White Sand Vol. 3 Reactions

[Jofwu]

White Sand Vol. 3 is out today... sort of. The ebook appears to be available and some have reported finding the hardback in bookstores. (Though the official hardback release date appears to be October 1st.)

But hey, it's essentially out. What did you think?

[Karger]

1 hour ago, Jofwu said:

But hey, it's essentially out. What did you think?

It was kind of bland.  It left me with more Cosmere questions then answers.  I did not find the story particularly engaging. 

[Pagerunner]

I'll focus on the differences from the prose version, and what we may be able to learn from them.

The most notable change from the prose was Drile's survival, of course. This was something Rand did in Wheel of Time, didn't he? Convert his greatest adversaries by promoting them to positions of power? I don't remember if it was Tear or Cairhien (or both). That bumps Dirin off the hierarchy, opening him up to go to Darkside instead of Kenton. This indicates a change in what Brandon had planned originally for the next entry in the White Sand trilogy; with Kenton staying on Dayside and picking up a powerful Number Two, there must be something interesting happening.

Which is odd, because, on the other hand, the revolt in the Kerzstian capital was cut. We get a line from the Lady Judge that hints at a loss of support, but nothing like what we actually saw in the prose.

The scenes on the boat are new, as well. Baon potential to become a Sand Master is interesting. I don't think his appearance in Way of Kings had any hint of this. The big "FA-TOOOM" seems a little excessive, almost reminiscent of Raoden's first Aon (from Elantris) or the first usage of Stormform (in Words of Radiance). As I understand it, the Investiture used for Sand mastery should come from the sand, so there wouldn't be anything to get "pent-up" with a lack of use. Right? But on the other hand, the sand never runs out of Investiture, the Sand Mastery runs out of water, so that could indicate the Investiture is coming from somewhere else, the sand just needs an initial influx to turn white. And if Baon is drawing from a different source of Investiture than the Sand Masters do, then that could be why he had such a violent first application.

Kenton's inner monologue during the duel about feeling the sand is also new. I haven't had a chance to look through the prose to see if the similar earlier, post-overmastery inner monologue was already included. It seems to hint that more is possible with sand than just Sand Mastery, that you can communicate with the sand and have it accomplish other effects. This may be the true mechanism for slatrification (which received no mention in this volume, unless I just missed it), how you get the sand to transform into water. You just gotta know how to ask it nicely.

The ominous cloud faces make their return. That panel with the Lady Judge, with the distinctly female face, seems intentionally obvious, cluing in anyone who has missed them so far. (Which, to be fair, includes me. I wasn't keeping an eye out for them for most of the book. I saw the other face in the final panel.) It brings Bavadin to mind, since Brandon has referred to her as female, despite the Sand Lord being referred to as consistently male. On the other hand, there could be an intelligence similar to the sand; I wonder if that's a hint that Cloud Mastery is a thing, that there are microscopic lifeforms in the clouds, as well.

Also, Hoid is absolutely making fun of us. Total fourth wall break there: the farther the 'creation' (graphic novel) gets from the 'creator' Brandon, the 'more [we] must guess at the truth that is there." Rude. What's he going to Darkside for, anyways?

And lastly, much of Gevin's harsh treatment of Khriss got cut. Which didn't fit all that great in the first place, to be fair. But the scenes it colored afterwards, like why she said he was 'holding her back' or why she was so quick to give up on him, didn't change that much, and now don't make a ton of sense. But that might just be from the context of the prose; I wonder if someone going in blind would have the same reaction.

[Wander89]

Hoping to read it after work but can confirm that I collected it from my local Waterstones in the UK today, 18.09.2019.

[+Harrycrapper]

8 minutes ago, Pagerunner said:

I'll focus on the differences from the prose version, and what we may be able to learn from them.

The most notable change from the prose was Drile's survival, of course. This was something Rand did in Wheel of Time, didn't he? Convert his greatest adversaries by promoting them to positions of power? I don't remember if it was Tear or Cairhien (or both). That bumps Dirin off the hierarchy, opening him up to go to Darkside instead of Kenton. This indicates a change in what Brandon had planned originally for the next entry in the White Sand trilogy; with Kenton staying on Dayside and picking up a powerful Number Two, there must be something interesting happening.

Which is odd, because, on the other hand, the revolt in the Kerzstian capital was cut. We get a line from the Lady Judge that hints at a loss of support, but nothing like what we actually saw in the prose.

The scenes on the boat are new, as well. Baon potential to become a Sand Master is interesting. I don't think his appearance in Way of Kings had any hint of this. The big "FA-TOOOM" seems a little excessive, almost reminiscent of Raoden's first Aon (from Elantris) or the first usage of Stormform (in Words of Radiance). As I understand it, the Investiture used for Sand mastery should come from the sand, so there wouldn't be anything to get "pent-up" with a lack of use. Right? But on the other hand, the sand never runs out of Investiture, the Sand Mastery runs out of water, so that could indicate the Investiture is coming from somewhere else, the sand just needs an initial influx to turn white. And if Baon is drawing from a different source of Investiture than the Sand Masters do, then that could be why he had such a violent first application.

Kenton's inner monologue during the duel about feeling the sand is also new. I haven't had a chance to look through the prose to see if the similar earlier, post-overmastery inner monologue was already included. It seems to hint that more is possible with sand than just Sand Mastery, that you can communicate with the sand and have it accomplish other effects. This may be the true mechanism for slatrification (which received no mention in this volume, unless I just missed it), how you get the sand to transform into water. You just gotta know how to ask it nicely.

The ominous cloud faces make their return. That panel with the Lady Judge, with the distinctly female face, seems intentionally obvious, cluing in anyone who has missed them so far. (Which, to be fair, includes me. I wasn't keeping an eye out for them for most of the book. I saw the other face in the final panel.) It brings Bavadin to mind, since Brandon has referred to her as female, despite the Sand Lord being referred to as consistently male. On the other hand, there could be an intelligence similar to the sand; I wonder if that's a hint that Cloud Mastery is a thing, that there are microscopic lifeforms in the clouds, as well.

Also, Hoid is absolutely making fun of us. Total fourth wall break there: the farther the 'creation' (graphic novel) gets from the 'creator' Brandon, the 'more [we] must guess at the truth that is there." Rude. What's he going to Darkside for, anyways?

And lastly, much of Gevin's harsh treatment of Khriss got cut. Which didn't fit all that great in the first place, to be fair. But the scenes it colored afterwards, like why she said he was 'holding her back' or why she was so quick to give up on him, didn't change that much, and now don't make a ton of sense. But that might just be from the context of the prose; I wonder if someone going in blind would have the same reaction.

I was planning on making a post that echoed most of what you said here. The Baon part definitely surprised me along with Drile's survival, so unlike Karger I feel this last one was at least somewhat worth it. I do feel like Autonomy or an avatar is steering events here, but to what end I don't really have a good guess. I had figured that they had established that Sand Mastery is genetically inherited and that the original Sand Masters had somehow found Autonomy's equivalent of Lerasium, but Baon being capable of Sand Mastery firmly quashed that theory, though there's definitely more to explore there. I do have another theory tangential to that and I was waiting for volume 3 to come out, hopefully I'll be able to put that together soon. 

[Snorkel]

I like the new artist better than either of the two previous ones.

I wish they could get the new guy to re-draw chapter 6 of Book 2.

[Karger]

1 hour ago, Snorkel said:

I like the new artist better than either of the two previous ones.

This would be nice.

[Ethan_sedai]

Definitely Hoid on the boat. A person playing a musical instrument and talking about art in an epilogue in one of Brandon's books? It can only be Hoid. 

The Sand Lord appeared to Elorin? That's weird. What's that on the Sand Lord's forehead?

Wait, I just noticed that there are faces in the clouds everywhere. Faces, plural. The face that appears in the same panel that just says "The Diem."at the beginning of the duel definitely seems to be male and distinct from the face on the page at the end of the duel. Other faces also appear to be male, and distinct. How did I not notice these!? I need to pay more attention to background detail.

Has anyone checked to see if any of the faces match Trell's face from book 2?

Are the faces in the prose version, too?

Edited October 3, 2019 by Ethan_Sedai

[Ampere]

I'm confused about why the Sand Lord wanted the sand masters gone? I mean how much do they really effect him. 

[Karger]

9 hours ago, Ampere said:

I'm confused about why the Sand Lord wanted the sand masters gone? I mean how much do they really effect him. 

From what we know he is an aspect of Autonomy.  Maybe he does not like other people using his investiture?

[+Kelkamer]

Just finished Vol 3. I enjoyed it and the art. The series isn't Brandon's best work, but I like it. I really like the magic system,  intrigued by Baon being a sand master! I think Kenton is a great character (even if it's a shame he cant get fleshed out as well as other characters). 

I'm looking forward to more.  

(Plus playing Where's Waldo: Hoid Edition is fun)

Edit: wish we could've seen something with Trell. That was a super tease in Vol 2 but,  there's always another secret. 

Edited October 4, 2019 by Kelkamer

[Pathfinder]

So I did like all the changes done in White Sand 3. The art is better, the writing, and the explanations. So I am glad as Sanderson said, that they learned a lot from the experiment, and are hopefully going forward with these lessons to release better quality graphic novels for the rest of the White Sand Series. Now having said that, this whole experience has caused me to dread the movies. When the first White Sand was being worked on, Sanderson said how they found writers and artists that he feels really appreciates the source material. He said how he is not a comic book writer/artist, so trusts them to work their craft. Only after it came out, and everyone had a problem with it, did they try to change things up and fix it a bit for Volume 2, and then finally Volume 3. Now a foray into a new medium for your brand is going to have pit falls. I didn't expect a perfect product, but Sanderson made it very clear he stood behind and was happy with Volume 1 before it came out and got the reaction it did. He has been saying the exact same things about the companies that have options his various properties for movies and television. I am now not as trusting of the statements Sanderson says regarding the adaptations of his properties. I do not know if it is the best course of action for him to give up so much creative control, and just trust the individuals working on it are going to understand the work they are working on. I understand his work is unique and problematic to put on the big screen, so he has to kind of take whatever offer he can get, but maybe he should be more discerning and hesitant to agree. So I guess just have to wait and see. 

Edited October 9, 2019 by Pathfinder

[Snorkel]

I thought they changed artist in book 2 because the original had some unspecified problem* and had to leave the project?

 

*not assigning blame here, could have been health, or any number of extremely valid reasons

[Mr. Misting]

I thought it was a fine read. I'm not big on graphic novels and I feel like this story, with all the politics and depth, could have been a lot better in novel form. I understand that Brandon is crazy busy with all his books but still. 

As for this book I liked it. I feel like the second half of the story was just plot twist into a character climax and then a resolution. Rinse and repeat until all loose ends are covered. After the fourth time it happened I was over it. I really liked the magic system but I wish I could have learned more about it then I was seeing in the pictures.

[Slypork]

I thought it was a good way to end one of Sanderson's first pieces. In my opinion, we have grown too accustomed to how Brandon writes now with all of his deeper series like Mistborn part 2, or stormlight archives with their super fleshed out worlds and Cosmere references after Brandon had decades of writing experience. This story was originally written by Brandon before he even wrote Elantris, and he only updated as a side project -- IN A NEW MEDIUM. The expectations are high because it's Brandon, but this piece was super nostalgic of the YA authors I loved growing up: the Percy Jackson series (Rick Riordan) and the Mortal Instrument series (Cassandra Claire). Predictable plot, easy to follow character development, but still such an enrapturing story that I felt the need to binge all the way through--because it was so easy to read. White Sands definitely has room for improvement, but I would be very sad if it stops here. I loved it for its shortcomings and its successes. Both the comic book format and the excerpt in Arcanum Unbound made me . Either way that Brandon plans to eventually finish the story, I will be anxiously awaiting!