This was kind of a mixed bag for me. I had already read parts of it separately, but I wanted to read the rest of the short stories. I think an easy way to review it would be to review the stories separately:

Sel
The Hope of Elantris:
Given how much I loved Elantris and that I had assumed this was going to be a sequel, I was pretty disappointed. It's not that the story was bad, I can't actually call anything Brandon Sanderson writes bad, it just wasn't what I thought it would be. It answered a question I didn't ask. :)

The Emperor's Soul:
I had already read this as it was my introduction to Brandon Sanderson so I didn't read it again. I remember that I was instantly intrigued and wanted to learn more about the world. I'm actually considering a reread because I bet I'll see things very differently if I did.

Scadrial
The Eleventh Metal:
Kelsier was never my favourite character to be honest, so I didn't feel like I needed to learn more about his training before the events of Mistborn. I might have been more interested if this had included his life with his late wife as she is a very interesting character to me. A look into Vin's family would have been good too, her brother or her mom, those are actually things I want to learn more about.

Allomancer Jak and the Pits of Eltania, Episodes Twenty-eight Through Thirty:
I didn't care for this much either, I liked the little interventions and they kind of reminded me of how in Stormlight Archives the women would sub-script everything to elaborate or right some wrongs in what the men dictated, but other than this sort of tongue-in-cheek humour, I didn't think I needed to read what is basically the answer to: I wonder what the rest of that article in the newspapers in Bands of Mourning actually said. Also, Jak was annoying, I wish it was all subscript lol.

Mistborn: Secret History:
This one was part of why I got this book to start with, it answered some of the questions you might have by the end of Hero of Ages, it gives some insight about the gods there, there's an appearance by Hoid that is kind of useful when you're reading Rhythm of War. Again, I'm not a Kelsier fan, and I'm not sure I like the implications to the rest of the Cosmere, but it sure got me invested in the inter-world connections that are happening between Scadrial and Roshar. I will stop at that since this is a spoiler free review.

Taldain
White Sand:
I haven't read any of the White Sand graphic novels but this was enough to get me intrigued. I want to know more about this world and its magic system. And I'm curious whether some of it was used somehow in Rhythm of War.

Threnody
Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell:
This was very interesting and a little scary, and I don't usually find Brandon's writing scary. I am kind of sad that we'll never know more about this part of Threnody, because it sounds fascinating. I wanted to know more about the magic there, more about the surviving characters, some origin stories even.

First of the Sun (“Sixth of the Dusk”):
This story was my favourite in the collection, I think. The people and world here are very different. I want more of it, full on series on this world, with its special peoples, animals, islands, and gods. I would also love to see how any of it relates to the rest of the Cosmere.

Roshar
Edgedancer:
I read this novella way before I got to this collection. When I read it, I actually didn't appreciate it much, and I thought Lift was a little bratty for most of it, I just didn't really get it. But then after getting to know Lift, Wyndle, and Gawx more in Oathbringer and Rhythm of War, and getting to understand Lift more, it kind of grew on me. I would even want more of Lift's origin story in the future.

Arcanum Unbounded: The Cosmere Collection - Likewise Book Reviews

6 Reviews