i would read brandon sanderson’s grocery list if i could. graphic novels + his stories = excellence. what more is there to say?

Kenton is still trying to pull the Diem back together while being attacked by assassins on a regular basis. Plus he has to figure out how to acquire the votes needed to reinstate the Diem in front of the Judge. Then there is the matter of a strange loan and the Darksiders. By the end of volume 3, Kenton manages to figure out a way to win an unwinnable fight, acquire the needed votes, and help out the city at the same time. It will be interesting to watch what happens next. As always the pleasure is in the details!

I've been a big fan of Sanderson's work since I first read Mistborn a few years ago. The settings he creates are immersive, the characters are heroically flawed and the story always leaves me desperate to know what's next.

White Sands Vol. 3 is no different.

The setting is fantastic. He has taken a tidally locked world and made it actually viable. The magic system, culture and society are all palatable and I don't have to stop and try to rationalize the world building. I can just dive right in.

The characters are nuanced and 3 dimensional. Each has their own strengths and weaknesses which are exposed, highlighted and then leveraged to give the story more depth.

The story was engaging, the stakes were high and I could feel the conflict, tension and excitement build throughout the story.

My only compliant is that it all happened too fast for me. I'm used to reading Sanderson's 1,000+ page epics over the course of weeks. I finished this piece in 2 days. Maybe this is just the nature of graphic novels but I felt a little cheated. A pattern seemed to arise with each of the plot points. One page was establishing the setting. One page was about the stakes of the present conflict. One page was about the protagonist (often, but not always Kenton) just doing the right thing, seemingly without hesitation or internal conflict, then everything works out perfectly. Even if the protagonist lost something, they did not exhibit any remorse in the following pages.

Maybe because this is the third volume, but everything got wrapped up nice and tidy…a little too tidy and a lot too quickly. However, this might have been by design as the last page drops a BIG hook and I imagine any subsequent volumes will be about this and the changes it will bring, which could impact the world of White Sands more than the near extermination of the Sand Masters.

The story continues brilliant as always.
Graphic Novels is another excellent medium that Brandon Sanderson tells his stories and the visuals are just as brilliant as before. It was developed and engaging.

Book three is more Cosmere awesomeness. Well-drawn, colored, and adapted. If you like high fantasy, pick this one up.

For some reason graphic novels rarely make an impression on me and "White Sand" isn't an exception. I didn't really like the illustrations and the storyline felt rather rushed.

I love Brandon Sanderson and it's hard not giving something he wrote 5 stars. Maybe it's just the graphic novel format that I'm not into, but the book seemed to end too quickly. I was also hoping for a little more greater Cosmere knowledge. Overall I thought the story line was great and enjoyed the book though!

Brandon Sanderson's creative mind was vast and epic. White Sand was epic and beyond my imagination when it comes to the laws of magic we see nowadays to all fantasy books. The whole concept of the world and the astounding premise makes this volume another add-on to Sanderson's masterpieces.

One thing I could suggest is that the whole totality of White Sand's story would be better if it was written and novelize. I am not saying that the graphic novel isn't good, but to give more astounding storytelling, I hope Sanderson would pick it up to be novelized.

White Sand Vol. 3 is the third novel following the Sand Masters series written by Brandon Sanderson. The series has been a dramatic one so far, following Kenton on his progressing quest to bring the Sand Masters back to their full power. And of course, he’s going to try and do the right thing along the way. Which is turning out to be easier said than done.
Kenton had to grow up being looked down upon; thanks to his inability to control sand like his father or his fellow Sand Masters. And even now, when that has changed, Kenton finds himself fighting for respect. He may be the new leader, but he’s got a long way to go before he can bring his people back up to where they once had been.
This task would be much simpler if there weren’t assassins hunting him, or if he didn’t have to face politicians biased against the Sand Masters. But Kenton has faced worse, so while they may delay him, they certainly won’t stop him.

Side note: I saw Brandon Sanderson in person a couple of years back, and I asked him about the White Sand series. He promised that he wasn’t done (that was before this volume had been started, mind you), and that he was open to working on more projects like this. I’ve been anxiously looking forward to any and all news since then.

White Sand Vol. 3 is perhaps one of the slower volumes in the series, but it progresses the story in leaps and bounds – despite how it may feel. And there are even a couple of fights fitted into the pages, just for us readers.
White Sand Vol. 3 spent a lot of time pushing forward all of the subplots that have been running through the series this whole time. And there were several of them to deal with. The Sand Masters and Kenton faced several changes, as did many of his allies – some new, some old.
On the whole, I found this volume to be extremely informative. There were a lot of conversations to be had, and even more politicking to be done. I know that this resulted in a slower first half of a novel, but it does pick up towards the end. I promise.
I loved the extra attention spent on the secondary characters in this volume, though to be honest I wouldn’t have minded a little bit more time spent on them. Some of the changes and revelations felt a bit sudden (likely because so much had to be covered in such a small amount of time).
There is one quirk in the artwork I would like to mention as well. Every time a cloud is shown in the background, a woman’s face is hidden within the fluff. It’s an interesting touch, and I’m sure it’s a stylistic choice, but it does leave me wondering about if there’s any hidden meaning I should be looking for. I personally love little touches like that.
On the whole, I really enjoyed reading White Sand Vol. 3, though naturally, I want to see how the story continues from here. I almost wish I hadn’t read this one so quickly, as I’m sure there’s going to be a wait for the next volume (I’m assuming the series isn’t over, but I can’t find any news about a fourth volume yet).

I've heard so much about this author and when given the opportunity to read this graphic novel I jumped at the chance to sample some of his work. I'm honestly disappointed as I just didn't really connect with any of the characters although I will admit its not the first instalment in this series so it's possible that affected my judgment. To be blunt I'd expected a lot more action. I do realise the plot of this book revolves around Kenton learning how to master his powers over sand but it's bogged down a lot by all the political machinations around him. I think I just found Kenton wanting and the only character I even half liked was Ais because she's capable and loyal.
As for the artwork I thought it was stylized and quite stark. It was colourful but at times I struggled to connect the dialogue with which character was saying it. That all having been said I thought the vibrant use of ochre tones went exceedingly well with this world with magic controlling sand.
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from Netgalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair

I don’t know if this was badly adapted or if Sanderson’s work doesn’t translate well to this format but this series has been disappointing. It’s not terrible but it’s not half as good as I was expecting it to be.

Sanderson’s books are packed with imagination, style and character – White Sands feels lacklustre in comparison. As the final volume in the series it tied everything up and parts of it were entertaining, but overall it wasn’t particularly engaging and the pacing was off. It’s a shame as there are some great ideas here!

I probably wouldn’t recommend this unless you’re a die-hard Sanderson fan.

White Sand V. 3 by Brandon Sanderson, another thrilling installment. Even if Graphic Novels are not your cup of tea, but you love his cosmere stories then read this series because these are definitely part of it and his storytelling in a new format is still great!