I’m a huge fan of Sanderson’s work and I’ve loved each and every book of his… apart from his graphic novel adaptations. I wasn’t particularly fond of white sands and now also Dark One, the basic premise is interesting and there’s some great ideas however the execution is terrible. Everything is lacking; the basic art, underdeveloped characters; weak dialogue and a story that feels like a heavily abridged version of something much bigger and better. I won’t be picking up any more volumes of this, it's a disappointing mess.

This is an netgalley ARC book from Brandon Sanderson.

Love his books and had to read this graphic novel asap.

The images in the book were breathtaking and the unconventional story was good. There is a lot of otherworldly imagery, a map of mirandus(a fictional world in which our protagonist Paul(a Chicagoan) goes to)
There is a war coming between the light and the dark.
Go give it a read. This is the first book in the series. There are more books to come. Can't wait.
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#netgalley #darkone

I'm honestly surprised there wasn't much more hype around this book given Sanderson's popularity! I only found out about it through my Goodreads feed.
This was my first attempt at reading comic book so I didn't know what to expect. On the other hand Sanderson is my favourite author so I was hoping this was be as enjoyable as his other books. Thankfully I was right. Apparently he can do no wrong!
I read this at a time that I had difficulty focusing on any book. But this book was an easy read. Once I got used to the whole new format, I flew through it.
Similar to his other books, the storyline is engaging, the characters are likeable and there's enough twist and turns that keeps you turning the pages.
Although the ending made me remember why I don't like reading Sanderson's series unless they're completed. It ends on a really bad cliff-hanger and the urge to jump into the sequel is driving me crazy!

That was definitely - by now - the best experience with Sanderson I had so far (thinking that what I read by him was pretty much sci-fi, although he is known for being a master in fantasy). The plot and worldbuilding was really interesting and complex, and it is obvious that in a 200 page graphic novel he didn't manage to explore 10% of this new world (and the dynamic twining that world with ours? some wow factor here). I really like the aspect of having the main character as the villain, but it build it quite fast. That is my main issue with this graphic novel: THE PACING! Everything happened too fast, and there was no time to develop enough worldbuilding, mythology, character development, at least some answers (?), and we are already at the middle of a battle. Ugh. Above all, I was definitely intrigued with the way it ended and I'm curious for the next steps in this plot.

[2 Stars]

--- Thank you to NetGalley and Diamond Book Distributors for an eARC in exchange for an honest review ---

This was fine but forgettable. While the premise was cool I quickly lost interest in the story and didn't care about what was going on. I ended up finishing it just for the sake of finishing it and that's not normally a good sign. However, I will say, the art style was cool and matched the vibe of the story quite well

Sanderson it's just perfect. He's one of my favs authors and I quite love everything he does so If you want to know more about his writing just go ahead with the experience behind Dark One.

The artwork for this was really good but I think the story would be better as a prose work. Other than the lovely art I don't think anything was added to storywise by making it a graphic novel.

It was enjoyable but not memorable for me.

ARC From Netgalley.
Brandon Sanderson, extremely prolific fantasy author (THE STORMLIGHT ARCHIVE, THE WHEEL OF TIME, MISTBORN) brings another original series to the graphic novel format (first being WHITE SAND in 2019). His phenomenal world building skills continue onto the page here with DARK ONE VOLUME 1, which has the author asking the question:

“What would you do if you were told you were destined to be the Dark One?”

Paul is a 17 year old boy who has moved away from his parents for a unique reason: he doesn’t want to hurt them. Plagued with nightmares about a city of darkness, other than his appointed therapist, he only has the ghost of his sister Nikka to share his thoughts with. Only he has never had a sister…

Princess Feotora is the fierce daughter of the Chronicle King. She knows the prophecy, called The Narrative, as well as anyone. “The Dark One rises, and the Destined One rises to challenge him. And the Destined One will stand victorious.” And while she believes in her heart that she is the Destined One, her father will not stand for it.

Lin Yang-Tanasin, Paul’s mother, is a very well respected lawyer with an excellent record for winning. What will she do when she takes on a high-profile murder case where the suspect wants the death penalty?

Jackson Lanzing (JOYRIDE) and Collin Kelly (GOTHAM CITY GARAGE) script out Sanderson’s vision for the world of Mirandus and this first Volume, giving us the rise of “The Dark One”. Where does it go next? With the imagination of the authors here, who knows.

I will definitely be along for the ride. Ages 15+

I was really excited about the premise and overall vibe of this, and while I enjoyed parts of it, the execution fell a bit flat for me. The art was really nice, and I loved the image and idea of these out-of-place characters in the city - the art of that was super fun. However, the story just didn't grip me, and I found myself dragging my feet by the finish.

i do genuinely believe that anything involving brandon sanderson will ever be a a masterpiece. illustrations were extra good too!

I really enjoyed the story and art style of this graphic novel! I really loved the characters and I cant wait to see what happens next in the series!

I love a villain origin story and have been loving Sanderson's novels, so I thought I'd give this a try.

There are a few big positives here: the artwork is stunning and fits the tone of the story perfectly, and the world is really intriguing. I loved to see how Mirandus and its belief in "the Narrative" wove into a version of modern day New York City. I also really enjoyed Paul as a main character and his struggle trying to be "good".

Overall, the concept worked well as a graphic novel, but I would have enjoyed the story much more as prose. For me, the pacing was a little fast and the text seemed a little wordy for a graphic novel yet I still wanted more detail/world building in certain places.

That being said, I will be interested to see where the story goes in Volume Two!

I really enjoyed this! Brandon Sanderson is one of my favorites and one of my student's favorites. This did not disappoint. The artwork was great and the storyline was fantastic!

"Dark One Volume 1" is a fun graphic novel. The artwork is well done and the story is as equally compelling.

Having another go at Branson Sanderson, thanks to Netgalley. So far he has not been a winner for me. The previous comic, White sands, was not bad though.

We have a portal fantasy of some sort here, jumping back and forth between New York and another world. There are good and evil champions and a narrative that drives them along. Our presumed hero is a teenager from New York, with a mum working as a lawyer.

„Visions of a dark and fantastic world haunt Paul Tanasin, but when he discovers they are prophecies from Mirandus, a world in which he’s destined to become a fearsome destroyer, he’ll have to embrace the fear, rise up as the Dark One, and shatter everything. Dark One examines the dual roles we often take on in life―the ability to be a savior as well as a destroyer.“

So Paul, our main character, is destined to be a dark force and his opponents in that other world are the Light, the supposed force for good. Which makes it slightly unusual, because Paul feels like the good guy and the opposing force more like the bad guys in this narrative. We get to see a lot of grey shades. I am actually curious to see where Sanderson will take this next.

The artwork is not much to rave about. There were one or two moments where I really liked depictions of unusual animals in Mirandus. The rest was flat and pretty middle-of-the-road.

I received this free e-copy from the publisher/author via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review, thank you!

As a fan of Sanderson's books, I was excited to dive into this graphic novel.. turned out to be a great choice!
With an exciting art style and and meaningful storytelling, Dark One Volume 1 painted a story of a prophecy concerning connected worlds, Dark and Light, good and evil. Loved it!

Dark One Volume 1 is a great read. It’s a fun, dramatic, dark fantasy. Once you start reading this tome it’s hard to stop.

Dark One Volume 1 is an interesting fantasy where real life and fantasy overlap and collide. The main character Paul, has visions that turn out to be more than fantasies that are just in his head...

There is also a theme of mental health in this story. Paul is seeing a doctor who thinks the visions he has are just fantasies in his head and nothing more. As the story goes on we find out these visions are much more than that. There is also a strong message in this book that we should all try listening harder to people who have visions and mental health issues.

One aspect of Dark One Volume 1 that I really liked is the dynamic between Paul and Feotora. They are very different characters who have many similarities. You can see they are different sides of the same coin. I love characters who are similar but different like this. You can make some many comparisons between them.

The ending of this book feels like end of the first chapter of an epic. I look forward to reading more. I want to see what happens to Paul and Feotora. What happens to Paul’s mom and do we learn more about his father.

I highly recommend this book. It’s a great story and I’m sure there will be many more volumes about the Dark One to come.

Stay awesome and keep reading!

As a major fan of Sanderson (23 books and counting!) I approached this new graphic novel with some minor trepidation. As cool as the ideas were in White Sand, I felt that as a graphic novel it ultimately fell flat. Fortuantely, not being confined by Cosmere for this next foray into graphic novels turned out to be a boon. This story is so damn good. Wedded with top notch art, I think Sanderson hit it out of the park with storytelling that more closely aligns with his other work. Complex and epic, Sanderson hallmarks.

'Dark One" volume 1 is an admirably woven tale of two worlds that slowly collides as the story progresses. The main character's cluelessness directs the curiosity of the readers well into gobbling the book. In the end, I do have an issue with how weak the introduction of the world has been but with graphic novels tending to be more quick-paced I completely understand the direction.

Rating: 3.5
I had to read this as soon as I saw it was by Brandon Sanderson. He knows how to write a good fantasy, with great world building, intriguing characters, moral dilemmas and a story that hooks you in.

On a high level, this graphic novel is no different, most of those pieces are still there in this story. It asks interesting questions around hero vs villain, destiny, and goes in unexpected directions.
There were parts that I really enjoyed, especially Feotora and what she does, Nikka and her backstory, the court hearing... Really, most of what happens for most of the book, is pretty good.

On the other hand, I felt a little lost at times in the formal language that didn't flow naturally at all. Because of this, I'm still not sure that I grasped everything. I especially didn't understand what pushed Paul to drink for example. Initially he was so opposed to it, but then the story that convinced him... It felt like that should have convinced him to not drink it at all. I didn't get it. And that was just one of the things where I wasn't fully following the character motivation. But once that happened, the story kind of lost me. It got me back with the court hearing, and I was intrigued enough to want to read the next one, but not enough to think it was a great read overall.
It's also possible that one of the reasons I got lost at times was because the story was missing narrative context. The dense-ness of the story didn't seem to fit that well into a dialogue only format.

Overall, I'm intrigued enough that I'd want to read the next one, and hope that Volume 2 will explain some of the parts that confused me.

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.