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Introduction > Cosmere Reading Order

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message 1: by Jaime (new)

Jaime Rosenfeld | 77 comments Mod
I’m interested to see what everyone’s suggested reading order is for the Cosmere. Since I got into Sanderson without knowing about the Cosmere, I jumped around from Way of Kings, Mistborn, etc.

Since I just began rereading all of the Cosmere, Personally I would recommend the following reading order:

Mistborn Era 1 (#1-3)
War Breaker
Way of Kings
Words of Radiance
Arcanum Unbounded
War Breaker
Oathbringer
Dawnshard
Rhythm of War
Mistborn Era 2

I have yet to read any of the secret projects and the Graphic Novel “White Sand”, so I cant recommend a reading order for those…. Let me know what your thoughts are/where you might put the secret projects!


message 2: by Marwan (new)

Marwan | 133 comments Very nice reading order and yes it got most everything covered, but I see a few things that I would do differently so here's my recommendations.

I'd read Elantris before Arcanum Unbounded because it has 2 stories set on the planet Sel (The Emperor's Soul and The Hope of Elantris).

I would put White Sand somewhere before Rhythm of War but you don't have to because the references to it aren't really that big at all, so you can escape with a summary of White Sand on the coppermind.com.

Also I would read the Era 2 of Mistborn(Except the Lost Metal) before reading Rhythm of War and let me explain.
I personally find that a break before RoW is a really good thing because it is as big as Oathbringer and both are monsters of books. So after Oathbringer and Dawnshard you can go for era 2 of Mistborn which is going to be very refreshing (and quite short), then RoW, and lastly The Lost Metal

The secret projects(Tress, Yumi&Painter and the Sunlit man) I believe they have to go in the end because they are full of hints and references from across the Cosmere (SA, Mistborn, Warbreaker and Elantris)


message 3: by Jaime (new)

Jaime Rosenfeld | 77 comments Mod
Marwan wrote: "Very nice reading order and yes it got most everything covered, but I see a few things that I would do differently so here's my recommendations.

I'd read Elantris before Arcanum Unbounded because ..."


That’s a really good point! I totally forgot that Arcanum Unbounded has Stories from Sel! (Definitely shows I’m due for a reread)

Thanks for these recs!


message 4: by Alexa (new)

Alexa | 64 comments I’m super new still so I think I’m reading all out of order. I started with Stormlight and am two books finished into that series. Then I took a break and picked up the secret projects, I read Tress and now Yumi. I’m planning to finish Stormlight next and the secret projects before picking up mistborn. Is it bad to read them out of order you think? So far I feel it’s been good! But idk haha


message 5: by Marwan (new)

Marwan | 133 comments Jaime wrote: "That’s a really good point! I totally forgot that Arcanum Unbounded has Stories from Sel! (Definitely shows I’m due for a reread)..."

A reread of the Cosmere is definitely something I'll do at some point in my life(too busy and wondering how did I read it all last year in the first place hahah).
So I use the coppermind a lot when I want to remember something but since you started reading in 2013 then yeah a reread would be super awesome. You can always find things you haven't noticed in a second read


message 6: by Marwan (new)

Marwan | 133 comments Alexa wrote: "Is it bad to read them out of order you think? So far I feel it’s been good! But idk haha..."

Absolutely Not!
Sanderson is quite the genius and his books are usually satisfying on their own. Reading them in a certain order will just ensure that you're getting the most enjoyment possible out of these books.
Like in Tress of the Emerald Sea, I would enjoy that book so much on it's own even if I didn't know at all about the Cosmere, but since I read it after all the other books, I understood quite a few references that left me open mouthed like a fool hahaha.
If you can read them in order then it's better, if you can't then it's totally okay to just reading them in any order, and you'll get the references in time when you read more into the Cosmere.


message 7: by SAH.Bookmom (new)

SAH.Bookmom | 35 comments You can find chronological reading order charts on Pinterest (I’m sure anywhere). That’s how want to read them 😊


message 8: by Alexa (new)

Alexa | 64 comments Ok thanks Marwan!! I’m planning to start the Mistborn book 1 and take it back to the start and work my way through. I think once I’ve read all the cosmere finally I might go back and read the secret projects again to pick up on those hidden references!


message 9: by Marwan (new)

Marwan | 133 comments Hope you enjoy it!


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