Series: White Sand
Publisher: Dynamic Forces
Release Date: June 21st 2016
My Rating: 3.5 cups
Source: Netgalley
Blurb (from Goodreads):
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 White Sand brings to life a crucial, unpublished part of Brandon Sanderson's sprawling Cosmere universe.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.
*Disclaimer: I received an eARC of this book from Netgalley and Dynamite Entertainment in exchange for an honest review. This does not influence my opinion or rating of the book
As a lover of all things fantasy, I've heard a lot of great things about Brandon Sanderson. I have been interested in trying out his work, so when I saw this comic book on Netgalley, I was ecstatic.
The story itself is pretty good. The book starts with Kenton having pretty much a fight with his dad, the ruler of a group called Sand Masters. At first, Kenton came off as a spoiled boy who just wanted attention, but as the story progressed, it turned out he was way smarter than it seemed at first, much more loyal and not as spoiled. I also loved that at a certain point of the story, more characters, from different countries and societies, are introduced. I really enjoyed learning more about them, their backstories.
I do hope that the second volume, if there is going to be one, will explore how the Sand Masters were formed, why they were so hated by other people, as well as the other societies that have a connection with the Sand Masters.
Since this is a comic book, I have to talk about the art. I don't know if this was an issue with the file uploaded on the website, or just something with the copy I received, but the pictures looked very, very pixelated. Not in an intentional way, but in a distorted, grainy, blurry way. A lot of times that managed to pull me out of the story a little bit, because it was quite distracting. If you manage to ignore the imperfections, the art is quite beautiful. I also had some issues with how the panels themselves were distributed on page. It felt a bit confusing, having to figure out for some pages which panel comes next and where I should read. A few times the artist indicated the order of the panels, other times the reader is left to figure it out for himself/herself.
I would love to read the next volume, because I did enjoy the story, overall. And, like I said, I'd like to see a finished physical copy of this book, to enjoy the art a little bit more, as well as the story itself.
