Mistborn is definitely a great intro to the cosmere books. I'd almost definitely start there, see if you like it, and then get into the rest because it can be pretty overwhelming with how much there is.
All seriousness aside, Mistborn (Era 1) is fantastic, especially as an introduction into Sanderson's world. Part of the reason it's great is because he was able to write all three books at once -- book 1 went to print as book 2 was in editing stages and as he was wrapping up the first draft of book 3. That means he was able to keep it tight and put proper foreshadowing and have everything kind of work out really well. You can see in his other books that it hasn't worked out quite as well. They're all good books, but Mistborn stands out to me as fantastic because of that.
But back to my serious joke, read more! Sanderson's a great author, but he's far from the only good one, and there are some truly brilliant folks out there that just aren't as good at marketing themselves as Sanderson is, and they deserve recognition and more for their good work too!
- Django Wexler's THE SHADOW CAMPAIGNS - flintlock fantasy with demons! First book is titled "The Thousand Names"
- Robert Jackson Bennett's THE DIVINE CITIES trilogy, of which the first book is THE CITY OF STAIRS. For what it's worth, everything Robert Jackson Bennett writes is fantastic. He's one of the authors I consider to be at Sanderson's level (or better!) without much of the acclaim.
- Will Wight's CRADLE series, starting with UNSOULED. Like a lot of long-running series, first book is standard fantasy fare, but starting with the second book it turns into its own incredible world. If you like Dragon Ball Z and Chinese wuxia genre, this is fantastic.
- Max Gladstone's CRAFT SEQUENCE - Imagine legal contracts as magic. A secondary world urban fantasy, wildly imaginative, mostly involving mysterious events and the characters that investigate them. First book is THREE PARTS DEAD.
- Sebastien de Castiel's THE GREATCOATS series was described as the "Scott Lynchiest book since LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA." I don't really but _that_, but I did thoroughly enjoy the series, and have read everything else de Castiel has published on the strength of these books. Really good!
- Scott Lynch THE GENTLEMEN BASTARDS, of course, has to be on the list, with the first book being THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA. The series is unfinished, sadly, but the way the stories are structured, you don't really miss it. LIES is one of my favorite books ever
- Dan Wells' I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER follows a sociopathic kid named John Cleaver who... well, he's not a serial killer but he kinda wants to be. And it turns out he can hunt demons. Horror stories, but very well done. The series is complete. There's also a movie version of the first book!
- Josiah Bancroft's THE BOOKS OF BABEL are my favorite reads of 2022. It follows a schoolteacher who loses his wife on a tourist trip to the legendary Tower of Babel. Wildly imaginative, engaging characters, and a crazy trip! Series is complete and the first book is SENLIN ASCENDS.
- Fonda Lee's THE GREEN BONE SAGA is a secondary world fantasy following Godfather-style mafia families on an Asian-inspired island. Jade gives them super powers, which they use to enforce control over the island. Very political and violent. Trilogy is complete and the first book is JADE CITY!
- For a standalone novel, check out M.L. Wang's SWORD OF KAIGEN, which is another secondary world fantasy following a Japanese-inspired honorable patriarchal society that more or less refuses to modernize with the rest of the world, but this island is the first line of defense against invaders. And, of course, there are invaders. Really good, character-driven story.
- Michael Livingston's THE SHARDS OF HEAVEN is an alternate history fantasy following the children of Cleopatra, a few Roman soldiers, and Augustus Caesar as they hunt down magical artifacts known as the Shards of Heaven. Very well done, historically accurate (as much as it can be). Criminally underrated, IMO.
- Evan Winters' RAGE OF DRAGONS is an African-inspired fantasy, with a character who grinds for power in a way that reminds of old-school video games. It's NOT a LitRPG -- it's straight up fantasy -- but the mechanic there makes me think of it. It's also a straightforward revenge fantasy ("you killed my father, prepare to die"), but it's told very well and both of the books so far are fantastic. Third book coming soon!
- C.L. Clark's THE UNBROKEN is also an African-inspired fantasy, focusing on an imperial regiment that occupies a city in order to stabilize it, and one of the soldiers falls in love with the princess. It's sapphic, but I really enjoyed it.
- Charlie Jane Anders' ALL THE BIRDS IN THE SKY is where urban fantasy meets science fiction. A witch and a wizard become friends in San Francisco and their lives intertwine over the years until they come face to face in a final confrontation. One of my favorite books. Anything by Charlie Jane Anders is gold, for what it's worth. Instant buys for me.
- Mary Robinette Kowal is better known for her LADY ASTRONAUT series, which I thought were good (Sanderson-level), but I really enjoyed her most recent book THE SPARE MAN which is a murder mystery... on a cruise ship! in SPACE! A SPACE CRUISE SHIP! I wound up devouring the entire book in a single night, from about 10pm-4am.
- Lindsay Buroker's DEATH BEFORE DRAGONS series is an urban fantasy set in Seattle. I wouldn't say Buroker is better than Sanderson, but she publishes more often -- typically 6 books per year -- and they're all really enjoyable reads. Not going to win any awards or anything, but if you want reliably enjoyable and cheap reads, she's your girl. DEATH BEFORE DRAGONS is her best, so far, but I've read all 60+ books in her catalog and I would recommend any of them to anyone who tires of the huge, epic fantasy worlds and wants something simpler. If Sanderson's Cosmere is STAR WARS, then Buroker's books are episodes of FRIENDS.
- Daniel Green's LAWFUL TIMES series is surprisingly good. The first book, BREACH OF PEACE, is a novella, and it's dark and has horror-vibes. The second book is even better, though. I'm really looking forward to book three!
Hope that helps. If you have more specific types of fantasy or sci-fi that you like, let me know and I can recommend some more :)
I enjoyed KKC when I first read them, but I haven't re-read them. I think Rothfuss is a talented writer, but given that the third book is MIA for going on 10 years, I'm not inclined to recommend it to anyone, unless you're OK with a fairly good but un-and-likely-to-never-be-finished series.
I'd put almost all of my other recommendations above KKC.
That said, it's a pretty popular series and comes widely recommended, so YMMV. I personally would skip it and read something else.
Word of warning: Gentlemen Bastards is equally unfinished -- but I have faith that Scott Lynch will eventually publish the next book before Rothfuss did. Plus I consider the first book (and to a lesser extent, the second and third books) to be fun enough on their own that I'm not aching for a fourth book in the way that KKC leaves a story unfinished. In short, I'd still recommend reading Gentlemen Bastards :)
> I'm not inclined to recommend it to anyone, unless you're OK with a fairly good but un-and-likely-to-never-be-finished series.
I think this is enough justification for me. There's so many completed or "likely to be completed" series I _haven't_ read so I don't mind skipping this one unless there's some indication that it'll be completed :)
> Gentlemen Bastards is equally unfinished -- but I have faith that Scott Lynch will eventually publish the next book before Rothfuss did. Plus I consider the first book (and to a lesser extent, the second and third books) to be fun enough on their own that I'm not aching for a fourth book in the way that KKC leaves a story unfinished. In short, I'd still recommend reading Gentlemen Bastards :)
I'm not the grandparent. But my opinion: Kingkiller Chronicles has a lot of fans (though fewer and fewer as time goes on), and I thought Name of the Wind was fine as a beginning to a potentially good story. But Wise Man's Fear was quite terrible. Your mileage may vary. People who like Rothfuss seem to like him for his prose, not plot. Another thing to consider is that Patrick Rothfuss is a giant asshole towards his fans. It has also been nearly 12 years since he published anything. He's basically made a career out of not publishing book three.
Thanks for the input! That's a good point you've made. Maybe I can just ignore the series until we have some indication that it'll actually be finished.
Also, if you liked CRADLE, I recommend MOTHER OF LEARNING by nobody103, Iron Prince by Bryce O'Connor (first book is out, second book comes out in 2023), and Arcane Ascension series by Andrew Rowe. All three of those are fantastic and in the vein of progression fantasy like Cradle!
Initial concept for mistborn was to show epic fantasy world live through different stages of technological progress. Initially he planned to do three trilogies, one pure epic fantasy, one set in early computer age and one in space age, but since release date gap between epic fantasy and computer age was too large, he decided to write another series, which is set in industrial revolution. And I'd expect him to write cyberpunk series between computer age and cosmoopera.
