The Complete Cosmere Reading Order (2026)

Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere is one of the most ambitious projects in fantasy fiction - a shared universe spanning multiple series, standalone novels, and novellas, all connected by a deeper cosmological framework that rewards careful readers. It's also, for newcomers, a bit daunting to know where to start.

This guide covers every published Cosmere book as of 2026, with two recommended reading orders and some honest advice on which approach suits different readers.

What is the Cosmere?

The Cosmere is a shared universe. Most of Sanderson's adult fantasy novels take place on different planets within the same galaxy, connected by a magic system rooted in something called Investiture. You don't need to understand the cosmology to enjoy individual series - Mistborn works perfectly well on its own - but the connections between books become increasingly rewarding as you read more.

The key thing to know: you can read any Cosmere series independently. The connections are bonuses, not prerequisites. There's no point where you'll be completely lost because you haven't read another series. Some moments will land harder if you've read widely, but nothing is gated behind other books.

Publication Order

This is the order Sandersonwrote and published them. It's the most straightforward approach and the one where you'll experience the Cosmere the way it was gradually revealed.

1. Elantris (2005)
2. Mistborn: The Final Empire (2006)
3. The Well of Ascension (2006)
4. The Hero of Ages (2008)
5. Warbreaker (2009)
6. The Way of Kings (2010)
7. The Alloy of Law (2011)
8. Words of Radiance (2014)
9. Shadows of Self (2015)
10. The Bands of Mourning (2016)
11. Oathbringer (2017)
12. Arcanum Unbounded (2016) - short story collection
13. Dawnshard (2020)
14. Rhythm of War (2020)
15. The Lost Metal (2022)
16. Tress of the Emerald Sea (2023)
17. Yumi and the Nightmare Painter (2023)
18. The Sunlit Man (2023)
19. Wind and Truth (2024)
20. Isles of the Emberdark (2025)

Recommended Reading Order

If you'd rather optimise for enjoyment and connection-spotting, this reorders a few things so you catch key references earlier. The main change is reading Warbreaker before The Stormlight Archive (there are characters and objects from Warbreaker that appear in Stormlight, and knowing the context makes those moments significantly better).

1. Mistborn: The Final Empire
2. The Well of Ascension
3. The Hero of Ages
4. Elantris
5. Warbreaker
6. The Way of Kings
7. Words of Radiance
8. The Alloy of Law
9. Shadows of Self
10. The Bands of Mourning
11. Oathbringer
12. Arcanum Unbounded
13. Dawnshard
14. Rhythm of War
15. The Lost Metal
16. Tress of the Emerald Sea
17. Yumi and the Nightmare Painter
18. The Sunlit Man
19. Wind and Truth
20. Isles of the Emberdark

Where to Start

The honest answer is that it depends on what kind of reader you are.

Start with Mistborn: The Final Empire if you want a complete, satisfying trilogy before committing further. It's tightly plotted, has a brilliant magic system, and the trilogy wraps up neatly. If you finish Era 1 and want more, you're in the right place.

Start with The Way of Kings if you already know you love epic fantasy and you're not intimidated by a 1,000-page book that's the first of ten. Stormlight Archive is Brandon Sanderson's magnum opus and many readers consider it his best work. But it's a commitment.

Start with Warbreaker if you want a standalone to test the waters. It's free on Sanderson's Sanderson's website, it's a single book with a complete story, and it has connections to Stormlight that you'll appreciate later.

Don't start with Elantris unless you're a completionist. It's Sanderson's first published novel and while it's perfectly good, it's not representative of his later, more polished work.

A Note on the Secret Projects

Tress of the Emerald Sea, Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, and The Sunlit Man were all released in 2023 as part of Sanderson's Kickstarter campaign. They're all standalone novels set in the Cosmere, narrated by Hoid (a character who appears across many Cosmere books).

Tress and Yumi can be read at any point after Mistborn Era 1 without issue. The Sunlit Man, however, contains significant spoilers for Stormlight Archive - read it after at least Rhythm of War.

Isles of the Emberdark (2025) expands on the world introduced in the Sixth of the Dusk novella from Arcanum Unbounded. It's set in the far future of the Cosmere and works best read late in the order.

Track Your Progress

If you're working through the Cosmere and want to look up characters without getting spoiled, OpenFiction lets you set up a reading profile that automatically filters character pages to only show information from books you've finished. No more accidentally learning who dies in book 4 while you're still on book 2.