The Stormlight Archive books are an epic fantasy series by Brandon Sanderson and are part of his larger Cosmere world. The series has a unique magic system, a brutal world, and captivating characters.
Where to Start (Best Reading Order)
If you’re new to The Stormlight Archive, start with The Way of Kings and continue in publication order. That’s the simplest, spoiler-safe path and the way most readers experience the story.
Do you need the novellas?
They’re optional, but worth reading in their publication spots: Edgedancer after Words of Radiance, and Dawnshard after Oathbringer. They’re short, but they add important character and world context.
Stormlight Archive Books in Order of Publication
First Arc
1. The Way of Kings (2010)
2. Words of Radiance (2014)
2.5 Edgedancer (Novella) (2016)
3. Oathbringer (2017)
3.5 Dawnshard (Novella) (2020)
4. Rhythm of War (2020)
5. Wind and Truth (2024)
Wind and Truth closes out the first major story arc of The Stormlight Archive, meaning books one through five form a complete “first age” of the series.
Sanderson has long planned the saga as two connected arcs, so while the larger story continues, the next set of books is designed to feel like a fresh start—new focus, new phase, and a different era of Roshar—similar to how Mistborn shifts between its different eras.
Stormlight Archive in the Cosmere Reading Order
This second reading order is a supplemental guide to piece together some of the moving parts within the Cosmere.
The below list of books features all the crossover books from the Cosmere universe in which characters that feature in Stormlight also appear. However, most of these characters will introduce themselves with a different name in order to hide their identity.
We’ll use Sanderson’s recommended reading order to include the supplemental books. This frontloads most of the supplemental material ahead of Stormlight series and then we’ve included the Secret Projects at the end in publication order.
Again, it’s not necessary to read these extra books to understand the Stormlight Archive, but if you enjoy fan theories then you will thoroughly enjoy the Worldhopper character appearances.
- The Final Empire (Mistborn 1)
- The Well of Ascension (M2)
- Hero of Ages (M3)
- The Alloy of Law (M4)
- The Eleventh Metal (Mistborn Short Story)
- Allomancer Jak and the Pits of Eltania (Mistborn Short Story)
- Shadows of Self (M5)
- The Bands of Mourning (M6)
- Mistborn: Secret History (Mistborn Novella)
- The Lost Metal (M7)
- The Way of Kings (Stormlight Archive 1)
- Warbreaker
- Words of Radiance (SA 2)
- Edgedancer (SA Novella)
- Oathbringer (SA 3)
- Dawnshard (SA Novella)
- Rhythm of War (SA 4)
- Tress and the Emerald Sea (Secret Project 1)
- Yumi and the Nightmare Painter (Secret Project 3)
- The Sunlit Man (Secret Project 4)
- Wind and Truth (SA 5)
If you want to learn even more ways to read Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere books, you can check out our Cosmere Reading Order.