Dawnshard
Ratings329
Average rating4.2
I already liked Rysn and Lopen, but now I like them even more. Sanderson never ceases to amaze me with his characters' development. This story was engaging and left me wanting for more. I'm now ready than ever for Rhythm of War!
wowow. what a novella. a super fun story that's essentially a piracy adventure, with a splash of new cosmere knowledge thrown in.
Sanderson's ability to weave a tale that pulls you in and leaves you wanting even more is unmatched. Having the opportunity to explore these characters who mainly stay out of the spotlight was a joy.
I'd consider this book a must-read for anyone working through the Stormlight Archive — even more-so than squeezing in Edgedancer while working through the traditional order.
I wasn't engaged by this book at the very beginning, probably because it featured side characters from the Stormlight Archive so far whom I'm not that interested in, and seemed to be primarily set aboard a ship. Naval stories aren't my most preferred subgenre and I've read a few consecutively recently so I wasn't thrilled to be honest. But Dawnshard really turns things around.
In this one, Rysn, who has generally been relegated to interludes in previous Stormlight books, is now sent on a journey by Navani Kholin to investigate the mythical island of Akinah, from whence a ghost ship devoid of its crew had appeared. She embarks on the voyage accompanied by Knights Radiant the Lopen and Huio, as well as her assistant Nikli. Secretly, Rysn was also given to hope that Akinah might provide an answer or treatment for her ailing pet larkin, Chiri Chiri.
This is a short enough novella and, at least past the 20-30% mark, makes for an entertaining read. Rysn and the Lopen have not been interesting characters to me thus far which made the beginning of the book drag a bit, but by the end I definitely appreciated them a lot more than I had in the whole series (even if I wouldn't say they're new favourites).
Unlike Edgedancer, where we're introduced to a prominent new character who will be playing a significant part in subsequent Stormlight Archive books, Dawnshard doesn't do any such thing. Instead, Dawnshard introduces things and concepts that are entirely different from anything we've read before in the series thus far, which leads me to believe that this is a set-up not for the rest of the SA books in this first arc, but really a taste of the second arc to come (books 6 to 10). Sanderson has mentioned before that SA will split into two arcs like that, and it makes sense to me if the second arc was going to concern a very different type of magic system set in the same world.
That's as far as I will say without going into spoilers. Also that I always visualize the Lopen as Pedro Pascal.
3.75 stars.
Novellas do not really work for me and this one made no exception. However, I liked the characters and story very much.
Dawnshard book 3.5 of the storm light archive. I love this book!!
Dawnshard follows Rysin, a disable character who has lost the use of her legs. She takes a comissiom from the queen to sail to a mysterious island hidden from the world behind a storm that has been raging forever
She is joined by the Lopen and Cord, wind runners to investigate and discover the mystery of these islands. And of course the Dawnshard is part of the mystery as the title suggest.
However the gods who do not sleep will stop at nothing to prevent them from discovering the secret of the islands
All around great read especially if you are a cosmere fan. You can find a more detailed review on my YouTube channel.
I loved getting to know Rysin more as previously only introduced in a interlude from previous books. I feel that Sanderson did a great job portraying the thoughts and feelings of someone from a disabled perspective
Lopen also gets some good character development that I really enjoyed.
Many hints are dropped of things to come “the cosmere is at stake” metals and their effects, allomany maybe? This book is like a trailer for rythim of war
A solid novella that expands the world and the cosmere. I feel like these types of books are important as they take away the need to build the cosmere from the main books in the series (which I have heard have started to be weighed down to further the cosmere). The nautical theme is something that I didn't realize is something I would naturally like but am loving. The mystery and questions this raises only piques the interest in reading the series further.
The only complaint I have and I've noticed Sanderson has done this in the past is that he will tease a reveal and right when you piece it together, he'll just tell you the next chapter. Now obviously he doesn't do this with every mystery but when he does it tends to be unsatisfying.
Not much to say without spoiling, great novella (miles better then Edgedancer) and a must read if anyone loves the world building of the Cosmere
Mmm, es mala? No. Es tan buena como otros libros de Sanderson? También no. No es que sea una novela horrible, pero es cierto que las comparaciones son odiosas. Me parece una historia alargada de más, quizás no halla conseguido conectar con ella.
“Una solución imperfecta para
un mundo imperfecto”
Novela corta que empieza a encajar piezas del Cosmere a lo bestia.
Entretenida a lo Sanderson.
A fun interlude between Stormlight books, particularly welcome as it allows Lopen, everyone’s favourite Hardazian, to have more of a story. It also sheds light on some of the more esoteric Roshar mysteries.
7/10
It's hard to review short books. But this was great. I enjoyed it quite a bit.
Waauw!
Ik verwachtte nu wel dat ik deze novelle graag ging lezen, maar ik had niet verwacht dat het verhaal zo impactvol zou zijn voor de ganse serie! Gewoonweg verbazingwekkend.
Geweldig verhaal, spannend avontuur en fantastisch om deze personages beter te leren kennen. Benieuwd hoe dit zal linken in het grote verhaal!
This is a fantastic little interlude that's assembled with the same care and and quality of all the other entries in this series. This book is kind of a miracle in that It stretches what could've probably been a few pages of exposition into an entire novel that's actually worth reading! I enjoyed every bit of this and was surprised to find that very little felt extraneous or tacked on. It has great pacing, interesting characters, and meaningfully adds to the series as a whole. 4 stars!
Una aventura en Roshar con Lopen y Rysn! Es refrescante, divertida y revela secretos que afectan tanto la guerra en Roshar como en el Cosmere.
En este librito de tan solo 200 páginas, te encuentras una historia con una estructura narrativa muy decente, pero cargada hasta los topísimos de información valiosísima para la saga.
Se exploran mil temas de los que quería saber más, conocemos a personajes que ya me interesaban y que ahora han llegado para quedarse...
No había escuchado una reseña ni opinión de este libro nunca, y me alegro de ello ya que me ha pillado por sopresa lo mucho que me ha gustado esta historia y su implicación. Ahora me muero de ganas de “El Ritmo de la Guerra”, qué le vamos a hacer.
Executive Summary: I enjoyed this, but not nearly as much as [b:Edgedancer 34703445 Edgedancer (The Stormlight Archive, #2.5) Brandon Sanderson https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1499706661l/34703445.SY75.jpg 54097500].Full ReviewPrior to [b:Rhythm of War 49021976 Rhythm of War (The Stormlight Archive, #4) Brandon Sanderson https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1599911216l/49021976.SY75.jpg 23840265] everything about Stormlight Archive was a 5 star read for me. This novella like that book was still very good, just not as good as previous works.I'm not sure if the change is in Mr. Sanderson's writing or myself as a reader. Likely a bit of both. I used to read and enjoy everything he put out. Then he released his Reckoners series.In general I'm not a huge fan of novellas, but for Mr. Sanderson a novella for him is almost a normal novel anyways. There is a good story here that feels complete while still obviously being part of the larger Stormlight world.This added an interesting aspect to the world building and I'm curious to know more. I also wish I had read this before [b:Rhythm of War 49021976 Rhythm of War (The Stormlight Archive, #4) Brandon Sanderson https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1599911216l/49021976.SY75.jpg 23840265] because I'm sure there are things in that book I missed that were setup in this story.Overall I found this an enjoyable read, and I hope we learn more about Rysn and Chiri-chiri in later books.
I read this novella because I am still anxiously awaiting my copy of Rhythm of War to arrive. While this book isn't necessary to read before RoW, I am glad I read it because many book reviewers have said that it will give context to certain events that happen. This follows Rysn as she is sent on an expedition to a haunted island. She brings along Lopen and a few other Bridge Four members. This book mostly focuses on Rysn and Lopen. I think this book was fun and interesting, and I love Lopen as a character. He is so different from everyone else and his humor is spot on. I thoroughly appreciated the research and the work that went into writing Rysn and how she handles life without the use of her legs. I can tell that Sanderson and his team really put in the work to represent her as believable as possible. This novella was a fun, quick read and I recommend to Sanderson lovers everywhere.
Brandon Sanderson is so good at creating consistently likable characters. I love Lopen, I love Rysn, I love Cord. His prose is so simple and easily digestible, I glide through it like nothing. Sometimes I don't need literature, sometimes I just wanna have fun.
ALSO, ANOTHER WIN FOR (partial) NAUTICAL FANTASY! My fave sub-genre. We need more fantasy books set in boats, we need more sailors, pirates, privateers with magic. I demand it, even.