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Edgedancer

Edgedancer

NovellaEpic FantasyFantasy
Pages
272
Published
2016
Language
English

Synopsis

Set between the events of Words of Radiance and Oathbringer, Edgedancer follows Lift — a teenage girl who can convert food into Stormlight through her unique physiology and who is bonded to the cultivation spren Wyndle. Lift steals from a city festival and finds herself in Yeddaw, a city carved beneath the surface, where she encounters the Herald Nale and a Surgebinder he is hunting. The novella establishes Lift's irreverent voice, her strange Stormlight abilities, and the disturbing reality that the Heralds of the Almighty — figures revered as divine — have spent thousands of years without the purpose that once defined them, with consequences for their sanity. Originally published in Arcanum Unbounded (2016), Edgedancer was later released as a standalone in 2018.

Prose complexity
4/10

Collected in

Book cover of Arcanum Unbounded
Arcanum Unbounded

Vibe

AdventurousFunnyWhimsicalHopefulEmotional
Coming of Age

Genres

Epic Fantasy Fantasy High Fantasy Adventure Humor Young Adult

About the author

B
Brandon Sanderson

Born in Lincoln, Nebraska in 1975, Brandon Sanderson spent his early twenties working graveyard shifts at a hotel — writing novels at the front desk between guest check-ins. By the time his debut, Elantris, was published by Tor Books in 2005, he had completed thirteen novels in the drawer. His subsequent Mistborn trilogy and the ongoing Stormlight Archive series established him as the primary architect of the Cosmere, an interconnected fictional universe in which most of his fantasy series share...

Characters

LiftProtagonist

A street-smart young thief and nascent Edgedancer who converts food into Stormlight.

NaleAntagonist

A Herald of the Almighty who has spent millennia hunting Surgebinders, operating under a logical framework that has rotted into dangerous rigidity.

WyndleSupporting

The reluctant cultivationspren bonded to Lift, who appears to her as a trail of vines.

All characters in Edgedancer

Frequently asked questions

  • Where does Edgedancer fit in the Stormlight Archive reading order?

    It takes place between Words of Radiance and Oathbringer. It can be read in that slot or after Oathbringer; reading it before Oathbringer provides useful context for how Lift and Nale appear there.

  • Who is Lift and why is her magic unusual?

    Lift is an Edgedancer, a type of Knight Radiant. Her unique physiology allows her to convert food directly into Stormlight rather than needing to absorb it from infused gemstones — a trait that appears to stem from a boon granted by the Shard Cultivation.

  • Who is Nale?

    Nale (or Nalan) is one of the Heralds of the Almighty — figures who were revered as gods across Roshar for thousands of years. His extended time without the purpose that once defined him has warped his worldview into something terrifying.

  • Do I need to read Arcanum Unbounded to get Edgedancer?

    No — Edgedancer is available as a standalone novella and does not require Arcanum Unbounded.

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