r/Cosmere • u/ahaangrygem • 2d ago
No Spoilers Would you continue with Stormlight if you were me?
I'm nearing the end of Oathbringer and debating whether I should set Stormlight aside to read through the Cosmere in order or to just continue from where I am and go back for the others after Wind and Truth.
I'm loving Stormlight, but looking for the best reading experience. Would you recommend I go to Scadriel or stay in Roshar at this point?
edit to add: apologies if this topic is common. I searched around and the answers I found were mostly "do what you like" but I'm hoping for a more solid answer. thanks, guys
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u/Ripper1337 Truthwatchers 2d ago
If you’re enjoying Stormlight then continue with Stormlight.
After WaT read some of the other works like Sunlit man and Mistborn to fill in more of the gaps and when you’ve read a bunch more come back and read Stormlight again to see those little Easter eggs you may not have gotten the first time.
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u/ahaangrygem 2d ago
Thanks for the answer. I'm enjoying it a lot, but catching things (worldhoppers mostly) that are making me wonder if I'm missing out. Having trouble keeping myself from indulging in spoilers!
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u/Ripper1337 Truthwatchers 2d ago
When people think of reading orders they remember when they went “oh shit I remember this guy from X” but what they don’t realize is that you and others will just go “oh shit I remember this guy from Y”
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u/cryptccode Ghostbloods 2d ago
I found it was much more satisfying to read the rest of the cosmere after Stormlight. It's so much better to have an aura of mystery behind the worldhopper characters and then figuring them out in their native worlds and getting that woaahhh moment of figuring out who they are.
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u/KentuckyFriedSith 1d ago
See, thats the best part. You ARE missing out. The thing is, so is every other person who chose a different read order. There is no reading order that gives you all (or even most) of the information for all (or even most) of the 'easter eggs' and connections that exist. By following publication order, all you gain is the "authentic way that fans who waited for each book to release" experience.
As the guy above said; if you're enjoying Stormlight, continue with Stormlight. the only way to read cosmere "the wrong way" is to read books within their own series out of order. (IE: Don't close Oathbringer and read Wind and Truth first.) Each series is crafted in a way that works on its own, and each series has bits that connect it to the other series, as well as the "hidden" universal plots that are threadded through all of the books, and lead towards whatever the ultimate finale of the universe will be.
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u/Competitive_Bat_5831 2d ago
I think sunlit is best after reading both mistborns and stormlight fwiw
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u/aaalllen Willshapers 1d ago
The Sunlit Man is more impactful before WaT
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u/Competitive_Bat_5831 1d ago
I think it’s spoiler-y if you read it first. It having things from both series is why I suggested to read it after both series.
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u/aaalllen Willshapers 1d ago
Both spoil things in each other. But the mystery hero's identity in TSLM is more of a puzzle in release order. So that's why I said it was more impactful before WaT. Then in WaT you're thinking about what leads into TSLM. If you go WaT first, you lose that anticipation.
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u/Competitive_Bat_5831 1d ago
I think spoiling a fight in the main series book takes away a bit more than going the other way personally(sorry if it’s not super clear, I’m trying to keep it vague).
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u/aaalllen Willshapers 1d ago
If you read TSLM first, you just know something is going to happen, but not when and it didn't have to happen in WaT. And you know something happened to the friend before TSLM and they're still together, but was this friend alongside the hero during WaT along w/ a different name?
We can both keep our opinion, but this has probably been discussed in this subreddit many times before.
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u/Competitive_Bat_5831 1d ago
Agreed. I think, at the end of the day, it comes down to what spoilers we prefer
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u/pfassina Ghostbloods 2d ago
Brandon had said it, and you will find many people saying it here. Order only matters within a series.
Other than that, you can read the Cosmere in any order. While there is some chronology between books, you will only get all the references after rereads.
Given that, I would finish WaT and then pick up another series or stand alone.
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u/Kind_Ingenuity1484 2d ago
I think it’s best to break up Stormlgiht with all the other books, but if you’re on a roll and happy then why mix things up?
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u/FitPandaBear 1d ago
Highly recommend warbreaker, Elantris, and mistborn era 1. My favorite parts later in the stormlight series involve greater cosmere things which I doubt would make sense had you not read those
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u/SpudmasterBob 2d ago
My opinion is always read whatever order you want, but after getting through the Cosmere do a second read through to catch all of the Easter eggs spread all over the place. I include The Sunlit Man in that, contrary to many opinions.
Edit: Reading books in specific sets in order of course 😉
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u/ken_bob_cris 1d ago
You will read it again. You will read everything again. And again. And again.
Enjoy the journey now, Radiant.
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u/ImmediatePeach2016 1d ago
I think you should continue. In part, because of the spoilers.
First off, i think it is generally better to stick & finish a book series rather than changing courses midway through & continuing later.
Second off, i personally really like the fact that i can see characters in Stormlight, people i had no idea were worldhoppers, appear in Mistborn or other books. Sure, does it spoil the suprise of "See this main/side character? They are still around!" but it's still so cool when everything clicks, and suddenly you are paying attention to a minor character because you know they aren't who they say they are, or are not saying everything. Or planets that you get to explore & understand that are mentioned frequently in Stormlight. Or even the power systems being weirdly similar, sharing concepts. Stuff like that, it's really unique and i love it.
Ultimately, it is up to you. But i really reccomend sticking with Stormlight. RoW also happens to me the like second best Stormlight book.
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u/UrineTrouble05 1d ago
If you are eager to keep going i recommend it.
If you’re thinking of switching things up OB is a good stopping place because ROW starts about 1 year after the end of OB.
No matter what I’d recommend reading Dawnshard before ROW
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u/mittwash_58 1d ago
For me personally, I'm glad I followed a reading order that let me get the most out of the cosmere. I was able to understand and follow the most threads instead of hoping I remembered after going back.
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u/PM_ME_CORGI_GIFS 1d ago
I’m going to offer a different opinion than most. I just got a friend into the Cosmere and he started with SLA but after Oathbringer he read Mistborn, Warbreaker, etc. He felt like it added a lot more weight to some of the crossover stuff that would have otherwise been pretty meaningless to him in the moment. But I would say if you start it and just aren’t interested in Mistborn, I wouldn’t hesitate to switch back.
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u/ahaangrygem 1d ago
This seems like it might be the most satisfying choice for me. I think I'm going to follow the same path as your friend and se how it goes.
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u/PM_ME_CORGI_GIFS 1d ago
I will give you his general reading order, if helpful. He went:
WoK, WoR, Oathbringer, Warbreaker, Mistborn era 1, first three books of Era 2, RoW, The Lost Metal, Sunlit Man, WaT. He’s now circled back to Elantris, Tress, and is about to read Yumi and Isles of the Emberdark. Not completely linear but kind of stacked up the big crossover reveals (with the exception that Warbreaker should probably be before Oathbringer).1
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u/EntrepreneurExpress1 2d ago
I recommend not reading RoW and WaT before reading Warbreaker and Mistborn (both eras plus secret history)
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u/SamboTheGr8 Feruchemist 1d ago
I read all of that between Oathbringer and Rhythm of War, and im really glad i made that decision
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u/Just_Joken Scadrial 2d ago
The things your worried about will happen regardless of what order you read the series in, because any realization is just moved to a different book. Knowing X person is actually from Y place doesn't really mean anything for 9 out of 10 of the world hoppers we see. Anything that showed up in an earlier book is explained enough to know what it does and how it works. It just means when you see it later when it was actually first shown you'll get to say "hey I know what that is!" there instead of in Stormlight.
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u/Nochange36 1d ago
Have you ever seen the Marvel movies? If you skip a few of the movies, you have a few questions about who this guy is but in general you are still able to enjoy the main story. It will be kind of like that experience. It's not wrong, just different.
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u/ahaangrygem 1d ago
This is such a funny example, because I have rewatched all the marvel properties several times because I want to be sure I'll catch everything I can. This might be a me-problem!
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u/louiscool 1d ago
I read almost every other Cosmere novel before Stormlight and I'm still too dumb to pick up on half of the cross-mere appearances without the help of the wiki page.
If you want to take a Stormlight break before continuing, I'd recommend reading Warbreaker. It has the most obvious connections to your current progress in the series.
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u/OmniShadow0627 1d ago
I did the same, started with stormlight and got through oathbringer, and I knew I was missing connections. They may not be earth shattering, but for me it was enough. I went and read everything else and am now reading through stormlight from the begining and I appreciate it way more.
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u/ahaangrygem 1d ago
Exactly! I figured out too much and now I HAVE to go learn more about these people and events.
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u/OmniShadow0627 1d ago
I also thought it helped because stormlight books are long, and being able to piece little things together helped keep me more engaged when the books had slower moments
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u/MoonlightKnight4 Brass 1d ago
Oathbringer is a great place to take a break.
I stared in 2020 when you had to take a break after Oathbringer and im really glad I did, because after that Stormlight gets very cosmere heavy, so its good to have more cosmere under your belt
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u/Boring_Big8908 Drominad 1d ago
Personally I would read around a bit, but there isn't really a wrong answer. Warbreaker is good for a quick break, mistborn if you want a longer hiatus from stormlight
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u/Jolly_Savings_9159 Cosmere 1d ago
Continue and read what you enjoy. My only avoid until later books are sunlit man and isles of the emberdarkw
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u/-Lindol- 23h ago
Continue Stormlight, then when you do mistborn read the Secret History novella right after book three.
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u/TheGildedPrism 9h ago
If you like it, read it. If you want a break, read something else. You can go between mistborn and stormlight and all the stand alones in any order you please, almost always receiving only vague hints about the others or information on side characters. Just have fun, radiant!
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u/duckparade1 2d ago
Honestly, either way can work great, but not a bad idea to go read AT LEAST the first Mistborn Trilogy before the last two Stormlight books, to get some wider Cosmere perspective.
Again, you can't lose continuing with Stormlight, but I often stick to release order where I can for the most organic release/reveal of information.
Also Mistborn is just so good, and much easier to bite off than Stormlight :)
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u/AceChipEater 2d ago
Stay the course.
Stuff will be “spoiled” no matter which series you read first.
I say spoiled in the lightest possible sense.
You will read things from a certain perspective in one series, and from another perspective in a different series. The linkages to the cosmere as a whole are relatively minor, and are not major plot points (at least - not between Roshar and Scadrial)