The Brandy Sandy Cosmere: Ranked
A culmination of years of "research"
Hi!
Anyone give themselves little projects/goals that don’t matter to anyone but you? And then relentlessly pursue them with the force of a thousand suns??? This year my special interest is “catching up” on critically acclaimed early 2000s shows two decades after they were culturally relevant. (The Wire? Turns out it is good. Who could have known!)
Last year my special interest was “catching up” on the published Brandon Sanderson Cosmere oeuvre. If you know anything about the Cosmere, you know this is a laughable feat because omg. There is…so much. Imagine thirteen 1,000 page doorstoppers stacked on top of each other and that’s the total page count. Really it’s been a decade long project but I really committed in 2024 and the result is my personal ranking of the books so far.
And listen, if Sandy is not your guy, I get that. The Mormon influence is there, no doubt. But at the end of the day, I truly believe this man is just a huuuuge NERD, like the biggest nerd ever with insane worlds brewing in his abnormal brain. And he be trying on the gay stuff, which honestly with an audience as huge as his, is not nothing. But what the man is above all else is FREAKISHLY PROLIFIC. By my quick and Goodreads count, he has written 30+ books and stories since 2011. 30 IN 14 YEARS. That’s the same year those BASTARDS George RR Martin and Patrick Rothfuss released their last books by the way. (NOT THAT I AM BITTER OR ANYTHING)
If you, like me, can reeeeally get down with an unreal level of world building and slow developing interconnectedness of an INSANELY detailed universe, let’s talk Cosmere. For those who don’t know, here’s Cosmere 101: the Cosmere refers to a shared universe where a bunch of his major series (Stormlight Archive, Mistborn) and stand-alone stories (Warbreaker, Elantris) take place. In this universe, a loooong time ago, Big God got esploded into 16 “Shards”, lesser Gods that each got one aspect of Big God. (Honor, Ruin, Preservation, Devotion, etc etc). For the most part, each of the Shards rule over one planet in the Cosmere and influence the magic in different ways.
OKAY ENOUGH INTRO here it is folks:
MY DEFINITIVE AND NOT AT ALL CONTROVERSIAL RANKING OF ALL COSMERE PROJECTS BASED, AS ALWAYS, PURELY ON VIBES AND HOW THEY MAKE ME FEEL:
10) White Sand (graphic novel)
While I am kind of interested in the magic sand that keeps showing up in other Cosmere series like Stormlight, I thought this one was just aight. Think Dune if the sand was filled with magic instead of an addictive spice that controls the universe. It was interesting that the main character is distinctly bad at the magic and has to find creative ways around his limitations. And the art is cool, no doubt. I bet I would like it more if I got a hold of a hard copy instead of squinting at it from my Kindle.
9) Sixth of the Dusk (novella)
This story takes place on a planet full of islands where the wildlife has ~mysterious~ powers. On its own it’s an interesting story about a trapper named Sixth who is fighting to save his special island from a hidden danger most foul. (Colonization. It’s always colonization.) If you are clued into the wider Cosmere, it has more interest because the “Ones Above” mentioned in the book are clearly related to the World Hoppers (secret org who can travel from planet to planet. They show up A LOT in his books). I believe this world will be explored more in Isles of the Emberdark, his upcoming book.
8) Warbreaker
I am a SUCKER for a sentient sword. And this book introduces Nightblood, a fan favorite and insanely powerful weapon who shows up in several Cosmere series. He’s not evil, just…enthusiastic!
“Hello! a cheerful voice said in his mind. Would you like to destroy some evil today?”
That being said, Nightblood is…pretty much the best part of Warbreaker. The stand-alone story takes place on the planet Nalthis, where local magic is based around ‘Breath’ and the more Breaths you have, the more magic you can do. The main story revolves around two sisters, one of whom has been raised to marry the undead God King of a rival nation in order to ensure peace. But in a last minute switcherooni, the wrong sister has to go. And things go haywire from there.
It’s not bad by any means, it’s just not my favorite Sandy fare.
7) Elantris
Elantris, The Hope of Elantris (short story), The Emperor’s Soul (novella)
Elantris was Sandy’s first Cosmere novel and…it shows? Again, it’s not bad, it’s just a bit of a miss for me. It takes place in Arelon, where the crown prince is set to inherit the throne and marry a neighboring princess to strengthen political ties. Until of course he wakes up one morning to find he has become a literal zombie from the mysterious ‘Shaod’ sickness that strikes random people. To avoid embarrassment, the royals fake his death and banish him into the walled city of Elantris where all the zombies go to (not) die. There he has to figure out the mystery of how shining, magical Elantris turned into zombie hell and maaaybe get his life and hot princess fiancee back. It’s a fine stand alone story and elements show up in other Cosmere stories but I’d give it like, a 5.8 out of 10.
6) The Sunlit Man
The Sunlit Man, Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell (novella)
If you are a true dork who has invested a LOT of time in the Cosmere, the connections between the stories can be the most fun part. This one can definitely stand on it’s own, but it’s more fun if you know who the main character is. In general, it was a solid story but I was stressed the whole time because dude is running around between 1-5% magic battery the whole time, like a dang iPhone about to die. Of all the Cosmere worlds, gotta say Canticle - where the sun will vaporize you instantly should it touch you - is not one I would like to visit.
Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell, on the related world Threnody, is also HIGH up on the list of “do not visit” Cosmere worlds. There, ghosts will eat you after dark if you make a sound. ‘Silence Montane’ is an incredible character name though. That story appeared in the “Dangerous Women” short story collection which is pretty bangin.
5) Mistborn Era 2
The Alloy of Law, Shadows of Self, The Bands of Mourning, The Lost Metal, Mistborn: Secret History (novella), Allomancer Jak and The Pits of Eltania (short story)
Second era Mistborn takes place ~300 years after Mistborn Era 1 (which you will find down the list). It’s got more of a Wild West vibe than the original series, very much on purpose. Waxillium Ladrian (I will NEVER get over this name. I know Sandy just got excited by the names “Wax and Wayne” but WAXILLIUM IS HILARIOUS) is our main guy in this series, a former lawman who must reluctantly take up his role as a rich nobleman while fighting with cool metal powers against ~nefarious plots~.
It’s a great series in general, but the middle ones fell flat occasionally. He also relies HEAVILY on his beloved archetype of “irreverant but secretly wise prankster” side character in Wayne. I do mostly love him, but I have my limits. Shoutout to what I think is his first major lesbian side character though!
4) Yumi and the Nightmare Painter
Because my man is not human, between his massive series he also manages to find time to write “secret project” side stories. And somehow they are all good!!! My main thought while reading this one is that it would make one HECK of a manga. The descriptions of the two worlds are so vivid that I really want to SEE them interpreted by a cool artist, especially the teal and magenta “hion lines” in the world of Painter. This one pulled on the heartstrings and had a great twist. I loved it. Plus, you don’t need to know anything about the Cosmere to enjoy it on it’s own. It’s just bonus if you know who the statue narrator is.
3) Tress of the Emerald Sea
I absolutely ADORED this book. Some might find this ranking controversial but I SAID I WAS GOING ON VIBES and the vibes of this were immaculate, imo. Brandon said in the afterword that he was inspired to write it based on the Princess Bride, and that totally tracks. It’s simply a delight all the way through, and bonus, it’s another one that is totally accessible to non-Cosmere readers. Again, you might enjoy it a tick more if you are Cosmere-aware.
2) The Stormlight Archive
The Way of Kings, Words of Radiance, Edgedancer (novella), Oathbringer, Dawnshard (novella), Rhythm of War, Wind and Truth
Last December was a big month for dorks because of the release of Book 5, Wind and Truth, a 1,300 page behemoth that capped the first Stormlight arc. His plan is to then write *another* five books about Roshar. DOES THE MAN EVER SLEEP!?
For real though, Stormlight is truly high fantasy heaven. Huuuuge cast of characters, insane world building and mythos, cool ass magic, BIG SENTIENT SWORDS. What more could a girl ask for, honestly. It’s the rare series that could have me spending hours, and I mean many tens of hours on Coppermind Wiki reviewing what I have already read and trying to recall plot, finer points of Cosmere lore, and HUNDREDS of named characters.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: if only I could be this deeply, deeply invested in something that could make me rich and not made up worlds. IT COULD HAVE BEEN STONKS!!
1) Mistborn Era 1
The Final Empire, The Well of Ascension, Hero of Ages, The Eleventh Metal (short story)
Ahhh, the one that started it all for me. I distinctly remember being at my first ad agency internship in 2013, suffering in a hellish “open plan” chaotic environment, reading Mistborn on a Kindle browser page that I would frantically minimize when anyone walked past. So weird that they didn’t want me to stay!!
Most people say to begin the Cosmere journey here, and for good reason. Era 1 Mistborn just hits ALL the right notes. Scrappy crew of rebels and thieves, sick ass metal-based magic system, Big Evil Baddie with a ~secret~. It kind of all starts on the premise, what if long ago the prophecied hero failed miserably and now the entire world is effed? Era 1 goes hard and even though I would be hard pressed to remember a single thing beyond the BIG events, I remember the feeling of reading it. 10/10. While you can read it on it’s own and be fine, if you read it alongside Stormlight you realize that the planet Scadrial is also hugely important to the grand-arching plot that ties all the Cosmere worlds together.
OKAY THAT’S ALL BYE!! Sorry this post took me a very long time to finish, lmaooo. You ever just put something aside and then half a year goes by? No? Yeah me either!
Cosmere nerds and also people with regular hobbies and interests, please let me know what you think of this ranking! I can take it!!
I blazed like 9-12 of his books on audio a few years back. So good. So long. So long ago. I can’t remember which stormlight book I finished, but the idea of wading back into those waters is daunting
I’m probably never going to pick up Brandon Sanderson because doorstopper fantasy fiction just isn’t my thing, but I still loved reading all of this.