Jump to content

White Sand Volume 2 Listing


Pagerunner

Recommended Posts

Amazon lists White Sand, Vol 2, for sale on July 11, 2017.

I'm not actually sure if I'm going to purchase this one. I did not enjoy the experience of the first graphic novel, and there were several large errors (sand behavior, speech bubbles) that made it difficult to participate in the community having only read the first graphic novel. So, I requested the prose form, and enjoyed it much more. The most effective way for consumers to speak is through their wallets, so I'm considering not purchasing further cosmere graphic novels (not a boycott, mind you, which wouldn't be about the product itself) to communicate that I would rather not see this style of adaptations (where the graphic novel is the canon experience) in the cosmere going forward. We'll see if my convictions hold come July, but I think that since I've got the manuscript, I'll be able to resist giving in.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree. The prose was better than the art, even though it was still rough. Having said that, I don't think I could have made a better comic form, it was just hard to get the characters and art together for all the information. It took me about 4 rereads, whereas the prose came fairly smoothly. 

I could pass on the graphics and stick to the prose, but the fan in me kind of wants Sanderson to succeed in all genres. That is probably an unrealistic desire. Maybe the novels and movies will be enough. This will only hold true if we get the prose of the rest of the Taldain story.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I bought the Volume 1 on amazon, but now I got the prose and now I know the Polish publisher is translating it, so...

I think I'll be getting Polish graphic novel only if my mom would want to read it (she can't read in English).

Edited by Oversleep
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm not a big graphic novel person, generally speaking, but I really like the idea of the cosmere having canonized materials beyond novels. I've got the prose, but I've only read a few pieces here and there out of curiosity. (largely for clarifications when making Coppermind edits)

I'll definitely be getting Vol. 2. I've got my fingers crossed that we'll see some improvement... I had a lot of criticism for volume 1. But it wasn't enough to overcome my hunger for more cosmere. I'll be getting it even if it's no good... But I CAN say that I certainly won't recommend these graphic novels to others unless we see notable improvements.

Also worth mentioning that my criticism is not with the nature of this material (i.e. being a graphic novel), but with the quality and how well it was executed. I DO believe they can be done well in this form. They just weren't on the first volume.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I thought the first one was pretty good( I'm very used to graphic novels) except I struggled to tell the difference between the characters. That's not terribly unusual for the first book in a graphic novel series, so I'm looking forward to the next one.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, LeftVash said:

I thought the first one was pretty good( I'm very used to graphic novels) except I struggled to tell the difference between the characters. That's not terribly unusual for the first book in a graphic novel series, so I'm looking forward to the next one.  

I've heard something similar from multiple sources. It sounds like knowing how to read a graphic novel takes practice. Like there's a hidden language involved that you have to learn. Stylistic subtleties that you miss without experience. And I think a lot of people reading White Sand aren't coming in with that experience, which is where a notable amount of frustration comes from.

I've noticed that it gets better with successive reads.

The biggest issue definitely seems to be the more obvious errors. Inconsistency with art, indistinguishable characters, misattributed speech bubbles, etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, jofwu said:

I've heard something similar from multiple sources. It sounds like knowing how to read a graphic novel takes practice. Like there's a hidden language involved that you have to learn. Stylistic subtleties that you miss without experience. And I think a lot of people reading White Sand aren't coming in with that experience, which is where a notable amount of frustration comes from.

I've noticed that it gets better with successive reads.

The biggest issue definitely seems to be the more obvious errors. Inconsistency with art, indistinguishable characters, misattributed speech bubbles, etc.

I think there really is some level of learning curve for graphic novels. I remember that when I started reading manga I had a very difficult time at first understanding how to follow panneling, when to look at pictures and when to look at the speech bubbles, and of course, since I started with manga how to read it from right to left. 

I think it's mostly a matter of practice and not so much of consciously figuring everything out, the more you do it the smoother it gets. 

All that being said, White Sand was not the easiest GN to get into and would be a very bumpy place for newcomers of the medium to start. I think that overhype, the roughness of the book, and the shock of a new medium were probably why the Shard seems to have had such a rough time with White Sand generally. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here Brandon talks about potential sequels to White Sand...:

Quote

Q: The original White Sand was the first of a trilogy so i was wondering what is your plan for the other two books? Writing them as books, graphic novels, or are you just to busy to actually do anything about it right now?
A: We'll decide when the graphic novel is done and out. Basically, we have to gauge fan response. If sales are good, and fans want more, we'll likely do them as graphic novels.

When I write more in Taldain, I intend to construct a new story, taking place after the events of the trilogy. (Whether or not we actually do graphic novels of the other two originals.)

Mixed feelings - I want them be prose but gotta buy Cosmere, right?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Oversleep said:

Here Brandon talks about potential sequels to White Sand...:

Mixed feelings - I want them be prose but gotta buy Cosmere, right?

Yeah, I definitely want to support Brandon. But I'm not worried about him starving to death because no one is buying graphic novels (how does he put it? his house is paid off, his kids' college is already paid for, and he could retire right now if he wants to), so I don't feel bad in this case about sending a message through my purchasing. (The Mistborn RPG people, however, I'm a little more hesitant to pull the plug on. I'm not thrilled with what they've put out so far or the way they've handled some of their production obstacles, but I've given them one last chance to wow me with House War. If I feel let down by it, I'll stop purchasing their stuff, as well. It's hard to say that nothing is better than something that's low quality, but it's the only small influence I've got over these kinds of decisions.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, Oversleep said:

Here Brandon talks about potential sequels to White Sand...:

Mixed feelings - I want them be prose but gotta buy Cosmere, right?

The way I see it, time spent working on one project is time away from some other project. I expect helping with additional graphic novels will take relatively little of Brandon's time. He already has the backbone of the stories done (theoretically), and there's relatively little writing required. I say stick with the graphic novel medium for White Sand and let Brandon get on to other things sooner.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I didn't mind the GN itself, a threw me once or twice but I hadn't read one for over half a year and the style isn't as clearcut as I'm used to. Defo buying Vol. 2 although $50/$60 for a hardback makes me want to QQ (although, as I'm planning on heading back to the UK for birthday in July it shouldn't be too bad).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It likely would have helped to break up the story and focus on one character at a time. Perhaps tell Kriss' story in Book 1 and go past the Prose version a little bit. Then we could get details from a different point of view in different incarnations. As it was, the g.n. was very discombobulating (and I had read the prose version so I had an advantage going in). 

 

I don't blame the artist or the novel material, i just think they should have been more flexible with the source material timeline and presentation. 

Edited by teknopathetic
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Since Brandon is so responsive to feedback, it's likely that he'll already be taking the objections into account, and be changing the way the next one is produced. I feel like refusing to by it is a bit harsh, and we might not even need to. On the other hand, I kind of like the idea of the Cosmere spanning multiple mediums. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...
55 minutes ago, jofwu said:

It's got a cover now!

91IXsXQSo5L.jpg

https://www.amazon.com/Brandon-Sandersons-White-Sand-2/dp/152410342X/

Also, date was moved back to November 14... Which seems suspicious being the same date as Oathbringer...

Oooh nice!

And the date doesn't strain credulity, they released the 10th anniversary edition of Elantris on the same day as Shadows of Self. I guess it helps boost sales or something.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

38 minutes ago, WeiryWriter said:

Oooh nice!

And the date doesn't strain credulity, they released the 10th anniversary edition of Elantris on the same day as Shadows of Self. I guess it helps boost sales or something.

Yeah. If you're already in the store to get Oathbringer and see that, you're more likely to just grab it cause hey, it's there. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, Rasarr said:

Hm, I quite like the new cover. I'll be buying this one - even if I didn't like the first part (I did, actually, for all its little mistakes), I'm too much of a completionist not to. :lol:

We just need stuff to have Brandon sign it.

This time I'm waiting for the Polish release - if I feel I need to read it, I have the prose...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, strumienpola said:

I would like to "send the message" with my money, but I'm too weak for that. Im a simple woman, I see a thing by Brandon Sanderson, I buy it. 

Yeah, but the message I want the MAG to receive is "anything by Brandon Sanderson you translate will sell, and will sell well". They got the rights to Rithmatist, I want them to do Rithmatist.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...