Book Review: Dawnshard by Brandon Sanderson

I've been on a bit of a Sanderson binge lately, trying to re-read the Stormlight Archive books in time for Wind and Truth. Turns out, I had originally missed this novella, set between Oathbringer and Rhythm of War. I'm glad I got the chance to read it, since it offers some very interesting hints about the Cosmere. Here's the official blurb:

When a ghost ship is discovered, its crew presumed dead after trying to reach the storm-shrouded island Akina, Navani Kholin must send an expedition to make sure the island hasn't fallen into enemy hands. Knights Radiant who fly too near find their Stormlight suddenly drained, so the voyage must be by sea.

Shipowner Rysn Ftori lost the use of her legs but gained the companionship of Chiri-Chiri, a Stormlight-ingesting winged larkin, a species once thought extinct. Now Rysn's pet is ill, and any hope for Chiri-Chiri’s recovery can be found only at the ancestral home of the larkin: Akinah. With the help of Lopen, the formerly one-armed Windrunner, Rysn must accept Navani's quest and sail into the perilous storm from which no one has returned alive. If the crew cannot uncover the secrets of the hidden island city before the wrath of its ancient guardians falls upon them, the fate of Roshar and the entire Cosmere hangs in the balance.

As a novella, I'll only give some brief thoughts after the jump.

This was a cool novella. Rysn has appeared in several of the Interludes in the Stormlight Archive books. These are small chapters between the main parts that highlight secondary characters that may or may not be part of the main plot. Rysn has under gone quite a journey, from an apprentice trader earning a rare animal and loosing the use of her legs. 

Sanderson highlights some of the difficulties a person that can't use their legs can suffer from in a world like Roshar. There is extremely limited accessibility options, something that is central to her development as a character. I'll be curious to see if the solutions she and her team came up with will show up in later novels.

Overall, the story was fun and mostly straightforward. I could generally see most of the things coming, but that's alright- this is a novella so things had to keep moving. I had some difficulty with all the Thaylen names (they have too many consonants) but enjoyed the way the characters interacted with each other. Lopen in particular is hilarious. The creatures are also interesting. Larkins are more interesting than we thought and we get to learn more about some enigmatic creatures that have appeared in other Interludes and in Edgedancer.

The implications of this novel are very interesting, both in Roshar and the Cosmere-at-large, and I kinda want to re-read The Sunlit Man to see if I understood the references. Regardless, this is a pretty integral novel to the Cosmere story line and a good read to check out before Rhythm of War.