Review: Dragonsteel Prime, by Brandon Sanderson
by
Stuart Holland
As the Sanderson mega fan that I am, I got the Kickstarter special edition of this book, and I’m glad that I did, but also don’t think it’s a strong book in its own right. When I reviewed Warbreaker, I said I was concerned about going back to an old Sanderson book. I was reading it out of sequence, much later than its release order, because I’d missed it by accident when reading normally. When going back, I thought that the comparison to modern Sanderson would go unfavorably for Warbreaker. That turned out not to be the case, but it is certainly the case with Dragonsteel Prime. Sanderson sets it up as much with the present-day foreword - it’s a draft of an earlier story he had been trying to get published when he was trying to break into the industry as an author. It’s an easter egg for fans, not a fully edited and refined story like his other published works. All of that shows: the prose is less effective, less clear, and the story structure lacks a lot that the other Sanderson novels do very well.
That said, there’s a lot to dig into here as a Sanderson fan. It’s also quite instructive as an author to see how so many pieces of Dragonsteel Prime became a part of the Cosmere and Sanderson’s other books. It’s an interesting, not-often-available practical example of how to do that kind of story excision, pulling good ideas out of an unused piece and into another one that then forms around it and becomes more complete. There are early versions of so many Sanderson hallmarks in this book.
Topaz is Hoid/Wit, very plainly. But he’s also a less effective version of him. We see too much of what Topaz does, we know too much about Topaz’s objectives too soon. He works as the Nick Fury in the Cosmere, but only because he’s drip fed in and usually not the crux of the narrative for any individual book. I am glad though that
The Shattered Plains is one of the most striking concepts and story that we see brought elsewhere. It’s quite different in a lot of ways in the Stormlight Archive, but the core of it is so similar. There are no Sho Del in Stormlight, but the Parshendi fill that role there. The terrain is identical - the enormous cracked and barren desert plateaus separated by the narrow but extremely deep chasms. The chasmfiends remain Stormlight only. But the warcamps and the notion of an ongoing “war” that is fought to a stalemate and has become more about jockeying for riches and position remains (with the dragonsteel in place of the gemhearts). The bridge runs remain (even with Bridge Four itself), though Jerick is no Kaladin, Rock manages to exist, in a way, in both. Though Dragonsteel Prime’s Rock doesn’t call anyone an airsick lowlander. The food as a way of bringing people together is even shared between the two. It’s remarkable to see the simlarities and changes and how despite existing in Dragonsteel Prime many years before, it feels so at home in Roshar.
Just like in the Cosmere, Dragonsteel Prime has a series of overlapping magic systems. Sanderson classics that are only beginning to be explored, since this is book one of a theoretical series, but that are, to the reader, clearly inspired by a kind of science. The core elements of Investiture are already here, the three realms: Physical, Cognitive, and Spiritual (they even use the exact names). It really shows you the persistence and ongoing honing of the craft that leads to success over many years - that Sanderson built the successful books off the back of this one (and others) that didn’t work. Ryalla is clearly a (Stormlight spoilers) .
The deification is there. Even the way, towards the end, that the . The shards of Adonalsium clearly come from this ideation - you can see the pieces that are almost there. There are other powers, like what fuels Topaz, which are presumably analogs for the Dawnshards in the Cosmere.
Another Sanderson classic is the natural world’s divergence. The horses that are too weak for humans to ride, and the knock-ons on society (the prevalence of chariots, of the few riders being particularly short/light people). And then the juxtaposition when someone does present an animal more like what the reader knows from earth. The way that Tzendor progresses over the course of the narrative also parallels how Sanderson does technological progression in his later books. But again, he does it better in the published ones - the pacing is more believable and it’s more knitted in to the ongoing progression of the story.
As a protagonist, I don’t think Jerick carries the book very well, and that might be why we see so much of Topaz, which also ends up detracting from Topaz’s effectiveness. I do enjoy the social mobility aspect and commentary of Jerick’s story, but then that . Ryalla on the other hand is a lot of fun to read and has a more interesting perspective voice. I also thought that Jerick’s didn’t land as well as it should. And particularly the reveal at the end that needed more foreshadowing and setting up. I went through the book thinking it was a strange and unnecessary plot device, so when the reveal happened, I suddenly saw why it made more sense, and immediately felt it wasn’t a satisfying payoff, just a mishandled plot arc. (Which is something that Sanderson also covers in his writing lectures, about promises and predictability, and how payoffs come, sometimes paradoxically, from telling your audience where you’re going.)
Overall, I didn’t rate this book highly because while it is very interesting and informative in a meta sense, as a book it doesn’t stand up to Sanderson’s existing body of work. And I don’t think it’s intended to: it is for superfans to see behind the Cosmere curtain. It does that very well, and that audience will enjoy it for that (as I have), but more as a curiosity than a book, also exactly as Sanderson describes it in the foreword.
