Not Sanderson’s greatest, but certainly an enjoyable read. Definitely enjoyed the graphic novel format and would be interested in seeing other adaptations.

I am partial to anything and everything written by Brandon Sanderson, so I loved this graphic novel. The story was solid and the illustrations and coloring match the vibe of the take perfectly.

I rate WHITE SAND as a solid 5 out of 5 Stars

Thank you so much to net for sending me a copy of this graphic novel. I’ve now officially read everything by Brandon Sanderson and I loved seeing this glimpse into the cosmere in another way.

I really tried to get into this but the quality of this ARC is awful. The text is readable enough but the art is so pixelated I couldn't see what was happening in a lot of the panels.

I am sorry for the inconvenience but I don’t have the time to read this anymore and have lost interest in the concept. I believe that it would benefit your book more if I did not skim your book and write a rushed review. Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience.
I will, however, notify you if I decide to pick it up at a later time.

The art doesn't do the environments any favors but there's some fun to be had with some of the story

POCs in graphic novels are all I want all the time now. Really happy there's this fantastical series for me now.

Wasn't expecting it to be a graphic novel. Did not read.

Ole B-Sands has a officially hit the point where he has too many drafts to actually release them himself. An editor at dynamite has teamed up a draft of a novel from 1999 with an artist and an inker and a letterer and now we get more metric sanderson per bookshelf per year, a feat once thought impossible during the finishing the Wheel of Time years. This one is about an order of jerkface sand mages and one young mage trying to prove that his really precise control is just as good as all the guys with crazy power levels, which he does, by cheating and possibly dooming the whole order. The plot starts to heat up conspiracy and a massacre and a merchant prince and then it's done and the second volume still isn't out after a year.

Verdict: Get it. It's more Sanderson and he's very good at being an unstoppable fiction generator.

I have been wanting to read Brandon Sanderson's work for the longest time, so as soon as I laid my eyes on this graphic novel which has been adapted from one of Sanderson's older works, I decided it was time to begin exploring his oevre. Indeed, I was not disappointed. The art is wonderful and very detailed and the plot immensely intriguing. This has certainly been a great first impression and I will definitely seek out more.

I received this via Netgalley, so thanks to them. Unfortunately I think this may be the last graphic novel I try to get through them as I’ve had nothing but trouble with them (which is a pity as they have so many I’d love to try for). Between glitches where the words aren’t there and only pictures, to copyrights written so boldly over every picture you can’t read it to the fact that my device hates them which was the problem here (I could barely read it because it was so blurry and pixelated (which I see others reading this via netgalley had the same issue) and it was so slow to advance).

My technical issues aside, let me get into the meat of this. The back cover called White Sand a “crucial unpublished chapter in Brandon Sanderson’s sprawling Cosmere universe.” I called it underwhelming. For one it really felt like it was part of a story I hadn’t read and should have (in a way most of Sanderson’s books don’t. I do confess I’m not a fan of tying all your various series into one universe). I suppose it also felt underwhelming because there isn’t anyone particularly likable in this and it’s rather political which I’m so not in the mood for give the current climate.

This is Sanderson’s first novel that didn’t get published and in ways it shows. Kenton is a want-to-be Sand Masterell in Dayside, a sand-ridden desert. His father is the overlord of all the sand mages and thinks very little of them. Kenton (and his brothers) are part Darksider and seemingly almost completely without sand mastery. Kenton’s father wants to assign him a low rank (and you can not move up) but Kenton refuses to accept it, trying to get a higher rank.

Just as he forces his father’s hand and receives it ironically, the sand masterells are betrayed and attacked by a group of religious fanatics leaving very few of them alive. As Kenton tries to find more of his kind he’s met up with a group of Darksiders on a cultural exchange including a royal Khriss who is there following her lover’s quest for the sand mages of myth (so how far away IS Darkside that they don’t know what every Daysider does? And how uncomfortable is it that Darksiders are Black and Daysiders, White? I don’t think that’s what Darksider means but man, I would have named it anything else….)

It takes halfway into this to learn that the sand mages are a ‘profession’ that is one of seven allowable ones by some council and are about to be voted out and exiled for being an arrogant drain on society and Kenton’s new quest (which we assume will dovetail with Khriss’s) is to give them a reason to keep the mages which will be hard as they don’t believe there is a threat from this religious group (which seems bigger than they realize) and on top of that there is a police like force also in the mix and they hate the sand mages too.

Honestly I didn’t care for any of these characters. Kenton seems whiny and self absorbed and the rest aren’t established enough to get a handle on. Khriss comes across much like Kenton. Both seem intelligent at least. It’s very well drawn though. However the white sand on white clothing coloration made the first half of this brutal to try to visually process. This definitely isn’t my favorite in Sanderson’s Cosmere Universe and I’d probably only read more if I could get it at the library.

I received a free copy from Goodreads in exchange for an honest review.

To be honest, this graphic novel never grabbed me. I didn't care for it enough to finish it. The art was pretty decent so I'm giving it two stars simply for that.

A thrilling adventure with very good art and an interesting plot.

Magic System

Before we talk about everything else, I want to dedicate a whole subheading to magic system because this is Brandon Sanderson we’re talking about.
Brandon Sanderson is a master in creating magic system. The Stormlight Archive has multiple magic systems, all solid and imaginative. But what about White Sand, a book he wrote before he becomes the master of magic system? White Sand’s magic system is quite simple to explain. The sandmasters use energy from the sand to perform their magic. Then, the sand, drained of its power, turned black and has to be left recharged by sunlight. While using the sand, the sandmasters also expend their body water and are in danger to become dehydrated. This made them vulnerable without water, although some sandmasters could transform sand to water.
Now, you could see why I call this simple right? It was nowhere near as complicated as Patrick Rothfuss’ Sympathy or Sanderson’s own Surgebinding. However, it was a solid one and the rules hold (although Brandon himself has said he-in-the-present would not give sandmasters ability to make water from sands as it negates their vulnerability). However, I could totally see why Sanderson thinks this could work as graphic novel. Sandmastery is a ‘visual’ magic system as it’s a very active type of magic. If I have to evaluate the magic system in White Sand, I would probably give it a solid B.

The World and Diversity
The sandmasters lived in isolated desert, which is a very logical choice. However, the desert is not the only setting in White Sand. The outside world is quite diverse and very Sanderson-ish. If you’re not familiar with his epic fantasy novels, Sanderson is very keen of including diversity and (fictional) religions in his work. White Sand is not an exception to this. As soon as we’re outside the desert, we’re introduced to the politics between the merchant group and the priest group led by the A’Kar (high priest). It is quite fascinating and I’m hoping to see more of it in the next instalments. I suspect the next volume(s) will be more than delivers.

Kenton, the protagonist, is biracial. His mother is a Darksider and his father as well as the rest of sandmasters are Daysiders. The Daysiders and Darksiders did not get along and this was one source of conflict in the story. Aside from the protagonist (Kenton), there are several supporting characters. These supporting characters seem quite stereotypical to me. There’s the wise guy, the loud-mouth, and another guy whose main job seems to be cracking jokes. Quite predictably, there’s also a long-time nemesis of the protagonist. In the author’s defense, there is also a lady trac named Ais, who I really liked and is not at all stereotypical. Oh and I have to mention that in this graphic novel, the technologically-advanced city population (the Darksiders) are mostly made of people of colours, which I found to be quite interesting choice. So, in term of diversity, I would say that the author did try, but I believe (and I know) he could do better.

The plot
White Sand is a character journey story, but it’s also a political story. In this regard, I liked it enough but didn’t think it was particularly memorable. On micro level, there’s a conflict between these two guys who are enemies since childhood as well as the hero’s journey to avenge his people. On macro level, there’s a political issue boiling into violence that might or might not be related to our main character. My money is on the latter.

And with that, since this is a graphic novel, let’s move forward to the graphic. I put this as the last point because I cannot talk much about it. Why?
I read the e-ARC from netgalley and I’m going to say that the graphic is awfully pixelated to the point that I cannot see the details and sometimes the words are difficult to read. Maybe it’s just because of the file was compressed and it’s difficult to maintain the quality of the art in compressed file. I need to get the published copy before I could assess the graphic since I don’t think it’s fair to judge Lopes’ work based on what I’ve seen so far. If you own a copy of White Sand, please let me and everyone else know the quality of the published work.

Final Score
3.5 stars (out of 5 stars)

This was a bit too 'conventional comic book' for my reading preference.

An interesting addition to the Cosmere, this graphic novel is an adaptation of a novel Brandon Sanderson wrote a few years ago. The usual Sanderson traits were here (an intriguing magical system, good characters, action) but they were lost a little bit in the form. Strangely, for a graphic novel, I did not get as clear a sense of the world as I have always gotten from his novels. Still, there was enough in the world building and the plot to convince me to come back for the next volume.