Review: Dawnshard

Dawnshard by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I very much enjoyed this. It was quick, tight sea and mythical island expedition. Very palatable. From the top you realize that this whole novella is picking up right off one of the many interludes he has opened up in the main series. Very satisfying. This is probably one reason why Edgedancer was a bit harder to swallow than this, but not the only reason.



I found the main character, Rysn, as well as, sure, Lopen to shine as the starring characters. There are twists that are timed with perfection as they synchronize with divulging new important info about both Roshar and the Cosmere as a whole. Another new-ish development is the underrated "familiar" trope with Rysn and Chiri-Chiri. He has taken on this trope with spren, but now has also broken out from it in a new and interesting way that freshens everything up. It's also really cool that he has an SCI character, with Rysn, and the inner struggles that are experienced by SCI patients in real life are very accurate here. But it's even cooler that that message is bookended wit hope.



We also get satisfactory character growth too for Rysn and Lopen, and always in a way that's realistic and human enough but not boring. Everything mixed together in this tasty novella soup makes this an easy 5 stars. Brandon has subtly accomplished a new level of storytelling in this one. As he got better with his traditionally lengthy novels, so he continues to get better in the novella space with his increased production of such in the last 5 years.

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