I have some friends I want to get into the cosmere, but the huge books scares them off - I am sure they'll enjoy it a lot, but it's too big for them.

I thought about giving them the Alloy of Law as a gateway into the cosmere (I have thought of the Emperor's Soul, but it hasn't been translated to our language yet and they need the translation), as it's more simple and short - but the book does have a lot of references and spoilers to the original era. Shadows of self isn't readable before era 1 without destroying it, but I am not sure about the first book.

So, tl,dr: Does using the Alloy of Law as a shorter book to enter the cosmere is a smart idea, or it will be unclear and ruins the original era?

Edit: thanks everyone! I'll try to convince them again to read TFE, you were really helpful :)