Oct 29, 2026
Mistborn Books in Order
Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn is set on a world where a few people can burn metals for magic. It runs in eras: a classic epic fantasy trilogy, then a Western-flavored mystery series set 300 years later.
By Brandon Sanderson · Eras 1 and 2 are complete. A third era is planned.
Where to start
Start with Mistborn: The Final Empire and read in number order. Books 1-3 (Era 1) are one complete story; books 4-7 (Era 2) follow lawman Wax and his partner Wayne.
Start with Mistborn: The Final Empire
The Mistborn books in order
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Book 1
Mistborn: The Final Empire Our pick
In a world of ash and mist ruled by an immortal tyrant, a street thief discovers she can burn metals for power and joins a crew planning the ultimate heist: overthrowing the Lord Ruler. The classic first Sanderson.
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Book 2
The Well of Ascension
Vin and her friends have toppled an empire and now have to run it, while three armies besiege the city and something ancient stirs. A slower, political middle book with a powerful ending.
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Book 3
The Hero of Ages
The world is falling apart, and the answers lie in the mysteries the first two books planted. One of Sanderson's best endings, where everything clicks into place.
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Book 4
The Alloy of Law
Three hundred years after the first trilogy, the world has railways and revolvers. A frontier lawman returns to the city and gets pulled into a string of heists. Fun, fast Western-flavored fantasy.
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Book 5
Shadows of Self
Wax and Wayne chase a killer who's targeting the city's powerful and threatening to tear apart its fragile peace. A twisty mystery with ties back to the original trilogy.
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Book 6
The Bands of Mourning
An expedition goes hunting a legendary relic of the Lord Ruler that could change everything. Adventure-movie energy, with big hints about the wider Cosmere.
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Book 7
The Lost Metal
Wax, Wayne and Marasi race to stop a plot that could destroy their city, closing out the second Mistborn era. Action-packed, with the deepest Cosmere connections yet.
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Book 8
Mistborn: Secret History
A novella showing what one character was doing behind the scenes of the original trilogy. Read it after The Hero of Ages; it recasts the whole story.
Good to know
- Read Mistborn: Secret History, a novella, after The Hero of Ages (book 3). It spoils the first trilogy, and it means more once you've read Era 2.
- Mistborn is part of the Cosmere, Sanderson's shared universe with The Stormlight Archive, but you don't need any other series to follow it.