Review: White Sand, Volume 1 by Brandon Sanderson

White Sand, Volume 1

Author: Brandon Sanderson
Illustrations: Rik Hoskin & Julius M Gopez
Publisher: Dynamic Forces
Series: White Sand #1
Pages: Hardcover, Graphic Novel, 160 pages
Genre: Graphic Novel, Fantasy
Release Date: June 21st 2016

Summary:

A brand new saga of magic and adventure by #1 New York Times best-selling author Brandon Sanderson. On the planet of Taldain, the legendary Sand Masters harness arcane powers to manipulate sand in spectacular ways. But when they are slaughtered in a sinister conspiracy, the weakest of their number, Kenton, believes himself to be the only survivor. With enemies closing in on all sides, Kenton forges an unlikely partnership with Khriss -- a mysterious Darksider who hides secrets of her own. White Sand brings to life a crucial, unpublished part of Brandon Sanderson's sprawling Cosmere universe. The story has been adapted by Rik Hoskin (Mercy Thompson), with art by Julius Gopez and colors by Ross Campbell. Employing powerful imagery and Sanderson's celebrated approach to magical systems, White Sand is a spectacular new saga for lovers of fantasy and adventure.

Review:

Brandon Sanderson is definitely one of the fantasy world gurus. He can make you imagine things, make you think about the what ifs and whatnots. It's always a delight to see what he comes up with next and you wonder, what would it be like to spend a day inside the man's head. You can imagine my delight when I found out there was going to be a graphic novel released for one of his old, unpublished story in the cosmere. After all, it's like a window to his brain and the kind of creatures and world he builds in there.

White Sand is set in a world where the planet doesn't rotate, thereby, dividing it into two halves. The Dark side and the light side. As the name suggests, the dark side is where the sun never shines and the light side, where it does. What's interesting though is the fact that the people in the dark side are dark skinned and more technology savvy, whereas people in the light side are lighter skinned and more into "magik".

The "magik" in the light side of the world comes from sand. There are a group of people who can master the sand, meaning they can control the sand and even turn it to water. It's quite fascinating and seeing it all in a graphic novel makes it even more alluring.

Not being a big graphic novel nerd, I would agree that I found the change in scenes and locations a bit choppy. I won't say I'm used to it even now. But overall, the characters are interesting as always, the plot, engrossing and the story, a definite read. I do miss the narration and the writing style that's classic Sanderson but I guess you can't have the best of both worlds, eh?



Rating: 

(click on the name for reviews of this geek)