ByDanielD
Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere is an incredibly diverse place, with the only similarities between worlds being that they almost all have humans, and most of the ones we know of have some form of Investiture (the Cosmere version of magic). Otherwise, each planet is very different — not to mention how different Investiture is on each planet. The Shard(s) that inhabits each planet influences how Investiture works, and dramatically changes the planet in a multitude of ways.
Which got me thinking, which Cosmere planets would be the best and worst to live on? There’s a lot to consider: the native flora and fauna, the planet’s culture, what Shard is there, how breathable the atmosphere is, and so on. We’ll only look at planets that were actually visited in books, so we won’t talk about places like Ashyn or Obrodai until Brando Sando actually writes a book set there. So, without further ado, here are the Cosmere planets ranked by how nice it would be to live on them:
Now that you know the initial order, let’s get into why!
SPOILER WARNING: This article contains major spoilers for many Cosmere novels.
Appears in the Stormlight Archive series
This was the easiest part of the list to make. Braize is a lifeless planet, and a prison for the souls of the Fused while they are bound by the Oathpact. You’d have to bring everything you need to survive, and it’s not clear if you’d even be safe from the Fused souls while you were there. The place being called Damnation is one of the things Vorinism actually gets right.
Appears in Sunlit Man
Well, there’s life here, but it doesn’t sound like a very fun life to live. The sunlight will literally kill you, so you’ve got to spend your day running from it, remaining in shadow. While the events of Sunlit Man may have made the place not quite as horrible to live in culturally, the fact you get burned to a crisp in sunlight still puts it pretty low on our list of places to live.
Appears in Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell
The poor Threnodites actually left #9 on our list to go to #10. Still, the place they left isn’t great either, as people who die on Threnody sometimes turn into Cognitive Shadows that float around the planet and attack anyone that kindles a fire, runs at night, or spills the blood of another. While the last two rules aren’t so tough to follow — and the last one actually does prevent lots of violence — living on a planet that can’t even start fires seriously limits technological advancement. Plus, who wants to have to visit a fire merchant if they’re cold at night? Oh, and the larger continent on the planet had to flee from a mysterious Evil.
Appears in White Sand
Taldain is a tidally locked planet, which means that one side of the world always faces the sun, while the other is in perpetual night. Neither option sounds great to us, and the magic system on the planet — sand mastery — would be coarse and get everywhere. It does sound like a neat place to visit, if only for their instant noodles.
Appears in Yumi and the Nightmare Painter
Even before the father machine got turned on and a lot of people’s souls were sucked into it, Komashi didn’t seem all that great. It was mostly a barren wasteland before the arrival of the Shard Virtuosity, and its subsequent splintering near the planet. Even after the planet became habitable, it was still so hot during the day that the ground would burn you if you didn’t walk on platformed shoes. Once the machine was turned on, the world was always dark and nightmare creatures stalked the streets — even the fact that Komashi has TV can’t make up for the fact that you might get your soul sucked out while you sleep.
Appears in Tress of the Emerald Sea
Another Cosmere planet, another terrifying way to die. While Lumar’s spore seas certainly sound beautiful, the idea that accidentally breathing in a few spores could lead to them growing explosive vines inside of you is terrifying. Still, it does seem like most people on the planet manage to lead relatively “normal” lives by our Earth standards, and so we wouldn’t totally hate to live on Lumar.
Appears in the Mistborn series
While the Scadrial of the original Mistborn trilogy was a pretty rough place, by the time of Wax and Wayne it doesn’t seem all that bad. Industrialization is never particularly pleasant, however, and Scadrial is a world in political and social upheaval — plus it’s under attack by Autonomy. The basin seems pleasant enough, but it’s getting pretty polluted. And while being an allomancer or a fuerochemist would be very cool, the odds of that are low. Unless we were sure we could steel push our way through traffic, Scadrial seems to be an only OK option.
Appears in Warbreaker
Nalthis is a diverse world, with a wide variety of plants and animals. There are also many different cultures and nations on the planet, and the magic system won’t kill you — Awakening and Breaths are either pretty meaningless or a relatively accessible form of useful magic, depending on your wealth. While the pseudo-medieval culture probably isn’t great for everyone, the magic system will certainly allow for amazing technological advancements, and Hallandren is a lively, colorful city we’d love to live in.
Appears in Elantris, The Emperor’s Soul
Sel is another diverse planet, with a variety of different cultures — some more pleasant-seeming than others, but at its worst is simply equivelant to the lower-ranked planets on this list. The magic systems on Sel are all very interesting, and there are a wide variety, from AonDor to Bloodsealing. Stamping yourself a new temporary power or personality would be a very useful ability! Most compelling is the city of Elantris, which, after the events in the book of the same title, should once again become a (literally) shining beacon of magic, knowledge, and charity.
Appears in Sixth of the Dusk
We don’t actually know a huge amount about First of the Sun, as the short story set on the planet takes place exclusively on one island. But we know that there is an archipelago of forty islands, another group of islands, and then a mainland continent, all fairly close together. It sounds like a tropical, interesting place to live, but otherwise familiar and comfortable for people from Earth. Mostly though, it would just be really cool to have a magic psychic bird friend.
Appears in the Stormlight Archive series
Roshar has a lot going for it, and easily tops this list. For starters, it’s got Shinovar, which is a region that is by all accounts Earth-like. You’ve also got the Purelake, a warm, shallow lake where people live a very laidback lifestyle. The Reshi Isles are lush, motile living islands where you’re free to lounge or participate in insult-flinging “wars” as your heart desires. If you’re a rule-following type, you can move to Azir, and if for some reason you want to go to war for real, you’ve got, well, most of the rest of the continent. In addition to the wide swathe of cultures that all have their appeal, Roshar has a magic system that functions somewhat as a meritocracy, with spren bonds being given to people who can live up to the oaths of each Order of Knight Radiant. The high storms are a problem, but people have adapted to them, so they aren’t a real threat — and who doesn’t want glowing money?
Disagree with the list? Have a Cosmere planet you’d like to live on? Let us know in the comments!
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