on what you like. For example, if you like superheroes, read Steelheart.  It's super fun and a fast read.  Also good because it gives you a taste to see if you like his writing style.  Similarly, The Emperor's Soul is short and won a bunch of awards.  

[Stormrunner1730]

I'd say that Mistborn: The Final Empire is the best entry point because you get a very good sampling of what Sanderson does as a writer.  The book is a complete story, but plants seeds for the rest of the Mistborn series.  You also get a good sense for how he writes characters, plots story arcs, writes actions scenes, and discusses religion, politics, and other broader societal issues.  While I think Stormlight Archive will ultimately be my favorite series from Sanderson, I wouldn't recommend starting with Way of Kings since it's rather long and not as much of a complete story of The Final Empire.  That being said, if you you're not an epic fantasy fan, I would start with some of his non-cosmere stuff.

[Draginon he/him]

Pretty much if you want a 'self-contained' story go with either Elantris or Warbreaker since they technically don't have other books at this point, I'm not going to count the short stories for Elantris since they aren't full novels.

If you want a series that's complete go with Mistborn Era 1, which consists of Mistborn: The Final Empire, The Well of Ascension and The Hero of Ages.

Pretty much those three are where you'd want to start before getting into the big epic of Stormlight.

[Toaster Retribution he/him]

If you are a complete badass, who enjoy 1000 page epics with three prologues and a learning curve as steep as the Empire State Building, you should start with Stormlight.

If not, you should read Mistborn era 1 and preferably Warbreaker, and then read Stormlight because its a storming masterpiece.

Edited August 15, 2017 by Toaster Retribution