4 stars out of 5
Brandon Sanderson has published quite a few books now. His fan group is large enough to be considered a fandom and they are always vying for more words. Sanderson fulfilled some of that desire with Arcanum Unbounded.
This book is a collection of short stories, excerpts, and even novellas. The stories are all within Sanderson’s Cosmere but on different worlds. Some of them relate to already published books, and some are brand new. The Cosmere itself is explained a bit more and pictures showcase the stories and their solar systems. It is a beautiful collection of Cosmere storyline.
Disjointed
There are a few stand-alone stories, but most require some limited back knowledge to understand them. It is the kind of book fans love to read in between larger series. But even for fans, which I am, some of the works are hard to follow. A couple of stories start in the middle of chapters and it takes you a while to orient yourself. I don’t get invested in those stories as much. It is interesting to read more about these worlds and the beautiful language, but there is a lot missing.
The stories that are there in full are amazing. Edgedancer and The Emperor’s Soul are my favorites, and ironically the longest. They more than make up for my confusion in the other stories. I’m used to using context clues to figure things out anyway.
I’m trying to keep my book reviews a bit shorter and so I’ll end here. This is more of a book for fans and I would suggest reading Mistborn, Stormlight, or Elantris first. But once you have, you won’t want to miss the hidden gems in here!
Short Stories within Arcanum Unbounded
The larger stories can even be bought on their own.
2. The Hope of Elantris – Two set in the world of Elantris
3. The Eleventh Metal
4. Allomancer Jak and the Pits of Eltania
5. Mistborn: Secret History – Three set in the world of Mistborn
6. White Sand Excerpt – One set in the world of White Sand
7. Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell
8. Sixth of the Dusk – Two new worlds
9. Edgedancer – One set in the world of Stormlight