Okay, so today i'm going to be talking about Dawnshard spoiler free and specifically,
do you need to read it before Rhythm of War. At this point Rhythm of War has already been
released so i'm a little bit late to making this a relevant video, but there are still people that
are wondering so hey, let's talk about it. First thing i'll mention is that this is only released
on ebook right now and the physical copy and the audio copy won't be released for about a year
(at least at the time that i'm filming this, that's what's been said) and that was... well
i actually thought i wasn't going to be able to read Dawnshard because of that because
i'm dyslexic and reading on ebook is significantly harder for me than physical or audio because
for whatever reason letters and words get jumbled way more on a screen than they do on a page.
So i didn't think i was going to be able to read this, but then a friend of mine ended up doing a
live reading on my Discord. I attended the live readings and that's how i consume this story.
So this is going to be a really quick review just giving you my overall thoughts of it and a little
bit of context, since i read, since i got an advanced reader copy of Rhythm of War and i
read that first; we can talk a little bit about how necessary it is to read it first. So was it
essential or was it an Edge Dancer? I personally really enjoyed Edge Dancer because Lyft is one of
my favorite characters and she's very much a side character in the series so getting to spend more
time with her was a joy to me. Was it necessary to read before moving forward? I say no because there
was really only one big piece of information that we got from Lyft that was relevant to, was really
important to the next book and it's something that you could have easily picked up on context
in the next book. So i loved Edge Dancer, but you can easily move forward without Edged Dancer. It
adds to the story, but it's not necessary. It's a side quest that gives a little bit of information.
Um... Dawnshard is not that or at least i don't anticipate it's going to stay
that. So, my thoughts on Dawnshard spoiler free as far as relevancy goes;
it is another really fun side quest. I would argue more engaging... this one is more engaging than
Edge Dancer. We follow Lopin and Rysn. I actually don't know how to say her name correctly. I think
it's Rysn which i was really happy about because those are two characters that i was really excited
to hang out with in Rhythm of War and i was... they were, they were two of the characters that
i wish had more page time in Rhythm of War and Dawnshard really scratched that itch. It also
added a lot more depth to both of their characters and there's a big emphasis on Rysn, um... oh. How
spoiler-free are we gonna go? Am i gonna spoil things from previous books that have been out
for a while? I guess mild spoiler... Rysn's new disability, there's a big emphasis on that and on,
well her internal struggle and her internal um feelings about that, which is very
Sanderson-esque. He loves going really deep into people's mental states right? So naturally he's
going to put a big emphasis on that. As someone who is born with a really rare disease and who
has spent a good, spent good chunks of my time uh using wheelchairs on and off (it wasn't anything
near what Rysn... it it wasn't the same thing as what risen has gone through) but i get
her head space a lot and of course Sanderson always, always does a ton of research whenever
he wants to explore mental health and when he wants to go deeper into that kind of thing,
and he obviously did with this as well and my situation is different from Rysn's, but i
really liked the way he explored the way she was processing her new physical condition based off
of things outside of her control because it was really reflective of how i felt. Lopin was also
a really interesting, his side quest was really interesting because we also went a lot deeper
into... oh i don't want to say because it's kind of near the end. We go a lot deeper with Lopin
too and uh i know... i talked with Eric from the 17th Shard and he always felt like Lopin graded
on him a little bit because his humor didn't work for him and he this made him like Lopin,
so i think if you are hesitant about Lopin getting a lot of page time, if that's you,
then uh... you may be happy with this. I personally have always enjoyed Lopin in small
doses, never really felt like i needed a ton more of him, but i liked having him around and having
a ton more of him in this worked really well. Back on track; is it necessary for Rhythm of War?
No. It's not. I wish i had read it before Rhythm of War because there are so many Cosmere
connections in Rhythm of War and there are so many Cosmere connections in Dawnshard and a lot of the
world... Rhythm of War is a big world building book, uh i mean they all are but Rhythm of War
is probably the most of the four and a lot of the world deepening that we got in Rhythm of War;
Dawnshard, i think if i had read that first it would have added a good amount of context to that
that would have made it feel even bigger to me. It's not necessary, but it would have been cool
to have had that context. So i do wish i had read it first, but it's absolutely not necessary
to read it first. There's a lot of reveals that happen in Dawnshard that i think there's
no way it won't be relevant to book five. I think that i'm definitely going to re-read
Dawnshard before we get book five because i think it will, i think it will absolutely be essential
for what's coming, but it's not essential for what we just got, for Rhythm of War.
So if you just got Rhythm of War in the mail and you're trying to decide: "Do i read this
ebook first or can i just dive into this book that i'm so excited about?" The answer is:
you CAN dive in. I think that Dawnshard is worth the read and it does add to the story quite a bit,
but it's absolutely not necessary so if you can't wait and you don't want a side quest, you want
the big chunker of a book, go for it. Do it. You're fine. I recommend reading it first,
but it's also not necessary. There was only one chapter in Rhythm of War that i read and thought,
"Oh. I need to read Dawnshard to get context for what they're talking about. I need Dawnshard to
fully understand what's happening here." There was only one and it was an interlude and it wasn't
really long. But that said, now that i have read Dawnshard there are several other scenes that i
plan on rereading because they add fresh context and perspective and i think it just will make
those scenes more alive and more exciting, but i didn't need Dawnshard to understand those scenes
the first time. My thoughts on Dawnshard... this was a really fun side quest that i think is a side
quest at the moment, but i think will by book five not be a side quest. It will be necessary reading
to get the full effect of book five. It was such a fun side quest. I had a blast reading it and
there were so many Cosmere revelations in it that i think especially the Sanderson "super nerds" are
going to be so excited. Everybody that loves all the Cosmere connections, everybody that loves all
the intricate details that Sanderson puts into his world; so excited. And the people that aren't as
hyped about that sort of element in The Stormlight Archive, i think you're still gonna have a great
time with it because it's still a really fun story that still delivers very important information for
the series as a whole. But it's not absolutely essential to read it before book four so you're
safe to go into book four without having read it if that's where the majority of your hype is. I do
wish this had come out earlier so that more people would have a chance to read it before needing to,
before wanting to dive into book four, but uh yeah. You're safe either way, but it's well
worth the read. So read it anyway if you choose to read Rhythm of War first, read it after Rhythm
of War because it's a great story. Those are my spoiler-free thoughts about Dawnshard. I had a
blast reading it. It was so much fun and i highly recommend it. Definitely read it after you finish
Rhythm of War or if you're like me and ebooks are not accessible to you or convenient to you,
definitely read it when the physical and audio come out. Once again, i'm just so hyped for book
five because book four was such great setup for book five, so now that i have Dawnshard
i'm even more hyped for book five, but it'll be a minute so, we can all wait together. Be
sure to chat with me more about this in the comments if you've already read Dawnshard and
you want to talk spoilers. So the spoiler space, space, space thing so that people can choose
not to get spoiled uh but whether you've read it or not, be sure to chat with me
more. I post videos every Tuesday through Friday. I'll see you guys again soon. Bye