Arcanum Unbounded: The Cosmere Collection

Favorites in order:
1. Shadows for Silence in The Forests of Hell
2. Emperor's Soul
3. Sixth of Dusk
4. Mistborn: Secret History
5. Edgedancer
6. White Sand
7. Hope of Elantris
8. Eleventh Metal
9. Allomancer Jak and The Pits of Eltania

Only the last two were a bit weak so overall 5 stars.
I so badly want to read more about Threnodite and Drominad systems!!!

3.5 out of 5 stars – see this review and others at The Speculative Shelf.

Here are some brief thoughts on each story of this collection:

The Emperor's Soul – 3.75 – A beautiful story, which I very much enjoyed.

The Hope of Elantris – 2.5 – A decent short story; leaves me nostalgic for Elantris.

The Eleventh Metal – 3.0 – A nice primer for the Mistborn books that gives further insight into Kelsier's backstory.

Allomancer Jak and the Pits of Eltania – 4.0 – I loved the humor and style of this one. The call-and-response nature of the story and footnotes was very funny.

Mistborn: Secret History – 2.0 – This was disappointing; it's an addendum to the story that feels unneeded.

White Sand – 2.25 – Features great artwork, but it's a bit spatially disorienting. The written companion was much more clear, but the overall story was just okay — a simple, mostly interesting story.

Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell – 4.0 – I really dug this one. The world, the concept, and the execution were all spot on.

Sixth of the Dusk – 3.5 – I thought this was well done and I enjoyed the dynamic between the protagonists on a cool island/jungle world.

Edgedancer – 3.5 – Light in tone, and a bit too goofy at times, but it hits some satisfying emotional notes. It's nice to see a new character and a new part of Roshar.

I read most books digitally, but owning this in hardcover is a must for any Sanderson fan. It's really a beautiful physical book — the artwork, the layout, and the overall furtherance of the Cosmere through visual representations is a sight to behold.

ReviewThere was a time when Brandon Sanderson could do no wrong. After reading a few of his books he quickly became a favorite. Everything he wrote I bought immediately and loved.But either my tastes have changed, or he's simply started to spread out into some stuff I just don't enjoy. That's OK however, because his Cosmere stuff is still really enjoyable for me. This is especially true for his Stormlight Archive series and Mistborn books. I decided I was done reading his other stuff though.I'm not a huge fan of short stories in general, and I'd read a few of these already, but I really wanted to get my hands on [b:Edgedancer 34703445 Edgedancer (The Stormlight Archive, #2.5) Brandon Sanderson https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1499706661s/34703445.jpg 54097500]. Brandon Sanderson doesn't do short as well as he does long (and I think he does long VERY well). I enjoyed the collection overall, but I think if they had just been selling [b:Edgedancer 34703445 Edgedancer (The Stormlight Archive, #2.5) Brandon Sanderson https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1499706661s/34703445.jpg 54097500] as a stand-alone from the start I might have just bought that instead. It is easily the best reason to pick up this collection.If like me, you love all things Cosmere, I think there is value to read the full collection. I'll be curious to see if he ever gets back to some of the worlds he's only visited only in short story so far. I'd definitely pick those up, but for me my main interest is going to remain Stormlight Archive and Mistborn. Everything else is just taking valuable time away from him completing those series.Then again at the rate Mr. Sanderson writes, I don't really see it being a huge problem that he's putting out books I'm not interested in buying anymore. It won't be too long before he puts out another book that I'll love.The overall rating is simply an average of all of my individual ratings below:Ratingsbook:The Emperor's Soul 13578175] - 4 stars (Full review)The Hope of Elantris was alright - 3 starsEleventh Metal - 3.5 StarsAllomancer Jalandhar the Pits of Eltania was OK. - 3 stars Mistborn Secret History - 4 StarsWhite Sands - 4 starsShadows For Silence in the Forests of Hell - 4.5 Stars Sixth of the Dusk - 4 stars[b:Edgedancer 34703445 Edgedancer (The Stormlight Archive, #2.5) Brandon Sanderson https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1499706661s/34703445.jpg 54097500] - 5 stars

i loved this collection comprised of short stories from places all over the cosmere. i started this 9 months ago and kept it on the side, waiting until i got to stormlight archive book #3, before i read it to completion. there are a couple of stories which would spoil the plot for other cosmere books, but they're clearly labeled beforehand.

my fav stories were definitely “the emperor's soul” and “shadows for silence in the forests of hell” - that second one, what a name! they were so different from existing cosmere books, and i hope we can see more of them someday.

i also really enjoyed getting behind the scene notes from brando sando himself giving context for having written a particular story, and any future plans for said stories.

this is truly a must have for any cosmere fan.