Brandon Sanderson: his must-reads? in what reading order? and where to begin?

[Paolo]

I first encountered the name Brandon Sanderson sometime last year when I was looking up epic fantasy series similar to Game of Thrones, and was led to The Wheel of Time series. It was only more recently that I realized how much of a big deal he is as far as recent fantasy authors are concerned.

I still can't get over how prolific he is. He's under 40 and already has around a dozen novels or so (not to mention novellas and The Wheel of Time contributions), all of which have come out in the last decade! And on top of that, he has several ongoing fantasy series, all of which are expecting next installments in the next several years. Wow, really. And it's not like the speed of his writing affects the quality, since most of his works are apparently well-received.

On that note, I'd very much like to read all of his "must-read" works by sometime next year. What books would you folks recommend reading, and in what order should I read them? Does it matter that most of his novels take place in the same universe (The Cosmere)?

That said, I should say that I've already started with the audiobook of Mistborn: The Final Empire, and I already got The Way of Kings for free on Kindle last week.

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Did my research based on GR ratings and it appears like the Mistborn and The Stormlight Archive are no brainers.

After that, based purely on ratings, it looks like The Rithmatist should be next - would you agree?

Rounding it up would be Warbreaker, then Elantris, then Steelheart.

Outside of those books, are there any other notable novels I'm missing?

Thanks!

[Boodi]

i read all of sanderson works except wheel of time , i would say if u want to start with something epic go for the mistborn but it if it were me i'd start with something light to get the style of his writing , there 're plenty of choices for that :The Rithmatist which i have to say the most i enjoyed out of all his work ,also Legion 'it's kinda of short but very good ' ,didnot enjoy the stormlight archive that much . i'd say generally he is a good writer .

[Seed]

You're lucky since Words of Radiance is out, if you like Way of Kings you can jump right into it. THEN you can be left waiting with the rest of us.

[Tara]

My first Sanderson book was Mistborn, I think that would be the best choice to start with and get accustomed to his writing. I loved that book which lead me to read Elantris, The Alloy of Law and Warbreaker after that. I read a comment once that you should read Warbreaker before The Way of kings but I didn't see why that is necessary. I read it before The Way of Kings and it didn't make any difference to me.
If you read mistborn first, I recommend you start with The Way of Kings next, it was an awesome read..

[Dustin]

Don't forget The Emperor's Soul. Ebook it, barely a booklet in paperback. I enjoyed it quite a bit at least.

Tara was almost right. Read Warbreaker before Words of Radiance, not Way of Kings.

If you plan to read most of Sanderson one way to go is: Mistborn, Elantris, Mistborn II, Mistborn III, Warbreaker, Way of Kings, Emperor's Soul, Alloy of Law, Words of Radiance, Rithmatist.

I can't really say what is a must read. I think reading them by highest to lowest rating is setting yourself up for disappointment however.

[Geoff]

I'd start with Mistborn.

Dustin wrote: "Tara was almost right. Read Warbreaker before Words of Radiance, not Way of Kings."

To be most clear: Way of Kings then Warbreaker then Words of Radiance.

Right now, Warbreaker before Words of Radiance is the only real Cosmere connection that you really have to worry about. Everything else is just cameos or easter eggs or really small things.

[Tara]

Geoff wrote: "I'd start with Mistborn.

Dustin wrote: "Tara was almost right. Read Warbreaker before Words of Radiance, not Way of Kings."

To be most clear: Way of Kings then Warbreaker then Words of Radiance. ..."


I think this might give the impression that there is a lot of references to Warbreaker in Words of Radiance. I don't think one should have to read it before WoR. They are two different stories just one slight connection that some people don't even notice.

[Joel]

Brandon Sanderson is my favorite fantasy author, and I have read and enjoyed all of his books. I read his Cosmere novels in order of publication and had no problems.

Despite the fact that they all take place in the same universe, he wrote them so that they could be read as separate stories with the Cosmere overlap stuff intended to be a fun perk for those who wish to delve deeper into the Cosmere. Kind of like Easter Eggs.

His young adult stuff has been fun too. I would recommend anything by him. You are always guaranteed to get a great book. And you never have to wait long for something new by him.

[Dara]

I second The Emperor's Soul. Don't skip it. Short but fantastic. I really hope Sanderson revisits that world again.

[Kristina]

Mistborn is my favorite. Though I also love the Stormlight Archive so far. One I haven't seen mentioned here that is also really fun and quick is Steelheart.

[Kevin]

These are "essential Sanderson" IMO:
His most fun book is: Mistborn: The Final Empire. You already got that one covered.
His most epic and ambitious is: The Stormlight Archives series The Way of Kings
His best is The Emperor's Soul. It won a Hugo for best novella and is set on the same world as Elantris, though they're not directly connected.

He writes a very different style of Epic Fantasy than what Game of Thrones is though.

Re: The Cosmere. All his "adult" fantasy books are set in this Cosmere and share a mythology, though for most books you wouldn't notice if you didn't know. For the observant reader there are a some easter eggs and small references through out. It's only in the Stormlight Archives that larger parts of the Cosmere universe begin to bleed together, and even there it's not a main focus (so far).

His YA books: The Rithmatist, Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians and the Reckoners series Steelheart are not part of the Cosmere and have their own settings. And so doesLegion.

[Michele]

I read the Mistborn trilogy and enjoyed it, but wasn't blown away or anything. I tried Elantris and only made it through a few chapters before putting it down. Maybe Elantris was a poor choice? I dunno, but I haven't been inspired to try anything else by him yet, and I'm honestly a little sick of his name.

I did get the free Way of Kings the other day, so eventually I'll get to that one.

I'm curious - do you who love Sanderson think he's a great writer in a technical sense? A competent writer who's stories/plots are the hook? Compelling characters? Consistant quality? Comfortable/familiar yet fresh?

What makes you choose Sanderson over someone else?

[Ethan]

Also of note if you're interested in the Cosmere side of things is the fan wiki: http://coppermind.net/wiki/Coppermind...

It pulls together all the Cosmere connections, theories, etc. Be warned that it is full of spoilers, so read carefully. It's super fun to page through though after you've read a few of the Cosmere works to catch all the little references that you missed! It also pulls together info not in the books that Brandon has mentioned in various interviews, Q&As, etc.

[Dara]

Michele wrote: "I'm curious - do you who love Sanderson think he's a great writer in a technical sense? A competent writer who's stories/plots are the hook? Compelling characters? Consistent quality? Comfortable/familiar yet fresh?

What makes you choose Sanderson over someone else? "

I read Sanderson because his stories are usually fun and enjoyable. His prose leaves much to be desired (he can't hold a candle to Guy Gavriel Kay or Robin Hobb for example). I think he often chooses worldbuilding and magic over creating unique characters with a lot of depth but his plots are engaging.

I choose to read Sanderson when I want what I call "clean" fantasy. His books aren't grimdark, no excessive battles and blood, and there's no sex (I'm not averse to sex in my books but sometimes I just don't want to read about a guy spilling his seed). They're usually easy, light reads.

[Alan]

Michele wrote: "... I'm curious - do you who love Sanderson think he's a great writer in a technical sense? A competent writer who's stories/plots are the hook? Compelling characters? Consistant quality? Comfortable/familiar yet fresh?..."

By way of preamble, I have a fond spot for Sanderson for bringing the Wheel of Time to a graceful conclusion. I enjoyed Way of Kings immensely (and also liked WoR) but disliked Warbreaker and haven't read Mistborn yet.

I like how he writes action scenes - they have a clear throughline so I can follow what is supposedly happening in them. His world-building has both texture and a generous does of awesome. I think calling his prose style unobtrusive is probably about right but I generally prefer clear prose to florid so that doesn't bother me.

What I really like about his writing .... it scratches the itch really well. What I mean by that is that I like lots of different types of genre fiction and almost every type of F&SF but when I'm reading high fantasy, I want a fully immersive world, stakes that are higher than the interests of just the individual characters, characters to root for and against, a sense of an immense epic unfolding of which the story I'm reading is just a part, that there is more out there than what the author is telling, and no moments that take me out of the story because I go "why the bleep did so-and-so do something so stupid or against his/her own interests?" --- Sanderson delivers all of things for me (ie, he scratches the itch).

[Dustin]

If you are only going to read five Sanderson books, read:

Way of Kings, Words of Radiance, Mistborn, Well of Ascension, and Emperor's Soul. Rithmatist is really good if you don't mind Middle Grade Fantasy.

Also keep in mind Way of Kings, Words of Radiance, and Rithmatist have a lot of art and benefit from owning a physical book. WORDS Hardcover is probably the prettiest book I've ever seen.

You can probably delay Warbreaker, Elantris, Steelheart, and Mistborn III and IV until your looking for more. Reading Warbreaker before WORDS only gives you a brief moment of glee and isn't crucial. I will also advise reading Mistborn II and III close together.

[Kevin]

Michele wrote: "I read the Mistborn trilogy and enjoyed it, but wasn't blown away or anything. I tried Elantris and only made it through a few chapters before putting it down. Maybe Elantris was a poor choice? I d..."

Elantris is easily his weakest book for me, both in terms of plot, technical skill and characters. The only thing I really liked was the "evil" priest POV character. It was also his first published book.

Sanderson's prose is, IMO, functional. Mostly okay, sometimes rather clunky compared to real wordsmiths (like Vallente or Rothfuss, or even the lean, on the nose prose of Abercrombie, to name some contemporaries). His characters improve with every novel, though you also start to notice that they mostly fall in certain archetypes he reuses (interestingly I think his women are the most complete and layered: Vin, Shallan, Shai). In terms of "morality" he's pretty classic high fantasy. He adds in a bit more grey maybe, but where the recent "gritty" trends seems to say "grey" means that everyone is an asshole and ultimately only out for themselves, Sanderson firmly believes that most people are inherently good and that most people, and thus his characters including the villains, will try to do what they think is for the best. It's just that sometimes they fundamentally disagree on what that is.

What I like about Sanderson, and where I think he really is one of the best, is his plotting and his world building and how they interweave. He spends a lot of time and effort on constructing his worlds and every part of those worlds influences his plots, his characters, his societies, the history, everything. He doesn't just write a generic fantasy story that could be set in generic fantasy world #956. His stories couldn't happen in another setting.
Also action scenes. His magical combat mostly consists of high speed, close ranged scrappy affairs. It's a lot of fun.

If your a bit of a geek, like me, who likes to get absorbed in worlds when he reads a book Sanderson has a lot to offer.

[Shad]

In defense of Sanderson, Elantris was his first published book. As time goes on, he keeps getting better and so do his books.

[Elizabeth]

I started with Way of Kings, simply because it was a really (really!) long audiobook and I figured I'd get my money's worth. Loved it, and have since read Words of Radiance and the initial Mistborn trilogy. I couldn't get into his YA stuff though.

Please to hear about Warbreaker though. Hadn't heard of it before, and now I'm adding that to the TBR.

[Roger]

Like others have said, I really like the Stormlight Archives and Mistborn and for me Steelheart was just a fun read that I really enjoyed

[Joanna Chaplin]

Besides what some of the folks here have said about Sanderson, I like him because he writes these big dramatic reveal moments, where something comes together and big stuff gets revealed about the universe, the magic, and how it all works. Sometimes it's something I see coming, and sometimes it's not. It's always a rush for me. Although at least in Words of Radiance, I found the climax epic, but a little over-the-top ridiculous.

I'd give Steelheart the slip. I've been told it's not in the Cosmere? I found the world's system miserable and the main character is standard white young male who the competent characters don't think much of but then ends up being super important. But on the other hand, I've never found classic capes-and-lairs superhero stories interesting in book form.

[AndrewP]

In terms of worldbuilding, Way of Kings and Words of Radiance remind me a bit of Dune. The ecology of the planet is absolutely fundamental and everything revolves around it.

[Aaron]

Sanderson to me feels like a Dungeon Master author, where he created this really cool custom campaign world with certain major quests, and a few major points he has to hit then just lets things more or less free flow based of what he feels the characters would do. You can just really feel the D&D influence when the magic in the world isn't whatever plot thing the author needs and is more this is the extremely limited thing your magic can do, and the characters pushing it to the limits.

[Shad]

Aaron wrote: "Sanderson to me feels like a Dungeon Master author, where he created this really cool custom campaign world with certain major quests, and a few major points he has to hit then just lets things mor..."

Here is a link to a blog post Brandon Sanderson did on his laws of magic (I'm linking to the one on the third law since that has links to the other two). I think you would find it interesting.