Brandon Sanderson's "Cosmere" - Worth Reading? Where to start?

I would like to get back into reading fantasy and I see this author's name pop up all the time, specifically the Mistborn and Stormlight series. 

In the past I read some fantasy like Malazan: Book of the Fallen and ASOIAF, and always loved the world building and characters (I know these books may appear to be 'grimdark', but I am not married to that genre).

Is Sanderson a good author to "get back" into fantasy? Do you consider his books geared towards children/YA or adults?

5 Comments
 

haven't heard of him. Read The Silmarillion and shit on the RoP show with me

Quant (ˈkwänt) n: An expert, someone who knows more and more about less and less until they know everything about nothing.
 
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Absolutely worth it. I picked up The Way of Kings (first book in Stormlight series) on a whim after hearing it occasionally mentioned a few times. Had zero expectations as I've never been super into the fantasy genre minus reading Harry Potter years and years ago. 

I haven't been hooked like that for years by a book. Basically blew off work for a week to read it. After racing through the next few in the series I had to come to terms with the fact that I may be one of those fantasy reading geeks (no shade intended - I've embraced it now). 

Other readers say to start with Mistborn if you're diving into the Cosmere (I'm even using the nomenclature) for the first time, but if you're short on time I'd just jump into the Stormlight series and then pick up the other Cosmere books later,  time permitting.

Sanderson has some specific books that are more YA than the Stormlight series, so I wouldn't say it's YA. It's also not at the R rating that ASOIAF is though (honestly refreshing, the real world is messed up enough). 

As an author Sanderson is very meticulous in his world building and knows how to pace a story. Yeah, some of the characters annoy, but you can't like them all. 

 

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