Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell
| Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell | |
|---|---|
| |
| Setting | Threnody, Cosmere |
| Released | December 3, 2013 |
| Publisher | Tor books |
| ISBN | 978-0765332066 |
| Word Count | 17,892 |
Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell is a novella about 18,000 words in length[1] by Brandon Sanderson in the Dangerous Women Anthology edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Duzois which was released on December 3, 2013.[2][3]
Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell is a Cosmere story. Hoid did not appear, though other worldhoppers may have.[4]
The main character of Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell is a dangerous woman, in keeping with the anthology's theme, in the company of other dangerous women.[1]
An excerpt was released on Tor's website.
Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell is bundled together with Perfect State in a hardcover edition for the 2015 Con Exclusive.[5]
Plot Summary
The story follows Silence Montane, the proprietress of a waystop in the Forests of Hell and secret identity of the legendary bounty hunter known as “The White Fox.” Desperate to remain solvent and keep her waystop out of the hands of her creditor Theopolis, she takes on the challenge of hunting down Chesterton Divide, a notorious highwayman, and his crew. The complexity of the job quickly escalates as the night goes on. By the end, there are unexpected consequences for everyone involved.
Characters
Main
- Silence Montane
- Proprietor of a waystop, and secretly the bounty hunter known as "the White Fox"
- William Ann Montane
- Silence’s 14-year-old daughter
- Theopolis
- A tax collector from the forts
- Red Young
- An opportunistic bounty hunter from the forts
- Sebruki
- An 8-year-old girl adopted by Silence after Sebruki's family was murdered
- Chesterton Divide
- A violent and notorious highwayman
Minor
- Daggon
- A frequent customer at Silence’s Waystop
- Lamentation Winebare
- A fugitive horse thief
- Silence's grandmother
- A Forescout who raised Silence after her parents died
- Dob
- Stableman at Silence's Waystop
Setting
This book is set in the Cosmere, taking place on Threnody, a minor Shardworld. Most of the story takes place at Silence's Waystop and in the Forests of Hell.
Postscript
Note: the Postscript is found in Arcanum Unbounded, a collection of Cosmere stories.
George R. R. Martin invited Brandon to write something for an anthology of fantasy stories called Dangerous Women. Brandon didn't want to fall into the trope of having just another female warrior, so he chose a middle-aged mother as the protagonist. The name "Silence" came from some genealogical research on his family.
The rules of the ghosts are inspired by Jewish laws on what can be done on the Sabbath.
Isaac Stewart came up with the name of Threnody (and Nazh).
Statistics
Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell consists of a 963-word intro and a 473-word outro from the PoV of Daggon, while the remainder is written from the PoV of Silence.
| Word Count | 17,892 |
|---|---|
| PoV Characters | 2 |
| PoV Count | 3 |
Notes
- ↑ a b If Hoid does appear, it's an even more minor cameo than in Alloy of Law
— 17th Shard forums - 25 January 2013# - ↑ Announcement post
— GRRM's blog - Announcement# - ↑ Tor Announcement
— Tor.com - 2013-01-23# - ↑ General Reddit 2016
— Arcanum - 2016-02-17# - ↑ Peter on the 2015 Con Exclusive.
— Reddit - Mar 22nd, 2015#