You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
lanternatomika 's review for:
Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell
by Brandon Sanderson
I got this novella in a Humble Bundle in 2017, and that makes it one of my first experiences with the Cosmere and Brandon Sanderson's writing. Well, I didn't really get into his books until 2023, and that might be all the review you need for Shadows for-never mind, I'm not writing the whole title!
Novellas are supposed to be short, but this feels like a short story. It's only slightly shorter than The Emperor's Soul, but the relative lack of plot or character development makes it half full of air, like a bag of chips. We're introduced to the world of Threnody, which I know is supposed to be important to the Cosmere because Sanderson said so in the preface, and our MC is Silence, a middle aged woman who runs an inn by day and hunts bounties by night.
The constraints of this novella mean that you don't get a very good look at what Threnody is supposed to be like, and while Silence is a cool character, the story here feels like a chapter from a novel. Both this world and its protagonist probably deserve a 300 page book, but I can't say for sure because I didn't come away from this knowing anything about them. By comparison, The Emperor's Soul could lean on the world building done in Elantris and focus on telling a really cool story about its characters.
It's not the worst thing in the world, though. This was far from Sanderson's first writing rodeo, and he can at the very least write an entertaining and easy to read story. The lack of a magic system - or any magic at all - helps make this novella even more accessible. If you're trying to 100% the Cosmere, you won't mind reading this, but it doesn't stand very well on its own. And you definitely shouldn't take the advice of some people and recommend this novella to newcomers!
Novellas are supposed to be short, but this feels like a short story. It's only slightly shorter than The Emperor's Soul, but the relative lack of plot or character development makes it half full of air, like a bag of chips. We're introduced to the world of Threnody, which I know is supposed to be important to the Cosmere because Sanderson said so in the preface, and our MC is Silence, a middle aged woman who runs an inn by day and hunts bounties by night.
The constraints of this novella mean that you don't get a very good look at what Threnody is supposed to be like, and while Silence is a cool character, the story here feels like a chapter from a novel. Both this world and its protagonist probably deserve a 300 page book, but I can't say for sure because I didn't come away from this knowing anything about them. By comparison, The Emperor's Soul could lean on the world building done in Elantris and focus on telling a really cool story about its characters.
It's not the worst thing in the world, though. This was far from Sanderson's first writing rodeo, and he can at the very least write an entertaining and easy to read story. The lack of a magic system - or any magic at all - helps make this novella even more accessible. If you're trying to 100% the Cosmere, you won't mind reading this, but it doesn't stand very well on its own. And you definitely shouldn't take the advice of some people and recommend this novella to newcomers!