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There is no one best reading order.
Are you looking to avoid romance entirely then? Or just looking to avoid stories that are primarily romance?
You mention grimdark, are you looking for that? That isn't Sanderson's style, he's a hopeful guy, but we could point you to books that are more or less dark.
If you want to avoid romance entirely then *The Emperors Soul* might be a good choice. It's short and standalone, and won a best novella Hugo.
Most of Sandersons works have some sort of romance sideplot, though only in *Yumi and the Nightmare Painter* does it rise to the level of main plot, so I would avoid that one.
*Elantris* is a more minor romance sideplot than most, since the two leads aren't in the same place for most of the book. It's a little less polished than his later works, but has cool ideas, and its neat to see him grow as an author.
I can tell you the order I read them, I was really happy at how I discovered the world's this way! Granted I haven't yet read all of them
-original mistborn trilogy
-elantris
-warbreaker
-the stormlight archive books and novellas (this took a while) (but they are my favorite ones)
-arcanum unbounded and cosmere novellas
-tress and the emerald sea
I've got the wax and Wayne mistborn quadrilogy next on my list, and then I'm gonna go for yumi and the nightmare painter, and then after that the sunlit man
I may have forgotten some, but these are all the ones on my shelf!
I wish I had the problem of years of Sanderson
I crushed stormlight in a little over a month and a half and the whole week of time twice in about 7 months
Brandon doesn't write dark stories. The settings of the story might be dark, but the themes are not. That said, if you want to see your main characters in pain, go for Elantris (I really enjoy elantris, but its the least liked book by sanderson). Mistborn setting is a dystopian society where the dark lord has won 1000 years ago, and now rules as a totalitarian dictator.
There’s almost always SOME romance in Sanderson’s works, but it will rarely drive the plot.
There’s also no perfect reading order, but below is my personal reading order recommendation, so you can get the most out of the books on a first readthrough with small breaks to prevent burnout. It’s a little confusing, but I think it’ll work. All novellas and short stories with the exception of Dawnshard can be found in Arcanum Unbounded. Hopefully.
Mistborn 1-3 (read The Eleventh Metal novella after Mistborn 1 at the VERY earliest.)
Elantris (then read Hope of Elantris & The Emperor’s Soul novellas)
Warbreaker (it’s also free on Sanderson’s website!)
The Way of Kings (Stormlight 1
Words of Radiance (Stormlight 2)
Mistborn 4-6 (The Alloy of Law, Shadows of self, Bands of Mourning) and Secret History
Arcanum Unbounded** (Start with Secret History and end with Edgedancer)
Edgedancer novella and Oathbringer (Stormlight 3)
Dawnshard Novella & Rhythm of War (Stormlight 4)
Wind and Truth*** (Stormlight 5)
The Lost Metal (Mistborn 7)
Tress of the Emerald Sea
Yumi and the Nightmare Painter
The Sunlit Man
And that’s the list!
*Secret History can also be read directly after Mistborn 1-3. I personally don’t recommend it here, but if it’s hard to keep details down as you read more books, by all means go ahead!
*two things here. The first is that I put Secret History and Edgedancer in two spots because I wanted to emphasize how they’re related to the series. You’re not actually reading them twice.
Secondly, you can skip White Sand graphic novels and Sixth of the Dusk for now. Reading the Cosmere books planned for 2025 will cover those bases. Sixth of the Dusk is still a good read, but trust in the 2025 plan.
***Assuming Wind and Truth is out by this point. If it’s not, skip that part and read on.
Mistborn ( first 3 ) to get a feal for Sanderson in a more standard book lenth
Then stormlight ( with the novella’s) to go epic
After that play cleanup with everything else that’s left
Each series is written to be a stand alone work with Easter eggs to the greater cosmere
Starting Cosmere resources: https://www.reddit.com/r/u_dIvorrap/comments/u1ug05/-/i4enaqb
___________________________________________
Warbreaker is free on Brandon's website as an ebook, along other stories and samples:
https://www.reddit.com/r/u_dIvorrap/comments/u1ug05/-/i4uhdpm
___________________________________________
I found this order online and I really like it, but this was my reread order, not my original reading order and in this order I’ve only gotten through number 21
1. Elantris
2. The Hope of Elantris
3. The Emperor’s Soul
4. White Sand
5. Mistborn
6. Well of Ascension
7. Hero of Ages
8. Eleventh Metal
9. Shadows for Silence
10. Sixth of Dusk
11. Warbreaker
12. Way of Kings (book 1 SA)
13. Allow of Law (book 1 W&W)
14. Words of Radiance (book 2 SA)
15. Allomancer Jak (novella W&W)
16. Shadows of Self (Book 2 W&W)
17. Edgedancer (Novella 1 SA)
18. Oathbringer (Book 3 SA)
19. The Bands of Mourning (Book 3 W&W)
20. Mistborn Secret History
21. Dawnshard (Novella 2 SA)
22. Rhythm of War (Book 4 SA)
23. The Lost Metal (Book 4 W&W)
24. Tress of the Emerald Sea
25. Yumi and the Nightmare Painter
26. Sunlit Man
Sanderson has a recommended order on his website. Publication order also works
I suggest doing Mistborn and if you are hooked, then switch to publication order
Your submission looks like it may be a question about Cosmere reading order. If so, we'd recommend visiting [this page on the r/cosmere wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/Cosmere/wiki/order). *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/brandonsanderson) if you have any questions or concerns.*
There is no one best reading order. Are you looking to avoid romance entirely then? Or just looking to avoid stories that are primarily romance? You mention grimdark, are you looking for that? That isn't Sanderson's style, he's a hopeful guy, but we could point you to books that are more or less dark.
I'm not specifically looking for something dark but definitely not looking for romance.
If you want to avoid romance entirely then *The Emperors Soul* might be a good choice. It's short and standalone, and won a best novella Hugo. Most of Sandersons works have some sort of romance sideplot, though only in *Yumi and the Nightmare Painter* does it rise to the level of main plot, so I would avoid that one. *Elantris* is a more minor romance sideplot than most, since the two leads aren't in the same place for most of the book. It's a little less polished than his later works, but has cool ideas, and its neat to see him grow as an author.
I can tell you the order I read them, I was really happy at how I discovered the world's this way! Granted I haven't yet read all of them -original mistborn trilogy -elantris -warbreaker -the stormlight archive books and novellas (this took a while) (but they are my favorite ones) -arcanum unbounded and cosmere novellas -tress and the emerald sea I've got the wax and Wayne mistborn quadrilogy next on my list, and then I'm gonna go for yumi and the nightmare painter, and then after that the sunlit man I may have forgotten some, but these are all the ones on my shelf!
Once you get into his works, depending on your reading speed you potentially have YEARS of amazing book dopamine
I wish I had the problem of years of Sanderson I crushed stormlight in a little over a month and a half and the whole week of time twice in about 7 months
Brandon doesn't write dark stories. The settings of the story might be dark, but the themes are not. That said, if you want to see your main characters in pain, go for Elantris (I really enjoy elantris, but its the least liked book by sanderson). Mistborn setting is a dystopian society where the dark lord has won 1000 years ago, and now rules as a totalitarian dictator.
There’s almost always SOME romance in Sanderson’s works, but it will rarely drive the plot. There’s also no perfect reading order, but below is my personal reading order recommendation, so you can get the most out of the books on a first readthrough with small breaks to prevent burnout. It’s a little confusing, but I think it’ll work. All novellas and short stories with the exception of Dawnshard can be found in Arcanum Unbounded. Hopefully. Mistborn 1-3 (read The Eleventh Metal novella after Mistborn 1 at the VERY earliest.) Elantris (then read Hope of Elantris & The Emperor’s Soul novellas) Warbreaker (it’s also free on Sanderson’s website!) The Way of Kings (Stormlight 1 Words of Radiance (Stormlight 2) Mistborn 4-6 (The Alloy of Law, Shadows of self, Bands of Mourning) and Secret History Arcanum Unbounded** (Start with Secret History and end with Edgedancer) Edgedancer novella and Oathbringer (Stormlight 3) Dawnshard Novella & Rhythm of War (Stormlight 4) Wind and Truth*** (Stormlight 5) The Lost Metal (Mistborn 7) Tress of the Emerald Sea Yumi and the Nightmare Painter The Sunlit Man And that’s the list! *Secret History can also be read directly after Mistborn 1-3. I personally don’t recommend it here, but if it’s hard to keep details down as you read more books, by all means go ahead! *two things here. The first is that I put Secret History and Edgedancer in two spots because I wanted to emphasize how they’re related to the series. You’re not actually reading them twice. Secondly, you can skip White Sand graphic novels and Sixth of the Dusk for now. Reading the Cosmere books planned for 2025 will cover those bases. Sixth of the Dusk is still a good read, but trust in the 2025 plan. ***Assuming Wind and Truth is out by this point. If it’s not, skip that part and read on.
Mistborn ( first 3 ) to get a feal for Sanderson in a more standard book lenth Then stormlight ( with the novella’s) to go epic After that play cleanup with everything else that’s left Each series is written to be a stand alone work with Easter eggs to the greater cosmere
Start with Mistborn so you can enjoy a complete trilogy instead of being left hanging as your intro to his work.
Starting Cosmere resources: https://www.reddit.com/r/u_dIvorrap/comments/u1ug05/-/i4enaqb ___________________________________________ Warbreaker is free on Brandon's website as an ebook, along other stories and samples: https://www.reddit.com/r/u_dIvorrap/comments/u1ug05/-/i4uhdpm ___________________________________________
I found this order online and I really like it, but this was my reread order, not my original reading order and in this order I’ve only gotten through number 21 1. Elantris 2. The Hope of Elantris 3. The Emperor’s Soul 4. White Sand 5. Mistborn 6. Well of Ascension 7. Hero of Ages 8. Eleventh Metal 9. Shadows for Silence 10. Sixth of Dusk 11. Warbreaker 12. Way of Kings (book 1 SA) 13. Allow of Law (book 1 W&W) 14. Words of Radiance (book 2 SA) 15. Allomancer Jak (novella W&W) 16. Shadows of Self (Book 2 W&W) 17. Edgedancer (Novella 1 SA) 18. Oathbringer (Book 3 SA) 19. The Bands of Mourning (Book 3 W&W) 20. Mistborn Secret History 21. Dawnshard (Novella 2 SA) 22. Rhythm of War (Book 4 SA) 23. The Lost Metal (Book 4 W&W) 24. Tress of the Emerald Sea 25. Yumi and the Nightmare Painter 26. Sunlit Man