Arcanum Unbounded
2016
- fiction, fantasy, short stories
- fiction, fantasy, collections & anthologies
- fiction, fantasy, general
- fantasy fiction, american
The story
The first story collection by *New York Times* bestselling author Brandon Sanderson Brandon Sanderson creates worlds, and those worlds are linked. His universe spans the Stormlight Archive, the Mistborn series, the tales of Elantris, and others, comprising a unique constellation of vividly imagined realms known as the Cosmere. Now for the first time anywhere, stories representing each of these planets, and their fully realized and distinct magic systems, have been collected in a single spectacular volume. *Arcanum Unbounded: The Cosmere Collection* brings together tales spanning the known limits of Sanderson's universe--including the never-before-published *Edgedancer*, a thrilling new novella of the Stormlight Archive--along with charts, illustrations, notes...and secrets. *The Cosmere Collection* encompasses six worlds in all, explored across nine astonishing works of short fiction: **Sel** ("The Hope of Elantris" and *The Emperor's Soul*); **Scadrial** ("The Eleventh Metal," "Allomancer Jak and the Pits of Eltania, Episodes Twenty-eight Through Thirty," and *Mistborn: Secret History*); **Taldain** ("White Sand"); **Threnody** (Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell"); **First of the Sun** ("Sixth of the Dusk"); and **Roshar** (*Edgedancer*). These exciting tales will catapult you onto an unprecedented journey across a cosmos only Brandon Sanderson could have envisioned. *Arcanum Unbounded: The Cosmere Collection* is an indispensable volume no Sanderson fan can do without. This description comes from the publisher.
What it’s like
Crisp, high-energy genre texture throughout: this is a secondary-world fantasy collection where each story feels like its own lit room in a larger, interlocking map. Expect the vivid, visually inventive world-building Sanderson is known for, with magic systems rendered as tactile, rule-bound craft rather than vague sparkle: brass-and-iron hand gestures in grimy cities, sun-scorched deserts with wind-blown sand, dense forests, and a grand cosmic backdrop with maps, charts and footnote-style asides that reward a slow, page-flipping read. The prose is clean and brisk, leaning on momentum, clever set-pieces and quick reversals, with sparse quiet passages between bursts of action. The mood runs from wry and adventurous to melancholic and wondering, the emotional core usually a capable outsider or a reluctant hero learning what their power costs. Violence is present and occasionally sharp, including battles and some grim deaths, though it is rarely lingered on and there is no sexual content. Best for fans of epic fantasy who enjoy puzzle-like worldbuilding, anyone curious about the wider Cosmere, and readers who like a sampler of many settings in one volume.
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