I'm new to Cosmere, where do I start?

[Ms. Dragon she/her]

As someone who is new to the Cosmere, the long list of books I need to read is overwhelming and I was wondering what a good place to start would be. I'm almost done with a Way of Kings and have read Elantris.

[TheWanderer he/him]

Well you should probably continue Stormlight if you have already started. If you want to understand all the references you will want to read warbreaker and mistborn (including secret history).

[RedBlue]

If you’re enjoying The Way Of Kings, I recommend continuing with the Stormlight Archive (next books in order: Words of Radiance, Edgedancer, Oathbringer, Dawnshard, Rhythm of War.)

Edgedancer and Dawnshard are novellas that are technically optional to the main story, but very much worth reading IMO.

After that, the main attractions in the cosmere are Warbreaker and Mistborn. Warbreaker is a stand-alone that ties into the Stormlight Archive. Mistborn is a longer series that starts with The Final Empire.

[Eggdogg]

As other have said, I would continue stormlight. IMO the cosmere doesn’t really present itself until you get a handful of books under your belt. I still miss cosmere references and worldhopping all the time when I’m reading (especially first time through). Brandon is remarkably adept at writing great stories on their own…one might even say that he is incapable of writing a bad story. Earlier books feel like they have little crumbs of cosmere stuff sprinkled in but by the time you get to secret history of Mistborn and the end of ROW the cosmere is exerting massive influence.  

[sad paladin named kaladin]

I am also pretty new to cosmere. I started with Stormlight Archive, and then moved onto mist born. 

[NattyBo]

There’s lots of theories out there about where is best to start. I’m one of the few that thinks it doesn’t matter. Whatever your gateway drug into the cosmere is, is fine. Sure, there’s a few connections you’ll miss, but I’m assuming most readers will at least have re-read or read a detailed summary of the books which point these out afterwards.

i started with Stormlight and then read everything else. 

[+Player22 he/him]

I'd personally say read them in publication order with the caveat that you should skip Elantris until you've read 4 or 5 other novels. There are some who love Elantris but it's not the best Cosmere novel by a long shot. I recommend publication order because of the the references back and forth are part of the magic of the novels. If you just continue reading Stormlight before anything else there are some character and lore threads that will be spoiled and certain events in other books might not be as satisfying to read. 

[FictionSpren he/him]

Mistborn was where I started and got me hooked to the magic systems, and Mistborn i found was good because there are very few cosmere references in era 1, having hoid rock up only twice. Stormlight is a much larger saga but is a little overwhelming. I recommend working your way up to it with warbreaker (my personal favorite) and Elantris.

[Elegy he/him]

I'm also in the "doesn't really matter" camp. As long as you keep the individual series in order, anything goes. I think it's a beautiful thing about the Cosmere - everyone having their own individual journey and exploration.

If there was one thing I'd recommend (nothing extremely important, just a slight suggestion), it'd be having read as much as possible before Rhythm of War since that one has the most connections and the most implications of things that happened elsewhere. But again, even in that case, the order doesn't matter.

For similar reasons, maybe Warbreaker before Oathbringer.

But as I said, I think it's one of the Cosmere's selling points that you can read them in any order and they will still all make sense. These are just suggestions.

[Quivil]

You should just split yourself into enough people to read all of them at once.  Because that totally works.

[The Unknown Medallion he/him]

Just put a hold on the first book of every series and whichever one you get first you can start with. Aka, it doesn't matter. 

[Ms. Dragon she/her]

Thank you guys!

[AonDoor he/him]

Brandon has a helpful page on his website:

https://www.brandonsanderson.com/where-do-i-start/

[chongjasmine]

I am new to the cosmere, too.

[Quivil]

(you should come play Sanderson Elimination. It's like Mafia.)

[Pseudonymous he/him]

I started my journey into the cosmere in the final empire (mistborn) and then moved to the way of kings (stormlight) and have bounced around. They are all great for different reasons, some things in the stormlight series will have more context if you read the stand alone novels but I agree with previous posters that there is no wrong way to journey into the cosmere. 

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood he/him]

somehow I started on White Sand. don't question me.

[chongjasmine]

I am new to cosmere as well. Currently still reading Elantris.

[Adamkarma he/him]

Look. Since you began the Way of Kings finish it, then finish Words of Radiance,  then Warbreaker,Edgedancer, Oathbringer,Dawnshard,white sand and Mistborn Era 1,Rhythm of War, the alloy of law, shadows of self, the band of mourning, arancum Unbounded. Done.

[caminante_blanco he/him]

I disagree. I really think you're best off following publishing order (but start with mistborn, not elantris). It'll help you to get the most cosmere stuff out of each series.