Book: Brandon Sanderson's White Sand volume #1 story adapted by Rik Hoskin with illustrations by Julius Gopez and color by Ross Campbell and letters by Marshall Dillon
Source: Borrowed from Publisher/NetGalley for an honest review
Publication: Available now
Description:
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White Sand brings to life a crucial, unpublished part of Brandon Sanderson’s sprawling Cosmere universe.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, 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.
Rating: 2 1/2 stars
Review:
This first volume has a lot of potential but it suffers from being too busy in both the story and the illustrations.
This starts off focusing on Kenton who is a member of the Sand Masters, a group that has the ability to control sand. If you're familiar with the Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra animated series then think of the sandbenders because that's exactly what the Sand Masters reminded me of.
Kenton who has a difficulty accessing his powers, wanted to prove not only to his father who was the leader of the Sand Masters but also to himself that one doesn't necessarily need powers to be a Master. To do that he took on an extremely dangerous challenge but despite succeeding his father still considers Kenton a failure.
An ambush during an awards ceremony killed all the Masters and some of the trainees. However, right before the attack, his father although begrudgingly promoted Kenton to a higher position. Kenton somehow survived the attack but passed out due to dehydration. He was saved by a group of Darkside explorers and one of the explorers was a young woman, Duchess Khrissalla. She was following a quest her fiancé took before his death. He had been looking for Sand Mages.
There are other characters in this but everything appears to revolve around Kenton and Khrissalla. I actually like Kenton, Khrissalla and many of the characters however it's the story that disappoints. Since this is an adaptation it makes me wonder what may have been left out. I would love to read the Brandon Sanderson's original story because I'm sure there is a lot more to this.
One thing this story definitely could have benefited from is more world building. At times, it is a little confusing but in general it's easy to follow but it can be a tad slow moving and boring. With the way this is written it seems as if you would have to be familiar with Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere universe. But since I'm not, I read this on what was presented which could have been much better.
I did give this an additional half star because this story does have potential. I can see hints of brilliance here and there but ultimately, there is too much that muddles this up and makes it feel not completely thought out. There are some good action scenes in this but the story kind of lags. As far as characters go, I do appreciate all the diversity in this story, it's really nice to see. But Khrissalla and Kenton deserved a better story than this.
I wouldn't mind reading the second volume to see if the story improves but if it continues in the same way as this first volume then I will pass on the series.
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