25 Best Brandon Sanderson Books: Stormlight & Mistborn Creator

Brandon Winn Sanderson, from Nebraska, built sagas where the Best Brandon Sanderson Books define a shared universe. He is an American novelist rooted in epic fantasy and science fiction. Readers know him for the Cosmere project that links many titles. His name is tied to Mistborn and The Stormlight Archive. He also completed Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time finale. His career stretches from Elantris (2005) to new releases in 2024–2025. He teaches a once-yearly creative-writing course at BYU. He also codified “Sanderson’s Laws” on building magic systems.

His breakout moment with a mass audience arrived twice: first by finishing Jordan’s saga, then by a record Kickstarter in 2022 that funded four “Secret Projects.” The biggest sellers in casual conversation include The Way of Kings and the original Mistborn trilogy. Hallmark motifs include rule-based magic, oaths and costs, and ordinary people facing impossible systems. Readers keep returning because the puzzle pieces connect across worlds. This guide includes 25 books. It is “a ratings-led climb from deep cuts to consensus classics,” drawn from public snapshots. You will see the Best Brandon Sanderson Books rise, step by step, by reader score.

25 Best Brandon Sanderson Books in a Rising Rating Order

Methodology & Updates

Sources: Goodreads snapshots captured on 17 October 2025; ties broken by earlier year, then A–Z by title; positions may drift as community ratings change. Series/author hubs used to normalize editions: Mistborn, Stormlight, Skyward, Secret Projects, and the main author listings.

#1) The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England – 2023

• Author: Brandon Sanderson
• Published: 2023
• Work Type / Genre Tags: novel, science fantasy, time-slip, caper
• Themes: identity, memory, second chances
• Goodreads Rating: 3.84/5

A man with scrambled memories lands in a medieval-like England. A botched commercial “wizard” package strands him in a feudal backwater. He needs to piece together who he is and why he was sent. Local power brokers and hired hunters complicate his search. Clues surface through odd manuals and tech that should not exist here. Threats tighten as his past pursuers close in and a village war brews. He must choose between flight and protecting people who barely trust him. The endpoint ties his regained identity to a plan that can rescue more than himself.

#2) Cytonic – 2021

• Author: Brandon Sanderson
• Published: 2021
• Work Type / Genre Tags: novel, space opera, YA
• Themes: courage, self-knowledge, found family
• Goodreads Rating: 4.06/5

Human pilot Spensa is pulled into a strange nowhere-realm. The war with the Superiority flickers in the distance as she explores hidden spaceways. She wants a path back and a way to break the enemy’s hold. New companions complicate loyalties and raise questions about her powers. Encounters with ancient forces reshape her view of the conflict. The stakes rise as secrets about cytonics threaten both realms. A final escape attempt hinges on trust and hard-won skill. The closing consequence resets the board for a larger fight.

#3) Elantris – 2005

• Author: Brandon Sanderson
• Published: 2005
• Work Type / Genre Tags: novel, epic fantasy, political
• Themes: faith, power, restoration
• Goodreads Rating: 4.17/5

Once a shining city, Elantris now traps the fallen in living decay. Prince Raoden disappears into its ruined streets. Sarene arrives to find a kingdom wobbling under religious pressure. A priest with orders from afar tightens the noose. Raoden builds fragile communities inside the blight while Sarene maneuvers at court. Clues about the city’s broken magic surface in old glyphs. The trajectory points to a race to mend what shattered. The outcome turns on decoding a map hidden in plain sight.

#4) The Alloy of Law – 2011

• Author: Brandon Sanderson
• Published: 2011
• Work Type / Genre Tags: novel, fantasy western, mystery
• Themes: duty, partnership, modernization
• Goodreads Rating: 4.20/5

In a frontier-meets-city basin, lawman Waxillium returns from the Roughs. A wave of kidnappings hits the capital. He wants to dismantle a gang led by a faceless mastermind. His bond with Wayne and a careful courtship complicate choices. Investigations uncover industrial schemes and metallurgic secrets. The danger spikes as a kidnapped heiress becomes a ticking clock. A rail-side clash aims at stopping a transfer that could unmake order. The end leaves a culprit exposed and a partnership re-forged for bigger cases.

#5) Skyward – 2018

• Author: Brandon Sanderson
• Published: 2018
• Work Type / Genre Tags: novel, space opera, YA
• Themes: reputation, grit, mentorship
• Goodreads Rating: 4.23/5

On a besieged planet, teen pilot Spensa dreams of flight school. A stigma tied to her father blocks the door. She vows to earn her cockpit and the truth. Rivalries and squad bonds shape every sortie. A hidden ship and a sharp-tongued AI shift the odds. Battles reveal secrets about the war’s real scale. Her test comes as an overwhelming strike bears down. The finale turns a tarnished name into a call sign with weight.

#6) The Rithmatist – 2013

• Author: Brandon Sanderson
• Published: 2013
• Work Type / Genre Tags: novel, YA fantasy, academy
• Themes: talent, class, perseverance
• Goodreads Rating: 4.25/5

On an alternate campus, chalk drawings can kill. Non-Rithmatist Joel studies the lines he cannot wield. A wave of disappearances rattles the school. He partners with a professor to chase the trail. Rival students and a skilled prodigy complicate clues. Patterns in circles and defenses reveal a predator’s method. The climax races to protect the next target. The close leaves a map for a conflict far larger than one campus.

#7) Shadows of Self – 2015

• Author: Brandon Sanderson
• Published: 2015
• Work Type / Genre Tags: novel, fantasy western, crime
• Themes: justice, identity, unrest
• Goodreads Rating: 4.26/5

A city strains under strikes and sect tensions. Wax and Wayne chase a shape-shifting killer. Wax wants accountability in a system that tilts toward the rich. Allies in law and family add pressure and insight. Each lead ties to a deeper plan to spark chaos. A revelation about the killer cuts close to home. The chase barrels into council chambers at a breaking point. Fallout reorders loyalties and sets a grimmer mission.

#8) The Sunlit Man – 2023

• Author: Brandon Sanderson
• Published: 2023
• Work Type / Genre Tags: novel, Cosmere adventure, survival
• Themes: redemption, endurance, revolt
• Goodreads Rating: 4.28/5

A lone wanderer crosses a deadly, sun-scoured world. He seeks a way off the prison-like planet. Local clans barter survival with scraps of faith and myth. A fragile alliance forms around a stolen device. Pursuit by enforcers and a tyrant’s proxies closes in. Hidden pasts and limited time tighten each choice. A final run demands sacrifice and precision timing. The last scene leaves a horizon opened by courage.

Early Currents in the Best Brandon Sanderson Books

#9) Warbreaker – 2009

• Author: Brandon Sanderson
• Published: 2009
• Work Type / Genre Tags: novel, epic fantasy, political
• Themes: faith, diplomacy, autonomy
• Goodreads Rating: 4.30/5

Two princesses face a treaty with a god-ruled capital. One is sent to marry the God King. The other navigates court from the shadows. Priests and Returned gods pull strings as armies ready. A drifter with a living sword unsettles the board. Secrets in breath-based magic complicate every bargain. The march to war forces a desperate play inside the palace. The resolution turns on vows kept at great cost.

#10) Defiant – 2023

• Author: Brandon Sanderson
• Published: 2023
• Work Type / Genre Tags: novel, space opera, YA
• Themes: leadership, sacrifice, hope
• Goodreads Rating: 4.31/5

Spensa returns to a galaxy still ruled by the Superiority. She must rally scattered allies. A covert strike could break an empire’s grip. Old rivals and new pilots test her command. Secrets about cytonics and ancient threats upend plans. The danger peaks as human worlds hang on a knife edge. A last sortie demands trust in crew and code. The close binds victory to a promise made in the dark.

Later-Middle Turns in the Best Brandon Sanderson Books

#11) Mistborn: Secret History – 2016

• Author: Brandon Sanderson
• Published: 2016
• Work Type / Genre Tags: novella, Cosmere, behind-the-scenes
• Themes: aftermath, perspective, hidden costs
• Goodreads Rating: 4.32/5

Between and beneath the original trilogy, a different journey unfolds. A familiar figure awakens in a place beyond sight. He seeks meaning in echoes of catastrophe. Old rules break and new rules govern passage. Messages must be carried where no one looks. A mid-story revelation reframes past miracles. A last crossing links worlds readers thought separate. The finish stitches secrets into the spine of the saga.

#12) Tress of the Emerald Sea – 2023

• Author: Brandon Sanderson
• Published: 2023
• Work Type / Genre Tags: novel, fairy-tale adventure, Cosmere
• Themes: devotion, wit, self-reliance
• Goodreads Rating: 4.33/5

On a planet of spore seas, Tress lives on a rocky isle. A friend is taken by a dreaded sorceress. She wants a ship and a map to reach him. A motley crew and an odd storyteller join her quest. Captains, smugglers, and spores complicate every passage. Clues to the sorceress’s power change the game. A showdown looms on treacherous waters. The ending cements a legend earned far from home.

#13) The Well of Ascension – 2007

• Author: Brandon Sanderson
• Published: 2007
• Work Type / Genre Tags: novel, epic fantasy, siege
• Themes: duty, trust, legitimacy
• Goodreads Rating: 4.35/5

The survivor’s city faces three rival armies. Vin guards a fragile crown. Elend searches for laws that can hold. Intrigue threads through council halls and alleyways. A mysterious power calls from an ancient well. Enemies within and without force brutal compromises. The path to the well becomes a moral test. The final act turns on who decides the fate of a world.

#14) Starsight – 2019

• Author: Brandon Sanderson
• Published: 2019
• Work Type / Genre Tags: novel, space opera, YA
• Themes: infiltration, empathy, truth
• Goodreads Rating: 4.35/5

Spensa slips behind enemy lines using a borrowed face. She seeks permits and intel inside the Superiority. Her aim is a treaty or a weapon to buy peace. Friendships form with pilots raised to hate her kind. Competing factions undercut any simple deal. Secrets about the war’s origins surface in a vault. A daring escape hinges on allies who should be foes. The consequence widens the war and her resolve.

#15) The Emperor’s Soul – 2012

• Author: Brandon Sanderson
• Published: 2012
• Work Type / Genre Tags: novella, heist, Cosmere
• Themes: art, identity, redemption
• Goodreads Rating: 4.37/5

An artist-forger is seized after a palace crime. The emperor lies mindless after an attack. She must craft a new soul-stamp before a deadline. Court officials weigh execution against a miracle. Lab work and subtle thefts build her toolkit. Rivals test the plan and her ethics. The last switch must occur under a guard’s gaze. The end leaves a monarch restored and a forger changed.

#16) The Bands of Mourning – 2016

• Author: Brandon Sanderson
• Published: 2016
• Work Type / Genre Tags: novel, fantasy western, quest
• Themes: legacy, technology, faith
• Goodreads Rating: 4.41/5

A rumor of a lost artifact draws Wax onto the rails. A train heist links to a shadowy organization. He wants answers about his sister and his city. Maps, codes, and relic hunters force uneasy truces. The chase cuts from mansions to catacombs. A mid-story discovery shifts who controls progress itself. The final run turns on an impossible vault. The aftermath resets what the world can build.

Momentum Builds in the Best Brandon Sanderson Books

#17) Arcanum Unbounded – 2016

• Author: Brandon Sanderson
• Published: 2016
• Work Type / Genre Tags: collection, Cosmere stories, atlas
• Themes: connection, discovery, consequence
• Goodreads Rating: 4.44/5

A worldbook of linked novellas and tales opens the map. Each story anchors a planet’s rules. Travelers and letters stitch threads across series. Fans meet familiar faces in new lights. A hidden chronology clarifies cause and effect. Later volumes echo seeds planted here. The closing pieces tease horizons beyond current wars. The book ends with a door left purposefully ajar.

#18) Yumi and the Nightmare Painter – 2023

• Author: Brandon Sanderson
• Published: 2023
• Work Type / Genre Tags: novel, romantic fantasy, Cosmere
• Themes: duty, art, partnership
• Goodreads Rating: 4.44/5

In one world a girl stacks sacred stones to guide spirits. In another a boy paints light to fight nightmares. A cosmic tangle binds their lives. They must share bodies and learn one another’s craft. Spirits and city officials test their fragile alliance. A buried history explains the monsters at the gates. A climactic ritual risks everything for two peoples. The end restores balance and a tender promise.

#19) The Lost Metal – 2022

• Author: Brandon Sanderson
• Published: 2022
• Work Type / Genre Tags: novel, fantasy western, geopolitics
• Themes: unity, law, transformation
• Goodreads Rating: 4.48/5

An alliance of cities faces a continent-shaking plot. Wax serves both as lawman and statesman. He wants peace without surrendering conscience. Wayne, Marasi, and kandra partners complicate every choice. Technology and magic collide in the streets. A chain of reveals ties local crime to cosmic stakes. The showdown spans canals and towers at once. The outcome closes one age and hints at the next.

#20) Mistborn: The Final Empire – 2006

• Author: Brandon Sanderson
• Published: 2006
• Work Type / Genre Tags: novel, epic fantasy, heist
• Themes: rebellion, trust, mentorship
• Goodreads Rating: 4.49/5

An immortal tyrant rules beneath ash-choked skies. Street thief Vin joins a crew planning the impossible. Kelsier trains her to burn metals for power. Noble houses and skaa cells keep the city tense. The crew’s plan hinges on dividing enemies and faith. A hidden history darkens the empire’s marvels. The final strike demands sacrifice and audacity. The ending topples a myth and frees a spark.

#21) The Hero of Ages – 2008

• Author: Brandon Sanderson
• Published: 2008
• Work Type / Genre Tags: novel, epic fantasy, apocalypse
• Themes: destiny, choice, cost
• Goodreads Rating: 4.56/5

The mists grow deadly as ash mounts higher. Vin and Elend comb ruins for answers. They seek shards of a plan left long ago. Friends split to save towns and gather clues. Prophecies misread now reveal their traps. The planet stirs with forces beyond crowns. A last gambit ties metals to miracles. The resolution defines heroism as a final gift.

The Crest of the Best Brandon Sanderson Books

#22) Oathbringer – 2017

• Author: Brandon Sanderson
• Published: 2017
• Work Type / Genre Tags: novel, epic fantasy, war
• Themes: leadership, trauma, oaths
• Goodreads Rating: 4.61/5

Ancient enemies return to claim a shattered world. Dalinar tries to unite rival kingdoms. Shallan and Kaladin chase truth through storm and court. Old texts and spren bonds complicate every alliance. A lost city promises refuge and answers. Betrayals and visions raise the cost of unity. A battle over oaths and memory crests at a tower. The end binds broken pasts into a vow kept.

#23) Rhythm of War – 2020

• Author: Brandon Sanderson
• Published: 2020
• Work Type / Genre Tags: novel, epic fantasy, siege-science
• Themes: resilience, research, alliance
• Goodreads Rating: 4.62/5

War grinds into labs and fortresses. Navani turns scholarship into a weapon. Kaladin confronts wounds that armor cannot touch. Singers and humans test fragile accords. Prisoners and scholars trade knowledge under pressure. Discoveries about light and rhythm shift the war. A daring operation risks city and soul. The close sets a stage only oaths can hold.

#24) The Way of Kings – 2010

• Author: Brandon Sanderson
• Published: 2010
• Work Type / Genre Tags: novel, epic fantasy, origin
• Themes: honor, burden, awakening
• Goodreads Rating: 4.66/5

On shattered plains, armies fight for glowing spoils. Kaladin falls from captain to slave and climbs back. Dalinar dreams of ancient warnings. Shallan seeks secrets behind a scholar’s smile. Storms and spren bind every choice to cost. Clues point to a forgotten order and broken oaths. A bridge run turns into a revolt against fate. The ending lights a path toward a long war.

#25) Words of Radiance – 2014

• Author: Brandon Sanderson
• Published: 2014
• Work Type / Genre Tags: novel, epic fantasy, escalation
• Themes: truth, cohesion, sacrifice
• Goodreads Rating: 4.76/5

Stormlight surges through new bonds. Kaladin wrestles duty and oath. Shallan maps secrets in light and lie. Assassins and plots converge on a warcamp. A lost city calls with answers and traps. Allies assemble on a narrow causeway. A sky-bridge battle pushes powers to the limit. The final pages crown a name and a storm.

Brandon Sanderson: Career at a Glance

Born in Lincoln, Nebraska (1975), he studied English at BYU and later earned an MA in creative writing, then returned to teach a once-yearly course. His major forms are epic fantasy, science fiction, YA, novellas, and linked collections, with signature works across the Cosmere: Elantris, Mistborn, Warbreaker, The Stormlight Archive, and more. He also completed Jordan’s Wheel of Time endgame. Innovations include “Sanderson’s Laws” for designing magic systems used widely in writing education. Honors include bestseller lists, Hugos for short work, and a record-setting publishing Kickstarter that re-shaped conversations about author-led releases. His influence touches classrooms, craft lectures, and new writers he mentors at BYU.

Conclusion

This ranked dossier gathers 25 titles spanning standalones, novellas, and multi-book arcs, from early Cosmere ground-laying to towering epics — a quick map to the Best Brandon Sanderson Books across two decades. In one sweep, the sequence shows a steady rise from experiments to main-sequence triumphs, visible as ratings climb from #1 to #25, with Words of Radiance at the summit; for a concise academic look at Sanderson’s teaching footprint, see Brigham Young University’s coverage of his workshop (BYU Universe).

Across worlds, the most repeated structures are rule-bound magic, chosen obligations, and communities pulling against empires, with tonal range from playful capers to siege science. For a reported snapshot of his outsized cultural moment in crowdfunding and publishing, see TIME’s coverage that cites his record-setting campaign; the Best Brandon Sanderson Books list above shows how that momentum reflects years of reader trust.

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