Mistborn reading order

A plan for the whole series

7 volumes, 3,981 pages, about 75 hours. At 45 min a day that is about 3 months.

• From volume 2 on, the number of ratings falls most before volume 4, “Mistborn: The Alloy of Law” (by 43%). Plan your break after volume 3, before the series plans it for you.
• Readers scored volume 2, “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 3 the form returns.
• The series is still running; the last volume came out in 2022. You will wait for the next one anyway, so no need to rush.

Stages

5 stages, with 4 short books from outside the series between them. You finish around February 25, 2027, about 3 weeks later than in one go.

1. 1
   Stage 112 h16 daysby November 14, 2026

   • 1. Mistborn: The Final Empire2006 · 669 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 214 h19 daysby December 7, 2026

   • 2. Mistborn: The Well of Ascension2007 · 784 pages · 14 h
4. Short breakOn Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century · Timothy Snyder · 128 pp. · score 8.42 h, by December 12, 2026. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
5. 3
   Stage 314 h19 daysby December 30, 2026

   • 3. Mistborn: The Hero of Ages2008 · 760 pages · 14 h
6. BreakMaus · Art Spiegelman · 295 pp. · score 9.05 h, by January 8, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
7. 4
   Stage 414 h18 daysby January 27, 2027

   • 4. Mistborn: The Alloy of Law2011 · 368 pages · 7 h
   • 5. Mistborn: Shadows of Self2015 · 383 pages · 7 h
8. Short breakAnimal Farm · George Orwell · 128 pp. · score 8.32 h, by January 31, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
9. 5
   Stage 519 habout 4 weeksby February 25, 2027

   • 6. Mistborn: The Bands of Mourning2016 · 448 pages · 8 h
   • 7. Mistborn: The Lost Metal2022 · ≈ 569 pages · 10 h
10. The end of the series

    February 25, 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: a drop at the end. The last scored volume (8.2) has the lowest score in the series.

Best volume: Mistborn: The Hero of Ages (9.1, 4,191 ratings). Weakest: Mistborn: The Alloy of Law (8.2). From volume 2 on, the biggest drop in the number of ratings is between volume 3 and 4: 43%. The series is not finished; the last volume came out in 2022.