Order of Book Series
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Mistborn Books in Order

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson contains 8 books, published between 2006 and 2022. The first book is The Final Empire (2006) and the newest is The Lost Metal (2022). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
8
Published
2006–2022
Confirmed
8 of 8 titles
Pages on record
2,836 in 6 of 8 books
Reading time
47–71 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 2,836 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 6 of 8 titles with a page count on record.

See all 8 books in order Printable Mistborn checklist

Mistborn is Brandon Sanderson's epic fantasy sequence, published by Tor Books and built on Allomancy, a magic worked by swallowing metals. The opening era, The Final Empire (2006), The Well of Ascension (2007) and The Hero of Ages (2008), sets a covert band of Allomancers against a dystopian empire in a land buried under ash. Later books jump forward in time: The Alloy of Law (2011), Shadows of Self (2015), The Bands of Mourning (2016) and The Lost Metal (2022), with Secret History (2022) beside them. Eight books are catalogued, and Mistborn is dormant.

How many Mistborn books are there?

Mistborn has 8 books, released between 2006 and 2022.

Mistborn Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 8 Mistborn books in the order they were released, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.

  1. Cover of The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson, book 1 of the Mistborn series (2006)
  2. Cover of The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson, book 2 of the Mistborn series (2007)
  3. Cover of The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson, book 3 of the Mistborn series (2008)
  4. Cover of The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson, book 4 of the Mistborn series (2011)
  5. Cover of Shadows of Self by Brandon Sanderson, book 5 of the Mistborn series (2015)
  6. Cover of The Bands of Mourning by Brandon Sanderson, book 6 of the Mistborn series (2016)
  7. Cover of Secret History by Brandon Sanderson, book 7 of the Mistborn series (2022)
  8. Cover of The Lost Metal by Brandon Sanderson, book 8 of the Mistborn series (2022)
  1. 1
    The Final Empire2006 · 657 pages · confirmed 4/4
    2006657
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    The Well of Ascension2007 · 592 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2007592
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    The Hero of Ages2008 · 572 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2008572
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    The Alloy of Law2011 · 392 pages · confirmed 4/4
    2011392
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    Shadows of Self2015 · 383 pages · confirmed 4/4
    2015383
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    The Bands of Mourning2016 · confirmed 4/4
    2016–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    Secret History2022 · 240 pages · confirmed 4/4
    2022240
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    The Lost Metal2022 · confirmed 4/4
    2022–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Mistborn Books in Chronological Order

By publication date, the Mistborn books run from The Final Empire (2006) to The Lost Metal (2022), the sequence in the table above. No separate story order is recorded for Mistborn in the book listings this catalogue merges, so publication order is the only order on record.

Do you have to read Mistborn books in order?

You should read the Mistborn books in publication order, the order of the numbered table above. The catalogue does not record whether each Mistborn book also stands alone.

What order should you read Mistborn books in?

Read them in publication order, starting with The Final Empire (2006), the earliest published title. After it come The Well of Ascension (2007), The Hero of Ages (2008), The Alloy of Law (2011), Shadows of Self (2015), The Bands of Mourning (2016), Secret History (2022) and The Lost Metal (2022).

What is the first Mistborn book?

The Final Empire (2006) is the first Mistborn book, and the numbered table above starts with it.

What is the newest Mistborn book?

The Lost Metal (2022) is the newest Mistborn book released so far.

Is there a new Mistborn book coming?

No next Mistborn book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Mistborn at a glance

Paused
No new Mistborn title has appeared for 4 years. The last was published in 2022.
Release pace
Mistborn books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
Length
2,836 pages across the 6 of 8 books with a recorded length, a median of 482 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Mistborn books, 3 of 8, were published in the 2010s.
Corroboration
6 of the 8 titles appear in all four independent book listings, and every one of them in at least three.

What the Mistborn books are about

7 of the 8 Mistborn books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: fantasy is tagged on 5 of 7. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.

More books by Brandon Sanderson

The author page linked below lists every book in publication order.

Other series by Brandon Sanderson

Each series linked below has its own reading-order page.