thairanaru reviewed Edgedancer by Brandon Sanderson (The Stormlight Archive, #2.5)
good
5 stars
absolutely legendary without a doubt, also fun
Hardcover, 272 pages
English language
Published Oct. 16, 2017 by Tor Books.
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson, a special gift edition of Edgedancer, a short novel of the Stormlight Archive.
Three years ago, Lift asked a goddess to stop her from growing older--a wish she believed was granted. Now, in Edgedancer, the barely teenage nascent Knight Radiant finds that time stands still for no one. Although the young Azish emperor granted her safe haven from an executioner she knows only as Darkness, court life is suffocating the free-spirited Lift, who can't help heading to Yeddaw when she hears the relentless Darkness is there hunting people like her with budding powers. The downtrodden in Yeddaw have no champion, and Lift knows she must seize this awesome responsibility.
Other books by Brandon Sanderson
The Cosmere
The Mistborn Saga Mistborn: The Final Empire The Well of Ascension The Hero of Ages Alloy of Law Shadows of Self Bands of Mourning
The …
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson, a special gift edition of Edgedancer, a short novel of the Stormlight Archive.
Three years ago, Lift asked a goddess to stop her from growing older--a wish she believed was granted. Now, in Edgedancer, the barely teenage nascent Knight Radiant finds that time stands still for no one. Although the young Azish emperor granted her safe haven from an executioner she knows only as Darkness, court life is suffocating the free-spirited Lift, who can't help heading to Yeddaw when she hears the relentless Darkness is there hunting people like her with budding powers. The downtrodden in Yeddaw have no champion, and Lift knows she must seize this awesome responsibility.
Other books by Brandon Sanderson
The Cosmere
The Mistborn Saga Mistborn: The Final Empire The Well of Ascension The Hero of Ages Alloy of Law Shadows of Self Bands of Mourning
The Stormlight Archive The Way of Kings Words of Radiance Edgedancer (Novella) Oathbringer (forthcoming)
Collection Arcanum Unbounded
Other Cosmere Titles Elantris Warbreaker Rithmatist
The Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians Series Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians The Scrivener's Bones The Knights of Crystallia The Shattered Lens The Dark Talent
The Reckoners Series Steelheart Firefight Calamity
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
absolutely legendary without a doubt, also fun
Lift is the absolute best character and it’s wild how many folks are so confidently wrong about her
Time to Read: 3 hours 30 minutes
Rating: 7/10
I know some people find Lift cringe, but I like her BECAUSE she is cringe and her dynamic with Wyndle is fun. She can be over the top sometimes, but I feel like she is accurate to how middle school kids act, especially with the implication that it's actually a front to hide her trauma. Speaking of which, all the hints to her deeper character, like everything to do with her running away to avoid attachments, lying to herself about not wanting to make decisions, in general lying to herself about what her actual goal is ("I'm here for pancakes!") to herself and Wyndle to disguise how aware she actually is, I really like it all. I found it great. I understand why people dislike her, and she's not an S Tier fantasy character like Kaladin and Shallan, but I really …
Time to Read: 3 hours 30 minutes
Rating: 7/10
I know some people find Lift cringe, but I like her BECAUSE she is cringe and her dynamic with Wyndle is fun. She can be over the top sometimes, but I feel like she is accurate to how middle school kids act, especially with the implication that it's actually a front to hide her trauma. Speaking of which, all the hints to her deeper character, like everything to do with her running away to avoid attachments, lying to herself about not wanting to make decisions, in general lying to herself about what her actual goal is ("I'm here for pancakes!") to herself and Wyndle to disguise how aware she actually is, I really like it all. I found it great. I understand why people dislike her, and she's not an S Tier fantasy character like Kaladin and Shallan, but I really like reading about her little adventures and I can't wait to see her grow into a main character going into the future.
Besides Lift, I liked Darkness' whole ideology falling apart (and lift comforting him, that was great). I liked the cremling guy's stuff, "the sleepless" and the greater lore implications of his speech.
Overall good novella. Not as good as Emperor Soul. Better than any of the others.
While I was not all charmed or taken with Lift or her dynamic with Wyndle, I found this to be a really interesting story that served as additional context for where the overarching story is headed. In fact, I found myself more interested in the bits of the main story that we were getting teasers for over Lift's personal journey. I loved learning about the interesting, new cultures and people, particularly how these cultures and people view the cultures that we are so familiar with at this point. I didn't have anything against Lift as a character, I just don't think she was for me. However I'm interested to see her growth in future Stormlight installments.
A fun little romp, something like the short-story interim in [a:Brandon Sanderson|38550|Brandon Sanderson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1394044556p2/38550.jpg] Reckoner's Series, [b:Mitosis|18966322|Mitosis (The Reckoners, #1.5)|Brandon Sanderson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1385570447l/18966322.SX50.jpg|26984416]. The character is a fun rascal that my daughter would love to read, stealing pancakes, indulging in some potty-humor, and saving people from the bad-guys. At the same time, Sanderson is smartly laying ground-work for future books and more in the Stormlight Archives.
A little juvenile? Sure. Relevant to the epic series? Yep. Worth enjoying? Definitely.
September 2020 Reread:
Majestic as Damnation's own gonads
Reading my original review from 2017 and I'm not sure my thoughts have changed significantly. I appreciated Nan/Darkness appearing at the end of Words of Radiance more because of Lift's interlude earlier in the book and was hyperaware of what happened to Szeth after his battle with Kaladin, but that's me soaking more details out of rereads than anything else.
Next stop, Oathbringer!
Original review from 2017:
During the original Lift interlude I thought her character was a little too immature for the Stormlight world. After reading 'storming Voidbringer' over and over I softened to Lift and enjoyed a little more insight to this troublesome Radiant.
As far as Sanderson novella's go this requires having read the previous stories in the series and would say it's essential reading leading up to Stormlight #3.
Sanderson has indicated that Lift will be a …
September 2020 Reread:
Majestic as Damnation's own gonads
Reading my original review from 2017 and I'm not sure my thoughts have changed significantly. I appreciated Nan/Darkness appearing at the end of Words of Radiance more because of Lift's interlude earlier in the book and was hyperaware of what happened to Szeth after his battle with Kaladin, but that's me soaking more details out of rereads than anything else.
Next stop, Oathbringer!
Original review from 2017:
During the original Lift interlude I thought her character was a little too immature for the Stormlight world. After reading 'storming Voidbringer' over and over I softened to Lift and enjoyed a little more insight to this troublesome Radiant.
As far as Sanderson novella's go this requires having read the previous stories in the series and would say it's essential reading leading up to Stormlight #3.
Sanderson has indicated that Lift will be a flashback character in one of the upcoming instalments so may as well get used to this slick kid now because she is not going anywhere.
More Lift!
More Lift!
A nice, short novella on one of the cool side characters introduced in Words of Radiance. I wish it were longer, but I'm sure Oathbringer will be satisfying enough in terms of length.
A full review will be up later on my blog: strakul.blogspot.com/