The Saturday Reading List: Brandon Sanderson’s White Sand

Brandon Sanderson’s White Sand by Brandon Sanderson

The Stats:

• Publication Date: June 28, 2016
• Fantasy, science-fiction, graphic novel, magic
• 3/5
• Warnings: Might not be the best place to start if you’re a first time Brandon Sanderson reader.

From Amazon:

“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White Sand brings to life a crucial, unpublished part of Brandon Sanderson’s sprawling Cosmere universe.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.”

Zo’s Review:

Just putting it out there: I’ve never read anything by Brandon Sanderson before so I really had no clue what to expect. Apparently he’s a big deal?

Anyway, White Sand is takes place in Sanderson’s Cosmere universe. I…have no clue what the Cosmere universe is so I read it here.

Okay, now that we’re all on the same page in understanding what the Cosmere universe is let’s talk more about White Sand. 

White Sand was really interesting. I came in wondering if it would be like Avatar: The Last Airbender. And I mean, yeah, the whole being able to manipulate an element – though we only see sand being manipulated – is similar but that’s kind of where the similarities end. Anyway, one of the main characters Kenton is left to figure out what to do after most of his people, the Sand Masters, are slaughtered including his cold and distant father. Not only is Kenton left with figuring out who among the remains of his people betrayed them, he also faces the disbandment of what is left of his people as well, as well as figuring out if he can really trust a foreign traveler, Khriss who has secrets of her own in regards to Kenton’s people.

The plot and world building of the story is definitely interesting such as the Sand Masters and their order of ranks. The parts of the beginning was a little confusing with a lot of terms and world-specific ideas being thrown around without explanation but I recognize it could just be because White Sand may not have been the best place for a first time Brandon Sanderson reader. After awhile, things are either explained or you get the gist of things. Sometimes though, the paneling was weird and it made the flow of the story choppy when I had to stop and realized that I read the order of the panels of the wrong.

I also feel like I couldn’t appreciate the characters as much as I wanted to or maybe should have. I want to say it’s because I just haven’t read any of Sanderson’s other works but a part of me thinks that for a new series, even if it does have some connections to some of his other works, should still be easy for a new reader to get into and understand. At this point, I don’t really care for any of the characters, least of all Kenton. However, there’s enough of suspense for the next volume that I’m willing to give the characters another try.

Overall, White Sand was okay. I think I would need to read the next installment to figure out if I like the story and where it’s going as a whole. I think it would probably also help to read some of Brandon Sanderson’s other works. However, if you have read Sanderson’s other stuff, I think you’ll enjoy or at least appreciate what’s going on in White Sand and the dynamics of the characters.

I received a copy of this book from the NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.

What do you all think? Have you read Brandon Sanderson’s White Sand already? Have any other book suggestions that I should add to my Saturday Reading List? Leave your thoughts behind in the comments. Just be respectful please.