White Sand Volume 1 Reactions

[Asperity]

I like the duality between Sand Mastery making them God's eternal adversaries. I reckon it's fitting that becoming Autonomous, the resulting magic is an 'affront' to Autonomy. I noticed the Kertzians becoming "Warrior-Priests" for who knows what reason which reminded me of Elantris and I'm also noticing a disappointing trend with several main male leads being against authority as a trait. I really hope many male leads do not begin being written the same way, like how many major female characters are the same.

 

Also it's the first part of a new Cosmere story so it's natural to expect little-to-nothing to happen until the ending bit--in this case, volume 3, sadly.

[Trizee]

I feel the same as a a lot of people here, graphic novels just aren't for me.

Here are two things I noticed:

Is that a lamp by Ais's daughter's bed? I'm fairly certain it is which is very strange since I've seen no other evidence that they have such things on lightside (they don't even have gunpowder...)

The High Justice person tells Kenton that in the second vote about dissolving the Sand Masters he would need a unanimous voting to prevent the dissolving. And then she tells him that he won't even have a vote himself. But isn't that rather irrelevant, since he needs a unanimous vote in his favor in order to win? It wouldn't help him at all to have a vote!

[Alfa]

3 hours ago, Trizee said:

3 hours ago, Trizee said:

Is that a lamp by Ais's daughter's bed? I'm fairly certain it is which is very strange since I've seen no other evidence that they have such things on lightside (they don't even have gunpowder...)

She seems to hold a teddy, too. Pretty sure that there aren't any bears at least on dayside.

[vividox]

Don't really want to start a new thread on this so I'll just ask in here...

Do we have any indication that BS is every going to release these in an official novel format? Clearly some of us don't dig the graphic novel format, and while I like the idea of having both for the people who like that sort of thing, I think it would be a shame if the graphic novel is the only official format this is ever released in.

[masaru]

I agree with the idea that Khriss' entrance was very in keeping with her starting out as a somewhat sheltered and pampered duchess. She has the inquistitiveness that would lead her to being the AA Author, but this is just her before anything big happens to her.

Edited June 30, 2016 by masaru

[Pagerunner]

7 minutes ago, vividox said:

Don't really want to start a new thread on this so I'll just ask in here...

Do we have any indication that BS is every going to release these in an official novel format? Clearly some of us don't dig the graphic novel format, and while I like the idea of having both for the people who like that sort of thing, I think it would be a shame if the graphic novel is the only official format this is ever released in.

He has said he has no plans to release the prose version, and let the graphic novel be the 'official' version. If the graphic novels get a bad reception, though, I wouldn't be surprised if we get a prose version so Brandon can do the sequels as normal books. (We'll see how the population at large takes them. We're a bunch of non-graphic-novel readers complaining about how it reads differently than a book, but if it has a wide enough appeal then I wouldn't fault Brandon for moving ahead for more graphic novels.)

Also, is anyone else bothered by how the graphic novel is taller than a hardcover novel? I was so excited that I'd be able to pull the paperback Emperor's Soul off my shelf in November and everything would match, but now White Sand will throw it all off.

[Kingsdaughter613]

I am a graphic novel reader and I enjoyed it. You really can't read it like a novel though. Graphic novels are all about the images (or should be.)

I think this one suffers from the awareness that this was prose first. The words are telling as much of the story as the images. Some of my favourite graphic novels have entire pages without words because the image is telling the whole story. The first page really annoyed me because of that. DON'T give me a verbal description of the sand. It takes away from the image. The wind comment was extraneous. If there is wind show me! (I honestly think a better intro would have shown us the sands of Dayside, a brief glimpse of nightside, and a full double page spread of Taldain in space between two stars.) 

The art style does work, but isn't my favorite. We'll see if they stick with the same artist throughout. These books often switch and I'd like to see more styles.

All in all this was a good fun read. I did prefer the prose, but that had less to do with this being a graphic novel and more that this wasn't handled as well as it could have been. It felt like they were trying to squash a novel into a graphic novel, instead of letting it BE a graphic novel. Which is a pity, because then it could have been a great book instead of a decent one.

[vividox]

I think that may ultimately be my beef, Kingsdaughter. The only other graphic novel I've read was an A Song of Ice and Fire adaptation. It just reads like a poor translation or a Spark Notes of the original prose. The best I can say about it is it's a "faithful recreation". But the prose is radically superior to me for hundreds of pages of reasons, because that's how the story was created and that's where the world-building and foreshadowing and scenery was originally brought to life. I really want to like this, I love everything Sanderson has touched, but this just feels like flashcards of the original plot to me. I'm so incredibly disappointed by this.

[Pathfinder]

So unfortunately I am of the camp where I left the graphic novel feeling lack luster. Now I will preface this with saying I did read the prose version, and I have always been the "book was better than other media adaption" type of person (only once has there ever been an exception in that for me, and that was Big Hero 6.). There are three big reasons I have always loved Brandon's books (in no particular order):

1. the humor

2. the magic

3. the fight scenes

 

I will now break down as to why I feel this graphic novel falls short in each category.

First the Humor. I feel like there is barely any humor or witty repartee between Kenton and Khriss. The biggest "zinger" Kenton gives Khriss is after she explains everything about darkside and how its technology works, he brushes off her question because "he doesn't like her". Now I know that is how their personalities work and clash. Khriss is always curious and Kenton is always defiant. So every time one asks a question, the other finds a way out of it. But that happened once, and it wasn't even clever. He even apologized immediately after. I feel like they are cranking up the speed of character growth way too fast. 

Second the magic. I understand it will probably be delved deeper in greater in the story, but a lot of the tricks Kenton pulls off, or cleverness in employing his magic is barely shown. For instance when he notices where the red stone is on the mastrell's path, by the darker sand in front of that hole. If I hadn't read the prose, I would have never noticed the slightly darker patch that he spent one sentence explaining. Instead I noticed the glint the red stone gave off, and would have assumed that was how he found it. Some pages they shove so many different images together on one page, that you barely get a clear picture of what is happening. That leads me to my next category. 

Third the fight scenes. Mistborn has always been my favorite for this. Brandon describes a fluid fight, that I can literally see in my mind, and leaves me in awe and amazement of the twists, cuts, and jumps his combatants pull off. Now I get White Sand is meant or feels like more of a political piece than a action orientated one. That it is more like Elantris than Mistborn. But there are still fight scenes, and because they shove so many different panels into a page, all I see are mages sticking their hands out, with slight areas around their hands glowing, and bits of blood flying from their targets. Praxton is a prime example. He yells out, glows, and then it is a sand wave. Now I am trying not to bring up the prose version, but the imagery I got there is in my opinion so much better than what I saw. The only thing I can think of, is they cut back on the panels, so the graphic novel wouldn't be so bloated with images, but I still feel the combat scenes should have taken up whole pages or two to really give the feeling of the expansive combat. We only get one. When Kenton yells about the sand masters to stop putting up walls in front of themselves, I think to myself "what is he talking about? I do not see any sand walls". I also do not see any ribbons shooting out to scythe, or stab the enemies. The most we see of the ribbons is when Kenton finally manifests three. Otherwise I feel the sand magic in combat is amorphous and that is a shame.

 

So I think it is pretty clear from a lot of my complaints, center from the art. Not necessarily the art style itself, but the choice of panels, how they were arranged, and how much space was paid to which scenes. In some instances it felt even lazy. Like with the sandling. You look closely, and you can see it has eyes and a nose. Yet the eyes are completely colored in, iris and all. It feels like the artist meant to draw eyes, but then was told last minute that sandlings are blind/have no eyes, so just colored it in and hoped no one would notice. 

Spoiler

The sandlings being blind/no eyes is confirmed in the prose. Now Brandon could have changed it, but then why color in the eyes the same color as the rest of the carapace?

I am sorry for the long rant, and I do respect everyone else's opinions for those who liked it. I wanted to like it, I really did, but I just felt when I left it, feeling....meh. When I came on this morning, I was intending to write a post in the prose forum asking people to tell me if they liked it, felt eh about it or hated it and why to hopefully convince me to find some way to love it. But since there is already this reaction thread, I don't know if I should or not. Thoughts?

Edited June 30, 2016 by Pathfinder

[WeiryWriter]

Personally I kind of hope he keeps this as a graphic novel exclusive and doesn't release an updated prose version.  Partly because one of the reasons Brandon went with White Sand as a graphic novel when Dynamite came to him was that he didn't want to just re-release one of his already released stories was because people had already read those stories and he would want to give them something new.  I think it is fair if that goes both ways?  Also for Brandon to release a prose version he would have to spend the time writing/revising said prose version and to be honest I would rather he spend that time writing something I haven't read twice before.

One of the great things about Brandon starting to release graphic novels is that it is more of a team-based approach, it's not just Brandon drafting 100's of thousands of words before someone else can start to help.  As such it is a chance for us to get more stories.

I will admit that this first entry does have it's issues.  It is very much not a complete story, it is part one of three and as such I think we should wait until all three are released before making a judgement on whether the graphic novel experiment is a success.  I do think the book suffered from the fact that it was adapted from prose but I also think books going forward would be more successful as they would be written to the advantages of this medium.

Ultimately for those looking for a prose version I'd recommend emailing Brandon for the existing one.

Also @Pagerunner to be honest it didn't really bother me, but I also knew going in that that size is industry standard (or at least Dynamite standard).

[Pathfinder]

3 minutes ago, WeiryWriter said:

Personally I kind of hope he keeps this as a graphic novel exclusive and doesn't release an updated prose version.  Partly because one of the reasons Brandon went with White Sand as a graphic novel when Dynamite came to him was that he didn't want to just re-release one of his already released stories was because people had already read those stories and he would want to give them something new.  I think it is fair if that goes both ways?  Also for Brandon to release a prose version he would have to spend the time writing/revising said prose version and to be honest I would rather he spend that time writing something I haven't read twice before.

One of the great things about Brandon starting to release graphic novels is that it is more of a team-based approach, it's not just Brandon drafting 100's of thousands of words before someone else can start to help.  As such it is a chance for us to get more stories.

I will admit that this first entry does have it's issues.  It is very much not a complete story, it is part one of three and as such I think we should wait until all three are released before making a judgement on whether the graphic novel experiment is a success.  I do think the book suffered from the fact that it was adapted from prose but I also think books going forward would be more successful as they would be written to the advantages of this medium.

Ultimately for those looking for a prose version I'd recommend emailing Brandon for the existing one.

Also @Pagerunner to be honest it didn't really bother me, but I also knew going in that that size is industry standard (or at least Dynamite standard).

Despite my feelings on the graphic novel, I do agree it should remain a graphic novel all the way to its resolution. It would feel too disjointed to suddenly go back to prose. I do hope as they continue, that they get a better feel for the medium and Brandon's writing, that it will get better. I guess I let my expectations and excitement get too high, that I was left disappointed. I am not sure if I had not read the prose, would I have felt the same or not, but I am leaning towards yes I would. 

[Asperity]

5 hours ago, vividox said:

Don't really want to start a new thread on this so I'll just ask in here...

Do we have any indication that BS is every going to release these in an official novel format? Clearly some of us don't dig the graphic novel format, and while I like the idea of having both for the people who like that sort of thing, I think it would be a shame if the graphic novel is the only official format this is ever released in.

I think it's for the best. Sure, personal opinion and all, I don't really mind the comic itself. I think some aspects could have been a bit better but it was... okay/decent. The art was fine although the transitioning between some scenes felt a bit out-of-place, and while I was slightly disappointed with not learning a whole lot, it would have been the same as any first third of a new Cosmere story.

However, the main reason that this being turned into a comic is a good thing is that we actually get the story. As someone who is aggravated by the constant pushing-back and hiatuses of the planned Warbreaker sequel and the rest of the Elantris series, I'm glad we're getting White Sand at all.

[CaptainRyan]

YIL: Reading a graphic novel is very different from reading a novel. Wow. I am a quick reader and that does not help with a GN. I was turning pages so fast that I barely looked at the art. Halfway through I realized this was a terrible idea and tried to slow down. 

Impressions: The pacing felt weird. Kenton headed out to the Mastrell's Path and then BAM! He had four spheres right away haha. And then everyone died. And then his powers were gone. And then some people lived. And then his powers were back and he could control three ribbons and then the book ended and... wait, what? I am used to a much slower pace with books so this was a bit of a shock. 

Overall I enjoyed the story. I have not read the prose so I am left wanting more! Also, the art was beautiful. Sometimes it was hard to distinguish who was who but it was still very well drawn and colored.

[Alfa]

I think I see one thing that bothered me a bit. Typical Sanderson books don't tell you only what's happening, but also a part of what's going on (exactly to the point where plot twists don't feel like deux-ex-machina). Somehow, the part of "what's going on" either missed completely or at least came way too short. I give it a "discount" because it's the first part of a trilogy, but it's still Sandersonesque to give some explanations.

[Jazzy Kandra]

@Alfa: They will explain what's going on eventually...but yeah, there's a bit of that.

TBH, I do like it. I'm not quite done, but I think for a first graphic novel, it's pretty good for what it is. There are ways to foreshadow those kind of things using just images, or minimal prose, but it can be difficult to make a prose-novel like White Sand originally was into a graphic novel. Part of this is that oddly enough, there is too much telling in it (which was  a problem with the original novel too, as I recall), and the artist/scriptwriter don't use the pictures well enough to move the story. Taldain's lightside should be a highly visible world, given that its this desert with a lot of rich environments, cultures, cities, and characters. Some of the text could've just been thrown out, since the panels showed those things, like the scene where Kenton's dad dies. I don't think it needed the flavored prose or any prose at all. The creators need to learn to let the pictures tell the story as much as their words. Show don't tell, etc.

I also think part of the issue, though, is that every single chapter ends with some kind of cliffhanger. That's not needed, and its annoying. Plus, all the cliff hangers feel the same. Kenton nearly dies (twice!); Kenton loses his powers; Kenton gets his powers (and more) back! You get the drill. Yes, these things happen in quick succession, but like, there should've been more lows too. Like, perhaps, Kenton, Khriss, and the professors journey could've taken longer, and Kenton and the readers had time to process what had happened to the Sand Masters. Khriss...should've been expanded upon. I don't need a cliffhanger every chapter of a book that I already have and intend to finish, there's no point, and it actually hurts the overall story. Yes, I think there should've been more pages of stuff and with more panels, but not just because I'm greedy for anything Sanderson. It's mainly because if they had more, they could've slowed the pacing (make it less hurried and awkward) and showed more of the world, magic, fights, etc. It might really be, ironically, that there wasn't enough pages to properly show things to the readers, and that's why I think we're all finding it a bit lacking. It's not that White Sand is a weak story (it's not, and Kenton's character development is some of my favorite in the cosmere...), but that the adaption needs some work.

Edited July 1, 2016 by Kandra-in-disguise

[Kaymyth]

Got it today.  Read it in one sitting.

Now, I actually *am* a fan of graphic novels, being exactly that sort of nerd, but the art on this one was really just terrible.  Part of that is opinion based on my personal preferences; I like my artwork to have a clean, clear look to it.  And this was just...messy.  All those little scribbles and dots and such were downright distracting.  The panels were so busy that in some places it actually took me a moment to figure out what was going on.  In a visual format like this, that is a serious flaw.

Also, I'm with other people - the characters looked too similar.  So many bald robed dudes.  It is, in fact, possible to draw bald robed dudes in such a way that each character is distinct and identifiable, but this book didn't manage it.  So a bunch of background characters, from the best friend to the supposed bad guy, just sort of blurred together into one lump of messy art.

[Quiver]

Haven't read the prose, and I come at this from the perspective of a comic book fan.

I think the story is too incomplete to judge right now. And that is a very serious concern. If that last page was the cliffhanger to a monthly, I'd be fine...but I have no idea when the next book will be out, so it ends up just sort of lying there. Hopefully, it will read better as a whole, though even then, I agree with sentiments from te others here; the police woman's story, to me, was too abrupt.

I actually liked Khryss, though, if only because she was So different from what I had expected. I actually wish we had had more scenes of her and Kenton.

  (The fact her colour scheme and arrogance reminds me of Trixie might make me biased.)

The artwork has a mixed reception to me. I definitely agree with characters being samey; I legitimate find it hard to tell which sand master is which.

On the other hand, there was a vibrancy to the darksiders, and I liked how the magic was presented. It really did lend itself to a more visual take, I think; it emphasised the difference between the showy magic of the masters, and Kenton's smaller, cleverer uses of it.

Two points I will say though. Firstly, Kenton is a deadringer for Connor Hawke, which amused me. And second,as accurate as it is, I wonder if perhaps some liberties should have been taken with the Sand Master uniforms. I like them -don't get me wrong- but the look of the costumes, the settings and Kenton's parkour in collecting the spheres reminded me a lot of the Assassin's Creed franchise.

[Argent]

10 hours ago, Kaymyth said:

It is, in fact, possible to draw bald robed dudes in such a way that each character is distinct and identifiable

Crazy talk! Witch! Blasphemer! 

[Smokestone]

On 6/30/2016 at 7:17 AM, Kingsdaughter613 said:

I am a graphic novel reader and I enjoyed it. You really can't read it like a novel though. Graphic novels are all about the images (or should be.)

I think this one suffers from the awareness that this was prose first. The words are telling as much of the story as the images. Some of my favourite graphic novels have entire pages without words because the image is telling the whole story. The first page really annoyed me because of that. DON'T give me a verbal description of the sand. It takes away from the image. The wind comment was extraneous. If there is wind show me! (I honestly think a better intro would have shown us the sands of Dayside, a brief glimpse of nightside, and a full double page spread of Taldain in space between two stars.) 

The art style does work, but isn't my favorite. We'll see if they stick with the same artist throughout. These books often switch and I'd like to see more styles.

All in all this was a good fun read. I did prefer the prose, but that had less to do with this being a graphic novel and more that this wasn't handled as well as it could have been. It felt like they were trying to squash a novel into a graphic novel, instead of letting it BE a graphic novel. Which is a pity, because then it could have been a great book instead of a decent one.

This ^^.

I enjoy both comics and graphic novels, they can be really powerful ways to tell interesting stories. (My favorite is easily lackadaisy.foxprints.com, I highly recommend it!) This one was intriguing, but felt like a rocky start, because there's just too many words, too many plotlines, too abrupt of transitions, not enough reason to care, for me at least. I haven't read the prose version and I don't plan on it...and to me, this work really doesn't hold up by itself. I'll certainly read the next two volumes when they come out, but I won't be so quick to buy them.

[Kaymyth]

3 hours ago, Argent said:

Crazy talk! Witch! Blasphemer! 

Let's address these one at a time...

"Crazy Talk" - It's quite possible.  You may be right.  I may be crazy.  (But it just may be a luuuuunatic you're lookin' foooor...)

"Witch"  - True.  I'm a pagan and practitioner of heka.  Totally accurate.

"Blasphemer"  - True.  See above about me being pagan.

So as you can see, I have no actual problem with any of these accusations. 

[Jazzy Kandra]

As I pointed out to Weiry earlier today on the page where Kenton, Khriss, and company arrive at Kezare; there is a MYSTERIOUS FACE FLOATING IN THE CLOUDS ABOVE THE CITY on the right hand corner of page 9 of chapter four. Either it is a red herring (which I doubt) or a reference to the Sand Lord/Bavadin; whether or not he actually sometimes does so, though, I do not know... It's not nice that he stole Stormfather's style, though...(but I guess SF might have stolen it from him, maybe).

I would take a picture of it, but someone else will have to be my evil sidekick on these matters, as my phone is no where to

Edited July 1, 2016 by Kandra-in-disguise

[Alfa]

50 minutes ago, Kandra-in-disguise said:

As I pointed out to Weiry earlier today on the page where Kenton, Khriss, and company arrive at Kezare; there is a MYSTERIOUS FACE FLOATING IN THE CLOUDS ABOVE THE CITY on the right hand corner of page 9 of chapter four. Either it is a red herring (which I doubt) or a reference to the Sand Lord/Bavadin; whether or not he actually sometimes does so, though, I do not know... It's not nice that he stole Stormfather's style, though...(but I guess SF might have stolen it from him, maybe).

I would take a picture of it, but someone else will have to be my evil sidekick on these matters, as my phone is no where to

I highly doubt an "honorable" beeing like the stormfather would steal anything. Bavadin... well, he's probably autonmomous enough to say "ah, plagiarism... to Ruin with it, im fabulous".

[The God Beyond]

There's also a face in the clouds watching the crew ride out of the... bazaar?... right before they're attacked by the Kerztians. 

I've not read the prose version yet, hope to get the privilege at some point, and my experience of graphic novels is limited. White Sand GN was nice. The experience of seeing the world was great, even when character artwork tended towards the confusingly similar at times. It's a literary window into the Cosmere, so I'm excited for that. But after the last page, I'm left wanting more substance. 

Lets say I love eating soup. The ingredients, the process of making it, the smells and textures and flavors and finally, eating the soup - my god, it's my favorite. Now I find that after many wonderous meals, a familiar chef presents a frozen soup-Popsicle. Huh. That's odd, for sure, but why not? It still has that soup-like taste I love, it's just not what I'm used to. Loved the taste, but there's more to it that my brain hoped to experience. 

The graphic novel is a fun read. I'd agree the elements of humor, magic systems, and narrative space to let the characters inhabit are lacking. I'll buy the next two volumes, for sure.  They'll taste just as good, after all, even if I long for the whole experience of a Cosmere adventure. 

[Orlion Blight]

I liked it! 

[Jazzy Kandra]

48 minutes ago, The God Beyond said:

There's also a face in the clouds watching the crew ride out of the... bazaar?... right before they're attacked by the Kerztians. 

Now I'm going to look through the whole novel looking for faces...great.

It's like the great hunt for VenDell's fabulous shade-changing coat all over again. <.<