Brandon is Back

[VirtuousTraveller]

After several let downs - specifically in terms of editing and what I experienced as a bumpy, inconsistent increase of the cosmere lore crossovers in his books - I am glad to see Brandon, in my opinion, pulled off a comeback with his 5th secret project.

Emberdark reads like classic Sanderson - insanely immersive worldbuilding, engaging magic systems, and a coherent theme and story arc accompanied by characters that likewise have great arcs of their own.

Were there pockets of lore-dumping exposition? Yes. Were they distracting from the story? Not really. Is this a big deal? Absolutely it is, because unlike The Lost Metal, these moments didn’t feel like fan fiction. Seriously - this is a substantially better book in the way Brandon treated cosmere lore and crossover info (while to me The Lost Metal was the worst offender, this issue was present in The Sunlit Man and especially in Wind and Truth). I cannot stress just how grateful I am to have experienced the master executing his craft effectively again.

C’mon, why am I criticizing some of those other books in a review about Emberdark? Because this book stands in stark contrast to those books:

Awkward humor? Almost nonexistent. (“he he look he punched a person wasn’t that unexpected? hey laugh guys it’s my funny humor” was the only real hint of that “corrupted Wayne/Lift” voice, and I admit it’s even a stretch to compare this to that; it wasn’t here and it wasn’t missed).

“Modern” language usage? None of that (save one “That sucks” oh wow blame the language translation technology throw away explanation, but that DIDN’T really break immersion at all, and I’d put money on Brandon smirking with the “see fans I said it was the translation thing notice I didn’t over do it throughout the book?” Yeah Brandon we noticed and APPRECIATED that!)

What about vulgar language? We returned to form with nothing beyond “Shards…” which was much more in line with the classic Sanderson bibliography (save one brief moment of “you ol b*****d” Hoid, who Brandon seems Intent on being feather ruffly outside social conventions because he’s a loose cannon irreverent character).

Forced representation of identity groups? Folks, Brandon managed to do a very effective story about cultural intersection that felt authentic, without a hint of preachiness. In fact, the “indigenous vs colonizer” dynamic felt pretty mature and was portrayed consistently from start to finish.

What about the prose complaints from Wind and Truth? As one of the more vocal critics of this editing issue in his last book, this book is a great example for comparison. Emberdark felt polished - even the flashbacks that incorporated the short story. Nothing felt choppy or wordy or over the top or stilted and flat.  It all flowed, and even the literary devices (like repeating the phrase “he didn’t answer, as it wasn’t a question”) didn’t come off as immersion-breaking gimmicky.

This book was consistent and PROFESSIONALLY DELIVERED as a well-oiled story. Dusk has steelpushed his way into the top of the cosmosphere as one of my new favorite characters (easily one of Brandon’s best character arcs since Oathbringer in my opinion).

Edited August 11, 2025 by VirtuousTraveller