Where to Start with Brandon Sanderson: A Reading Guide
Where to start with Brandon Sanderson — whether to begin with Mistborn, The Way of Kings, or Elantris. A complete reading guide to the Cosmere and the fantasy master.
Brandon Sanderson (born 1975) is the American fantasy novelist who has become the most commercially successful epic fantasy writer of his generation — published at extraordinary speed and volume, with a worldwide audience of dedicated readers who follow his interconnected Cosmere universe across multiple series. He is renowned for his world-building, his rigorously designed magic systems (each operating by explicit internal rules), and his plotting, which builds toward climaxes that reward the full investment of a long series. He also completed Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series after Jordan’s death. His most celebrated works are the Mistborn trilogy and the ongoing Stormlight Archive.
Where to Start: Mistborn: The Final Empire (2006)
The universally recommended starting point — and the novel that established Sanderson’s reputation. In a world where ash perpetually falls from a sky of burning red and the Dark Lord won a thousand years ago, Kelsier, a charismatic thief and survivor of the brutal forced labour camps, assembles a crew to execute the most ambitious heist in history: overthrowing the Final Empire itself. His recruit is Vin, a street urchin who discovers she is a Mistborn — a rare individual who can swallow and ‘burn’ metals to enhance her abilities.
The magic system (allomancy — metals burned to produce specific powers) is one of the most elegantly designed in fantasy: rigorous, internally consistent, and deeply integrated with the world and the plot. The heist structure gives the epic premise propulsive narrative momentum. The novel subverts the chosen-one fantasy by asking what happens when the prophecy fails.
The Way of Kings (2010)
Sanderson’s most ambitious novel — and the beginning of his most fully realised and most celebrated series. Set on Roshar, a world of enormous storms that have shaped its ecology, culture, and magic over millennia, it follows three protagonists: Kaladin, a soldier sold into slavery after his unit is destroyed by a Shardbearer; Shallan, a young woman who needs to steal from the scholar she has come to study under; and Dalinar, a Highprince struggling to hold the Alethi armies together during a meaningless war.
At over 1,000 pages it requires patience, but it delivers one of the most fully developed fantasy worlds since Tolkien — the geology, the ecology, the history, the magic (Stormlight, Shards, Surgebinding), and the cultures are all thoroughly realised. Kaladin’s arc from slave to soldier is one of contemporary fantasy’s finest character journeys.
The Emperor’s Soul (2012)
Sanderson’s most concentrated and most immediately accessible work — a novella (172 pages) set in the Cosmere that demonstrates his world-building and magic abilities at full scale. Shai, a forger who can rewrite the histories of objects and people to change their fundamental nature, is imprisoned and given an impossible task: forge the soul of an emperor who has been brain-damaged in an assassination attempt, convincing the court it is genuine. A masterclass in how Sanderson designs magic systems, and the fastest reading in his catalogue.
An excellent way to sample Sanderson before committing to his longer novels.
Elantris (2005)
Sanderson’s first published novel — and his most standalone. Elantris was once a city of gods; its inhabitants were transformed by a magical event called the Reod into immortals with extraordinary powers. Ten years before the novel begins, the magic failed and the Elantrians were left trapped in decaying bodies, unable to die, unable to heal, mad with pain. The protagonist, a prince, finds himself transformed into an Elantrian on the eve of his wedding. His fiancée, arriving from a foreign country, must navigate the political intrigue of a kingdom without its king.
His shortest and most traditional fantasy novel; the best entry point for readers who want a complete, self-contained story.
Reading Brandon Sanderson
Sanderson’s fiction is defined by three qualities: rigorous magic systems (each with explicit rules that make them feel like natural extensions of their worlds rather than authorial convenience), intricate plotting (set-ups planted hundreds of pages earlier that pay off with maximum impact), and prolific productivity (he publishes faster than almost any comparable author). He is not a stylist — his prose is functional and clear — but his ideas are often extraordinary, and his ability to deliver satisfying endings to complex multi-book series is unmatched in contemporary fantasy. Begin with The Final Empire for the most immediately accessible; approach The Way of Kings when you are ready for his most fully realised world.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where should I start with Brandon Sanderson?
Mistborn: The Final Empire (2006) is the universally recommended starting point — a self-contained epic fantasy set in a world where ash falls from the sky and the Dark Lord won a thousand years ago, featuring one of the most elegantly designed magic systems in the genre. It introduces Sanderson's characteristic strengths (rigorous magic, intricate plotting, ensemble characters) in a compact and immediately accessible form. The Way of Kings is the best alternative for readers who want Sanderson's most ambitious and most fully realised world, though it requires a 1,000-page commitment. Elantris is the best choice for readers who want his shortest and most accessible standalone novel.
What is the Cosmere?
The Cosmere is Sanderson's interconnected universe — the shared fictional cosmos in which most of his fantasy novels are set, including the Mistborn series, the Stormlight Archive, Elantris, Warbreaker, and others. Each series is set on a different planet and can be read independently, but they share an underlying cosmology and mythology, and characters sometimes cross over between them. Readers who read multiple Cosmere novels begin to discover the larger pattern; new readers need not know any of this to enjoy any individual book. The Cosmere becomes a significant source of additional pleasure for committed Sanderson readers.
What is Mistborn: The Final Empire about?
Mistborn: The Final Empire (2006) is set in a world where the prophesied hero failed, the Dark Lord won, and an ash-covered world has lived under divine tyranny for a thousand years. Kelsier, a thief and revolutionary, assembles a crew for the most ambitious heist in history: toppling the Final Empire itself. His crew includes Vin, a street urchin who discovers she is a Mistborn — a rare person with the ability to use metals to enhance her physical and mental abilities (the allomancy magic system). The novel subverts the chosen-one fantasy narrative by asking what happens when the chosen one fails.
Do I need to read the Mistborn series before the Stormlight Archive?
No — the Stormlight Archive (beginning with The Way of Kings) is set on a different planet and can be read entirely independently of Mistborn. Many readers start with one or the other depending on their preference: Mistborn is shorter and faster-paced; The Way of Kings is longer and more deeply world-built. Both are excellent starting points for the Cosmere. The recommended progression for new Sanderson readers is often: The Final Empire → Warbreaker (short standalone, connects to Stormlight) → The Way of Kings, but any starting point is valid.
