Dawnshard

Dawnshard is the second "novella" (56k words) in Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive, set between the series' third and fourth volumes. Its protagonist is tradesmaster Rysn Ftori who sets out on an expedition to Akinah, a lost city on an island shrouded in storms.

Navani Kholin had put out a call for a ship due to another returning without her crew and Knights Radiant being unable to fly to the island due to something draining their stormlight when they get too near. Rysn also has personal motivation: her unusual pet Chiri-Chiri has fallen ill and needs to be returned to her homeland, which happens to be Akinah.

I groaned out loud when I learned that Rysn is paraplegic. In before times, that would have been a non-issue but in the current day's political and cultural climate, it immediately broke immersion for me. It created a constant expectation of pandering and The Message. In Dawnshard's acknowledgements, Sanderson thanks a group of accessibility and paraplegia experts - did they bowdlerize the book?

However, Rysn does feel authentic. Some years ago, there was an article in the local newspaper about accessibility around the city. They had interviewed a paraplegic about it and how people react to them being in a wheelchair. I recall their account being very similar to Rysn's experiences in this book.

I don't quite remember what kind of healing stormlight had been used for in the previous books but apparently it can't restore someone's ability to walk. At least if they're not a Radiant themselves, which Rysn is not. Rysn does eventually get magical aid for her limitation when a new use is discovered in the novella.

Dawnshard was entertaining enough of a read. I'm sure Rysn will return in the following Rhythm of War.