Week 42 Review: Shadows For Silence In the Forest of Hell

From Goodreads:

Originally appearing in the Dangerous Women anthology and now available as a solo ebook, Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell is a chilling novella of the Cosmere, the universe shared by Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series and the #1 New York Times bestselling Stormlight Archive.

When the familiar and seemingly safe turns lethal, therein danger lies. Amid a forest where the shades of the dead linger all around, every homesteader knows to follow the Simple Rules: "Don't kindle flame, don't shed the blood of another, don't run at night. These things draw shades." Silence Montane has broken all three rules on more than one occasion. And to protect her family from a murderous gang with high bounties on their heads, Silence will break every rule again, at the risk of becoming a shade herself.

My Review:
Yeah, another great novella from Brandon Sanderson, but this time, set in the Cosmere! This is set in a world we haven't seen yet in the full length books, and yeah, it was pretty darned interesting to read! I loved this world, it was so dark and intriguing, and I can't wait to see it interacting with the rest of the Cosmere as a whole!

So there's the whole continent that these people have left. And they're left on this other one, with a forest that is called hell. Silence lives right on the edge, and she breaks the rules-but she's gotten away with it for now. But times are tough, and she takes bigger and bigger risks.

There was a lot of intense action in this book. The whole setting was creepy, on the edge of the forest, in the forest. With the shades, violence becomes a tricky prospect, because if someone draws someone else's blood, the shade goes after the blood-drawer. And given Silence's profession, well. There's a reason she broke the rules, and why she has to now. So it was great, and intense, to read! 

I really enjoyed the way this story was framed, with a beginning from a random character's perspective, having the bulk of the story from Silence's perspective, and then ending with that random character again. It had a nice symmetry, and I'm glad it stayed, because in the notes it said that it was protested. I really loved the fact that because of this way it was told, it gave a slight mystery to what Silence decided. So that was really fun to read! 

Loved this story, and I can't wait to read more of the Cosemere because it's freaking fantastic! 

Author: Brandon Sanderson
Series: The Cosmere 
Read: October 11th, 2020
Source: Ebook.bike 
Reason Why: Love his writing and this series, and it's a Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2020 Book! 
Publisher: Dragonsteel Entertainment
Published: December 3rd 2013

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars