Cosmere reading order

A plan for the whole series

8 volumes, 4,686 pages, about 85 hours. At 45 min a day that is about 4 months.

• From volume 2 on, the number of ratings falls most before volume 5, “Mistborn: Secret History” (by 78%). Plan your break after volume 4, before the series plans it for you.
• Readers scored volume 3, “Mistborn: The Well of Ascension”, below its predecessor (8.6 after 8.9). If you slow down there, that is on the book, not on you. From volume 4 the form returns.
• The series is still running; the last volume came out in 2023. You will wait for the next one anyway, so no need to rush.

Stages

6 stages, with 5 short books from outside the series between them. You finish around March 17, 2027, about 4 weeks later than in one go.

1. 1
   Stage 112 h16 daysby November 14, 2026

   • 1. Elantris2005 · 664 pages · 12 h
2. Short breakThe Fire Next Time · James Baldwin · 120 pp. · score 8.82 h, by November 18, 2026. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
3. 2
   Stage 212 h16 daysby December 5, 2026

   • 2. Mistborn: The Final Empire2006 · 669 pages · 12 h
4. Short breakOn Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century · Timothy Snyder · 128 pp. · score 8.42 h, by December 9, 2026. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
5. 3
   Stage 314 h19 daysby December 28, 2026

   • 3. Mistborn: The Well of Ascension2007 · 784 pages · 14 h
6. Short breakAnimal Farm · George Orwell · 128 pp. · score 8.32 h, by January 1, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
7. 4
   Stage 414 h19 daysby January 20, 2027

   • 4. Mistborn: The Hero of Ages2008 · 760 pages · 14 h
8. BreakMaus · Art Spiegelman · 295 pp. · score 9.05 h, by January 29, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
9. 5
   Stage 514 h18 daysby February 16, 2027

   • 5. Mistborn: Secret History2016 · 151 pages · 3 h
   • 6. Arcanum Unbounded: The Cosmere Collection2016 · ≈ 586 pages · 11 h
10. Short breakThe Importance of Being Earnest · Oscar Wilde · 102 pp. · score 8.22 h, by February 19, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
11. 6
    Stage 620 habout 4 weeksby March 17, 2027

    • 7. Mistborn: The Lost Metal2022 · ≈ 586 pages · 11 h
    • 8. Tress of the Emerald Sea2023 · 486 pages · 9 h
12. The end of the series

    March 17, 2027

We count 1.1 min per page, the pace of an average novel reader. Faster? Move the slider.

≈ next to a page count: a volume with no page count in our data is counted at this series’s average.

Does the series hold up

Shape of the series: peak in the middle. The middle volumes (8.9) are the best; the ending (8.6) does not match them.

Best volume: Mistborn: The Hero of Ages (9.1, 4,191 ratings). Weakest: Elantris (8.2). From volume 2 on, the biggest drop in the number of ratings is between volume 4 and 5: 78%. The series is not finished; the last volume came out in 2023. The last volume (8.7) scores close to the series average or above it.