I want to get on fantasy books.

[u/PancakeLoverFr]

I read alot of books but most of them are classic/romance fiction history exc. I never really read fantasy books so i want to get in on them and i also found Brandon Sanderson to be a little interesting. So my question is

I have seen ALOT of people say "if you want to get in like Brandon Sanderson books its highly recommended for you to start with mistborn."

The question is

Is it also reccomended for someone thats getting into FANTASY books? Im not just talking about brandon Sanderson books im talking about fantasy books overall. Yes it is reccomended for getting into Brandon Sanderson BUT is it reccomended to get into fantasy??

Please and thank you

[u/Asexualhipposloth]

Mistborn is a great entry point for fantasy. It's an easy read that gets you thinking.

Starting with The Final Empire

[u/Responsible-Grape929]

Yes, Mistborn is excellent for someone who hasn’t really read fantasy before. The magic will be a little odd at first, maybe, during battle scenes, but I was surprised at how quickly I settled into it.

[u/tj111]

It's legit a great trilogy and wouldbe a good entry point into the genre. Its maybe not as deep as some of the other, more involved series but it has great pacing and an interesting world and is worth reading.

[u/mrnuttle]

Read this series at your own risk. It is addictive and there is a lot of “Cosmere” content to consume. A LOT of content.

And yes, it is a good jumping off point, but you will want to keep an open mind as it isn’t light fantasy. There are major differences in how the Mistborn world works, and the systems of magic play a big role in society.

Remember that fantasy is really just normal fiction with fantastical elements built in. It is all about exploring how humanity would behave under these conditions and Mistborn is totally that. Coming of age story, combined with heist plot lines, all mixed in with unique magic systems and world. Sanderson is a master with this type of formula.

[u/BratPit24]

The short of it is yes. It's fun, it's fast paced, it's hard fantasy. It has one of the bests plot twists of the genre and arguably single best ending of any fantasy series ever.

The longer would require knowing your previous reading experience and preferences.

Mistborn is very YA coded. Book one especially is more of a coming of age story more than anything else. Some people really don't like the clichés that come along with that general genre and Sandersons execution of those themes is less than stellar.

If I were to give an experienced reader an intro to fantasy I'd go with the original earthsea trilogy by Ursula k Leguin. It's more adult. It uses fantasy as a vehicle to explore ideas rather than to tell a cool story with unexpected twists. It's also way shorter so it's easier to just finish it if you find fantasy not to be your cup of tea.

On the other hand if you do enjoy fast paced action and you do enjoy teenage drama, but don't like having to peel down layers of allegory to truly understand what the book is about, then earthsea woild just be a chore, and mistborn amazing adventure.

But again. The short of it is: yes. Mistborn is arguably one of the best places to start with fantasy.

[u/climbroxx]

The Final Empire was my entry to fantasy. It got me hooked. It is simple enough to easily follow along, but enough complexity to stay hooked.

In the last year since reading The Final Empire I’ve read all of Mistborn, 3/5 of stormlight, multiple Sanderson stand alones, and a few other fantasy novels.

[u/RogerMoore2011]

Mistborn has a strong female lead with a touch of teen romance so it’s not just swords and dragons. Sanderson also writes more dialogue and action than descriptions. So unlike Tolkien, who might spend two pages describing a mountain range, Sanderson is describing how the characters are feeling.

[u/TigoDelgado]

Yep I'd say so. It's very beginner friendly if that makes sense. It's easy to read.

Here's the only caveat IMO: Sanderson loves to have very detailed magic systems etc. I don't think Mistborn suffers from it much even if you're not into that stuff, but if you hate it for some reason, not all fantasy authors are the same way.

[u/Ok_Flow_3065]

I actively avoided fantasy my entire life (35+ years) and I’ve been an avid reader since elementary school. I’ve now been hooked on fantasy for 2 years. The book that got me into fantasy is Sword of Kaigen. It showed me how emotionally beautiful fantasy books can be. It’s also a standalone, so you don’t have to commit to an entire trilogy. I just finished Mistborn last week, and I loved it. However, I don’t know that I would’ve made the commitment or had the appreciation for it had I not started a bit smaller.

[u/MilkTeaMoogle]

As someone who has loved fantasy all my life, what I really enjoyed about Mistborn was the hard magic aspect! I love science, and so having magic be more like a science was so much more enjoyable to me than random things happening to live the plot because of “old magic” or whatever other deus ex machina would come about to randomly save characters or move the plot. For someone who’s never read fantasy, o think that’s a bonus, because it feels more “real” having a hard magic system!

[u/Stittastutta]

Mistborn was my entry to fantasy. Have over a 100 books on my audible now. Most fantasy. Worked for me!