Age Ratings

[+ElephantEarwax he/him]

I have been wanting to read WoK to my younger siblings, so I was wondering what age would everyone reccomend for little kids to hear this story? And Are there any intensely violent or bad scenes that may be unhealthy for children? 

[Gasper he/him]

Here are the ratings of of the current Cosmere books/Series.

PG-Elantris and the Emperors Soul, Edge Dancer

PG-13 Younger-Stormlight Archive, Mistborn Era 2, Silence Montain and the Forests of Hell, Mistborn short stories, Sixth of Dusk.

PG-13 Older-Mistborn Era 1, Warbreaker

I also think that what you read to kids and younger people depends on what you are comfortable with and with the child's maturity level. By the time they are in 7th and 8th grade, I think they can read most of the Cosmere except Warbreaker. That is a book that should be reserved for High Schoolers.

[Elenion he/him]

7 minutes ago, ElephantEarwax said:

I have been wanting to read WoK to my younger siblings, so I was wondering what age would everyone reccomend for little kids to hear this story? And Are there any intensely violent or bad scenes that may be unhealthy for children? 

I can't think of any scenes in particular that would be too violent/dark for children. Kal's arc takes some emotional maturity to connect with, but WoK is not as dark as Mistborn (the whole skaa rape debate and how Elend fits in). Really I think the limiting factor might be attention span.

[Wandering Investor]

I would suspect WoK/SA, as well as most of the cosmere books, to be a bit much for little kids. Complexity aside, there is violence, death, despair, and occasional bits of mature romance. I would say teenager at least, but depends on the kids I guess.

[Devout Pathian]

31 minutes ago, Elenion said:

I can't think of any scenes in particular that would be too violent/dark for children. Kal's arc takes some emotional maturity to connect with, but WoK is not as dark as Mistborn (the whole skaa rape debate and how Elend fits in). Really I think the limiting factor might be attention span.

That’s what I think.  Mistborn is much more mature.  Stormlight is violent and Kaladin is treated awful as a slave.  Oh and there is when Navani is trying to seduce Dalinar.  That might not be good for kids.  Honestly, it depeneds on the kid.  I defintally wouldn’t read it to someone younger than ten and probably not until their at least 12 and then it depends on the 12-year-old.

Also here is another thought, as you read it you skip over anything that might be inapproitate for the kids you are reading to.  I know my dad did that when he read the Dragonlance books to us when I was a kid.

[Elenion he/him]

I wouldn't quite put Elantris into PG, because of the cult sacrifice and maybe the hoed/gang violence in Elantris. Other than that, I agree with you. Mistborn and Warbreaker both have elements that require maturity as major conflicts.

[ljósmóður she/her]

My older son and daughter have read all the Cosmere books plus the Reckoners series - independently, not me reading to them. They're 15 & 13 now but both started with the original Mistborn trilogy when they were 10/11. They are both emotionally mature for their ages and I have very open relationship with them which meant that they knew they could discuss any of the darker aspects with me if they wanted to (I had read everything Sanderson first so knew what was in there). They both love the SA novels a lot and the humour works for them. I quite often get a Bridge 4 salute from them!

I'd agree with those who say it's about whether you think your siblings have the attention span to cope with such big books - and, also, all the different flashbacks/alternative viewpoints. With the back stories and interludes, SA is narratively complex so it depends if you think they'll follow the constant shifts. If you think they will, enjoy!

[Iarwainiel I she/her]

A couple additional things that haven't been mentioned yet -

Consider the joy of reading something for yourself, and how that differs from having someone read it to you / for you. By reading to them now, the experience of discovering the Cosmere for themselves - imagining it solely in their own minds - will be different.

Also, children's brains will often (blessedly!) skip over bits they're not mature enough to understand yet. That's how you can re-watch a movie you saw 10-20 years before and see all kinds of stuff that you never saw before, especially about innuendo, satire, even political commentary embedded in a plot. So with Brandon's books, think of how much of the enjoyment comes from things that younger children wouldn't "get" or that wouldn't resonate as deeply with them. Going just on my own experience, I didn't read TLotR until I was out of college and I'm so glad I waited - it's like, at age 22, my soul was the Liberty Bell and the book rang it loudly; at a younger age, even though I was smart enough to read the book, the ringing would have been a much smaller bell. (I hope that metaphor makes sense to you - if not, apologies. )