Cosmere Reading Order

[ScarletSabre he/him]

Heya all, I've finally got one of my best friends to read Mistborn, and the world and Brandon's magic systems have hooked him ^3^ So I'm trying to put together a proper reading order for him so he doesn't miss out on easter eggs and cameos, and was wondering if people had any suggestions? He's just finishing Hero of Ages right now, and is super excited for Alloy of Law and Era 2, so once he's through that I'm planning to have him read Warbreaker and then Way of Kings, possibly with Elantris/Emperor's Soul before WoK.

Suggestions? I know we don't have the offical Cosmere Timeline yet, so I thought I'd ask my fellow Sanderfans.

[Fedcomic he/him]

I would just read in publication order.  Works as well as anything else.

[Pagerunner he/him]

I'll second publication order, as much as possible. Just from a writing quality point of view, it can be hard to go backwards from Way of Kings, since Brandon grew so much as a writer while working on Wheel of Time. (Although Mistborn 2 and 3 are what stuffer from that the most, IMO, and your friend has already gotten those out of the way.) If you can't get him to read WoK - AoL - WoR - SoS - BoM in publication order, alternating between series like that, have him read Stormlight before Mistborn Era 2.

[Ward]

I third publication order, especially since your friend is already hooked.

In general though, if you're trying to hook someone new, I'd recommend leading out with Emperor's Soul. It's short and a perfect look at what Brandon has to offer. Then I'd supply Mistborn era 1. Then publication order.

[Dragon314 he/him]

Amen ward. I made the mistake of reading Elantris last, an well, it shows that it was his first book.

 

[Aon Ati he/him]

So far, I think that they should be read like this: Elantris, The orginal Mistborn trilogy, The Way of Kings, Warbreaker, the Wax and Wayne series, Words of Radience, Arcanum Unbounded, White Sand, Oathbringer.

[Bean Delphiki he/him]

The only recommendation I'd make is to read Warbreaker (and the Mistborn books) before the Stormlight Archive.