Sad to say White Sand didn’t quite work for me. That’s a first for me and Brandon Sanderson, but in this instance, I’m hesitant to count it. I didn’t realize until I opened this book up that Sanderson didn’t actually write it.
Okay, but wait, let me back up a little.
So White Sand is actually Brandon Sanderson’s first completed novel. He put it away for a while after writing it, and then brought it out years later to revamp it, but ultimately, it was never published. When a comics publisher solicited him, asking if he had any unpublished stories they could turn into graphic novels, this sprang to mind. Since I heard about the project last year, I’ve been excited to read it, but I definitely would have been less so had I realized Sanderson wasn’t writing it himself; that somebody else would be adapting it.
I’m not entirely sure that was my main problem with it, but I’m pretty sure it’s a significant one. I mean, the numbers are on my side here. I’ve never given anything by Brandon Sanderson less than four stars before, and he has written a SHIT TON OF BOOKS.
Also, I could just tell that the story and the world were great. It was the actual writing of it, the dialogue, the exposition, the structuring of it, that didn’t quite fit for me.
I think my other main problem with this graphic novel is that it’s a graphic novel. All the stuff that makes a Brandon Sanderson story come alive–the details, the length, the interior narratives of the characters, the worldbuilding–none of it worked as well as I wanted it to. It was too condensed, and parts of it were so obviously and awkwardly exposition-heavy that I ended up turning on the book pretty early. It was only the bones of the story that pulled me back in.
I guess I could be wrong about the statement I’m making here, but what makes epic fantasy great so much of the time is the stuff that you just can’t get across in a comic (at least, not one at this length). You need depth and breadth and details and room so that you don’t have to explain everything in exposition bubbles. You need time as a reader to sink into the world.
I’ll read the next two volumes because it’s Brandon Sanderson (and I found the art intriguing), but as soon as I finished this, I emailed Mr. Sanderson using the form on his website, and finally asked for a digital copy of the novel White Sand, which you have long been able to request from him as long as you promise not to talk about it publicly. I’m very excited to read that version of the story, and I’m pretty certain it will give me what I wanted from this one.
Interesting. I want to like Sanderson, but I haven’t been able to get into anything outside of his Reckoners series.
But if you ask for this original story, he’ll send you a copy so long as you don’t talk about it publicly? I mean, is that really something he’ll do? That kind of blows me away that a writer of his caliber would be so forthcoming like that.
I forget, what books of his have you tried? Even though I liked it, the Reckoners is my least favorite thing he’s written.
You should try The Emperor’s Soul. It’s a novella. It might ease you into his epic fantasy.
And yes, he will! I got the email two weeks ago. I am now the owner of this book in novel form. You can also request his other unpublished novel The Aether of Night as well. He’s said he probably won’t publish either one as they’re not up to the quality he holds himself to, or he couldn’t get them fully to work. He’s pretty much the best.