I’m doing a reread of this series for a few reasons:
- The series is long, and I wanted to do a recap before reading Wind and Truth (which comes out December, 2024.
- The only highlights I was able to recover from my first read through were from Dawnshard and Rhythm of War. I wasn’t able to recover much from The Way of Kings.
- The series is just so damn good.
This series is a masterpiece so far. Definitely the best fantasy series going at the moment. Every book is a 5/5 for me (though I haven’t read Wind and Truth yet).
While every book is quite long, it’s very much worth it. I’d highly recommend giving it a go
Highlights
Way Yalb saw it, if a fellow was naive enough to get pranked, then he’d lose all his spheres eventually. Why not lose them to mates?
<Dawnshard: From the Stormlight Archive>(Sanderson, Brandon) Highlight on page 8 | Location 78-79 2024-12-16 12:33:36
They knew Yalb didn’t like talking about the night the Wind’s Pleasure had gone down. It had been a good ship, with a better crew. Of them, only three had survived. The other two told the same terrible story, same as Yalb remembered it. Assassins in the dark—something worse than a mutiny. And then . . . the whole ship just gone.
<Dawnshard: From the Stormlight Archive>(Sanderson, Brandon) Highlight on page 8 | Location 85-88 2024-12-16 12:34:32
Chiri-Chiri had grown to roughly a foot long from her snout to the base of her tail—which extended another fifteen inches.
<Dawnshard: From the Stormlight Archive>(Sanderson, Brandon) Highlight on page 12 | Location 128-129 2024-12-16 12:38:32
While she appreciated the concern people showed for her, she worked so hard to be able to do things on her own. When people accidentally undercut that, it became more difficult to ignore the part of her that whispered lies. That told her that because she was less capable in a few areas, she was worthless in general.
<Dawnshard: From the Stormlight Archive>(Sanderson, Brandon) Highlight on page 20 | Location 205-207 2020-11-20 18:42:08
“When Aimia fell,” he explained, “the Na-Alind—a family among the greatshelled gods of the Reshi—took in the last of the larkin. Greatshells do not think or speak like people do, and the ways of our gods are strange. But best we can tell, there was a promise among them. To protect these, their cousins.
<Dawnshard: From the Stormlight Archive>(Sanderson, Brandon) Highlight on page 21 | Location 218-220 2020-11-20 18:42:52
Navani Kholin—recently crowned queen of Urithiru—was taking meetings. She was an intimidating woman with her Alethi height, her black and grey hair done in intricate braids atop her head and woven with glowing sapphires.
<Dawnshard: From the Stormlight Archive>(Sanderson, Brandon) Highlight on page 21 | Location 274-275 2024-12-16 23:21:13
Most of Rysn’s contemporaries entered a discussion asking, “What can I get from this?” Rysn had been disabused of that notion early in her training. Her babsk taught a different way of seeing the world, training her to ask, “What need can I fulfill?”
<Dawnshard: From the Stormlight Archive>(Sanderson, Brandon) Highlight on page 25 | Location 275-277 2020-11-20 18:48:36
That was the true purpose of a merchant. To find complementary needs, then bridge the distance between them so everyone benefited. It wasn’t about what you could get from people, but what you could get for them that made a successful merchant.
<Dawnshard: From the Stormlight Archive>(Sanderson, Brandon) Highlight on page 25 | Location 277-279 2020-11-20 18:48:53
“There is . . . something on that island,” Navani said. “Something that is able to undermine the powers of the Knights Radiant. My soldiers reported seeing swarms of small shadows darting through the clouds. And legends about Aimia speak of mythical creatures that feed off Stormlight.”
<Dawnshard: From the Stormlight Archive>(Sanderson, Brandon) Highlight on page 29 | Location 327-330 2020-11-20 18:53:14
The problem with people was that everyone saw other nations from far away. Saw them as big mountainous blobs. Foreigners. Strange. Got it. Up close, it was hard to see people that way. Each was so distinctive.
<Dawnshard: From the Stormlight Archive>(Sanderson, Brandon) Highlight on page 35 | Location 409-410 2020-11-20 23:54:11
“Vstim said to always read contracts with friends an extra time,” Rysn said softly. “That’s it?” “I asked him, on another occasion, to explain. He said, ‘Rysn, being cheated is a terrible feeling. Being cheated by someone you love is worse.
<Dawnshard: From the Stormlight Archive>(Sanderson, Brandon) Highlight on page 71 | Location 901-903 2020-11-22 21:13:17
It hurts us to kill Radiants, let alone one of the Sighted, said Yelamaiszin, the First.
<Dawnshard: From the Stormlight Archive>(Sanderson, Brandon) Highlight on page 75 | Location 964-965 2020-11-22 21:17:45
I find things that make scared are also things that make interesting.
<Dawnshard: From the Stormlight Archive>(Sanderson, Brandon) Highlight on page 78 | Location 1004-1004 2020-11-22 21:20:41
The others called him silly, but he thought the different colors tasted different.
<Dawnshard: From the Stormlight Archive>(Sanderson, Brandon) Highlight on page 79 | Location 1012-1013 2020-11-22 21:21:23
Who are you really? she wondered at the distant figure. And why are you so intent on keeping us away from this island?
<Dawnshard: From the Stormlight Archive>(Sanderson, Brandon) Highlight on page 96 | Location 1582-1583 2024-12-19 23:09:19
bragging wasn’t about making yourself look good, but about convincing the other guy you weren’t afraid, which was completely different.
<Dawnshard: From the Stormlight Archive>(Sanderson, Brandon) Highlight on page 124 | Location 1627-1629 2020-11-23 12:10:50
“How did you . . . Lopen, you saved him!” “It’s kind of our thing,” Lopen said.
<Dawnshard: From the Stormlight Archive>(Sanderson, Brandon) Highlight on page 125 | Location 1647-1648 2020-11-23 12:12:16
Storms. Nikli wasn’t a man or a Voidbringer. He was something worse: one of the gods from Cord’s stories, a monster from Jasnah’s tales. An abomination made up of hundreds of tiny pieces pretending to be a single entity.
<Dawnshard: From the Stormlight Archive>(Sanderson, Brandon) Highlight on page 126 | Location 2058-2060 2024-12-22 23:26:30
That mural . . . it was circular and—inlaid with golden foil—it seemed to glow with its own light. The writing on parts of it was unfamiliar to Rysn; she hadn’t seen the script during any of her travels. It wasn’t even the Dawnchant. The peculiar letters were art themselves, curling around the outside of the exploding sun—which was divided into mostly symmetrical pieces. Four of them, each in turn broken into four smaller sections.
<Dawnshard: From the Stormlight Archive>(Sanderson, Brandon) Highlight on page 162 | Location 2146-2149 2020-11-24 00:49:41
This is the real treasure, she thought, although she didn’t know why. Those words. Burning on the wall.
<Dawnshard: From the Stormlight Archive>(Sanderson, Brandon) Highlight on page 132 | Location 2152-2153 2024-12-23 23:08:30
You were brought here, she thought to herself, by one of the Guardians of Ancient Sins. Of course she had been. That made sense. Wait. Did it? Yes, she thought. You were. There are few of them left. And so the Sleepless take up the task.
<Dawnshard: From the Stormlight Archive>(Sanderson, Brandon) Highlight on page 132 | Location 2155-2158 2024-12-23 23:08:37
Accept it. Know it. CHANGE. It stilled, waiting. Waiting for . . . “Yes,” Rysn whispered. Something slammed into her mind. It streamed from the mural through her eyes, searing her skull. It gripped her, held to her, joined with her. Light consumed Rysn entirely.
<Dawnshard: From the Stormlight Archive>(Sanderson, Brandon) Highlight on page 133 | Location 2177-2180 2024-12-23 23:09:14
“Sit. Let us negotiate.” “There is nothing to negotiate, Rysn,” Nikli said. “I’m sorry. But I have a duty to the entire cosmere.”
<Dawnshard: From the Stormlight Archive>(Sanderson, Brandon) Highlight on page 137 | Location 2228-2229 2024-12-24 13:18:58
“We need a Shardblade!” Kstled said. “Can’t you summon one?” “Afraid not,” Lopen said. “It’s political.”
<Dawnshard: From the Stormlight Archive>(Sanderson, Brandon) Highlight on page 139 | Location 2250-2251 2024-12-24 13:20:39
Nikli shook his head. “Rysn, there are forces in the cosmere that we can barely identify, let alone track. Evil forces, who would end worlds if they could. They are hunting this place. Now that the Ancient Guardians of Akinah are all but extinct, we Sleepless must protect it. For if our enemies locate it, they could cause the deaths of billions.” He waved toward the mural. “The Dawnshard is . . .” He stopped. Then he squinted.
<Dawnshard: From the Stormlight Archive>(Sanderson, Brandon) Highlight on page 146 | Location 2380-2384 2024-12-24 13:27:59
“You claim to want to protect this thing,” Rysn said, “but all you threaten to do is destroy.” “If you knew what the Dawnshard was capable of . . .” “It’s now inside me. Whatever it is.” “Fortunately, you would not be able to employ it,” Nikli said. “It is beyond your capacity. But there are those in the cosmere who could use it for terrible acts.”
<Dawnshard: From the Stormlight Archive>(Sanderson, Brandon) Highlight on page 151 | Location 2442-2446 2024-12-24 13:32:09
“We would still need a trade,” Nikli said, “that is plausible. Something our enemies believe we’d trade to you. Yet my people have few wants. . . .” “But you do,” Rysn said. “You said it earlier. Your kind are bad at pretending to be humans—so our trade is for training. I agree to take some of you with me, and to show you how to be human. We train you.”
<Dawnshard: From the Stormlight Archive>(Sanderson, Brandon) Highlight on page 153 | Location 2487-2490 2024-12-24 13:35:06
Nikli laughed. “Mere words cannot explain. The Dawnshards are Commands, Rysn. The will of a god.”
<Dawnshard: From the Stormlight Archive>(Sanderson, Brandon) Highlight on page 189 | Location 2505-2506 2020-11-24 01:12:57
“The most powerful forms of Surgebinding transcend traditional mortal understanding,” Nikli said. His body began to re-form, hordelings crawling back into place. “All their greatest applications require Intent and a Command. Demands on a level no person could ever manage alone. To make such Commands, one must have the reasoning—the breadth of understanding—of a deity. And so, the Dawnshards. The four primal Commands that created all things.” He paused. “And then eventually, they were used to undo Adonalsium itself. . .
<Dawnshard: From the Stormlight Archive>(Sanderson, Brandon) Highlight on page 190 | Location 2508-2512 2020-11-24 01:13:25
She felt the strange pressure in the back of her mind. It was a Command? How had it been in the mural, but now invaded her head? She hadn’t been able to read the writing. What kind of Command wasn’t written, but infused a subject like Stormlight in a sphere?
<Dawnshard: From the Stormlight Archive>(Sanderson, Brandon) Highlight on page 155 | Location 2528-2530 2024-12-24 13:41:05
“So, Rysn is a Shardbearer now?” Cord asked. “A . . . Dawnshardbearer?” “No,” Nikli said. “She bears nothing. She is the Dawnshard now. That is how it works.” He bowed to Rysn. “We will speak again.”
<Dawnshard: From the Stormlight Archive>(Sanderson, Brandon) Highlight on page 157 | Location 2569-2571 2024-12-24 13:43:38
“I’ll do it, then,” Lopen said, standing up. “I’ve got to protect people, you know? Even from myself. Gotta rededicate to being the best Lopen possible. A better, improved, extra-incredible Lopen.”
<Dawnshard: From the Stormlight Archive>(Sanderson, Brandon) Highlight on page 162 | Location 2624-2626 2024-12-24 13:46:40
These Words are accepted. A burst of frost and power exploded around Lopen.
<Dawnshard: From the Stormlight Archive>(Sanderson, Brandon) Highlight on page 162 | Location 2629-2630 2024-12-24 13:46:51
“After we leave port on our third journey,” Drlwan said, standing, “it would be good for the crew to see you steer the ship for a short time, would it not?” “I would be honored,” Rysn said, her voice catching as she said it. “Truly.”
<Dawnshard: From the Stormlight Archive>(Sanderson, Brandon) Highlight on page 165 | Location 2683-2685 2024-12-24 13:50:16