Hello

[Eveleva]

Hello!

I have been lurking in the forums for a while now and decided to join today.  I am new to Brandon's works; I have always enjoyed fantasy, so when I found myself with a lot of time spent holding a newborn who cried whenever I put him down last summer and not wanting to turn on the TV, I started ordering long fantasy novels on Amazon to fill my time.  I didn't get to The Way of Kings until this year (all that sweet cuddle time went away after a few weeks when the baby got more mobile and when I went back to work), but I have since read both Stormlight Archive books twice.  I am now hoping to finish as many of the rest of the Cosmere works as I can before Baby #2 arrives in December.  

Any suggestions on which to read first?

 

[StrikerEZ he/him]

Hey, welcome to the Shard, @Eveleva! Have a free upvote!

I'd recommend reading Mistborn next. It's an amazing series with such an amazingly complex magic system and the characters are phenomenal. There's three books in the first trilogy, with another three books set 300 years after that and a fourth one coming out soon. You don't have to read the second three books after the first trilogy, but you can.

After that, I'd recommend reading Elantris or Warbreaker. Elantris was Brandon's first published book, so it's a bit rough, but it's still a really good story all by itself. Warbreaker can be found on Brandon's website for free and it's an amazing story, in my opinion. Both of these books have some Cosmere hints in them that will make some characters/events in the Stormlight Archive make more sense. I'd suggest rereading SA once you've finished these two.

There's also a graphic novel that's been published called White Sand. It's pretty good, but there's still two parts left to be published. You can also sign up for Brandon's newsletter to get the original prose version.

There's also a book called Arcanum Unbounded that is a collection of several short stories from the Cosmere. I'd recommend reading this last, after you've read all of the rest of the Cosmere.

In addition, Brandon has several non-Cosmere books to read as well. There's The Reckoners, which is set on a version of Earth where people started getting superpowers, but there are only supervillains, no superheroes. Then there's The Rithmatist, which is  story about a boy who lives at a magic school and loves learning about the magic but can't do it himself. There's also Alcatraz vs. The Evil Librarians, but I haven't read that one so I don't know how good it is (I've heard it's pretty good though). The Reckoners is more of a YA book, and the other two are meant for younger audiences as well, but they're really enjoyable even for older audiences.

[Eveleva]

Thank you, @StrikerEZ!  I really appreciate the overview and the recommendations.  It is nice to join a forum where people are so welcoming!

[StrikerEZ he/him]

5 minutes ago, Eveleva said:

Thank you, @StrikerEZ!  I really appreciate the overview and the recommendations.  It is nice to join a forum where people are so welcoming!

Yeah, it's amazing how nice everyone on this forum is. It's one of the nicest online communities I've ever been a part of.

(Also, I said I was gonna give you an upvote in my last post, but I forgot to  I just gave you one now)

[Ammanas]

StrikerEz covered everything so well, and I agree with everything he said, I don't have much to add besides hi! Warbreaker has one of my favorite characters with Lightsong the bold. Elantris definitely has its flaws, but it was my first Sanderson book and is kind of a like a adorable mutt that you love and look past any problems.

[Sami she/her]

Welcome to the Shard! Have an upvote and have fun reading the rest of the  Cosmere!

Edited July 26, 2017 by Sami

[+Extesian he/him]

Warbreaker!! 

[ccstat he/him]

Welcome! We're glad you're here. I agree with Striker that Mistborn is your best bet. When I first read that one (my first of Brandon's books) I spent weeks daydreaming about the magic. And the character story at the heart of it remains one of my all-time favorites.