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A review by njdarkish
White Sand, Volume 1 by Brandon Sanderson, Rik Hoskin
4.0
I read an Advance Reader Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review on NetGalley.
I'm a huge Brandon Sanderson fan, so when I saw that I could read an ARC of White Sand Vol. 1, I jumped on it. I've long heard online and at conventions and the like that White Sand is Sanderson's best unpublished book, so naturally I've been wanting to pick it up. Especially since it's part of his larger Cosmere universe. And, having read volume one of the graphic novel version, I can see why the hardcore fan community thinks so highly of it. It's a really cool story with an interesting magic system in a well-developed world. So, what Sanderson does best.
This time the magic system is based around sand. It's not his most complex system, and the graphic novel didn't really explain all of the details of its intricacies yet, but I feel like I have a fairly decent understanding of it. It doesn't excite me quite as much as some of his other systems, like allomancy or binding, but it's still pretty solid.
The world is a big gem here-- a planet that does not spin, so one side is in eternal light and the other in eternal darkness. The story (so far) is set on the sun side (a desert, as you may expect from the book's title), but we get to catch glimpses of how radically different the dark side of the world is through characters from there. There are different cultures, socioeconomic systems, religions, and more that feel very fleshed-out and real here.
The characters also feel quite fleshed out. I am invested in their different goals and motivations.
So, overall, a very solid story. I'm really eager for volume 2!
I'm a huge Brandon Sanderson fan, so when I saw that I could read an ARC of White Sand Vol. 1, I jumped on it. I've long heard online and at conventions and the like that White Sand is Sanderson's best unpublished book, so naturally I've been wanting to pick it up. Especially since it's part of his larger Cosmere universe. And, having read volume one of the graphic novel version, I can see why the hardcore fan community thinks so highly of it. It's a really cool story with an interesting magic system in a well-developed world. So, what Sanderson does best.
This time the magic system is based around sand. It's not his most complex system, and the graphic novel didn't really explain all of the details of its intricacies yet, but I feel like I have a fairly decent understanding of it. It doesn't excite me quite as much as some of his other systems, like allomancy or binding, but it's still pretty solid.
The world is a big gem here-- a planet that does not spin, so one side is in eternal light and the other in eternal darkness. The story (so far) is set on the sun side (a desert, as you may expect from the book's title), but we get to catch glimpses of how radically different the dark side of the world is through characters from there. There are different cultures, socioeconomic systems, religions, and more that feel very fleshed-out and real here.
The characters also feel quite fleshed out. I am invested in their different goals and motivations.
So, overall, a very solid story. I'm really eager for volume 2!