Edgedancer: Stormlight Archive

For a "Novella" Edgedancer is around 264 pages give or take. Now for Mr. Sanderson, that's short considering his Novels are around 1000 pages. Please understand, I'm NOT saying that Mr Sanderson Can't write a 'Novella', I'm saying he's SMART Enough NOT TO! It drives me crazy that authors will publish a Novella that's barely 100 pages, double spaced in a 12pt font that has no clear beginning, middle, or end. That's not a book by any name. I don't care what you call it. That's a chapter, or a scene that hit the cutting room floor during editing for one reason or another and later after the original book started to take off, it's decided that it wasn't so bad after all, so it's put back into the story via the 'Novella' and charge another $2.00-$5.00 for something that was originally thrown out!! You can tell this because it's rarely ever edited and I think that Proof-Reading of any type has clearly gone the way of the Dodo Bird. Either that or they have somehow managed to turn off or completely uninstall their spelling & grammar checking apps. Lucky for me & the rest of his fans & followers, Mr. Sanderson doesn't stoop to that level. He ALWAYS turns out Top Notch books that you can tell he & his entire team take pride in publishing by turning out EXEMPLARY work.Now, about the story... Mr Sanderson introduces several new characters into the story in Edgedancer. Which I'm glad he did this because the characters just sorta show up in Oathbringer like they've existed from the first. In all fairness, they probably have been around during the first two books, but their scenes didn't fit into the story line until book 3. Edgedancer fills in a larger than usual piece of the backstories not just for the people, but for the Country where they live and the customs that it follows. It gives you the information to understand what they've been through over the years and recent events that give you the "how & why" of the current situation. It sets up the part it plays in Oathbringer beautifully. Without all of the information you learn here, then you could have a hard time, like Dalinar*, in understanding the ruler's reasoning being used to formulate their current decisions when he tries to approach them with his grand plans. Plus, you just have to love Lyft! She has a very unique point of view and she and her abilities could just be 'awesome'. But you have to read, or listen in my case, to the book in order to understand what's really happening in the Cosmere. And I can promise you now that there is no endless walking through any sort of woods with any type of tree people or elves, dwarves, halflings, wizards, druids, fairies, pixies, & the odd human, etc. which numerous other Authors like to include in their books that I'll swear are there just to increase the page count. Or for other reasons totally foreign to my way of thinking. One thing that I really like about Dalinar is that he manages to search out the people that he needs to have to unite the kingdoms from all walks of life. Some are people who he has deliberately sought out, and others that are the basic flotsam & jetsam in any military setting. Especially when slaves and or indentured servants make up a large portion of the camps. I like the way that he sees people as more than the brands or tattoos that have been thrust upon them. He looks at the whole person before he dismisses them off hand as cannon fodder for his campaigns.Get the book or books in this series, either in print or in audible format or both. Read them and enjoy them as good entertainment as they are intended. And, if at all possible, when you are done, share them with others so they can enjoy them as well.*Please excuse the spelling if it isn't correct. I have listened to the books, not actually read them so I'm not sure how some of the names of people or places are spelled. I haven't figured out yet how to get Amazon's Alexa to stop and spell the new words yet. On the plus side, when you listen to the books, you don't see all of the misspelled words and often the narrator glosses over the 'iffy' grammar. (Can you tell that I come from a LONG Long line of educators? Even though I didn't opt to teach, the need to constantly learn is still there!)

Without spoiling too much some of the new characters introduced where a bit annoying and this middle book before Oathbreaker helps make them more likeable. It also adds more lore to the Radiants. Is a quick read and very enjoyable.

This was a great novella featuring one of the funniest and most interesting characters from the Stormlight Archive, Lift. The story takes place between Words of Radiance and Oathbringer, books 2 and 3 in the series, and clears up a couple of things that change in the interim period between the books. And it’s full of the humor and action that seem to follow Lift wherever she goes. I give it a big recommendation for fans of the series and fantasy fans in general.Lift (the thief, street urchin, and ten-year-old-girl-who-has-been-that-age-for-three-years, who also happens to be a nascent Knight Radiant of the Edgedancer order) starts the novella on the run from her cushy situation in Azir, ruled by her teenaged friend, Gawx, who had been elevated to emperor in the second book of the series because of Lift’s powers (or, as she says, her “awesomeness”). Lift was growing too comfortable there – and bored – so decides to skip town to head to Yeddaw, an entire city cut out of the rock of a vast plain. Lift, of course, gets herself into trouble, somehow attracting Darkness, the strange law-enforcement officer with an unsettling manner and odd powers that she had encountered the night Gawx was elevated to his imperial position. Darkness (who turns out to be another character who features in the main series) brings other people under his command, one of whom happens to be the infamous Assassin in White, Szeth. As she discovers Darkness’s purpose in being in Yeddaw is connected to her and possibly another like her, Lift decides to do what she can to help, which gives her even more opportunities to get into trouble.Lift is a fantastically fun character to read, and must have been a total blast to write (Sanderson himself says she is her favorite character of the series, which has literally THOUSANDS of characters). She’s streetwise, with a good heart and light fingers – a loveable rogue – and is comfortable with the other urchins and beggars, while being at least outwardly brave in the presence of those who presume themselves to be her betters. The growth her character shows in this novella is a welcome sight, as her appearances are always high points in the main story, but through 3 books she hasn’t gotten a lot of focus. Her powers, the ability to “make herself awesome” (essentially removing friction from herself so she can slide around, as well as encouraging things to grow and heal) have a lot of opportunities to come out in this short novella, so it’s full of action. While I would encourage people to read at least the first two novels in the series before reading this one, there’s enough of an explanation that the novella can stand alone for those who just want a bit of Lift without having to immerse themselves in the full socio-political maelstrom of the rest of the world in the series.As always with Sanderson’s books, it’s very well edited, so the enjoyment of Lift’s cockney insults isn’t interrupted by wanting to tear the book in half due to grammar and punctuation mistakes.A wonderful, quick read in the Stormlight Archive world. I give it a huge recommendation for fans of humorous fantasy.

What an entertaining short story. Well, I say short but it really wasn't. I would venture to say that Sanderson made it possible to write a few hundred pages about a low key Stormlight character without the need for you to actually read any of the books. Granted, your experience with Edgedancer would be severely dampened if you haven't at least read 'Way of Kings' and 'Words of Radiance'I sincerely hope that we get more air time with Lift as the Cosmere expands. Having read this novella (not sure what to call it exactly) she has swiftly become one of my favorite Sanderson characters. He has absolutely nailed the personality and spirit of an adventurous, fearless, 13 year old girl. Uneducated but wise beyond her years, hilarious and hungry, innocent and brave, Lift brings an entirely unique perspective to this world. Following her viewpoint was a treasure. And the character growth we don't get to see in the massive tomes already written is made up for in spades here.Highly recommend this one, and what's more, the Arcanum Unbounded if you haven't gotten to it. It includes this story, and several others, some of which top even this one!

I highly recommend this series of books. Edgedancer explains some of the lore of the StormLight Archive. Dawnshard is even better.

I don't normally write reviews , but though this needed to be said even though this book is a very good read the price to download is very expensive and you can buy it alot cheaper if you buy the collection of short stories Arcanum Unbounded which you will get other stories as well as Edgedancer!!

Forming part of ‘The Stormlight Archive’ series, ‘Edgedancer’ predominantly takes place between ‘Words of Radiance’ and ‘Oathbringer’. It focusses upon the character of Lift who previously only appeared briefly in ‘Words of Radiance’ during one of the interludes that regularly take place within the structure of ‘The Stormlight Archive’. That same interlude is reused as a fifty or so page prologue to this novella. Before being published as its own volume the novella previously appeared in ‘Arcanum Unbounded’, a collection of short stories and various works that take place within Sanderson’s Cosmere universe.Being about a young girl (of slightly indeterminate age due to her belief that she has stopped growing older) the story has, perhaps, a slightly less mature tone than usual for ‘The Stormlight Archive’. But this is understandable due to Lift’s age, her generally light-hearted attitude and her tendency to be preoccupied with food. The character of Lift also has enough zany charm to comfortably carry the story.The story sees Lift travel to the city of Yeddaw (an area of the world of Roshar not yet covered in the other books of ‘The Stormlight Archive’), ostensibly she claims to eat pancakes but with the motive of learning more about Darkness, her nemesis from her appearance in ‘Words of Radiance’ and this book’s prologue. In between the consumption of pancakes Lift begins to learn more about her relationship with Wyndle and her powers (or awesomeness, according to her). It is this element that starts to link Lift more with the events of the other books of ‘The Stormlight Archive’.As such, ‘Edgedancer’ shouldn’t be read before reading both ‘The Way of Kings’ or ‘Words of Radiance’ as events in this novella are, in several ways, a result of the fallout from the final stages of ‘Words of Radiance’. There are also some important elements that promise to have a bearing on ‘Oathbringer’.Therefore, ‘Edgedancer’ is a welcome addition to ‘The Stormlight Archive’ in that it enriches the world and looks at the return of the Knights Radiant from another perspective. It will be interesting to see how Lift and Darkness are amalgamated into the main storyline.

I think thus is a bit of a double edged sword as I got this book as a kind of introduction in to Stormlight Archives. In that I got what I what I wanted but because the is book 2.5 I know I am missing a lot of history.A good book (from the acknowledgments page) was made to fill in the gaps between books 2 and 3. So if anyone did notice a big change on a character in book 3, they will probobly find the answer here.I like Lift's character. I like the leaf in the wind approach she takes to life. Her also being very young probobly fuels this. I also like that she has a code she sticks to. She does it instinctively (probobly without even realising she is doing it), her being the focus of this story probobly will pay dividends later on. My problem with the book is Lift seem hopelessly over matched through out the whole book.This book has wet my appetite to read more of the series. So I definitely look forward to see how Lift develops later on. As well as what adventures and other characters are there.

I have really enjoyed all the previous books in this series, so was really looking forward to this. Started reading the Prologue and thought, this sounds familiar, maybe it was just me, but as I read on I realised that the whole prologue (22%) of this book looks like it has been taken entirely from a passage about "Lift" in one of the previous books!I have to say I think that is very cheeky, wouldn't have minded if it didn't take up so much of the whole book.

Am part way through the Stormlight Archive and this provides a humorous and entertaining relief from the serious story arcs. Love the character -Lift is irreverent and funny. A nice change to the very serious characters in the main story. Also filled in a few more details on Radiants. Highly recommend you spend time with Lift!