Official Dawnshard Reaction Thread

[Truthless of Shinovar he/him]

For those of you who recently finished Dawnshard and are currently sitting on your couch trying to not overload your brain, post your immediate reactions here!

AHHH

AHHHHHHH

AHHHHHHHHHH

HOID IS A DAWNSHARD
BECAUSE DAWNSHARDS WERE USED TO KILL ADONALSIUM
BUT SOMEHOW ITS ACTUALLY BREATHS
MAYBE IN A METALMIND
OH MY GOSH I WANT MOOOOOOOOOOORE
 

(ALSO THE LOPEN. 'NUFF SAID.)

[Brightness Jencee]

Everything you said and this...

“Ha!” she said. “You have been tricked, god! I am Hualinam’lunanaki’akilu, the daughter of Numuhukumakiaki’aialunamor, the Fal’ala’liki’nor, he who drew the Bow of Hours at the dawn of the new millennium, heralding the years of change! If you were to kill me, you would be violating the ancient pact of the Seven Peaks, and so must now forfeit the battle!”

WHAT?????

[+Child of Hodor]

Just now, Brightness Jencee said:

Everything you said and this...

“Ha!” she said. “You have been tricked, god! I am Hualinam’lunanaki’akilu, the daughter of Numuhukumakiaki’aialunamor, the Fal’ala’liki’nor, he who drew the Bow of Hours at the dawn of the new millennium, heralding the years of change! If you were to kill me, you would be violating the ancient pact of the Seven Peaks, and so must now forfeit the battle!”

WHAT?????

We got a lot Rock background including that he bonded a spren that made him stronger. Not a radiant spren either. It’s how he shot Sadeas’ Shardbow twice. Sadeas needs plate to use it. 
 

Also I LOVE right after that quote when Cord kneels down next to Rysn and whispers like “unfortunately this god doesn’t seem to be familiar with ancient pacts” 

[ItalianWindRunner]

Yeah, what they both said.

oh, and and The Lopen’s next ideal.  Yeah.  Amazing.  

[KandraAllomancer he/him]

Besides the obvious mind-blowing Dawnshard revelations:

The Third Ideals of Windrunners keep getting better and better

"It’s only a contradiction if you think about it." - finally a Lopen quote I can use in real life

I hope Rushu gets to lie on a huge pile of gemstones in the end

And the most important question not directly related to Dawnshards: if people got their Soulcasters from Aimia, and Aimia got them as gifts for the Ancient Guardians, then who created them in the first place? And how?

[Cheat Commando he/him]

I've been looking for an appropriate spot to say the following:

THE DAWNSHARDS WERE THE WEAPONS THAT KILLED ADONALSIUM!! AAAHHHH!!!

There are four of them?? Cool!

I loved Lopen's arc in this story! Also, I want more Huio.

Lopen's Third Ideal was perfect. That epilogue was sheer gold.

I am so excited for Rysn's interlude now! I usually don't care. Man, I hope she figures out how to use her new power (even though she kinda promised not to...).

Are the Sleepless going to be featured in every in-between novella? I hope so! I can't wait for Horneater!

[Govir]

4 hours ago, Child of Hodor said:

We got a lot Rock background including that he bonded a spren that made him stronger.

I don't think he bonded them, so much as they just assisted him. Similar to how the luckspren here are not bonded to either Cord or Rysn, but they lit the way and made them swim faster.

My own reaction, I was disappointed...that we didn't get more of Yalb! I wish he was placed as part of Rysn's crew, but maybe that would have been too much jokester with the Lopen going along as well.

[teknopathetic he/him]

I skipped a lot of the Lopen stuff at the end because I just didn’t care, but the Rysn stuff was amazing! 

[Ashbringer he/him]

WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE’S ONLY TWENTY FOUR SLEEPLESS IN ALL OF ROSHAR!

That and Dawnshard-naming-roulette, which is somehow slightly easier than Shard-naming-roulette.

[Experience he/him]

Commands!!!! Theory: The commands will be used to un-splinter shards.

[Necessary Eagle she/her]

That I don't know whether to laugh or cry about my sense of timing.Thursday night. I made that post about hypothetical trans Radiants that's we'd definitely never actually seen on screen yet, Thursday night. Friday morning, Dawnshard came out.

In regards to the actual story... well, I'm too busy running around screaming to properly comment. Anyone know of any nearby Oathgates that I can use to go to Amia? Because I just want to grab Nikli and start shaking him until he explains more, sharddammit! (Nikli: crumbles into crabs and runs them posthaste away from the crazy screaming lady).

[Subvisual Haze]

I was impressed with how he wrote the viewpoint of a disabled person.  It's easy for that sort of thing to come off as preachy or scolding if not handled deftly.  Here it just seemed really informative and compassionate to everyone involved.

[ftl]

On 11/6/2020 at 4:10 PM, Brightness Jencee said:

Everything you said and this...

“Ha!” she said. “You have been tricked, god! I am Hualinam’lunanaki’akilu, the daughter of Numuhukumakiaki’aialunamor, the Fal’ala’liki’nor, he who drew the Bow of Hours at the dawn of the new millennium, heralding the years of change! If you were to kill me, you would be violating the ancient pact of the Seven Peaks, and so must now forfeit the battle!”

WHAT?????

Hahaha, that was great!

Also was great how Nikli's reaction was basically "Umm.... what?"

[Holy Kayak he/him]

Rhythm of War can't come quick enough! Dawnshard was amazing, some sort of heightening achieved by Rysn. Sleepless info dump. Some mystery surrounding Rock and the bow of hours?

Gotta say, I know the Lopen has some haters out there, but his realisation that he isn't very well received had me tearing up. Poor guy just wants to cheer people up. 

I also picture Rua as some miniature mute Genie from Aladdin when he's fooling around, waving with multiple arms etc haha

[Eternal Khol he/him]

6 minutes ago, Holy Kayak said:

Gotta say, I know the Lopen has some haters out there, but his realisation that he isn't very well received had me tearing up. Poor guy just wants to cheer people up. 

I also picture Rua as some miniature mute Genie from Aladdin when he's fooling around, waving with multiple arms etc haha

I never really liked lopen until this novella. I never really particularly disliked him, i just wasn't of match with his personality. but i have a lot more respect for him after reading Dawnshard.

and omg, i thought Rua was just a little miniature Lopen, but I absolutely fell in love after Lopen’s decription of him as a “Flying chull with wings” XD

Edited November 8, 2020 by Eternal Khol

[StormingTexan he/him]

I really liked this novella. Like a lot. I actually tend to like all of Brandon's shorts and this one had the advantage of some pretty amazing Cosmere knowledge. I have always like Rysn as a character and to be completely honest was a little concerned that she would become a KR and heal her disability. I should have had a lot more faith in Brandon and for that I apologize. The way he wrote her was truly amazing and I loved the Fabriel tech coming to her aid. She will be the Roshar Professor X before long. Her becoming a Dawnshard was just awesome. We learned what was used for the shattering, what the heck a Dawnshard actually is, more about the Sleepless, Larkins and a bunch I am sure I am forgetting this book deserves a re-read.

If all that wasn't enough we get another favorite (and I think misunderstood at times) character The Lopen. He has always kind of reminded me of the Roshar Wayne (another favorite character). This book just further solidified my feeling about his character which on a personal level I identify with a lot. I think we have a somewhat similar personality and his 3rd ideal kinda rang true to me. I kid a lot and it is meant to improve peoples moods and laugh up but I know I take things too far sometimes. It cracked me up when he was yelling at the SF for the timing. I am looking forward to more screen time with Huio as well. 

As if I couldn't get anymore hyped about RoW Brandon dropped this little treat for us just in time. 

[Koloss17 She/They]

HOLY CRAP

 

I am so excited! Dawnshards! WHAT. Are you telling me that they are things POTENTIALLY MORE POWERFUL THAN A SHARD!? And why does the one Rysn have give her hightenings? WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU HIDING EDGLI? I’m scared and excited and I want more Rysn. Also cosmere!!!!! Yaaaaaay! 
 

also yeah Lopen is cool, but he can’t quite compare to a FLIPPING DAWNSHARD THAT IS NOW RYSN!

i just can’t get over that. I mean, what the hell is brando sando doing? I LOVE IT!

[Knight Oblivion]

Quote

“Purely?” Lopen shrugged, and Rua did too. “They’re trying to be good, velo. But they’re, you know, Alethi. Conquering folks is basically their primary cultural heritage. It’s taking some time for them to learn to see things another way—but they are listening. They agreed to let me talk to you, after I explained we were practically cousins, what with the Reshi Isles being so close to Herdaz.”

Lopen calling out Alethi culture had me cracking up for minutes as I started my read. Where's the lie?

[NameIess]

Well, when I saw the title Dawnshard, I thought we'd get some explanation of Aimia, and maybe discover that the Dawnshards were some kind of Surge superweapon. I wasn't expecting an info dump on the scale of Secret History. Wow.

[Gingeriffic!]

Just wait until the Sleepless meet their first Kandra...

[Halyo_Alex he/him]

4 hours ago, Gingeriffic! said:

Just wait until the Sleepless meet their first Kandra...

I wonder if a Kandra can mimic Hordelings...

[Gingeriffic!]

34 minutes ago, Halyo_Alex said:

I wonder if a Kandra can mimic Hordelings...

I wonder if Sleepless got the idea to mimic humans from Kandra...

As guardians of the Dawnshards, assuming that the other Dawnshards are spread throughout the Cosmere, I wonder if there are Sleepless on other planets and they have instantaneous communication with one another...

[Mat he/him]

On 11/6/2020 at 10:53 PM, Ashbringer said:

WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE’S ONLY TWENTY FOUR SLEEPLESS IN ALL OF ROSHAR!

Yeah, Philico is looking unlikely  

And I also was slightly caught off guard by the Sleepless not being native to Roshar. I just expected them to be.

I just... can't think that was SO FREAKING EPIC. Lopen's oath, The fact that a Dawnshard is a... AGH! AHHHH!, Sleepless dump, deep cosmere lore info...

On 11/8/2020 at 8:29 AM, Eternal Khol said:

I never really liked lopen until this novella. I never really particularly disliked him, i just wasn't of match with his personality. but i have a lot more respect for him after reading Dawnshard.

Yeah, I agree with this a lot.

[Ashbringer he/him]

4 minutes ago, Matrim's Dice said:

Yeah, Philico is looking unlikely  

And I also was slightly caught off guard by the Sleepless not being native to Roshar. I just expected them to be.

It sounds like there’s probably more Sleepless elsewhere in the cosmere, although they don’t impersonate humans. So Philico could just be ahead of the curve on that 

Spoiler

And Philico’s existence is much more likely than Faleast’s literal time travel... 

Although I technically have a reason for that.

 

[Use the Falchion]

My thoughts abridged:

I liked it but I didn't love it, which felt weird because Rysn is one of my favorite characters and so many cool things happened! I think the change in her mindset really threw me for a loop. The last time we saw her she was learning to adapt, and by this novella she's adapted and has a new outlook on life. I'm very happy for her, but part of me wishes we could see flashbacks, just to see how far she's come. Maybe that' something a Stormlight show could add in. It reminds me of a complaint I heard on a thread here, where character's subtleties are sometimes dropped between stories to move the story forward, or how Sanderson will sometimes skip the more interesting bit for the readers in order to get to point in the story he wants to tell.*

The Lopen was great as always, and I liked how him saying his Oaths at really common times still is a sort of joke. The Cosmere lore was also great, but it didn't feel...right to me. 

Huio was awesome though. He may not be my new favorite, but he's definitely in the Top 10 now. 

And yet...something in this story felt off to me. I want to say it was the prose, and how it felt far more YA than Stormlight usually feels, but I can't say for sure. If that was the case though, it'd make sense, with Brandon writing Skyward 3 right after (and switching between the two during revisions). I don't know, something was just off for me. Maybe it was the fact I was reading it on my iPad....

I'll definitely reread this during my Stormlight reread next year. Maybe then I'll feel differently about it - most Sanderson books I have problems with drastically improve on a reread, and I think that this one will feel a lot better sandwiched between books.

Overall rating is a about a 7.75/10. It's not better than Edgedancer or Secret History, but it's informative, fun, and a great teaser for Rhythm of War!

 

The accompanying soundtrack mostly comprised of "Rysn" and "Wandersail" by The Black Piper. 

 

P.S. - I love how Brandon is developing side characters in these novellas. I hope Rock also teams up with someone new and unexpected, so they both get developed. Rock, Renarin, and Jasnah roadtrip anyone?

 

*This was clearest for me in Starsight. Brandon wanted to tell a certain story, but I found the story he didn't tell to be more engaging in concept.