Title: Sixth of the Dusk Author: Brandon Sanderson Published by: Dragonsteel Entertainment Published on: June 28, 2014 Pages: 96
This is the symbol of your ignorance. On the Pantheon Islands, nothing is easy, nothing is simple. That plume was placed by another trapper to catch someone who does not deserve to be here, someone who thought to find an easy prize. You cannot be that person. Never move without asking yourself, is this too easy?
Change.
That is the topic Brando brought up in this novella. Change always brings pros and cons along with it; it can sometimes be good, but sometimes be bad.
Lol look at me being all philosophical and serious! Here's a meme to neutralise the situation:
Sixth of the Dusk is a novella. And this time, Brando wasn't high so the number of pages is still considered normal for a short story. The story takes place in a never-visited-before planet called First of the Sun, with an absolutely new magic system. According to the word of Brando, it takes place far in the future of Cosmere. Like really, really, reaaally far, far away.
At first, I thought there was a philosophical meaning behind the title. Turns out, it's the name of our main character. Yes, mate. Sixth of the Dusk is the name of a person.
To make it cute, let's call him Dusk. Dusk was a trapper -- imagine some sort of ranger in the forest who had to protect the environment, but also super religious. The First of the Sun planet centers on the gods who were its islands. I pictured the planet looked like America the continent wayy back before Columbus ruined it, or maybe the Pacific Islands. The biggest island, and the most dangerous, was Patji, out of the entire Pantheon. In accordance to its titles, Patji was the supreme god worshipped by the people. Dusk was the trapper in Patji.
When I said that Patji was dangerous, it's because there were loads of beasts roaming wild uncontrolled in the island, deadly insects, also killer plants. The irony is while these people worshipped Patji as Father, at the same time they were afraid of it. Patji was a deadly god, who killed whomever he liked -- basically that's the religious philosophy of this planet.
Other than trappers, we also had homeislers who were basically modern, more open-minded people. From Dusk's perspective, we found out that technology had been very progressive. Yet eventhough he used these modern weapons for its efficiency, he was worried because this would change things that had been familiar to him.
Every trapper had an Aviar bird, whose function was to create some sort of protective bubble to them -- which was very effiecient on travels between island, where they had to row through rivers/oceans/lakes/whatever it was. There was a certain creature living underneath who fed on humans. Without the protection of the Aviar, these trappers were easy prey. But Dusk had one more advantage, another Aviar who would warn of his death.
One day, Dusk noticed that a group of mainlanders arriving at Patji were murdered by deepwater, a wild beast hiding in the waters. Based on the footprints, one managed to escape. It was Vathi, a researcher coming along with the mainlanders. From her, Dusk found out that before the nightmarish incident, these people managed to turn on a certain tool that would destroy the Patji island itself.
So that night, Dusk and Vathi had to cross Patji from end to end in order to save this deadly island. It wasn't an easy journey, as Patji unleashed its deadliest monsters to prey on Dusk and Vathi.
EGGLYSIS
Sixth of the Dusk had a different vibe compared to other Brando's works. Usually, no matter how high the stake was, there was a certain typical Brando snarkiness to it. This time, there was none of it. The story was super serious, especially considering that Dusk didn't talk much. The feel is more similar to his other novella, Shadow for Silence in the Forests of Hell -- the one included in Dangerous Women anthology, that led to my wonderful discovery of one Brandon Sanderson.
World building-wise, come on mate it's Brando what do you expect. Brilliant, as always. According to him, Sixth of the Dusk is set the furthest in the Cosmere timeline. Plus if you have read The Bands of Mourning, who actually The Ones Above were would intrigue you. *nudgenudgewinkwink* :P
Character-wise, hmm... this is going to be a first, methinks. But I feel rather disconnected from Dusk. Maybe it's the fact that he didn't talk much, maybe I just missed that snarkiness. As a character, Dusk is strong, but I just couldn't connect to him. Vathi felt more relatable -- in a way, I think she represents the readers who want to know more about Patji. Dusk was just too guarded to be approachable in 96 pages.
Overall, Sixth of the Dusk...
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