My Takeaways From "Dawnshard" by Brandon Sanderson

I recently finished “Dawnshard” by Brandon Sanderson. It was… fine. I don’t think it’s a bad book. I think I probably just have Sanderson fatigue after reading Stormlight book 5. Dawnshard is basically Stormlight 3.5 . For some reason I missed this book so I’m reading it out of order, which might be part of the why I’m not so excited by it. Perhaps I would have been more excited about it, if I read it 4 or 5 years ago.

Now that we got that out of the way, let’s move on to what I really wanted to talk about in this post: my takeaways from this book.

NOTE: This post doesn’t assume you know or care about any of these books or characters. (While I’d love it if you read these books as well, you might feel you have something better to do with your life than catch up on 5 or 6 thousand pages.) Because this post is about book 3.5 in a series, there will be some light spoilers of earlier books.

My Takeaways

Rysn is a type of character that we don’t see very often lately. A strong female character? Uh, no. We see a billion of those lately. A paraplegic? Well, uh yeah actually she is a paraplegic and we don’t see many paraplegic characters lately, or ever. But that wasn’t the thing that stood out to me.

You see, I’ve followed Rysn’s character for just about a decade. I remember her before she was a paraplegic. No doubt, she is one now, and it is a very big part of her journey, but I don’t think it’s the biggest thing that stands out to me, at the moment. What stands out to me at the moment? Rysn is a kind of character that is so rarely seen lately.

Rysn is an unashamed capitalist.

Rysn the Merchant

A brief recap of Rysn’s journey up until this book.

Rysn was first introduced as a shrewd, opportunistic merchant in The Way of Kings. She’s always been driven by profit, sure, but it’s never been portrayed as evil. In fact, it’s often been presented as a necessary part of how she navigates a difficult and often unfair world. She’s not some mustache-twirling villain hoarding wealth. She’s someone who sees opportunities, takes risks, and works hard to improve her position. And, importantly, she’s good at it.

Now, a lot of modern narratives seem to treat anyone with a business sense as inherently suspect, or even outright villainous. It’s become almost automatic to paint anyone pursuing profit as greedy and exploitative. And I get it – there’s plenty of bad behavior out there. But Rysn isn’t like that. Her pursuit of profit isn’t at the expense of others. It’s often because of her understanding of others.

Think about it: she provides goods and services people need, often at reasonable prices. She creates jobs. She invests in her community. And she does all of this while being, frankly, incredibly likeable. She’s funny, she’s witty, and she genuinely cares about the people around her.

This is the thing that gets me. We’ve been conditioned to think that capitalism and empathy are mutually exclusive. That being a successful businessperson requires a cutthroat attitude and a willingness to exploit others. But Rysn demonstrates the opposite. Her success comes from her empathy. She understands what people want, what they need, and she provides it. She’s not taking advantage of anyone; she’s fulfilling a need.

Most of Rysn’s contemporaries entered a discussion asking, “What can I get from this?” Rysn had been disabused of that notion early in her training. Her babsk taught a different way of seeing the world training her to ask, “What need can I fulfill? That was the true purpose of a merchant, to find complimentary needs, then bridge the distance between them so everyone benefited. It wasn’t about what you could get from people, but what you could get for them that made a successful merchant. And everyone had needs, even queens.

“It wasn’t about what you could get from people, but what you could get for them that made a successful merchant.”

“People talked about wealth, and how greed was such a terrible thing—and it could be dangerous, true. Yet the ambition of someone who had nothing to rise to a new station should not be easily dismissed or thought simplistic. There was so much more to it.”

There’s a fantastic example of this in an earlier book in the series. Rysn’s mentor, Vstim, was negotiating a deal for some grain when it was discovered that the grain was infested with worms. Obviously, that would kill the deal, right? Wrong. Vstim intentionally bought the grain despite the infestation. Why? Later, he resold this grain to the Hexi nomads. The key to his strategy was understanding the Hexi culture: their priestly class had taken oaths not to eat flesh, but they did not consider grubs and insects to be “animal”—to them, such creatures were classified as plants. As a result, the Hexi valued the grain more because it contained the worms, making it a delicacy or at least more desirable for their dietary restrictions. This clever trade demonstrated Vstim’s deep knowledge of other cultures and his ability to turn an apparent disadvantage into a profitable opportunity.

A successful capitalist must understand others’ wants and needs. A successful capitalist is not less empathetic, but MORE empathetic.

It’s refreshing to see a character who isn’t ashamed of her ambition and her business acumen. Like her mentor, Rysn doesn’t apologize for wanting to be successful. She just is successful, and she does it in a way that benefits everyone involved. She’s a walking, talking argument against the simplistic “capitalism = bad” narrative that’s so prevalent in a lot of storytelling these days.

What Does This Mean?

I’m not trying to say that all businesses are inherently good. Of course, there are bad actors out there. But Rysn’s character, and Sanderson’s portrayal of her, reminds us that capitalism doesn’t have to be synonymous with greed. In fact, the best merchants, the ones who truly thrive, are often the most empathetic. They understand that long-term success isn’t about squeezing every last drop of profit from a transaction; it’s about building relationships and providing value to others.

It’s a subtle point, maybe, but it’s a really important one. It’s a reminder that pursuing your ambitions doesn’t have to mean sacrificing your values. And that sometimes, the most successful people are the ones who understand that helping others is the best way to help yourself. I think that’s a message worth considering, especially in a world that often seems to be at war with itself.

Final Thoughts

I’m looking forward to seeing where Rysn’s journey takes her next. And I’m hoping that more authors will take note of her example and start portraying business owners in a more nuanced and positive light. It’s a refreshing change of pace.