After finishing it, I wanted to focus on the other books I was reading but the ending made me start the Mistborn: Secret Histories novella right away.

The novella takes place in Era 1 (at least as far as I have read) but the recommended order is after The Bands of Mourning, as mentioned at the end of the book. Pretty interesting so far.

Still Readings Ultra-processed Food by Chris van Tulleken and The Bullet Journal Method by Ryder Caroll, but at very slow pace. Going to focus on them one at a time to speed them up.

What about all of you? What have you been reading or listening to lately?

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[–] hersh@literature.cafe 5 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

I'm also on a Brandon Sanderson kick (for roughly two years now). I'm currently reading The Sunlit Man. It's good, but don't read it until you finish the Stormlight Archive series and the standalone novella Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell. Most of the Cosmere stories are fairly approachable in isolation, but this one is very dense with references to established characters, places, and lore, to the point where it should be considered a sequel or spinoff. Even I feel a little lost!

If anyone's looking for an easy way into Sanderson's Cosmere (it's intimidating! I get it!), I highly recommend the novella The Emperor's Soul. It's self-contained, it's short, and it's just a fantastic story. If you prefer listening to reading, Graphic Audio has an "audio movie" version which is a nice taste of what they offer, too.

@dresden@discuss.online let me know if you want recommendations on reading order before you continue on to The Lost Metal.

[–] dresden@discuss.online 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I have read most of the Cosmere novels, only Mistborn Era 2 (last book remaining now!), Stormlight Archive Novel 4 and 5 (didn't read 4 on release and want to do a re-read before reading them now), and some novellas are remaining. Though I don't think I have even heard of "Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell", will look it up.

Out of curiousity what is your recommended order? I main started with Mistborn, then Stormlight Archive, and then went back to published order for most of the stuff.

[–] hersh@literature.cafe 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Can't go wrong with publishing order. I refer to the Coppermind wiki for that: https://coppermind.net/wiki/Cosmere#Bibliography_of_the_Cosmere

I personally started with Stormlight Archive, which I wouldn't call optimal, but hey, I have no regrets. In general I'm a "gates open" kind of fan, so I encourage readers to go in whatever order they like and enjoy any extra mystery that might come along with it. :)

The only ones I'd really recommend against reading without context are The Sunlit Man, and to a lesser extent Yumi and the Nightmare Painter. It kind of pains me to say that about Yumi because it's such a fantastic book and I'd hate to discourage anyone from reading it. But you'd need to comfortable rolling with confusion if you've never read any Stormlight Archive, because

mild spoiler

the narration is written in the voice of Wit and it has many references to Roshar

That said, Lost Metal includes connections to

other books

Elantris, and The Emperor's Soul

I wouldn't say that's required reading before Lost Metal. I personally read Lost Metal first and, again, no regrets. But now I do kind of want to go back and read a few chapters again given the additional context I have now.

[–] dresden@discuss.online 3 points 2 weeks ago

I think all Cosmere secret projects should be read after Stormlight Archive, or at least once you know who that guy is.

I read Elantris a while back, loved the book, looking forward to sequel, whenever he gets around to it, but don't recall reading The Emperor's Soul. It's in Arcanum Unbound though, so will read it before the Lost Metal.