Brandon Sanderson - The Cosmere |OT| there's always another secret...

Read first Mistborn series, Elantris, Emperor's Soul, and 2 of the Way of Kings series. Loved all of them.

Not a big fan of the setting of second Mistborn so I've been putting that off. Just read a wiki on Hoid though and fucking love that this all connected. Makes me sad all these books are so far from being connected through Dragonsteel.
 
Having read every book by Sanderson except Shadows of Self (in which I'm about 1/4 through), I welcome this thread. Thanks for creating it.

Gonna read through it after I finish SoS and join the discussion. Hopefully not too long but having a 3 months old makes it harder to find the time to read! :)
 
Faiz said:
In Stormlight, Hoid is
secondary, but comparatively huge. This is why I say it's best to have Hoid pointed out to readers before they get to Stormlight, when Wit says he's Hoid the reader is going OOOOOOH SHIIIIIIIT. At least I know I was, hahah :D.
Click to expand...

Ah OK, I remember him. Although I will need to re-read those books to take closer attention to his parts.
 
I've read every Cosmere book this year.

I was a substitute teacher/had the summer off at the beginning of the year and I just tore through them. I'm glad I did while I had the chance, but at the same time I wish I paced myself a little bit.

In any case, I'm really glad that Bands of Mourning is coming out so soon after Shadows of Self, which I really enjoyed.

I'm trying to get my friends to read Mistborn, as I think the original trilogy is probably the best starting point for people to get into the Cosmere. I also think it's his best magic system, though clearly not everything about the powers in The Stormlight Archive has been revealed yet.


Who is everyone's favorite character in the Cosmere so far?

I really like Renarin for some reason. Hoid is also great, and I've really enjoyed the fact that his character is getting more fleshed out while more about him is being revealed.
 
Finished Shadows of Self last night.

😔
Poor Wax

I can't wait until January! Time to read Warbreaker.
 
Man God said:
Wait, Hoid is that random as hell informer in the first Mistborn book?
Click to expand...

Yes.

LeadProtagonist said:
Who is everyone's favorite character in the Cosmere so far?

I really like Renarin for some reason. Hoid is also great, and I've really enjoyed the fact that his character is getting more fleshed out while more about him is being revealed.
Click to expand...

Dalinar is incredible. I love a lot of characters, but he is my favorite.
 
I do not think very highly of Sanderson as a writer, but Shadows of Self was very solid.

More and more I am finding that I like him much better in smaller, more manageable doses.

This way, his sloppy characterization has less opportunity to distract from his world building.

LeadProtagonist said:
Who is everyone's favorite character in the Cosmere so far?
Click to expand...


Dalinar and Shai. I also have had a soft spot for Steris since Alloy of Law.
 
LeadProtagonist said:
Who is everyone's favorite character in the Cosmere so far?

I really like Renarin for some reason. Hoid is also great, and I've really enjoyed the fact that his character is getting more fleshed out while more about him is being revealed.
Click to expand...

Hmm, I like Kelsier and Dalinar.
 
Cool thread.

I have only just started getting into some of Sanderson's work and really like the world he's created.

I didn't have any idea there was a whole universe with interconnected storylines until I read the OP.

I've only read The Final Empire and The Well of Ascension and am just starting on The Hero of Ages, but I am definitely going to read beyond the Mistborn series now.
 
I didn't know the new Mistborn book was out. Glad I came into this thread. Reading the OP, there is a guy named Hoid that seems to be in most of his books. I don't remember him in the Mistborn novels at all.
 
UraMallas said:
I didn't know the new Mistborn book was out. Glad I came into this thread. Reading the OP, there is a guy named Hoid that seems to be in most of his books. I don't remember him in the Mistborn novels at all.
Click to expand...

It was some minor cameo that you'd never pick up on as something special until after finding out about the cosmere thing elsewhere.
 
I dig most of the characters, but Shai and Kaladin are my favorites. I really, really liked Steris in SoS as well.

And it's awesome seeing people come in here and mentioning that this is the first they've heard of the underlying Cosmere... it's a fun rabbit hole to go down for sure.

Also, anyone planning to get the Elantris Tenth Anniversary Edition? With all the Mistborn Adventures hype I haven't seen it discussed too much. I'll automatically get the revised text/new scenes since I own the original as an eBook, but I'm thinking of getting the leather-bound version with all the printed art and such.

LeadProtagonist said:
I've read every Cosmere book this year.

I was a substitute teacher/had the summer off at the beginning of the year and I just tore through them. I'm glad I did while I had the chance, but at the same time I wish I paced myself a little bit.

In any case, I'm really glad that Bands of Mourning is coming out so soon after Shadows of Self, which I really enjoyed.
Click to expand...

Dang, that is a lot of material to power through in one year! Did you know about the shared universe stuff before starting all of them or came across it mid-reading?

And I'm with you on BoM's impending release. I also really enjoyed SoS, but I think waiting much longer after its ending would have been pretty rough, heh.

choodi said:
I've only read The Final Empire and The Well of Ascension and am just starting on The Hero of Ages, but I am definitely going to read beyond the Mistborn series now.
Click to expand...
Enjoy! I hope you'll post in here when you've finished Hero of Ages, I always love hearing people's reactions to the end of the trilogy. :)
 
My favorite character so far would either be Nightblood or Hoid.

I too have read almost all of it I'm the past year and am very glad I did. Except now I wait. :(
 
I can't make myself read any of his novella's or young adult stuff. Other than that I think I have read everything he has published.

The wait for the next Way of Kings series is killing me.
 
When Harriet McDougal announced Sanderson as the author to finish The Wheel of Time, a series I'd been reading since 1994, I decided to check his other work out. At that time, only Elantris was in publication that I could find, but it turned out The Final Empire was also recently printed. So my first book was Elantris... and I've been shoving Sanderson books into peoples' hands ever since.
 
What a universe. I bought Way of Kings almost a year ago and just got around to it a few months back. I meant to buy the Mistborn trilogy but couldn't find it so I settled for Way of Kings. Words of Radiance was great as well, as was Warbreaker. I bought Warbreaker before I realized you could read it off his site for free :/.

I love his polyp and crustacean world of Roshar, it's just so strange and alien. I love the lore, can't wait to see more surges, dustbringers especially. Don't know why, but his presentation of big bad Odium gives me wicked shivers every time the name comes up. More Szeth please. I get the feeling he's going to be important.

I like that he has progress bars on his site for his books, lol. Are they accurate?
 
The Final Empire is kinda better as a standalone thing. The second book isn't bad per se but I don't like the path it goes down and the third book I only read because, well, I've finished the first two so why not?
 
Man God said:
The Final Empire is kinda better as a standalone thing. The second book isn't bad per se but I don't like the path it goes down and the third book I only read because, well, I've finished the first two so why not?
Click to expand...

I'm very much the opposite. I thought The Final Empire was cool, but it wasn't until the second book that i got caught up in the story.
 
Man God said:
The Final Empire is kinda better as a standalone thing. The second book isn't bad per se but I don't like the path it goes down and the third book I only read because, well, I've finished the first two so why not?
Click to expand...

Final Empire works great as a standalone book, but I disagree in general. I've always felt like he showed dramatic improvement as a writer from FE to WoA.

Could you elaborate on what you mean by "the path it goes down"? Is it the political bent, diverting from the focus on heist and Revolution?

ExMachina said:
I dig most of the characters, but Shai and Kaladin are my favorites. I really, really liked Steris in SoS as well.
Click to expand...

Man Steris really did get some better characterization in this book. I have a feeling it's always been Sanderson's
intention to setup the attraction and feelings with Marasi to establish an expectation in the reader, only to show Wax and Steris' relationship blossom into true love. You can kinda see the seed for that at the end of SoS.
He has a way of upending reader expectations.
 
Woorloog said:
Be careful with the goddamn spoilers. Relationships are included in those.
Click to expand...

If you are talking to me I'll spoiler what I wrote but I really don't see anything there as being particularly spoilery. And I tend to over tag things when it comes to spoilers...
 
Faiz said:
If you are talking to me I'll spoiler what I wrote but I really don't see anything there as being particularly spoilery. And I tend to over tag things when it comes to spoilers...
Click to expand...

Better to overtag than not.
Thanks.
Not that it wipes memory...

Haven't been able to read SoS yet because i can't find a bookstore that actually has it here.
So it is the first newer Sanderson book i missed day one.
Looks like i'll have to order it online... sigh. I'd very much like to start reading during the return trip rather than wait a week or two for the book to arrive in mail.
 
Thanks for the thread. I tuned out of reading fantasy novels lately so I didn't even realize the latest Mistborn novel had come out. Sanderson can write faster than I can read his stuff.
 
Woorloog said:
Better to overtag than not.
Thanks.
Not that it wipes memory...
Click to expand...

If it helps you really don't know anything. The only thing there was my impression of something very very small and speculation over where Sanderson is heading. Speculation about the relationships that I've held since before even reading SoS. No events revealed, nothing any character says or does. Just my impression what he's laying down; others might disagree with me and think it's nothing.

This is a really weird interchange for me as I'm usually the one in the room being conservative about spoilers.
 
I read Mistborn: The Final Empire and loved it.

I'm not exactly keen on continuing the story as I though TFE had a good and conclusive end, so I reluctantly tried to read The Well of Ascension. That was probably a wrong mindset since the first chapters really bore me and I haven't continued since.

I read Steelheart which is almost the same as TFE but in a modern setting and YA. Enjoyed it because it's not too long, but there are obvious sequel hooks and again I'm reluctant to start Firefight.

So I don't know whether I like this guy or not! The way he wrote magic systems are very detailed, almost game-like (Mistborn clearly has an MP bar) and I feel that was his strength. But everything else looks pretty standard, as far as what I read.
 
vareon said:
I read Mistborn: The Final Empire and loved it.

I'm not exactly keen on continuing the story as I though TFE had a good and conclusive end, so I reluctantly tried to read The Well of Ascension. That was probably a wrong mindset since the first chapters really bore me and I haven't continued since.
Click to expand...

You may want to try again. The first chapters are the worst ones in the book, and i'm pretty sure Sanderson agrees. The story starts rolling better afterwards.
His annotations speak about pacing issues, because he had to remind readers about things. Or something like that anyway.

(Personally i disagree the idea of having to remind a reader. Not sure if editors and publishers disagree with me. That said, i very much prefer having a glossary/appendix where one can find notes about things if they do need reminders, just don't write that stuff into main text.)
 
Faiz said:
Final Empire works great as a standalone book, but I disagree in general. I've always felt like he showed dramatic improvement as a writer from FE to WoA.

Could you elaborate on what you mean by "the path it goes down"? Is it the political bent, diverting from the focus on heist and Revolution?
Click to expand...
Not the person you asked but I also thought Final Empire was the best one and the rest of the trilogy was a bit of a let down. Final Empire had all the makings of a great heist-story with magic but towards the end and certainly starting the second book, it was all a bit too...cosmic, I guess? I can only speak for myself, but I prefer my stories grounded as much as possible and I would've been ecstatic with a fantasy heist story with magic that has clear and logical rules.

I fear Way of Kings will have the same problem starting Book 3...
 
Yahsper said:
Not the person you asked but I also thought Final Empire was the best one and the rest of the trilogy was a bit of a let down. Final Empire had all the makings of a great heist-story with magic but towards the end and certainly starting the second book, it was all a bit too...cosmic, I guess? I can only speak for myself, but I prefer my stories grounded as much as possible and I would've been ecstatic with a fantasy heist story with magic that has clear and logical rules.

I fear Way of Kings will have the same problem starting Book 3...
Click to expand...

Yeah... If FE set the tone for you in that regard, and you expected/wanted more of the same, I can see how that transition may not have worked for you.

The underpinnings for all the more cosmic/God stuff was there in Final Empire though. It wasn't as prominent, but the hints of where it was headed were definitely there. FWIW, Sanderson is firmly in the high-magic/cosmic power camp of fantasy lit so it might be pretty rare that his style matches what you look for. Mistborn Era 2 is, so far, more grounded, but (SoS commentary, Bands of Mourning speculation)
it certainly ramps up in SoS, and Bands of Mourning definitely will go to the Cosmic side by all appearances.
 
The Final Empire was my first Cosmere novel.... after reading The Way of Kings I realised there was a link between all the books (Hoid reappearing, though I thought that was just like a Biggs and Wedge thing from Final Fantasy), but I didn't realise the extent of it until I read up some stuff online. The 7th Shard in particular was a great resource for that. Would never have figured it all out on my own!

Not started Shadows of Self yet but I can't wait to see what else he does with the Stormlight series!
 
Great OT! I am ashamed I did not know Shadows was out :( I started with Elantris way back when and picked up all the others when they were released. I forced my wife to read Mistborn and she loved it. I will be picking up Shadows ASAP, nice to see the next one will be out soon as well, more Sanderson is great
dude spits out books like a machine

I do not think I realized there was a connection until someone mentioned it in the Words of Radiance thread
 
Nice OT. I have heard a lot about this author on GAF and through friends in the last few months but haven't read anything yet. I took a long break from fantasy (GoT notwithstanding I guess) so I may be ready for something new.
 
Oh wow, I didn't realize that all his fantasy works were connected and in the same world to boot. Impressive. Might dig into Warbreaker or Elantris then move onto the Mistborn trilogy.
 
How are the second set of Mistborn books compared to the first so far? I loved the first three, but kind of think that setting and those characters are what I want that world to be so have held off on the rest.
 
Anno said:
How are the second set of Mistborn books compared to the first so far? I loved the first three, but kind of think that setting and those characters are what I want that world to be so have held off on the rest.
Click to expand...

Most seem to enjoy them - I've seen far more negative commentary on Era 1 than Era 2. There might be some selection bias going on there, but that's been my observation.

Personally I really enjoy seeing how the world has developed from where we left it at the end of Hero of Ages.
 
Ohhhh wow I completely forgot that the new Mistborn book came out! I need to purchase this today. Thanks for the reminder and the OT!
 
mjc said:
Oh wow, I didn't realize that all his fantasy works were connected and in the same world to boot. Impressive. Might dig into Warbreaker or Elantris then move onto the Mistborn trilogy.
Click to expand...

I'd say Warbreaker will be especially relevant if you've read Words of Radiance ;D
 
I've read Mistborn Trilogy, Alloy of Law, and the Stormlight archive thus far. Got into Sanderson's work from him completing WoT, and I simply adore the way he does magic systems. Didn't know Shadows of Self was out. Gonna get right on that.
 
I started listening to the Alloy of Law audiobook today. Ah... the narration is awesome, and it immediately brought me back to the times when I listened to the first Mistborn trilogy! :)

I presume Harmony is the
Sezed, who united powers of Ruin and Preservation shards
? I can't remember if that name was mentioned back at the end of Mistborn's third book.
 
How are the mistborn adventures books? Love the Mistborn Trilogy and the Stormlight Archive Books but wasn't so sure about the preview for Alloy of Law I read, the magic system in it just seemed a bit silly.
 
I've been reading The Way of Kings for literal years. I just placed a hold on the audiobook today to force myself to get through it.

Other than that I've only read The Emperor's Soul from Cosmere and bought the Mistborn trilogy on Kindle. Reckoners and Alcatraz are good though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Brandon Sanderson seems like a cool dude
2
73
6K
Trogdor1123 replied
Is it worth it to get into the Cosmere? Mistborn or Stormlight Archives
13
997
Lunarorbit replied
I just learned that there's a subreddit called r/amiugly
49
422
The Cockatrice replied
Cold Sores - Any Secret Ailements?
30
688
bati replied
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia | Season 17 Official Trailer | FX
4
201
bitbydeath replied
Top Bottom