Collider has published a ranked feature on the original Mistborn trilogy by fantasy author Brandon Sanderson, timed to renewed interest in his work following news of a possible Mistborn film and a Stormlight Archive television series, both reportedly in development with Apple TV. The piece frames the three novels as an accessible entry point into Sanderson's much larger body of work, noting the first book recently marked its 20th anniversary and that the author has since become one of the genre's most prolific and prominent writers, also known for completing Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series.

The ranking places The Hero of Ages (2008), the trilogy's concluding volume, in third place, with the article comparing its uneven ending to that of the His Dark Materials series. The full list also covers the trilogy's second and third instalments before naming the original first book as the strongest of the three, though the article notes it avoids major spoilers given how closely the sequels build on the opening novel's events.