In which Sanderson basically says “read them in whatever order you want.”
And I’m ok with that. I’d read Warbreaker before the Stormlight Archive books (Way of Kings), but otherwise I’m not sure where they fit chronologically as I don’t know how Hoid/Wit moves back and forth yet. Depending on how fast he does it they could all be simultaneous except for Warbreaker and the third book in the Stormlight Archives. Mistborn takes place before a scene in the third book of SA, but that doesn’t mean they hadn’t been overlapping.
There is also a graphic novel written by someone else with Sanderson’s approval about another world in the Cosmere. It is based on a novel he wrote but never published, and I’m 99% sure Hoid has been there too based on his scene in Warbreaker and some things he does while story telling in SA books. It’s called White Sand.
Chronological order aside... Elantris is the sticker. It’s a good book. I’d normally recommend it first as a starting point, but I don’t like it nearly as much as the others. Sandrrson’s a much better writer today than he was then. By that I mean his wordsmithing, not his storytelling.
Of all the writers in fantasy that I like he is one of my favorite world builders and story tellers, but still probably the weakest writer. I feel like that made Elantris a difficult read for me.
Mistborn Final Empire on the otherness hand has such a cinematic feel to it that never bothered me a bit and I read all 600 pages in a 24 hour period, and twice since.
