As a low level damage dealing sorcerer the only spell you should know before you get fireball is shocking grasp, no save and kills anything on normal in one hit with all the enhancements. You don't realize how much damage that 5D6 adds up to. Also, Sure it has a low range but any sorcerer worth his worth won't care about getting that close to kill because 1. they will be dead and 2. you either have high constitution or the ability to heal yourself.
So enjoy Shocking everything to death =D