Isles of the Emberdark by Brandon Sanderson Narrator: Kaleo Griffith, Jennifer Jill Araya
Series: Cosmere
on July 1, 2025
Genres: Science Fiction Fantasy
Length: 11 hours, 11 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Kickstarter
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All his life, Sixth of the Dusk has been a traditional trapper of Aviar—the supernatural birds his people bond with—on the deadly island of Patji. Then one fateful night he propels his people into a race to modernize before they can be conquered by the Ones Above, invaders from the stars who want to exploit the Aviar.
But it’s a race they’re losing, and Dusk fears his people will lose themselves in the effort. When a chance comes to sail into the expanse of the emberdark beyond a mystical portal, Dusk sets off to find his people’s salvation with only a canoe, his birds, and all the grit and canniness of a Patji trapper.
Elsewhere in the emberdark is a young dragon chained in human Starling of the starship Dynamic. She and her ragtag crew of exiles are deep in debt and on the brink of losing their freedom. So when she finds an ancient map to a hidden portal between the emberdark and the physical realm, she seizes the chance at a lucrative discovery.
These unlikely allies might just be the solution to each other’s crisis. In their search for independence, Dusk and Starling face perilous bargains, poisonous politics, and the destructive echo of a dead god.
I am a huge Brandon Sanderson fan. He was almost my gateway drug into reading epic 1000 page books and wanting more at the end of them. So anytime he writes something in a universe I almost wish I could be a part of, I devour it in no time and then need to go back and reread it right away. Isles of the Emberdark was no exception to that experience for me. This is set after the event of Wind and Truth. I’m not sure how many years but long enough that a few interesting easter eggs could be dropped that made me scratch my head and wonder, how the heck did that happen.
For Isles of the Emberdark, we have two distinct stories and character PoVs. There is Dusk, a trapper who has been left behind by progress on a planet the Scadrians are trying to find a way to worm their hooks into. Then there is Starling, a Dragon (YES, A DRAGON) on her own journey on a derelict ship with a hodge podge crew (can anyone say shades of Firefly) trying to figure out her life stuck in human form. Both storylines are extremely interesting and engaging for very different reasons.
Sanderson has expanded on the story in Sixth of Dusk and turned it into a full novel. I read Sixth of Dusk years ago and thought it was okay, but wasn’t blown away by it. It was probably one of my least favorite novella’s by Sanderson. While Sixth of Dusk sets the backstory to this, don’t worry, you do not have to read it as most of the novella is incorporated into the novel and in a way I found it more relevant and interesting.
Patji is the Island Dusk chose for trapping and where he found the birds that can form a bond with people and give them a special talent. Patji, is Dusk’s god and he is a hard one with an Island that has more things that try to kill you than anywhere else on the planet. The Scadrian’s want the birds that are trapped on the planet and maybe more but there are rules they have to follow and so have bided their time working out how to make the planet a vassal to them and a game piece in their war.
Dusk has one chance to save his planet. He must take a journey through the Emberdark and see if there are others out there that can help his people. He will take his two birds and all the skills Patji has taught him, in hopes of finding a way to navigate through the Emberdark and find some allies. There are tales of his people sailing though these unknown non-waters of shadesmare and he is his peoples best hope.
Starling is still a young dragon in her eighties. After a few small debacles, it seems she is being pushed and must remain in her human form for a time. Well if she can’t fly herself, she can still crew a ship that flies. After saving a family from certain death, they are given a map to an undiscovered gateway of a sorts between realms. If she can bring proof of that to Xisis, the owner of the ship, she will pay off the indenture owed to Xisis and be free. Her strength as a captain will be tested and she will learn some important lessons along the way. But since Hoid was her master, we all know there will be a great story to come of it.
I enjoyed the storytelling and exploration of some of the different aspects in the cosmere while reading this. The idea of what shard/god may be protecting Dusk’s planet was extremely interesting to those of us that are fluent in cosmere lore. I liked getting glimpses of a few of the characters from Tress of the Emerald Sea in Xisis and Captain Crow. Plus who doesn’t like to see what Hoid is up to anytime. Dusk became a favorite character of mine and I appreciated learning more about the aviary and their gifts
This is a standalone, although I think there is room for more stories that have some of the characters from Starling’s ship. I don’t know that it is a good place to start in the Cosmere universe as there is a lot of worldbuilding and characters that might not make a lot of sense if you haven’t poked around in the cosmere at least a little bit. But for those of us that like to roam around in this crazy universe I think it had something for all of us.
Narration:
Performance: ★★★★★
Character Separation: ★★★★★
Diction: ★★★★
Pacing/Flow: ★★★★★
Sound Effects: None
Kaleo Griffith has the perfect voice for this book. I actually thought it was the same person that narrated Nevernight by Jay Kristoff, which is one of my favorite audiobooks ever, but I was wrong. His voice was great for Dusk and the discovery style journey he was taking. I loved the narration for Dusk PoV as it just fit. Jennifer Jill Araya also has an extensive catalog of narrations and was a seasoned pro in this. I had listened to other epic tales narrated by her and enjoy her storytelling. It is easy to get lost in the narration and character of this book with these narrators at the helm.
Listen to a clip:Â HERE
About Brandon Sanderson
Brandon Sanderson was born in 1975 in Lincoln, Nebraska. As a child Brandon enjoyed reading, but he lost interest in the types of titles often suggested to him, and by junior high he never cracked a book if he could help it. This changed when an eighth grade teacher gave him Dragonsbane by Barbara Hambly.
Brandon was working on his thirteenth novel when Moshe Feder at Tor Books bought the sixth he had written. Tor has published Elantris, the Mistborn trilogy and its followup The Alloy of Law, Warbreaker, and The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance, the first two in the planned ten-volume series The Stormlight Archive. He was chosen to complete Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series; 2009’s The Gathering Storm and 2010’s Towers of Midnight were followed by the final book in the series, A Memory of Light, in January 2013. Four books in his middle-grade Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians series have been released in new editions by Starscape, and his novella Infinity Blade Awakening was an ebook bestseller for Epic Games accompanying their acclaimed Infinity Blade iOS video game series. Two more novellas, Legion and The Emperor’s Soul, were released by Subterranean Press and Tachyon Publications in 2012, and 2013 brought two young adult novels, The Rithmatist from Tor and Steelheart from Delacorte.
The only author to make the short list for the David Gemmell Legend Award six times in four years, Brandon won that award in 2011 for The Way of Kings. The Emperor’s Soul won the 2013 Hugo Award for Best Novella. He has appeared on the New York Times Best-Seller List multiple times, with five novels hitting the #1 spot.
Currently living in Utah with his wife and children, Brandon teaches creative writing at Brigham Young University.
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I’ve read one series by this author. I should try more.
He is my favorite Fantasy writer and can be counted on to put out a few books a year.
Just a great storyteller.
I think I’ve read one or two YA book by this author maybe, and enjoyed them. This does sound like a good fantasy I could share with my older students who are looking for other books by this author. Great review!
His YA stuff is fun. The first book I read by him was Steelheart. Now I’ve read almost his entire catalog.