Dawnshard: Stormlight Archive

Rysn has been treated like a minor character and certainly had been an unlikable one. Of course I don’t know what her arc will be over the course of ten (or more) books but I am glad to see her maturing into someone more worthy of good regard. I’m glad she could maintain a good relationship with her babsk. Giving her a ship was almost enough to make up for nearly getting her killed. (Nice to be rich eh?) I would have liked to hear more about Yalb and less about Lopen, though they seem a little interchangeable too. As big as the Stormlight novels are its seems like Dawnshard and Edgedancer and more about Yalb could and should have been squeezed into them with some creative editing. Makes me wonder what happened to the two ardents with their little chapter about cooking and measuring flamespren. That was book two I think, maybe? Maybe we need yet another novella 🙄.

Sanderson, as always, gives us a wonderful story, this time focusing on Rysn, a paraplegic merchant who has so far only appeared in Stormlight's interludes.The hardback copy arrived in perfect physical condition with no printing errors on any of the pages.

Not a throwaway novel, but actually reveals super relevant Cosmere events as part of a very intriguing story. Very enjoyable!

This was a very enjoyable read, and featured more implications for Sanderson’s universe as a whole than any other short story. Highly recommended if you like the Stormlight Books.

A small adventure into a world within a world. So full of action and intrigue that you almost feel the whole rest of series could have left of from here.

Like most of Sandersons work it grips you from the start. Every page turned, every morsel of story experienced, made me excited for the next one, and sad that it was that much closer to being done. Truly a must read for any Cosmere or Stormlight fan.

I loved this book! I finished it in a grand total of three or so days, and I simply could not put it down! Wonderful job, Sanderson!

Finished in less than a day, this book has answered so many questions while asking so many more! I’m so excited to read RoW now and I look forward to traversing the rest of the Cosmere with Sanderson.

‘Dawnshard’ is a novella from ‘The Stormlight Archive’ that is set shortly after ‘Words of Radiance’ and before the recently published ‘Rhythm of War’. It is concerned with several previously minor characters, amongst others, going on a mission to the legendary island of Akinah.As such the novel has several typical aspects of a naval adventure story with the ruins of lost civilisations, giant sea monsters and bad omens. Of course, the return of the Radiants and Voidbringers influences all this and three Radiants accompany the crew of the Wandersail on their mission.Like ‘Edgedancer’, the previous ‘Stormlight’ novella which took place between the second and third volumes of the saga, the primary character is taken from the various ‘interludes’ that appear in ‘The Stormlight Archive’ novels. ‘Dawnshard’ is more serious in tone than ‘Edgedancer’. This is primarily because the lead character of ‘Edgedancer’ was Lift, with her unique outlook upon life and her fixation with food.‘Dawnshard’ focusses on the more serious character of Rysn. Although a relatively minor character, she appeared in several of the ‘interludes’ throughout the first three volumes of ‘The Stormlight Archive’. It was during one of these that she lost the use of her legs. As such, a fair proportion of this novella is concerned with her coming to terms with this, adjusting to it and regaining her independence alongside her fulfilling her new role as a shipowner and attempting to win over the crew.As well as Rysn, the story also comes from the perspective of Lopen, one of the members of Bridge Four and followers of Kaladin. With his boundless optimism, flamboyant humour and having recently regrown his lost arm through his newfound Radiant powers, he works well as a contrast to Rysn.Although the story comes from just the two perspectives, several other characters such as Cord, Huio and Rusho also feature and significantly develop.Not being an entirely independent, it is advisable to read the previous Stormlight novels for this to make sense as there is a substantial amount of world building behind it. The three previous ‘interludes’ in those books concerned with Rysn also provide her background to this story. There are also more Cosmere connections but picking up on these is not essential to enjoying this novella.

This is a truly entertaining side story with subtle undercurrents on understanding humanity itself, if you look for them. I kept having to read out bits about Lopen as everyone wanted to know why I was laughing out loud. Now two more people want to read The Stormlight Archive, though I suggested reading Warbreaker first, because of Sword Nimi (no, I'm not going to explain that). Thank you, Brandon Sanderson, for getting me through Covid-19 UK lockdown.

I started this book unsure whether the characters would interest me but determined to read it before the next book in this amazing series.To say the least it has surprised me, the minor characters from the main series have been fleshed out and actually have become a lot more interesting than I would have believed possible.Another great read from Brandon, hopefully many more to come in the future.

Loved this novella. Sanderson really is a master of posing questions, drawing you in, answering a couple amid an epic climax and then raising about 100 more.If you haven't read stormlight 1-3, do that first. One or two things in stormlight 4 will make more sense if you read this beforehand though

This book only enhances my enjoyment of the Stormlight Archive, and the Cosmere as a whole, despite also being an excellent read on its own. The characters were engaging, entertaining, and their journeys felt unique and special, and of course the worldbuilding was of a high standard indeed.