Is Sixth of the Dusk connected to Isles of the Emberdark?

Yes — Isles of the Emberdark (2025) is a full novel expanding the same setting and characters, set in the far future of the Cosmere timeline. Sixth of the Dusk takes place in the main Cosmere present.

Aviar are birds native to the Drominad island system that gain unique mental abilities by eating a parasitic worm in Patji's waters. Different Aviar species grant different abilities to their bonded human — Kokerlii, for example, hides its owner's mind from predators.

Where was Sixth of the Dusk first published?

Originally in the anthology Shadows Beneath: The Writing Excuses Anthology (2014), then collected in Arcanum Unbounded (2016).

Is this a good starting point for the Cosmere?

It works as a standalone story, but it rewards readers who have broader Cosmere context. The implications of Aviar technology become clear with knowledge of the wider Cosmere.

Sixth of the Dusk

Novella Epic Fantasy Fantasy

Pages: 66
Published: 2014
Language: English

On the island system of Drominad, trappers brave the deadly wildlife of Patji — the Father island, most dangerous in the system — to collect Aviar, birds with unique mental abilities gained from eating a particular parasitic worm. Sixth of the Dusk is one such trapper, skilled and cautious, who relies on his Aviar companions to survive an island that actively wants to kill him. When a woman from the mainland arrives claiming to be a researcher studying Aviars, Sixth of the Dusk must decide how much to trust her — and what her true agenda might be. The novella is set earlier in the Cosmere timeline but offers a glimpse of a technology that will have major implications for the planet's future as shown in Isles of the Emberdark.

Prose complexity: 4/10

Collected in

Arcanum Unbounded

Adventurous Mysterious

Survival

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...

Sixth of the DuskProtagonist

A skilled trapper who relies on his Aviar companions to survive a deadly island.

KokerliiSupporting

Sixth of the Dusk's Aviar companion, a parrot-like bird whose ability to hide its owner's mind from predators is essential to survival on Patji.

VathiSupporting

An ambitious mainland woman who arrives to study the Aviar.

SakSupporting

Sixth of the Dusk's other Aviar, whose precognitive ability shows him visions of his own death in dangerous locations so he can avoid them — central to the story's climax.

All characters in Sixth of the Dusk

Frequently asked questions

Is Sixth of the Dusk connected to Isles of the Emberdark?
Yes — Isles of the Emberdark (2025) is a full novel expanding the same setting and characters, set in the far future of the Cosmere timeline. Sixth of the Dusk takes place in the main Cosmere present.
What are Aviar?
Aviar are birds native to the Drominad island system that gain unique mental abilities by eating a parasitic worm in Patji's waters. Different Aviar species grant different abilities to their bonded human — Kokerlii, for example, hides its owner's mind from predators.
Where was Sixth of the Dusk first published?
Originally in the anthology Shadows Beneath: The Writing Excuses Anthology (2014), then collected in Arcanum Unbounded (2016).
Is this a good starting point for the Cosmere?
It works as a standalone story, but it rewards readers who have broader Cosmere context. The implications of Aviar technology become clear with knowledge of the wider Cosmere.