Sixth of the Dusk (NOVELLA REVIEW)


If you were to ask me to list off my favorite authors from the top of my head, one of, if not the first, names I’d throw down would certainly be Brandon Sanderson. Which is strange when you think of it. Including this novella, I’ve read but three of his works. But that, to me anyway, is paramount to my appreciation. Brandon Sanderson is a legend at worldbuilding, a master of fantasy literature, an author that stands on par with George R. R. Martin in terms of quality, and one who stands in a field all his own in terms of sheer output. The guy releases a handful of books and shorts a year. Some of those being giant 1000 page tomes. Sixth of the Dusk is a novelette, part of the Shadows Beneath: The Writing Excuses Anthology.

So how does Sixth of the Dusk stand? In terms of worldbuilding, for a story this short, there is no comparing it to anything else. The short takes place on the tenth planet of Brandon Sanderson’s expansive Cosmere (the universe that most of his many series and works take place in) entitled First of the Sun. It’s a minor Shardworld, something not even touched on in the narrative, but the effects of its strange magical presence is both imaginative and terrifying. What we learn about the planet isn’t much, but every page of this novella unfurls a world sprawling with life and death.

We aren’t told if there are any major land masses on First of the Sun, but we do learn of two island masses, the Eelakin Islands – the homeisles of the Eelakin people, and the Pantheon, a group of islands revered by the Eelakin due to their cognitive magical properties. The greatest of these Pantheon islands, Panji, is where Sixth of the Dusk takes place. It’s also the most dangerous. Unique to this island is the fact that many of the living creatures have telepathic capabilities, throwing thoughts around or mental images.

One such creature, featured prominently, is a special breed of Aviar (bird with powers), and is named Sak, by his owner (and main character of the novella) Dusk. He is capable of showing the holder portents of their impending death, literally throwing out a mental image of the holder’s dead body in any number of precarious scenarios (of which there are infinite possibilities on Panji). Mental magic systems aren’t unheard of. Robin Hobb is no stranger to them certainly, but this short raises the bar of strange ever so slightly.

The title Sixth of the Dusk refers specifically to the novella’s protagonist. He was the sixth born in his family, and at dusk. It is an Eelakin naming tradition, native to this planet. We find his name actually refers to the dusk of his kind, something that heavily influences the narrative of the story. Change is inevitable, essentially. I found that Dusk’s narrative arc was too contrived, too stark for the time allotted in the story that it didn’t feel altogether natural.

I feel that the story faces the dilemma that it’s literally just a story to further the Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere, and from what I’ve read, this is the first attempt at really bridging the many worlds with the idea of The Ones Above coming down to change the lives of the people on the small planet, and thus one of the most instrumental if Sanderson ever plans to fully throw a crossover story. As a story by itself, it doesn’t hold up entirely, thus the 7.3 score I gave it. But it is a worthy addition to his arsenal of stories. I hope you all get a chance to dive into it. But I now have an entirely new goal of catching up on the rest of Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere work in the coming year, starting with his Mistborn series.

Buy Sixth of the Dusk as an eBook for $2.99!

10 thoughts on “Sixth of the Dusk (NOVELLA REVIEW)

  1. There’s actually already been a fair bit of crossover going on. Two of the characters in Words of Radiance, specifically the one Szeth meets at the very end of WoR, are the main characters of his novel Warbreaker. There’s also a guy named Demoux in one of the Interludes, who’s one of the more prominent side characters in Mistborn. And then there’s Wit from Stormlight Archive, who’s appeared in almost all of the Cosmere stories so far in some capacity or the other.

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    1. I meant to throw that tidbit in my review. Aside from cameo appearanes from Hoid though, this is the first mention of intent or other, that I’ve heard of, to suggest a crossover. Or rather, intent for crossover.

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      1. Yea, I get you. It’s going to become much more widespread eventually though, the 4th Mistborn trilogy will be science fiction with faster than light capabilities, so its coming. For all we know, that 4th trilogy is happening concurrently with events on Roshar, and thats how Dempux and company have been moving around, lol.

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      2. Yea. He originally planned a trilogy of trilogies, but then he came up with The Alloy of Law, and had enough to spin an entire trilogy out of with that. The Alloy books actually take place 70 years before what was originally planned as the 2nd trilogy.

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      3. Oh nice. Well. The Mistborn books are certainly where I’ll be dedicating my Sanderson time next, come 2015. Are the books as ling as Stormlight?

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      4. Nah, they weigh in roughly 650 – 700 each. Except for The Alloy of Law which is really an expanded novella; that’s about 400 or so, I think. Stormlight is as long as they get for Sanderson.

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      5. Well, good to know. Thanks. Apparently Words of Radiance literally couldn’t be any longer. The Tor printers couldn’t handle any more than 400k words. 😅

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      6. I heard about that! Because of the printing issues folks only got ARCs like a week before it hit shelves, hah. Epic stuff, literally 😀

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