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White Sand Volume 1 Reactions (Unpublished Version Spoilers)


WeiryWriter

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So I figured that those of us who have read the full unpublished version should have a thread for our reactions.

I really liked picking up on the foreshadowing of who the traitor is.  Like there's the point before Kenton goes on the Mastrell's Run where Elorin makes a plea to the Sand Lord on Kenton's behalf and Kenton even comments on how sand masters are usually atheists.  And then Elorin tries to keep Kenton away from the big meeting.

I also liked the minor, one line, appearance of Delious (I think that's his name) he was my favorite character from the prose version.

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So, let's see. What's different.

A couple of names have changed from their very Earthly origin to something more typical for a fantasy novel (e.g. Regent > Raagent, Eric > Aaric). I like it.

I don't have strong feelings about Ais being a female. I agree that the written version lacked female characters, and I am very much fine with the genderbending, but that's about it. Nothing in this first release makes me feel differently about her compared to how I felt about her... previous incarnation. 

Outside of these things - and the Autonomy Easter egg - I don't think I have anything else to comment on right now. 

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So I wrote a much longer post in the other thread, and I am contemplating if it should be moved to this one instead. I feel like the cut out large swaths of dialogue between Kenton and Khriss which was very disappointing to me. The Ais scene where he tried to capture Sharazan was 75 percent chopped out, and the deaths of that person in the closet's family for how horrible it was, was just glossed over. So much of the graphic novel I felt was just a light summary version of the actual prose version. The artwork didn't tell enough of the story for me, to make up for the lack of dialogue and cut out scenes. The more I talk about it, the more disappointed I become, which really sucks because I really did want to like it. I really want to find something redeeming in it, but I am having trouble :(

 

edit: also did anyone else notice the colored in eyes of the sandling? I thought they were blind/eyeless? Not refering to the tonks (though they looked nothing like I imagined at all, and they completely skipped the scene where tonks are directed by slapping them with a hammer. Now they are just shelled horses :()

Edited by Pathfinder
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After being seriously disappointed with the graphic novel, I sent Brandon an email and read the prose version. Yeah... that's way better. I don't really have much more to say, other than to reiterate my serious disappointment in the canonical version.

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The graphic novel was wayyyyyyy too short! The pacing also felt uneven early on, like the artist and adapting writer were struggling to figure out how to show instead of tell.

The single biggest defect is that this is only the first issue of three. That means that this one has most of the exposition and setup and not as much in the way of action, and that is going to make many Cosmere fans feel disappointed.

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Very disappointing. I wrote a longer post in the main thread. A little voice in my head keeps hoping for a real novel release as well, even though I know that's not going to happen. I hope they won't stray too far from the prose. That way I can just keep reading the prose instead of the graphic novels whenever I feel like reading White Sand.

What I did like was the way certain characters looked. Khriss looked exactly as I pictured her. Kenton as well, and  Aarik looked much better than how he was described in the prose/looked in my head. It was also very exciting to get a proper map of Taldain and to see Lonzare.

 

My post in the main thread:

Spoiler

I've read the prose version and finished the graphic novel version last night. White Sand prose is one of my favourite Sanderson stories. Let me just say it's a damnation shame they decided to publish this as a graphic novel instead of a real novel. It felt way too rushed, way too short, and way too lacking in detail. I found myself constantly wondering whether non-prose readers were going to fully understand certain situations, and I felt it was a shame they were going to miss out on the details that are given in the prose. I'm not a fan of graphic novels at all and this didn't change my mind. I thought it was a cool idea, it had potential, but I feel they missed the mark. I'll admit it was really cool to see the characters and places for real, and I got super excited I finally got to see a proper map of Taldain, though. And Khriss looked exactly as I pictured her.

Of course it's too early to judge the entire thing before the next volumes are out, but if the next ones are as disappointing as the first and they stick closely to the prose, I think I'll just keep reading that instead of the graphic novels whenever I want some White Sand.

 

Edited by Wubdor
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I´m dissapointed with the graphic novel, mostly for two reasons. Firstly sand mastery looks nothing like mastering sand and more like generating force fields (like in the Reckoners) and secondly Khriss moves like a model (i mean just look at her first appearence, that pose is more fitting for an over the top villain) also her outfit...a shoulder free dress in the desert?

I guess i wont buy the other volumes, hopefully enough people wont and we´ll get White Sand part two and three also in prose version. I´m really sad about this graphic novel....

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  • 2 months later...

Well, better late than never...

- I like the Autonomy nod and some of the name changes and have no problem with Ais' gender being changed.

- I miss the early Darksider chapters, even if some of the material was worked into the narrative in flashback form and I can understand why it makes for a smoother narrative to follow Kenton through the opening section without jumping away. I also miss some of Cynder's prose commentary, like how if they can't communicate with Daysiders they can at least call them to repent, after learning about the reason for their language barrier issues. Or asking Khriss not to tell him anything she learns about the source of their food until they get somewhere where they have other options. Understandably cut but I got a chuckle out of both those lines.

- Speaking of, Cynder and Acron's identity crisis. I imagine they're going to be very careful about the next two volumes, there. Made it hard to get a feel for them as characters in the graphic novel when they kept trading names. But who knows, maybe it's a newly revealed Darksider game. :P

- Going along with that, Baon didn't really match the mental image I had of him. In the prose version he stood out for being really tall and having a darker skin tone than the other Darksiders but he doesn't really stand out so much in the graphic novel in either respect.

- Not so much a thing specific to this volume as a general one: I wonder if the graphic novel is going to end any differently with regards to the prose version's dangling plot threads with the Kershtians and with Scythe (or their new names I can't recall offhand) or whether it's also going to leave things open for a second work and if so, whether that means we can expect to see the key content of Lord Mastrell at some future date. Given how compressed the story has been so far while still explicitly retaining all those unresolved elements, I have to imagine the latter option is more likely.

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  • 4 months later...

Time for a little thread necromancy.  I apologize in advance, especially seeing as I'm just going to echo what has already been said.  Ais being female is not a big deal.  I can only see that affecting things once they start talking threats to her family, but not much.  More fantastical names are cool.  

 

But my disappointments are the pacing, that most of the characters look too similar, making it really hard to visually distinguish the various Sandmasters from each other, and the massively stripped dialogue.

 

Will I continue to purchase the remaining volumes.  Probably, especially after hearing that Brandon is not entirely happy with how the graphic novel turned out.  But I won't be as enthusiastic, and my expectations will be lower.  I'm not going to hold out for a prose release, but that would have me excited.

 

The only thing I got out of the graphic novel that I did not get from the prose was the faces everywhere.  But that had to be pointed out to me, and they weren't even supposed to be that obvious.

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  • 4 weeks later...

So I may be a rarity at this point, since I read the graphic novel prior to recieving and reading the prose version. I had given some of my thoughts in the non-prose forum, but now that I can enter this hallowed ground, I thought I'd share a few more things.

The pacing and amount of detail in the graphic novel was dissatisfying to me, but that may be due to my limited experience with that format. I definitely missed the world building details, though looking back, I am somewhat impressed with what did get included just through the images, since the exposition was missing. I didn't like some of the changes like Praxton giving his power to Kenton, though as someone mentioned, that might have been a misunderstanding on Kenton's part that will be corrected later.

I guess mostly I'm echoing the thoughts of other posters I've seen here, but I do think it's probably good that Brandon was willing to branch out with a new format. I just wish he'd been in greater control, since my impression is that he mostly turned over the project to the artists.

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I'm very happy about one WoB that @strumienpola got at the first Poland signing.

Quote
On 19/03/2017 at 4:29 AM, Rasarr said:

  Q: Can you slatrify sand into other liquids?

A: *thinks a moment* I admit that slatrification is one aspect of Sand Mastery I'm the least fond of, because it doesn't mesh well with the rest of Cosmere magic. The comicbook writers are working with my original script, with very minor changes, but if we ever release White Sand in print - which we might do - I might end up changing it. So - I won't answer that, because I'm not yet sure if slatifying into water is possible. *laughs* You can think of the comic as sort of in-universe story about those characters, then.

Q: Why don't Daysiders have darker skin? 
A: It's just how genetics on Taldain have played out. They should be darker-skinned, but there's always some randomness to genetics, so this is just how they played out in this case.

These two were mine. About slatrification he said that if he ever writes the novel (oh pretty please) he'll make slatrification an in-world legend

I was never comfortable with slatrification so I'm glad it looks like that won't be canon in the end.

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Well, it's beem mentioned in the context of the Mastrell's Path in the graphic novel so technically it is canon right now (and might appear in the final volume if the duel plays out the same way) but if Brandon rewrites the novel then it might be decanonized. So 'canon until further notice' seems to be Slatrification's status pending Brandon's decision on how to handle White Sand's planned sequels.

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The only correct answer would have to be 'your guess is as good as mine' but my instinct is that if Brandon were to rewrite the novel, the novel would become the canonical version of the story and the graphic novel would either be rendered noncanonical outright or would get some handwave-y explanation as a story passed down on Taldain that got some embellishments over time*. Wouldn't be hard to work the latter into the series since Khriss is the author of all the Ars Arcanum and she could easily drop a comment there, or mention it in some future appearance she makes.

* At this point, the only things we know of that Brandon would retcon should he rewrite the novel are the idea of slatrification and Jon Akron and Cynder being unable to remember which of the two is which, and the latter was an adaptation-induced goof.

Edited by Weltall
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  • 1 month later...

I'm glad to hear that he might redo the novel and re-release it... The graphic novel was ok, but I think Brandon's approach needs to be modified. 

In all his stories there is a lot of worldbuilding that goes into the novels to set up that world. As each successive set of books (in this case, I would consider each of the Misborn trilogies a separate 'set') comes out, he continues to add and build more information and worldbuilding into them to such an extent that I don't think a graphic novel would work to do the same job.  The graphic novels that I've seen don't have to do a lot of exposition or worldbuilding - they use a framework readers a familiar enough with that they can just assume everyone will get the reference, and inferences.

I think what Brandon ought to do is set up the worlds with their respective trilogies (or however many books to each series), then use a graphic novel to tell some interesting side stories inside each world.  Without any expectation that the graphic novels will add to the world building. I mean, if he can work some in, GREAT, but if not it shouldn't be force.   Like a graphic novel about Marsh's time infiltrating the Steel Ministry and then becoming a Steel Inquisitor, or perhaps one about Lopen's backstory - I'd love to see that one.  I can't imagine a Lopen story would require too much exposition or worldbuilding, but would still develop the characters.  Maybe even a graphic novel of a bunch of compiled little interlude type stories on people we already know - not meant for worldbuilding, just some additional insight into the characters lives. 

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  • 8 months later...
  • 7 months later...
On 12/29/2017 at 3:40 AM, ClockWorkPoleAxe said:

So the third graphic novel will end where the prose version ends, meaning that there'll be no solution to the cliffhanger at the end for ages? 

I also think that Kenton probably dies as no one has seen him with Khriss, and I dont think they would seperate.

Late reply, so you may have seen this news already. But there will be some changes to the ending of the story:

Quote

Argent [PENDING REVIEW]

I wanted to ask you how much input you had on the White Sand graphic novels.

Isaac Stewart [PENDING REVIEW]

A lot, actually.

Argent [PENDING REVIEW]

Specifically, why there's a radio.

Isaac Stewart [PENDING REVIEW]

Why there's a radio? Oh no. Where's the radio? Do you have a picture? I don't know why there's a radio in there. I mean, we go through these things. We wanted this to be the story the way Brandon would have written it now. All the changes, we proofed all these changes. People go into it, if they go into it expecting a novel, they're disappointed with it. Because you don't hear the thoughts of the characters, and you don't get the... it's designed to be a graphic novel.

It follows the book pretty well. Now, the last third is going to be different. Because there are things in the ending that he always wanted to change. <inaudible> similarly <inaudible>.

source

 

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  • 2 years later...

I just finished the prose and I LOVED it! I can understand why some of the stuff was cut from canon, though. I really liked how the prose gave a lot more light to Eric, Ais, and Delious’s characters. The best part was definitely delious revealing that he never liked wine. That blew me away! I don’t think that was in the comics. I thought the comics were the weakest system in Brandon’s books, but that’s because worldbuilding was ignored in the comics. The prose gave much more insight to the dayside as well as the Darkside. I didn’t know anything about the dayside until the book and it really spiced things up and made the world bigger. I’m so sad that the conversation where Khriss and Kenton are eating together and noting the differences in culture. That was great. I don’t know what I think about the romance between them, though. 

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  • 1 year later...
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