Sanderson’s Dawnshard (2020) is a novella set between Oathbringer (2017), the third mainline novel in The Stormlight Archive, and Rhythm of War (2020), its fourth. The novella belongs to Sanderson’s larger shared universe, the Cosmere, in which multiple fantasy series take place on different planets governed by a common metaphysical system. Sanderson’s official materials describe Dawnshard as a story that takes place between Oathbringer and Rhythm of War and brings often-overlooked characters to the forefront.

The Stormlight Archive, set on the storm-ravaged planet Roshar, is one of Sanderson’s major Cosmere series. Dawnshard deepens the universe’s mythology by clarifying the nature of a Dawnshard as one of four primal Commands that created all things and were later used to undo Adonalsium. Sanderson’s Cosmere explanations describe Adonalsium as a godlike being whose power was divided into Shards, making the novella’s revelation significant beyond Roshar. Though Dawnshard focuses on supporting characters rather than the series’s main protagonists, it connects Rysn’s voyage to Aimia, the Sleepless, larkin, and the deeper history of the Cosmere.

By the time Dawnshard begins, Roshar has entered a new Desolation: the Knights Radiant have returned, the Everstorm has reshaped the political and magical order of the world, and Dalinar Kholin’s coalition is based in the ancient tower city of Urithiru. This context matters because the novella unfolds during a pause in the larger war. Its expedition to Akinah is part of Queen Navani Kholin’s effort to investigate a location that ordinary Radiants cannot safely approach.

Dawnshard picks up in the aftermath of the Battle of Thaylen Field, during a tense lull in the broader war. Its protagonist is Rysn Ftori, a Thaylen trademaster who was introduced through earlier interludes in the series. During a previous trading expedition to the Reshi Isles, Rysn lost the use of her legs and came into possession of Chiri-Chiri, a larkin, a rare and ancient creature capable of consuming Stormlight. Queen Navani Kholin commissions Rysn to sail to Akinah, a lost island city in the Aimian archipelago where an ancient Oathgate may be hidden. Accompanying her are Rushu, Navani’s ardent scholar; Lopen and Huio, two Windrunners from Bridge Four, and Cord, the Horneater daughter of Rock, one of Kaladin’s Bridge Four companions. These supporting characters extend storylines established in the main novels while expanding the history of Aimia and the wider Cosmere.

The novella also expands several aspects of the series’s mythology. Rysn’s journey continues the series’s attention to accessibility, mobility, and social assumptions about disabled people. The expedition to Akinah expands the series’s understanding of Aimia, larkin, and fabrial technology. The novella also continues the series’s interest in trust and deception through Nikli, Rysn’s porter, who is revealed to be one of the Sleepless, ancient beings who maintain humanoid bodies through swarms of cremling-like creatures. The Sleepless were first glimpsed in Edgedancer through the enigmatic character Arclo, and their fuller reappearance in Dawnshard expands their role as secretive guardians of knowledge and powers with implications beyond Roshar. Finally, Dawnshard enriches the Cosmere’s foundational lore by revealing the nature of the Dawnshards themselves. Long referenced in legend as weapons of immense destructive potential, the Dawnshards are revealed to be Commands, primal forces of intent used in Adonalsium’s Shattering. By placing one of these Commands in Rysn’s care, the novella links the events on Roshar to the Cosmere’s oldest history and further develops the connections between The Stormlight Archive and the wider Cosmere.