Isles of the Emberdark Book Review
Isles of the Emberdark is the fifth book in the Secret Projects series from Brandon Sanderson. It is set within the Cosmere universe, and is, strictly speaking, a sequel to Sixth of the Dusk. Reading Sixth of the Dusk, however, is not a prerequisite, and Isles of the Emberdark can be read as a standalone novel. The first few chapters in Isles of the Emberdark cover the plot of Sixth of the Dusk as a series of flashbacks.
The rest of this review assumes a basic familiarity with the Cosmere’s magic system and technical concepts.
Overview
- Pace: Fast-paced
- Plot or Character Driven?: Mostly plot-driven
- Major themes: Colonialism, Coming of age, Tradition vs. Progress
- Prose: Typical Brandon Sanderson “clear windowpane” style prose
- Links to other reviews: StoryGraph, Goodreads
Plot Summary
Isles of the Emberdark marks the first novel where the Cosmere is clearly switching genres from Fantasy to Sci-Fi. It is written from the point of view of two main characters - Sixth of the Dusk, a bird trapper from the fantastical world of First of the Sun (Drominad) struggling to find relevance in the modern world, and Starling, a young dragon trying to find her place as the captain of a merchant spaceship. Their stories collide on an island near First of the Sun’s perpendicularity, where a group of Malwish Scadrians are trying to find Drominad’s perpendicularity in Shadesmar, just like Starling, after being tipped off about its location by a group of Iriali. Dusk, who is trying to find a bargaining chip in his planet’s negotiations with the Malwish (The Ones from Above), reaches this island after traveling from the actual Drominad perpendicularity and discovering along the way that he has the ability to navigate in the Emberdark - the nothingness between planets in Shadesmar.
All of the involved parties discover the presence of a Threnodite entity in the center of this island. Dusk believes that this entity is the legendary Dakwara that his people’s lore talks about. The Malwish and Starling dismiss his beliefs as lore of a primitive people without realizing that the Cognitive Realm is shaped by the thoughts of people in the Physical Realm, and hence if an entire group of people believe in the Dakwara, the Threnodite entity will become the Dakwara, and follow the rules of the lore of Dusk’s people.
Dusk eventually defeats the Malwish on the island, Starling consolidates her position as a captain, and First of the Sun - which now has a Threnodite entity protecting its perpendicularity - starts advertising its navigation services for hire to the wider Cosmere.
Analysis
Colonialism
First of the Sun is a backwater planet at the edges of the Cosmere in the Physical Realm. In the Cognitive Realm, however, it happens to sit somewhere between Scadrial and Roshar, thereby making it a logistical chokepoint in the war between Scadrial and Roshar.
Scadrial is trying to colonize Drominad with the same mindset as that of any empire - total domination, complete erasure of local culture, and eventual assimilation.
I couldn’t help but think of my own country’s (India’s) colonization by Britain, and the complete obliteration of India’s economy that followed it.
Fortunately for Drominad though, they were able to recognize their colonization before it occurred, and were able to find a bargaining chip in time.
Tradition vs. Progress
This was the theme of Dusk’s arc, along with his struggle to find his identity in a world which was changing more rapidly than he would have liked. He is able to grow, though, with some help from Vathi.
So he didn’t look back. Looking back was for people who regretted what they were about to do. Instead, he kept paddling. One man. Two birds. Three kinds of infinity. And an entire world that, remarkably, still needed him.
Prose
I didn’t like Starling’s parts in the book. She is supposed to be a young dragon and her point-of-view chapters’ childish prose was a stark contrast to Dusk’s deep inner monologue.
I found her character arc too predictable, and her chapters’ prose too thin. I usually don’t mind Sanderson’s “clear windowpane” style prose, but in this case it was constantly preventing my immersion into the story, especially when it was getting contrasted with Dusk’s point-of-view chapters.
Conclusion
The ending was quite satisfying and saved the book for me. While it was not a full-blown Sanderlanche, it was an enjoyable action-thriller-style climax.
3.75/5 stars.