Title: Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Series: The Cosmere
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 5/5 stars!
The Overview: 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. -Goodreads
The Review:
If you only read one novella from Brandon Sanderson, Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell would be my top pick (by a smidgen – they’re all awesome. And really, why would you limit yourself to just one?). It’s just one more example why Sanderson is one of my favorite authors – his novellas are every bit as good as his full-length novels. I loved this one because it had the perfect mix of characterization, setting, story, pacing, action, and resolution. It felt like a snippet out of a fully developed novel, but was self-contained enough to stand complete on its own. Silence, the main character, really struck a chord with me – her decision-making during the most intense scenes of the story still have me reeling months later. I want to get into the nitty-gritty details and geek out about all of them, but I can’t discuss it to my satisfaction without spoilers. So just take my word for it – this is definitely worth reading! :-)
Other books you might like:
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- Theft of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan
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- The Thief’s Gamble by Juliet E. McKenna
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- The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks
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- Wizard’s First Rule by Terry Goodkind
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- Black Sun Rising by C.S. Friedman
The Obsessive Bookseller 
Ok I have to read this now, it sounds so good! 😃
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It’s wonderful!!! I think you’ll love it :) short too… I wish it were a whole book.
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Since I’m playing around with short stories myself (which is so not my forte) this doubly intrigues me! I’m always excited to see how others deal with telling a complete story in a limited space 😃
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Haha it’s not mine either! But I agree it’s exciting to see how to craft a complete story arc in such a small word count. It blows my mind. I’ve never been able to tackle it convincingly.
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I don’t know how convincingly I’ve crafted them, but I have done 2 or 3 short stories that I’m pleased with. It just feels like the hardest, most satisfying writing challenge to condense my thoughts into something so complete and so small. I’m so very wordy, but it makes me really rethink how to say something in the simplest but most powerful way.
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That’s awesome! My hat is seriously off to you. I decided a few years ago that I wanted to write and submit something to WOF contest, but everything I try to compose lacks a strong enough arc. Granted, I don’t write as often as I should to get good at it…
Anyways, I think my point is, I’m glad you had some success haha.
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Thank you lol :D
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I have yet to have that satisfying, profound payoff that comes with finishing a good short story.
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Sounds awesome! I loved Mistborns #1-3 and am currently reading (and loving) #4. I haven’t tried any of Sanderson’s novellas, yet, though, so thanks for highlighting this one!
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Yay – mistborns 5 and 6 knocked my socks off, so you’re in for a treat!! I’m glad you’re liking them as much as I did.
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