As someone who has been paralyzed for 35 years i thought brandon did a great job with Rysn. I have a feeling the events in dawnsard might become important in book 5.
Lopen is such an interesting literary tool that Sanderson used though! He’s mentioned on live streams that he purposefully made Lopen so that people could understand that you don’t have to be “broken” to be a Knight Radiant. It’s so interesting to me that the only physically disabled character we saw (before the new girl) was so happy and content in who they are it was really refreshing.
Dawnshard was a 5/5 star read for me. Stormlight was my introduction to Brandon and I read Warbreaker after reading Oathbringer and let me tell you when I was reading Dawnshard, I had to take a pause to scream my head off with the Warbreaker connections. It made me yearn a Warbreaker sequel while still hyping ROW and having its own character development within. Plus I love how it answered questions integral to the Cosmere and now I want to read the whole of the published Cosmere. I enjoyed it a lot more than Edgedancer and Lopen really grew on me with this book. Also, I love Cord and Rysn so much. To sum it up, even Brandon said so, that it's not necessary to read it before ROW although it is completely worth it, but eventually, the book will be very integral to the rest of the Cosmere... VERY integral.
I wish I hadn't read this comment. Warbreaker is probably my favorite single novel in the cosmere but like Merphy I find digital books pretty hard/impossible to read so am gonna have to wait for the audio or print version to be released
Should I read Warbreaker before Dawnshard in your opinion? I just finished Oathbringer and dove right into RoW but I will probably not finish it before january. I have the physical copy from backer kit coming and that will probably not arrive until (at the earliest) january either. Therefore Warbreaker will probably fit snugly in my schedule since Dawnshard will probably be delayed for me :(
@@emiloberg2110 Oh DEFINITELY, it will just add to your enjoyment. I recommend it a lot! Read Warbreaker before Dawnshard. I assure you you will be satisfied.
So glad to hear you love Lift! I love her story so much, and I'm so tired of hearing booktubers say they hate her. If you haven't heard Kate Redding perform her, it's a must.
So very grateful you always do spoiler free reviews. I think my brother is going to love this series. Love you, you put out so much content every week it's amazing you have time to do all that reading on top of being mom, wife and keeping a job. You amaze me ❤️
I put off RofW to read Dawnshard. I'm about halfway through and so far I'm enjoying. I really like Rysn as a character and hope we spend more time with her in the future. Also loved how Huio is secretly uber smart.
Lol Dawnshard is a Sanderson book. Of course you should read it! But, yes, Dawnshard was very lore heavy. It does tie into a couple chapters in RoW, and it will give you context (I.e, a conversation between Rysn and her mentor, Sleepless info, etc.)
OMG I am SO happy I found this channel! Quarantine has completely revamped my love of reading and you are basically my optimistic literary sherpa haha! I'm kicking around ideas for a first novel and it's so pleasant to have you and Daniel Greene's voices in my head as I go. Stay positive- you're killing the game.
Agreed, for me it was necessary but only cause one of my favorite things about Stormlight is cosmere world building so for me I am glad I read it first but I am glad its not at all important for the main plot so people who don’t care as much can skip it.
Hey Merphy! Can you do an And Then There Were None book review? I heard about it from your channel and just finished reading it and it WAS SO GOOD. I would love book recommendation videos as well because i am getting more into reading and need some more good thrillers or classic books that answer philosophical questions and really make you think about life. I have lots of Fredrik Backman in my amazon cart but I would like to hear about other books that you would recommend that are different from your usual recommendations. Thanks! I have been binging your channel recently and I really enjoy it!
I hope you are able to get to The Warrior's Apprentice soon :). Every time you talk about characters with disabilities I am reminded of how much I think you will enjoy Miles Vorkosigan.
Good to know when I reach to that point. I'm currently in The Way of Kings. I love it! It's my first time reading Sanderson's work and I will definitely be reading more of his work when I'm caught up.
I can't imagine not reading Edgedancer or Dawnshard. Both were important to me at least. For one, Edgedancer made me care about Lift. Without it, I wouldn't have cared very much about her going into Oathbringer. I think caring about the characters is important, and without Edgedancer, Lift only had one chapter. Not enough screentime for me to care. For two, we get the proper introduction to the sleepless in Edgedancer. And then in Dawnshard when they are talking about Arclo, we get to say oh that's the one that Lift met! For three, We get introduced to a new radiant in Edgedancer. She has to be important to the story later, otherwise it would have been a waste of time to introduce her. For four, Nin has his realization in Edgedancer. That all his killings to prevent the desolation have been for nothing. In Dawnshard we see Lopen speak his 3rd ideal, learn a lot more about the sleepless and the larkin, and are introduced to the Dawnshard most importantly. Which I'm guessing is going to be vital information later. I'm also looking forward to seeing if Lopen's crush on Cord develops haha So, on to Rhythm of War now!
Agree entirely with your conclusion. It's worth saying that you learn Jasnah and Navani's version of the events of Dawnshard during Rhythm. But they weren't there for the events of Dawnshard and so do not know the entire details of events. They know everything that matters to the story of book 4 though. Jasnah and Navani's version of events follows (very minor spoiler for early in ROW): . . . . . . An exploratory mission went to Aimia. Some of the members died. The survivors found eight soulcasters and one set of shardplate.
I actually bought the physcial copy of Dawnshard from backerkit! I really wanted the leatherbound and the physical copy of Dawnshard (and the goodies), but the shipping of that to Europe in the kickstarter was insane, so I was thrilled when they announced that I could buy a pack of Dawnshard and goodies only! It was such better pricing for me so I look forward to getting mine soon (but that will probably be in January at the earliest because of the stuff happening in the world). Luckily my copy of RoW has arrived and me and my friend are buddy reading it together and probably won't be finished until January either! I'm so excited!
I have a touch of dyslexia and had some issues with reading off a tablet. Course I only use that when traveling so not much chance of using it these past couple of years. But one trick I found that helped was inverting the page color, so the screen was black and the words were white. Definitely helped me out. That being said my favorite way to read is using a good old fashioned book. Love it when an author makes you turn a page for a reveal.
So im not sure how light chill this novella(not a novel) is since I haven't read it(yet) but seeing the cover it feels as if it has a Christmas theme....its called The Deal of a Lifetime by none other than Fredrick Backman. What a coincidence! I have read two other books by this author: "And Every morning the way home gets longer and longer"(a Novella)and "Beartown"( NOT a Novella basically a book) I personally recommend both.
@@analyzationm also i was thinking of reading "And Every morning the way home gets longer and longer" cuz i really wanted to find some new authors and merph speaks super highly of backman and i think the concept of the book is really interesting
I read it in a few hours and found it to be awesome. I am 300 pages into row and dawnshard has given me a lot more fuller experience with ROW. So far Row is a blast. I too am dyslexic. I miss blocks of txt or words are jumbled. Ereaders are harder for me as well. T.C I disagree with your review of row respectfully. Row is so well written. Characters are the most lifelike I have read in his series. The pacing has been fantastic. I feel Brandon has written a masterful book. The characters he is focusing on so far I feel needed the time. I so far am enjoying this book way more then the other books. I love reading about the other side and how their social function is. You see how the war isn’t black and white. Spoilers below. The way Shallan’s and Kaladin’s depression is being explored really hits home as someone who struggles with Mental health. My heart pours out for Shallan and Kaladin. I wish there were more pages and not less.
I dont usually have time to sit and read, always on the move, so i cheated and downloaded a free .txt .pdf to speech App and had it read to me. It was a little jarring because the AI couldbt prinounce certain words and would spell them out instead. BUT... I am so happy i chose to read Dawnshard first. I love Rysn and Lopen. I also cant wait until i can reread it with Kramer and Reading. 5/5 stars.
I agree with you on how Sanderson handled the deep dive of feelings with Rsyn and THE Lopen. Expertly done. I've always liked Lopen in the main books but for me, it was too much Lopen. Lol. As for the story, I didn't love it/didn't hate it, but I do love how it will be connected to the main books. I'm glad I read it before RoW.
I believe the physical version was said to be available around January/February 2021. From the leatherbound kickstarter updates: "Dawnshard will be submitted to the printer at the end of next week. With the uncertainty in the world today with COVID and other factors, it’s looking like we won’t receive these books until after the first of the new year."
One thing I didn't like about how Brandon wrote Rysn is that he seemed to imply that the responsibility for understanding Rysn's struggles with her disability are entirely on the surrounding people and not Rysn herself. Which is completely paradoxical to the virtue Brandon is trying to present through the main cast - life is tough, deal with it, because an individual has sole responsibility for oneself and one's actions. So, I am really confused that Rysn was constantly complaining in her mind that other people didn't understand what she was going through and yet she didn't open her mouth to make herself understood... It is entirely on her to make herself understood. Her disability is not an excuse. Being vulnerable is difficult, but the difficulty is not excuse as well and Brandon isn't making that message clear with Rysn and other female characters as well (he doesn't do that with any of the male characters, as he shouldn't!), like Shallan and her problems. I am really struggling with how Brandon often handles female characters' actions and responsibilities.
I am early into Rhythm of War and dawnshard feels more like book 9 than book five stuff :) Sorry to hear about your trouble with ebooks :( I don't have dyslexia (just crappy eye sight) and the eink(but only eink( devices have always felt like gifts from the stormfather for reading. I think that it was harry dresden (?) where the character, and it feels like the writer as well, has dyslexia and would talk about how much joy audio books brought into his life. It makes me feel quite sad for some reason that they aren't a universal panacea. and of course, the meme about listening not reading, just like a true alethi man :P
Thanks for clearing that up. I already started Stormlight four and was wondering if i should stop and read Dawnshard. I think i will continue and then read the physical copy of Dawnshard in the future. It will give me something to read while we wait for five aha
I think Edgedancer is way more necessary than Dawnshard. It isn't just Lift who had character growth. There was another important POV character and a third character who have pretty important scenes and character development. Dawnshard and Rhythm of War were written to make it so you could pretty much read in any order, since they came out so close together. Rhythm of War slightly spoils Dawnshard, but not in a way that bothered me (most of the references happen in the pre-release chapters.)
Though, Merphy raises a great point about the Cosmere connections possibly priming you for Rhythm of War, especially if you aren't already a rabid fanatic like me. It might have given you a smaller dose of what was coming, so you were more ready when Brandon starts dropping revelation after revelation on your head.
If I understand a recent WoB correctly, Dawnshard (the thing, not the book) won't come up as much in the first five books. So maybe won't even be that necessary to read before book five when it comes out. But I guess it also implies that Dawnshard will have a more important role in the latter five books of Stormlight Archives. Anyway, having read Dawnshard, I think it has some important information for future Stormlight Archives, if not potentially the whole Cosmere. So yeah, you might want to read it eventually.
Basically, it isn't essential that you read Dawnshard before Rhythm of War, but it *is* essential that you read it eventually. It works as book 3.5, and it also works as a post-book 4 flashback that explains a couple of things while also setting the stage for more to come.
*Spoilers for Dawnshard and books 1-3* IDK man, but every time a character gets to say the oaths, the ideals, it gets me hard. Doesn´t matter how many times y read each character´s moment, I get goosebumps. Also, Lopen´s oath was soooo intense to read, even though it wasn´t as intense for him. It must have felt like an icewater bucket.
This is probably the most important book for the cosmere that we have gotten to date. Not so much for stormlight, but obviously you should read it when you read stormlight.
@@voidsabre_ imo yes. Secret history gave us a big amount of context and information we previously didnt know, but in dawnshard we not only got that as well, but also things of major consequences for the cosmere as awhole actually happened.
I think it is important to read Dawnshard before RoW, but not essential. You could skip the novella and still infer the gist of it from RoW, but a lot of details like the presence of a country’s people in Urithiru or mechanics behind some fabrials (for those who care), Lopen’s progress, Rock’s inner conflicts, etc. are fleshed out pretty well in Dawnshard, and helps you enjoy RoW much better. But even if you read RoW first, I don’t think you should skip Dawnshard entirely. It does have a few plots that are extremely relevant to the whole series, and even more so for Cosmere at large. Edgedancer, on the other hand, can be skipped completely (still one of my favorite books though), and you wouldn’t be missing out on a lot for Stormlight or Cosmere.
I hope I can read dawnshard and Sarah j mass prequals go the throne of glass this yr or next or soon because I prefer physical printed format not that there is anything wrong and I’d love to read the stormlight archive but I couldn’t finish it without the last book dawnshard and that’s only on ebook form and yet as I said before what I prefer.
I understand and appreciate how brandon deals with mental health and disabilities, but I feel like he's taking it to far with Rysn, in a world where anyone can be healed from any injury, it just feels unrealistic for her arc to be, coming to terms with being paralyzed and having it be permanent. Once you introduce magical healing you can't explore accepting an injury, in my opinion. Rysn obviously hates being paralyzed and I find it unrealistic that she is trying to make a flying wheelchair instead of trying everything in her power to be healed.
Really like your videos ! Would love to see if you do review on ‘ N E O N G E N E S I S E V A N G E L I O N' & also ‘ E N D O F E V A N G E L I O N ' ( greatest piece of art ever created !)
I’m just curious if you have ever tried like a plain old Kindle e-ink type e-reader to read ebooks on? I really struggle getting through things when I am trying to read on my iPad, but I read on my kindle as easily as I read a paper book. Easier at night because it is a Paper white and lights up, so when I inevitably drop it because I fall asleep reading, I don’t lose my place. That said, thank you for this! I didn’t even know about Edgedancer before starting Oathbringer which I am currently about 3/4 of the way through so when I finish that I will read Edgedancer and then Dawnshard and then Rhythm of War. I wish I had read more of the Cosmere before starting Stormlight Archive, but...I suppose I will just enjoy those connections in reverse order. I know I LOVE Wit so much and want to go back and read the Hoid parts of Mistborn era 1 again.
I also have the problem with ebooks (in my case with paper books too), but since I discover you can put Google Play Books (the app) to read out for you I started to using them like audiobooks. Sure isn't as good as an audiobook with a narrator but gets the job done, eventually you get used to it.
Have you tried actual ebook reader? The screens a drastically different from a normal computer/ipad screen. The screens don't actually emit light so they are more like a book than a ipad. The screens also have no issues with glare so reading outside is no problem. While some have black lights you don't need to use and it is better to turn it off and read in good lighting.
I heard you saying you were dyslexic on another video and I've been meaning to ask you how you manage to read so many books. I love books and I want to consume many but I find it very hard to read them or read them fast. Do you have a technique or something you do that makes it easier?
I've started reading RoW but it feels a bit off to start with. I think because of the 1 year time skip I really feel like the pacing between Oathbringer and and RoW is jarring(especially with how incredibly dense the end of Oathbringer is). Also whenever I see some glib reference of 'Oh, and we got those in Aimia' it just feels beneath Brandon's normal level of exposition. I'm probably just going to keep reading but I came here because I thought skipping Dawnshard is part of what is putting me off RoW so far. I'm not interested in Ebooks or waiting a year though so hopefully it improves. In a way RoW feels like it's reintroducing Roshar. Where WoR and OB feel very serial in nature WoR seems like a new arc. Maybe in that sense RoW will be a good reentry point for future rereads but I feel kinda silly having reread 1-3 expecting it to make reading 4 more enjoyable.
Spoiler for Dawnshard and Bands of Mourning I really liked Dawnshard but the multiples layers of decoy hiding the actual treasure was SO similar to the layers of decoy hiding the bands in Bands of mourning. I remember thinking it was super cool when I read Bands but now I caught on immediately. And this is the second time I've felt that Brandon reused some plot points (the first was in Stormlight/Starsight) which felt a bit disappointing
Funny. I read Words of Radiance. Then I read Warbreaker. Then I re-read the end of Words of Radiance. When Szeth picked up Nightblood, my brain melted.
Hey, I just wanted to shoot a rec/ something I would love to hear your feedback on. It was one of my childhood favorites ( I was reading Eragon in the 3rd grade) titled Clovermead: In The Shadow of the Bear by David Randall. Anyway, I would love if you found a time to read and review. Thank you!
This book was extremely boring. This was very surprising to me because the first two books in this series are both in my top 10 favorite books of my entire life. For whatever reason, the author (I'm not sure it was really Sanderson and I really hope not) picked the most uninspiring characters of the entire Stormlight Archives cast and created a giant banter session. I literally had to speed read the large portions of this story just to get to the parts that actually advance the plot. The book reads like an 11 year old girls take on Inclusion and Unconscious Bias, where the foreigners and women and handicapped people all think and talk about their feeling with each other ad nauseum. It was literally terrible and reeks of woke virtue signaling. I think the author wants a TV series. I only read this because events from this story were alluded too immediately in the 4th book. If the 4th book is ANYTHING like this, I'm completely done with this series and this author. I've already come to terms with the fact that Martin won't ever finish ASOIAF, doing without Sanderson will be a walk in the park compared to that.
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