Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell / Sixth of the Dusk (The Cosmere)[September 28, 2024]

[Yanique, Thread Master]

This is a Buddy Read for Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell and Sixth of the Dusk by Brandon Sanderson starting on September 28, 2024.


Happy Reading!

[Chris]

Marking this for placement...

[Marie]

Thanks, Yanique!

Curious about these two Cosmere novellas.

[Nirkatze]

These are two of my favorites... especially Sixth of the Dusk. I am so excited that he has a full novel in that world on the docket.... I think it's the next Secret Project?

[Marie]

I am yet to start reading Words of Radiance so I will take a while to get here.

[Chris]

Nirkatze wrote: "These are two of my favorites... especially Sixth of the Dusk. I am so excited that he has a full novel in that world on the docket.... I think it's the next Secret Project?"

Yes, that's correct:

Isles of the Emberdark

[Nirkatze]

Damn but I am excited for that.

I went ahead and picked up a copy of the Arcanum Unbounded anthology to 3-for-1 this BR (and Edgedancer for Stormlight) all with one stone...

Shadows for Silence The postscript was especially interesting--revealing that the rules for the shades in Threnody were inspired by Jewish rules of what you can and cannot do on the Sabbath... (view spoiler)[obviously with a lot of embellishing... obviously Judaism doesn't approve of cudgeling someone to death as long as you don't draw blood. I also didn't know this story was originally written for the Dangerous Women anthology. Makes sense though!

As with all Sanderson stories, I appreciate the tight full-circle storytelling. Mopping up with nice comeuppance on the tax-collector, the reveal that the Inn isn't actually 100% wraith free (turning on a line from the first page) and that the wraith is her hated/loved grandmother... all great twists. Or wrap-ups. I'm glad her daughter survived... for a bit there I was sure Sanderson actually killed a kid in a short story and I was part aghast and part impressed. The setting actually feels rather Wild West to me--with the sense of survival, danger, and outlaws... (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Sixth of the Dusk is probably my favorite short. While I'd love to see more of Threnody, especially if Silence was MC or at least cameo'd, I am so very excited that the new SP is in this system... and Dusk had better be the MC... I also go full Cosmere thoughts in here, fair warning, though not in much detail. (view spoiler)[Who are The Ones Above? Are they from Sel? From Scadrial? Roshar, even? Or from the other inhabitable planets in this realm? The sorceress in Tress was from Sel, and we know Sanderson plans to bring Scadrial into the space age.

I also love the partnership of the Aviar. It shows Sanderson's pet-parrot background. Apparently parrots are the second-most affectionate pet, after dogs.

I wonder if Patchi is like the Stormfather or Night Mother in Stormlight. A being made aware, a piece of a shard, something? Aren't both Threnody and Dusk's Drominad system seeded by Autonomy?

Again really appreciated the afterword, talking about inspirations. This time by Polynesian culture. (hide spoiler)]

[Narilka]

Oh geez, I forgot this BR and my reading schedule is going to be a bit off due to some family stuff. How important are they to read ahead of Oathbringer?

[Marie]

I just finished Shadows for Silence and it was amazing. I am rarely giving 5 stars to short stories but Sanderson can really make me hooked with just few pages. Idk if I might be slightly biased but the ideas for new fantasy worlds he comes up with over and over...

The creepy atmosphere and danger (when tiny slip can spell a disaster) of this world reminded me of Death Stranding. I have been looking for a book with similar theme of the world turning suddenly very weird and seeing how people deal with that. This scratched a bit of that itch.

Nirkatze already pretty much summed up all that I could talk about. (view spoiler)[I was definitely afraid the daughter might die. That would definitely leave a bitter taste of "it was all for nothing"... Instead the crippling strikes good balance between bad ending and good ending. It all works out but there was a price to be paid for that. Tha grandma was a cool twist but I wasn't that surprised as it was hinted before that she did something to her grandmother. I am curious about her not attacking her granddaughter. If ever we return back to this world there will definitely be a lot of discovering of what the shades are and how do they work. What magic might this world hold connected to them? Power to control shades? Maybe it's something unrelated to this world as they came from another one. How did they even come over. So many questions! (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Spoiler time with Cosmere terminology…

(view spoiler)[It’s been awhile since I read this and/or checked the wiki…

But this is one of the worlds where Odium obliterated the Shard (similar to Honor)… the shades are Cognitive Shadows… basically ghosts of dead people infused with investiture, which is when people have shard magic inside them…

I think the Threnody Shard was Ambition but I’d have to double check… I can say more after I skim the wiki, if it’s important… (hide spoiler)]

[Narilka]

I started Shadows for Silence and got interrupted after like 4 pages. Hope to finish up tonight.

[Narilka]

I finished Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell. I liked it. As mentioned above, I really liked how the story comes full circle. This is not a happy story though seems fitting for the season. (view spoiler)[Since the daughter technically survived but at what cost? Silence indicated she'd have some permanent effects. (hide spoiler)]

Iain, I read this out of Arcanum Unbound which includes 2 pages about the planet. Your memory is pretty great. A spoiler from one of last year's secret projects (view spoiler)[It reminds me a lot of what was going on with Yumi's planet. Could be similar? I don't think my memory is as good as yours :) (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I had the same thoughts during the secret project...

And yea, I skimmed the wiki when I got home and was happy to leave what I said alone without adding more...

Threnody System is another system Sanderson would like to revisit someday and has a serious book idea... hopefully it's his next secret project he finds time for :D

[Nirkatze]

TY @Iain for that clarification on the shards & planet... I'm glad we have wikis and people willing to comb them to keep us all straight...

After Narilka's comment I'm definitely thinking more about events post-novella for the characters... Isn't a Threnody full book also in Sanderson's pipeline...?

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Um... I just mentioned the wiki's info on a possible Threnody novel, right above... Sanderson has plans/ideas, but no guarantee it'll ever be written... which is why I mentioned my Secret Project hopes, since a Sixth of Dusk sequel was similarly not guaranteed until it was SP'd...

[Narilka]

I opted to start Oathbringer. I'll come back for Sixth of Dust afterwards unless I need a break or something.