Edgedancer by Brandon Sanderson is totally worth your time

Brandon Sanderson wrote Edgedancer, a novella, which is part of his Cosmere in 2016. I see this 262-page novella a 4.5/5 star read. Read on to see why!

This story centers on Lift, a unique character you’re introduced to earlier on in the Stormlight Archive canon. Lift is an ornery urchin, apparently blessed by powers activated due to her relationship with a spren. She tries to go through life however she feels in that moment, and she wrestles with these powers. By the end of the story, Lift has realized what to do. She must try to make things right and fight for goodness.

I love this story because of Lift’s unique speaking style. She’s hilarious. It’s so fun to be a fly-on-the-wall in her brain.

Lift can tell she’s been granted responsibility of some kind, and she doesn’t really like it. Her spren, Wyndle, is a bit fussy and struggles with the way she views her responsibilities to him and the world. By the end of the story, they are more of a team. I finished this story really excited to see what Lift and Wyndle did next.

The only thing that made me take half a point off is because of the way the ending of a character is shared. A character who’s a Herald realizes that what he’s been trying to stave off (the Desolation) is already happening. In the postscript, Sanderson reveals that he wanted this realization to happen on-screen rather than off, so he put it here in Edgedancer. This realization felt lightly shoehorned in, and I’m not 100% sure why. It just felt off. Maybe it’s because I thought it was obvious…and maybe with some more time to ponder, I’d realize what it was that felt off…but that’s why I’m only taking .5 off. Otherwise, this story was a delight.

If you want to read something by Brandon Sanderson, I do recommend Edgedancer (even though there may be things going on you don’t understand if this is the first time you’ve interacted with this world). Click here to check it out on Amazon.

Sanderson is so good at showing characters off through action and dialogue, letting the reader make decisions about the character without saying what he thinks readers should think about them. Edgedancer is no exception to this rule!

Keep an eye out for more Stormlight Archive reviews, because I haven’t read the series before and I’ll be finishing it this year.

**As an Amazon Associate, I earn commission from qualifying purchases.**

If you want to check out the e reader I use, click here.