✦ Epic Fantasy📚 30+ Novels & Novellas🌍 Cosmere Universe⭐ Hugo & Whitney Award Winner
About Brandon Sanderson
Brandon Sanderson is an American fantasy author and professor at Brigham Young University, widely regarded as one of the most prolific and inventive voices in modern fantasy. He is the creator of the Cosmere — an expansive interconnected universe spanning multiple worlds and series — and the originator of "Sanderson's Laws," his much-cited principles for constructing believable magic systems. His output is extraordinary: since his debut with Elantris in 2005, he has published more than thirty novels and novellas while maintaining a demanding publishing schedule. When Robert Jordan died in 2007, Sanderson was chosen to complete the iconic Wheel of Time series from Jordan's notes, a task he accomplished across three final volumes. He later founded Dragonsteel Entertainment to manage his publishing and ran a record-breaking Kickstarter campaign in 2022 that raised over $41 million — the most funded publishing project in crowdfunding history. His work rewards dedicated readers with layers of crossover, Easter eggs, and shared mythology.
Editor’s Take — Ruben Montané
The honest case for reading Sanderson
Sanderson is the most systematically brilliant fantasy author working today — and deliberately not the most literary one. If you come to him expecting the prose of Ursula Le Guin or the psychological depth of Robin Hobb, you will be underwhelmed. His sentences are functional, his dialogue occasionally clunky, and his emotional beats sometimes arrive a little too tidily. This is worth knowing in advance, because readers who discover it 600 pages into The Way of Kings tend to feel misled.
What he does instead is build the most coherent, internally consistent magical universes in the genre, then populate them with genuinely interesting puzzles. His magic systems have rules — real ones, published in his “Sanderson’s Laws” essays — and the pleasure of his books is often intellectual: watching a magic system click into place, seeing how the rules interact in ways the author clearly designed chapters in advance. The Cosmere, his shared universe, is a long game. It starts as background texture and becomes — around book ten or twelve for most readers — something that feels like a genuine mythology.
My recommendation: start with Mistborn: The Final Empire, not The Way of Kings. Mistborn is tighter, shorter, and structured so that its magic system reveal is the actual climax of the book. It’s the best argument for Sanderson on a single shelf.
Who This Is For
—Readers who loved the mechanics of magic in Harry Potter or Mistborn and want that feeling amplified
—Completionists who enjoy multi-year reading projects with payoff built in
—People who want their fantasy to feel earned — no vague hand-waving, no convenient plot powers
—Readers who can commit to 1,000-page books and find size itself part of the appeal
Who This Is NOT For
—Readers who prioritise prose style and lyrical writing above worldbuilding
—Anyone not ready to commit to a series — most Cosmere entry points lead to 4+ books
—Readers who prefer morally ambiguous, dark, or grimdark fantasy
—People who need fast payoff — Stormlight’s first 200 pages are slow worldbuilding
Before You Start the Cosmere
You do not need to read everything in publication order to enjoy the Cosmere. Each series works standalone. The recommended beginner path is: Mistborn: The Final Empire → finish the Mistborn trilogy → then The Way of Kings. Save Elantris and Warbreaker for after your first Stormlight book — you’ll appreciate the connections more. The Cosmere reading order charts on this page show the full recommended sequence.
The Cosmere — Interconnected Universe
All Cosmere series share the same universe, metaphysics, and history. Each series is fully self-contained — but connections between them deepen the experience for long-term readers. → Full Cosmere Reading Order Guide
Reader Tip
The flagship Cosmere series. Plan for long books — the shortest main entry is over 1,000 pages. Novellas 1.5 and 3.5 are best read in the positions shown below.
Best Starting Point
Mistborn: The Final Empire is the most recommended entry point for new Sanderson readers — a shorter, self-contained epic with one of his tightest magic systems.
Reader Tip
Set ~300 years after Era 1, in a more Western/industrial setting. Read Era 1 first — Era 2 contains major spoilers for the original trilogy.
Reader Tip
Warbreaker is a standalone Cosmere novel — and reading it before Words of Radiance enriches your experience of the Stormlight Archive significantly.
Context
The Wheel of Time is Robert Jordan's 14-book series. Sanderson completed the final three books after Jordan's death in 2007, working from Jordan's notes, outlines, and completed scenes. These are Jordan's story — Sanderson serves as finisher.
What Are the Secret Projects?
During COVID lockdowns, Sanderson secretly wrote four novels. In early 2022, he announced them and ran a record-breaking Kickstarter — raising over $41 million, the most successful publishing campaign in history. All four were released in 2023. Three are Cosmere; one is not.
It depends on your commitment level. The Way of Kings is his masterwork — for readers ready for a 1,000-page door stopper, it is one of the finest things in the genre. Mistborn: The Final Empire is the best entry point for new readers: tighter, self-contained, and brilliantly plotted. The Emperor's Soul is the best short read in the Cosmere — a Hugo Award-winning novella that can be finished in an afternoon.
Where should I start with Brandon Sanderson?
Mistborn: The Final Empire is the most commonly recommended starting point — it is shorter than the Stormlight books, entirely self-contained, and showcases his signature magic-system craft beautifully. If you want to dive directly into his biggest work, start with The Way of Kings. Either path leads you into the Cosmere.
Is the Cosmere worth reading?
Yes — emphatically. Each Cosmere series works as a standalone reading experience, but the interconnected universe rewards long-term readers with deep Easter eggs, recurring characters, and a mythology that spans multiple worlds. The more Cosmere you read, the richer each new book becomes. Most readers find themselves planning their entire Cosmere reading order after finishing their first entry.
How many books has Brandon Sanderson written?
Over 30 novels and novellas across multiple universes, not counting his work completing Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. He consistently publishes one to two new books per year and has described further Cosmere series in development well into the 2030s.
Do Cosmere books need to be read in order?
Each Cosmere series is fully self-contained within its own continuity — you do not need to have read Mistborn to understand The Way of Kings, for example. However, crossover connections between series become increasingly significant as the Cosmere progresses, and certain revelations in later books assume knowledge of earlier ones. For the fullest experience, reading within each series in publication order is recommended.