ahtedford's review
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
4.0
a bit hard to rank this, given it’s a collection of short stories but it was enjoyable to read! I love the descriptions of the different systems & postscripts from Brandy about each story. some of the stories were really just bonus chapters more than anything but some of the longer already established novellas (The Emperor’s Soul, Secret History) were so good. the two new worlds we got were fun & I look forward to seeing their cosmere implications in the future!!!
pandaorb's review against another edition
5.0
I've owned this for years and have only now gotten around to working through it. I hadn't realized so much essential information about the nature of the Cosmere was stored in this collection of short stories (plus a novella).
It was great to revisit some characters and stories that I hadn't seen for - 9 years?! Goodreads has to be lying - and to explore new worlds in between.
May anyone who picks up this book swear your ideals in a timely fashion and pray that you never get on the bad side of Silence Montane.
It was great to revisit some characters and stories that I hadn't seen for - 9 years?! Goodreads has to be lying - and to explore new worlds in between.
May anyone who picks up this book swear your ideals in a timely fashion and pray that you never get on the bad side of Silence Montane.
kitten1318's review
5.0
My gosh I love this man's books! This is no exception. While I've already read some of these, they are all wonderful. I want mire Lift, Silence and Shai!!!
tylerbrown7844's review
5.0
I’m primarily basing this short review/rating on two stories, as the three novellas (Emperor’s Soul, Secret History, and Edgedancer) are long enough to stand alone.
The Eleventh Metal, The Hope of Elantris, and Allomancer Jak each don’t really stand alone, and none are truly all that relevant to the Cosmere at large, acting more as bonus chapters to various books.
The two new worlds, First of the Sun and Threnody, are truly where it’s most interesting.
Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell
Sixth of the Dusk
Both of these are much lower scale in terms of Investiture magic, but are fascinating systems, with shades and a mysterious evil force on Threnody, and creatures on First of the Sun with possibly Cosmere wide implications. Both are well worth the read both as part of the Cosmere and independently.
The Eleventh Metal, The Hope of Elantris, and Allomancer Jak each don’t really stand alone, and none are truly all that relevant to the Cosmere at large, acting more as bonus chapters to various books.
The two new worlds, First of the Sun and Threnody, are truly where it’s most interesting.
Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell
Sixth of the Dusk
Both of these are much lower scale in terms of Investiture magic, but are fascinating systems, with shades and a mysterious evil force on Threnody, and creatures on First of the Sun with possibly Cosmere wide implications. Both are well worth the read both as part of the Cosmere and independently.
willmo's review
adventurous
informative
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.75
davehershey's review
4.0
My journey through the Cosmere (well, at least the currently existing books) is nearly complete! This one includes novellas and short stories. The framing around these stories is especially fun, as we get detailed introductions to each planet on which the story takes place.
First are two stories that take place on Sel, the planet from Elantris. The Emperor's Soul is a fun novella that while it shares a planet with Elantris, really has no connection to the previous story. But the magic system introduced does seem to fit the planet. Then The Hope of Elantris, a short story, ties directly into Elantris as we learn a bit of what happened during the climax of that story. The background is cute too. Apparently while Sanderson was dating his wife, she had a student do a report on Elantris, not knowing her teacher was dating the author! Sanderson was so moved he made this student the main character in this short story.
From Sel we move to Scadrial, the home of the Mistborn stories. The Eleventh Metal gives a glimpse at Kelsier's background. Allomancer Jak and the Pits of Eltania is a silly story, but fun. Mistborn: Secret History is really worth the price of the book as we learn what happened to Kelsier after he died and met God (well, Preservation, a god). This story sheds a huge amount of light onto the rest of the Cosmere.
Next comes a short story that is the beginning of the graphic novel White Sand. It kind of makes me want to read White Sand, though I've never read a graphic novel before.
After this come the two best stories Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell and Sixth of the Dusk. Both of these are set on planets in the Cosmere we've never seen before. Further, they are two of the most terrifying planets - one is inhabited by shades who will come and eat you if you bleed and the other is an island with a jungle filled with things that want to kill you! I truly hope Sanderson sets future stories in both these worlds.
Finally, the novella Edgedancer set on Roshar ends the book. We met Lift in Words of Radiance and this story fills out her character. It is a must read in the Stormlight series as not only is Lift a fun character, but events here will surely impact Oathbringer and beyond.
Overall, a brilliant set of stories.
First are two stories that take place on Sel, the planet from Elantris. The Emperor's Soul is a fun novella that while it shares a planet with Elantris, really has no connection to the previous story. But the magic system introduced does seem to fit the planet. Then The Hope of Elantris, a short story, ties directly into Elantris as we learn a bit of what happened during the climax of that story. The background is cute too. Apparently while Sanderson was dating his wife, she had a student do a report on Elantris, not knowing her teacher was dating the author! Sanderson was so moved he made this student the main character in this short story.
From Sel we move to Scadrial, the home of the Mistborn stories. The Eleventh Metal gives a glimpse at Kelsier's background. Allomancer Jak and the Pits of Eltania is a silly story, but fun. Mistborn: Secret History is really worth the price of the book as we learn what happened to Kelsier after he died and met God (well, Preservation, a god). This story sheds a huge amount of light onto the rest of the Cosmere.
Next comes a short story that is the beginning of the graphic novel White Sand. It kind of makes me want to read White Sand, though I've never read a graphic novel before.
After this come the two best stories Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell and Sixth of the Dusk. Both of these are set on planets in the Cosmere we've never seen before. Further, they are two of the most terrifying planets - one is inhabited by shades who will come and eat you if you bleed and the other is an island with a jungle filled with things that want to kill you! I truly hope Sanderson sets future stories in both these worlds.
Finally, the novella Edgedancer set on Roshar ends the book. We met Lift in Words of Radiance and this story fills out her character. It is a must read in the Stormlight series as not only is Lift a fun character, but events here will surely impact Oathbringer and beyond.
Overall, a brilliant set of stories.
peter_xxx's review
4.0
This short collection are all stories about the Cosmere. The Cosmere is Brandon Sanderson's way to connect several of his works and fantasy worlds together.
The similarities that I always found in his novels and attributed to the fact that every writer has the ideas he is passionate about and wants to write about, are actually there because all these works have a background that ties them together.
In this collection you get a bunch of short stories (quite long ones :-)) and novella's. Some of them tie in to existing series of his, like Mistborn or the stormlight archive, while others are stand alone stories about Cosmere worlds where no main stories have been set yet.
This is a worthy read if you like me are invested in Brandon Sanderson's fantasy series.
The similarities that I always found in his novels and attributed to the fact that every writer has the ideas he is passionate about and wants to write about, are actually there because all these works have a background that ties them together.
In this collection you get a bunch of short stories (quite long ones :-)) and novella's. Some of them tie in to existing series of his, like Mistborn or the stormlight archive, while others are stand alone stories about Cosmere worlds where no main stories have been set yet.
This is a worthy read if you like me are invested in Brandon Sanderson's fantasy series.
moonny's review against another edition
5.0
I want to see Shai in bigger story, whole book. Perfect :) that caught my heart instantly.
Other were great as usual. like everything from Mr.Sanderson. But..give me more Shai!
Other were great as usual. like everything from Mr.Sanderson. But..give me more Shai!