The Stormlight Archive reading order is The Way of Kings, Words of Radiance, Edgedancer, Oathbringer, Dawnshard, Rhythm of War and Wind and Truth. The five novels go in publication order, and the two novellas sit where Brandon Sanderson intends them: Edgedancer after book two and Dawnshard after book three. As of October 2026, those five novels make up the finished first half of a planned ten-book series.
Spoiler note: nothing here goes beyond the opening premise of The Way of Kings.
The Stormlight Archive books in order
For the seven main books, publication order and the recommended Stormlight Archive reading order are the same list, because each novella came out before the novel that follows it.
- The Way of Kings (August 31, 2010)
- Words of Radiance (March 4, 2014)
- Edgedancer, novella (first published in the collection Arcanum Unbounded in 2016, then as a standalone hardcover in 2017)
- Oathbringer (November 14, 2017)
- Dawnshard, novella (ebook in November 2020, Tor hardcover in February 2022)
- Rhythm of War (November 17, 2020)
- Wind and Truth (December 6, 2024)
The Way of Kings opens on Roshar, a world of stone and storms, during a war on a ruined landscape called the Shattered Plains. It follows Kaladin, who traded a medical apprenticeship for a spear and has been reduced to slavery; Dalinar Kholin, a highprince troubled by visions of the ancient Knights Radiant; Shallan, a young scholar who wants to study under the heretic Jasnah Kholin while planning a theft; and an assassin who weeps as he kills. That premise is all a new reader needs.
Where does Edgedancer fit?
Edgedancer goes after Words of Radiance and before Oathbringer. Sanderson’s official site says its events “occur between the closing of Words of Radiance and the forthcoming Oathbringer” and that it is often called Stormlight 2.5. His series page numbers it Book 2.5.
The novella follows Lift, a young thief introduced in an interlude of Words of Radiance, so reading it any earlier means meeting her out of order. It first appeared in the 2016 collection Arcanum Unbounded. The 2017 standalone edition adds Lift’s Words of Radiance interlude as a prologue, which puts her story so far in one volume. In a 2024 video on reading order, Sanderson was direct about it: he would read Edgedancer after book two.
Dawnshard reading order
Dawnshard goes after Oathbringer and before Rhythm of War. When a reader asked in 2020 whether it was set before or after Rhythm of War, Sanderson answered: “It is between Oathbringer and RoW.” His series page lists it as Book 3.5.
The story centers on Rysn, a Thaylen merchant first met in The Way of Kings, and an expedition by sea to the storm-shrouded island of Akinah. Sanderson said he picked Rysn because the region she travels to “has some relevance to the story in coming years.” The ebook went on sale in November 2020, a week before Rhythm of War, and Sanderson’s blog recommended it to readers getting ready for that novel. In his 2024 video, he said he would read Dawnshard after book three.
Optional extras: two short stories and The Sunlit Man
Sanderson’s series page also lists two short pieces, both co-written for the 2024 Story Deck and collected in a 2025 double book: Elsecaller (with Dan Wells, numbered 2.6) and King Lopen the First of Alethkar (with Isaac Stewart, numbered 2.7). That numbering places them after Edgedancer and before Oathbringer, and the Coppermind notes that both are set during Words of Radiance, so read them after that book in any case. Both are much shorter than the novellas. In December 2025, Dan Wells wrote that Dragonsteel would love to expand Elsecaller into a novella on par with Edgedancer and Dawnshard, but that the project is not currently on the schedule.
The Sunlit Man (2023) is a standalone Cosmere novel rather than a Stormlight book. Sanderson has said it “is intended to be read before you read Stormlight Five,” and suggests slotting it in after book four.
How many Stormlight books are there?
As of October 2026, the series has five novels and two novellas, plus the two short stories above. Sanderson conceived it as ten novels. In a 2014 interview he said he “built a ten-book series with two five-book arcs: five books and then a break, followed by another five books.” Tor describes Wind and Truth as the “climax to the first arc,” so the front five are done and the back five are still to come.
How long are the books?
These are very long novels. Page counts for the US Tor hardcovers, from Macmillan’s listings:
- The Way of Kings: 1,008 pages
- Words of Radiance: 1,088 pages
- Edgedancer: 272 pages
- Oathbringer: 1,248 pages
- Dawnshard: 304 pages
- Rhythm of War: 1,232 pages
- Wind and Truth: 1,344 pages
By word count, Wind and Truth came in at 495,000 words, including the text on its illustrations, according to Peter Ahlstrom of Sanderson’s editorial team in the State of the Sanderson 2024. Paperback and translated editions paginate differently, and Wind and Truth has been split into two volumes in some translations, including the French edition from Le Livre de Poche and the German edition from Heyne.
Stormlight 6 and the second arc, as of October 2026
There is no release date for book six. In the State of the Sanderson 2024, Sanderson said he would finish the Mistborn Ghostbloods trilogy, along with two Elantris sequels, before returning to Roshar. That post’s projected schedule ended with “December 2031: Stormlight 6,” and he told readers to “enjoy Book Five, and savor it.”
The State of the Sanderson 2025, posted in December 2025, has a projected schedule that runs to the third Ghostbloods book in December 2030 and does not list Stormlight 6. Sanderson did write that he was “already starting to feel the call to return to Stormlight,” with the Horneater novella “and maybe early work on Book Six” likely in the next few years. Replying to a reader that same month, he set out the timing: Ghostbloods 2 written in 2026, Ghostbloods 3 in 2027, then Stormlight 6, which takes two years to write and would be finished in 2030, “hence the 2031 release expectation.” He said he doubted it would come sooner than 2031, though he added that sooner was more likely than later. In January 2026, after news broke that he had picked Apple as his Hollywood partner for the Cosmere, with the goal of a theatrical Mistborn film followed by a Stormlight show, he wrote that the screen work “will not delay Mistborn or Stormlight.” That same month, he said book six was “pretty well outlined.”
Inside the story, Sanderson has said the time gap between the two arcs is “around ten years.” Horneater, a planned Stormlight novella, had still not been written as of May 2026, when Sanderson said he would “eventually write Horneater.”
Should you read Mistborn or Warbreaker first?
Sanderson does not require any other book first. The starting guide on his official site lists The Way of Kings among five good starting points for the Cosmere, alongside Mistborn: The Final Empire, The Emperor’s Soul, Elantris and Warbreaker, and says readers do not have to notice the cross-book “tidbits” to enjoy each story. In an April 2026 explainer on his blog, he named Warbreaker, Stormlight and Mistborn as series that are tied together, then added: “You don’t need to know much about those ties, but they are interconnected.”
His personal advice to newcomers leans toward a longer route. In his 2024 reading-order video, he suggested the original Mistborn trilogy, then Warbreaker, then a standalone such as Tress of the Emerald Sea, and only then the Stormlight Archive, possibly taking breaks between its huge volumes with the Wax and Wayne books or other standalones. At Dragonsteel Nexus 2024, he said he generally does not start people with Stormlight and called it “the book Brandon says you should read after you trust him.”
Warbreaker and Stormlight: the crossover characters
Warbreaker (2009) has the most direct ties. Sanderson has said that in his head it is a prequel to the Stormlight Archive, and characters from it turn up on Roshar, including a sentient sword. Sanderson has also said he tries to put what Stormlight readers need into the books themselves, “not requiring external knowledge.” The low-risk plan is to read Warbreaker before Words of Radiance. For where it sits among everything else he has written, see the full Brandon Sanderson reading order.
Audiobooks
All five novels have audiobooks from Macmillan Audio read by Michael Kramer and Kate Reading, the same pair on every book of the main series. Macmillan’s listing for Words of Radiance notes that it won the Audie Award for Audiobook of the Year.
Frequently asked questions
Do you need to read Mistborn before Stormlight?
No. Sanderson lists The Way of Kings as a valid place to start, and the cross-series details are not needed to enjoy it. He does personally suggest Mistborn first for newcomers, since he sees Stormlight as the series to read once a reader trusts him.
When is Stormlight 6 coming out?
As of October 2026, there is no release date. Sanderson’s most recent estimate, from December 2025, is 2031, after the Ghostbloods trilogy. He said he doubted it would come sooner, though he thought sooner more likely than later.
Is the Stormlight Archive finished?
No. Wind and Truth (2024) completed the first five-book arc, and five more novels are planned for the second arc.
How many Stormlight Archive books are there?
Five novels and two novellas as of October 2026, plus two optional short stories. Ten novels are planned in total.
Do you have to read Edgedancer and Dawnshard?
They are shorter than the novels, but Sanderson says he intends readers to read them “in the middle of the Stormlight Archive,” so treat them as part of the sequence: Edgedancer after Words of Radiance and Dawnshard after Oathbringer.
