All 7+ Mistborn Books in Order by Brandson Sanderson

The Mistborn Saga and its planet, Scadrial, make up the largest portion of the Cosmere books — at least for now — but don’t let that intimidate you from starting the series. These books are quite a bit slimmer than Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive. However, this series contributes just as much to the overall Cosmere universe and lore.

Cosmere Reading Order Mistborn Series Brandon Sanderson

Mistborn Books in Order of Publication

First Era
1. The Final Empire (2006)
2. The Well of Ascension (2007)
3. Hero of Ages (2008)

Second Era
4. The Alloy of Law (2011)
– The Eleventh Metal (Short Story) (2011)
5. Shadows of Self (2015)
6. The Bands of Mourning (2016)
– Mistborn: Secret History (Novella) (2016)
7. The Lost Metal (2022)

The series is split into two eras, with a third era in the works too. Sanderson will begin working on the Third Era in 2024 or 2025 and will update readers in 2025 about his progress. There is a jump in time and tonal shift between each era, which makes the overarching series fascinating.

Mistborn Books in Chronological Order

Below you will find a list that shows how the Mistborn books fit into the larger Cosmere universe. This is a supplemental reading order if you’re interested in learning more about the Cosmere, but it is in no way required reading to understand the different Mistborn eras.

The below list features the other Cosmere books in which characters that feature in Mistborn also appear. However, most of these characters will introduce themselves with a different name in order to hide their identity.

Brandon Sanderson’s recommended order begins with Mistborn, which sets you up perfectly if you’ve read both eras and are intrigued by the hints of something larger lurking in the background.

  1. The Final Empire (Mistborn 1)
  2. The Well of Ascension (M2)
  3. Hero of Ages (M3)
  4. The Alloy of Law (M4)
  5. The Eleventh Metal (Mistborn Short Story)
  6. Shadows of Self (M5)
  7. The Bands of Mourning (M6)
  8. Mistborn: Secret History (Mistborn Novella)
  9. The Lost Metal (M7)
  10. The Way of Kings (Stormlight Archive 1)
  11. Words of Radiance (SA 2)
  12. Edgedancer (SA Novella)
  13. Oathbringer (SA 3)
  14. Dawnshard (SA Novella)
  15. Rhythm of War (SA 4)
  16. Tress and the Emerald Sea (Secret Project 1)
  17. Yumi and the Nightmare Painter (Secret Project 3)
  18. The Sunlit Man (Secret Project 4)
  19. Horneater (Novella) (2024)
  20. Knights of Wind and Truth (Expected: Fall 2024)

If you want to learn even more ways to read Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere books, you can check out our Cosmere Reading Order.