Yumi and the Nightmare Painter Full Reactions (Cosmere Edition)

[Chaos he/him]

Put your full book reactions to Yumi here. Cosmere spoilers are allowed in this forum!

[Pagerunner he/him]

The vibes I'm getting from Virtuosity are that she was a Sho Del vessel who willingly splintered herself to grant her power mechanically to Sho Del settlers on UTol, which is why her splinters (the Komashi spirits) are willing to serve and be transformed into stuff like the hions. (Although, now that I write it out, spren will do that for fabrials just to be in the Physical Realm, and the cities they could observe on UTol were less advanced than on Komashi, so maybe that doesn't hold up. I'm still gonna stick with Virtuosity being Sho Del.)

This will be a fun system chart to see one day.

[Argenti he/him]

Yumi was CRAZY! Who new connection could do that?

[The flying spider he/him]

I loved the book mostly because of the hunting of nightmares aspect which really reminded me of shadows for silence in the forests of hell where silence is hunting for bounties and following the horse's glowing urine and here the painters flloe the  nightmares which  leave bits of black essence in some place. also, the noodle shop reminded me of the way stop that silence runs.also the shroud and the evil sound pretty similar as do the sides and the nightmares basically threndoy vibes.

Just wondering if anybody felt this?

Edited July 3, 2023 by Awakened rock stacker

[LightReader she/her]

The Japanese and Korean Light Novel/Manga/Webtoon vibes were strong with this one. Which worked for me because I often enjoy those mediums, and also made a lot of sense once I read the postscript/afterword. I love the artwork in this one. I'd say I enjoyed the story in Tress slightly more, as it took me a bit longer to get hooked by this one, but not by much. I'll need to re-read them both to be sure. I did not see most of the twists in this one ahead of time, which was cool.

As I was reading it I made the assumption that Hoid's audience this time is probably Rosharan, as most of the cosmere references he makes seem to be related to Roshar, however I will need to read again more carefully to be sure though.  I might've missed something and it's just that Design's references are to Roshar since that's where she's from. I'm curious if anyone noticed a line that specifically marks the audience of this one. He does seem to be telling the story relatively shortly after it happened considering that he assumes Painter and Yumi to still be alive at the time of storytelling. (He notes that they like off-world visitors in the present tense.)

This book may be a clue about where Design was during the events of Tress: maybe she was just doing the same thing, living as an eccentric human in some city there, running a noodle shop or some other thing from her list of human experiences she wants to try. Design is fantastic and fabulous in every way. 

The fact that their spaceship landing on the Sho Del planet and having first contact with aliens will probably be completely overshadowed in their planet's history books by the revelation that the sun exists is kind of hilarious to me. It also made me laugh when I realized Hoid's ridiculous situation here, the protocol he set up, was most likely in response to what Taravangian did to him in the RoW epilogue. 

I think my one plot nitpick is that none of the painters at the end use their bell thingies to get more painters to come help. I suppose they were just overwhelmed and didn't have a moment to spare, but I kept waiting for someone to think of it during that last fight. They were introduced but Yumi failed to take advantage of it because of her lack of training, which made me think that the people who were trained would obviously know that it would be a good idea to get more help in that situation, especially since there were Dreamwatch painters known to be in the city, and the only painter who knew they were probably useless at that point was Painter himself. 

Also, if I am remembering correctly, and while it may be simply that Hoid is choosing to translate it this way, I found it interesting that Yumi uses the same -nimi suffix as a mark of respect (e.g. "Warden-nimi") that Szeth uses when he speaks to Nightblood, which he calls "sword-nimi" a few times.

Overall, a very enjoyable read.

Edited July 3, 2023 by LightReader

[+Oltux72 he/him]

3 hours ago, LightReader said:

I think my one plot nitpick is that none of the painters at the end use their bell thingies to get more painters to come help. I suppose they were just overwhelmed and didn't have a moment to spare, but I kept waiting for someone to think of it during that last fight. They were introduced but Yumi failed to take advantage of it because of her lack of training, which made me think that the people who were trained would obviously know that it would be a good idea to get more help in that situation, especially since there were Dreamwatch painters known to be in the city, and the only painter who knew they were probably useless at that point was Painter himself. 

If the commotion of dozens of painters fighting and shouting and frightened people having walking by running away does not draw reinforcements, nothing will. If you are in that situation you can spare one of your numbers to dash to the next public phone and call HQ.

[Werewolff Studios he/him]

Well, this was probably my most anticipated Secret Project and it certainly lived up to the hype for me. Just a lot to love on all fronts; felt like a very personal book for Brandon to write, and I'm very grateful that he and Emily were open to sharing it with us.

Firstly, some things I wasn't a massive fan of. I typically don't enjoy the premise of a bodyswap story/ situation, as I feel it opens up a lot of grey areas about control, consent and how deeply you can impact another's life without them having a say. Something about having your body being controlled by someone else. That being said, I did appreciate that Brandon made it a point that they saw themselves as themselves, and also made specific mention to the importance of not being coerced into something you do not want to do.

I also felt some of the descriptions Hoid gave about the nature of the world were a little clunky. Felt a bit too much like a wiki entry at times. Maybe having a little more in dialogue with Design, or having Yumi and Nikaro theorise about it? Not sure - probably comes down to preference. 

Honestly, apart from that, I really enjoyed most everything else. The worldbuilding and magic is excellent, as ever; particularly liked how much I understood what was going on regarding the nature of Intent, Connection and Identity. I get the feeling this may be a sticking point for some readers, similar to Tress's broader cosmere connections, but as a long-time fan I loved delving into it. 

The artwork throughout was simply amazing. Loved the painterly style and the Asiatic influence, and overall just how well it matched the vibe of the book! The colours were always very well used, and the depictions of the nightmares especially were terrifying! Aliya Chen absolutely knocked it out of the park.

Nikaro and Yumi are both fantastic, and their interactions felt very natural to me, particularly past the halfway mark (loved the carnival scene). Was really interesting seeing how much overlap they had regarding their struggles, despite them seeming strikingly different at first. The flow of their relationship felt good to me too - I was dreading the typical 'third act breakdown' when Nikaro's past came up, but seeing Yumi make the choice to listen instead, and then dragging him out of the past rather than keeping him there...I don't know. It felt more like what would/ should happen when conflict arises between two people who care for each other.

All my theories went out the window with this one, and it was fantastic. An Awakened AI producing a dead soul cloud as a by-product? Yumi being Groundhog Day'd unknowingly for centuries? One of their friends being a Sleepless?? Peak cosmere stuff - you love to see it.

Really enjoyed Hoid's voice as well. Though I prefer the more up-beat version in Tress, I don't feel it would have matched this story. Plus, I reckon it will work beautifully in Dragonsteel. Design was an absolute joy as well - always good to see spren madness breaking through the social norms, no matter where they find themselves in the cosmere. Honestly, I liked all the supporting characters. Akane and the gang were pretty great, and was cool seeing a more modern friend group then we're used to. Their interactions reminded me of Bridge Four, which is always a good thing.

The Sanderlanche was a blast, as is to be expected. Seeing Nikaro being 100% honest, even acknowledging that he could have internalised the whole experience to Akane, was a really neat scene. Also, seeing Yumi's arc about service coming full circle and making the sacrifice for the people she loved was very satisfying; especially with how she combated the machine and the whole argument on what art and creation is all about. Found it quite poignant. 

And, though I can see why some may not like the way Nikaro saved Yumi, I personally loved that moment. The last thing I wanted from this story was an unhappy ending, and I don't think Brandon would have given that to Emily to begin with. For me, it felt wonderfully sweet - they both crafted masterpieces and gave their all to save each other. The way it tied into the mechanics of how Cognitive Shadows and highly-Invested beings work made it all the sweeter.

Overall, very solid work. Just below Tress and above Frugal Wizard, and definitely in my Cosmere Top 10. Bring on the Sunlit Man!

Edited July 3, 2023 by Werewolff Studios

[Captain Cosmere]

This is my favorite of the secret projects thus far (and I loved Tress). I had no idea what was going on realmatically, and I just went along for the ride. I loved Painter and Yumi. I was horrified at the prospect of Yumi disappearing, so I was elated at Painter bringing her back in the end. 

I was unsurprised when Brandon said FF X was an influence, given the Tidus/Yuna vibes. Just a lovely story with interesting Cosmere connections. Wonderful. 

[The Isochronism he/him]

I think this may be the most enjoyable Brandon book I've ever read. Not the best mind you, but the most enjoyable. For me personally. 

I love this book. Maybe sometime I'll have time to write my full thoughts.

[Uncle Karlos]

On 7/3/2023 at 2:01 AM, LightReader said:

The Japanese and Korean Light Novel/Manga/Webtoon vibes were strong with this one. Which worked for me because I often enjoy those mediums, and also made a lot of sense once I read the postscript/afterword. I love the artwork in this one. I'd say I enjoyed the story in Tress slightly more, as it took me a bit longer to get hooked by this one, but not by much. I'll need to re-read them both to be sure. I did not see most of the twists in this one ahead of time, which was cool.

As I was reading it I made the assumption that Hoid's audience this time is probably Rosharan, as most of the cosmere references he makes seem to be related to Roshar, however I will need to read again more carefully to be sure though.  I might've missed something and it's just that Design's references are to Roshar since that's where she's from. I'm curious if anyone noticed a line that specifically marks the audience of this one. He does seem to be telling the story relatively shortly after it happened considering that he assumes Painter and Yumi to still be alive at the time of storytelling. (He notes that they like off-world visitors in the present tense.)

This book may be a clue about where Design was during the events of Tress: maybe she was just doing the same thing, living as an eccentric human in some city there, running a noodle shop or some other thing from her list of human experiences she wants to try. Design is fantastic and fabulous in every way. 

The fact that their spaceship landing on the Sho Del planet and having first contact with aliens will probably be completely overshadowed in their planet's history books by the revelation that the sun exists is kind of hilarious to me. It also made me laugh when I realized Hoid's ridiculous situation here, the protocol he set up, was most likely in response to what Taravangian did to him in the RoW epilogue. 

I think my one plot nitpick is that none of the painters at the end use their bell thingies to get more painters to come help. I suppose they were just overwhelmed and didn't have a moment to spare, but I kept waiting for someone to think of it during that last fight. They were introduced but Yumi failed to take advantage of it because of her lack of training, which made me think that the people who were trained would obviously know that it would be a good idea to get more help in that situation, especially since there were Dreamwatch painters known to be in the city, and the only painter who knew they were probably useless at that point was Painter himself. 

Also, if I am remembering correctly, and while it may be simply that Hoid is choosing to translate it this way, I found it interesting that Yumi uses the same -nimi suffix as a mark of respect (e.g. "Warden-nimi") that Szeth uses when he speaks to Nightblood, which he calls "sword-nimi" a few times.

Overall, a very enjoyable read.

Regarding Hoid’s audience, the below quote from Chapter 24 references “duloko plants” on the audience world. Have we seen those anywhere? It strikes me as a Rosharan term. The included reference to Scadrial in the quote makes it clear that’s not where Hoid is telling the story. With all the other Rosharan references (like the rice), I think Roshar is the most likely answer.

“Leaves and florets—similar to the white sprigs that dandelions release on Scadrial, or duluko plants release here—swirled in the air.”

 

[Reckoner89]

I really enjoyed this book. I agree with a lot of the comments above, so I won't repeat them. A couple of things I'd like to mention are:

1) This is a love story - we've not really seen Brandon do that before (the only non-Cosmere book of his I've read is SP2 so sorry if there is another one out there). I thought he really pulled it off. Whilst it did conform to a lot of the tropes of a standard love story (they initially hate each other, increasing understanding and affection, the reveal of a massive character flaw/betrayal, and eventual reconciliation), I thought Brandon managed to do that without it seemed hackneyed. I also loved that he leaned into the aesthetic of the setting to tell the story; there were a couple of moments (the bit when they are flying in the tree stands out) which were genuinely beautiful. 

2) A non-Cosmere Cosmere book - I really liked that this story felt quite low-stakes in the grand scheme of things. It had Warbreaker vibes in that sense. Obviously the stakes were huge for the characters, but the relative absence of active Shards or Worldhoppers (that can move), meant we could concentrate much more on our two protagonists and their story without much distraction. Again, really underlining this as a straightforward love story. 

3) Brandon's been thinking about AI - I loved the lack of a villain in this book, just a rampaging, self-perpetuation machine. The fact that there isn't anything particularly malevolent about anyone/thing's Intent worked really well. I do find it funny that Brandon must have written this between 2020 - 2021 given how topical some of the themes feel and how AI has been in the news in the past few months. It feels like a really fresh book in that sense. Brandon seems to have anticipated a lot of the debates about AI generated art, the dangers of uncontrolled AI etc that we are having as a society after the advent of ChatGPT and other tools. He has also clearly spent a lot of time thinking about the Paperclip Maximiser Theory!

I am still unsure which book I preferred between this and Tress. I think Tress was a more exciting book and the story felt a bit more pacey - there were more "oooooooh!" moments in Tress compared to Yumi. But I think Yumi is a more beautiful book. It was more likely to trigger a contented sigh in me compared to Tress. 

[J. Grimm he/him]

So far looks like I’m in a minority but I liked this book more than Tress overall. Yes the defeat of the machine was a bit abrupt, but the twists throughout the story were well-executed and fit the overall narrative. I thought that the body/soul swapping was actually done very well, and the bathing scenes were fine. Not my favorite parts of the book but I think they helped “normalize” how Yumi and Painter were getting around each other. 
 

For Cosmere stuff, I thought that there were a lot of cool tidbits dropped throughout. I guess at the end that Yumi and Painter merged souls in such a way that he gained some of her investiture? Otherwise I don’t see how they could be alive by the time Hoid is telling this story, which has to be after the events of RoW since Hoid references his memories being stolen. Or is Yumi a cognitive shadow of some sort since she was pulled back from the Spiritual (?) realm into the physical. 
 

I’ll have to go through my notes later on, but there were some other interesting Realm-related stuff going on in this one as well. 
 

But I liked the art, cultures, and overall story of this one better than Tress. They’re close though, and both are definitely ahead of Frugal Wizard (although I didn’t think that one was bad, just very different from Brandon’s usual work).

[Spearguy]

I had many theories that I came up with throughout the course of the story, all of which were wrong.

• Yumi and Painter made up the shard of virtuosity, this being foreshadowed by that hion lines being most likely part of her investiture and needing both parts to function. As well as the fact that Painter symbolizes the creative aspect of the shard and Yumi symbolizes the skill aspect of the shard.
• Both would use their form of art to do the others job/magic system.
• Yumi's world is the physical realm and the city that painter lives in is in shadesmar

[Treamayne]

On 7/3/2023 at 2:01 AM, LightReader said:

As I was reading it I made the assumption that Hoid's audience this time is probably Rosharan, as most of the cosmere references he makes seem to be related to Roshar, however I will need to read again more carefully to be sure though. 

15 hours ago, Uncle Karlos said:

Regarding Hoid’s audience, the below quote from Chapter 24 references “duloko plants” on the audience world.

I thought the audience was fairly clearly establised in Ch 1:

Spoiler

You’d probably say Painter looked Veden. Similar features, same black hair, but of paler skin than many you’d find on Roshar. He would have been confused to hear that comparison, as he had never heard of such lands as those.

As for my reactions.

1. First and foremost to me, the artwork was excellent. Really top-notch and also expressing multiple styles in the genre (watercolor, high-detail manga, calligraphic style (like the endpages), etc.). Top notch all around.
2. Not my favorite story. I liked it better than Frugal Wizard but the narrative tone was not my favorite (too many asides and fourth-wall-breaks for my personal taste). Having also lived in both Korea and Japan (and also studied Korean), I appreciated the influences, and the way Sanderson merged aspects of both to make a cohesive setting that didn't just feel like separate parts thrown together.
3. I liked most of the wider Cosmere references, but do think that some are dominant enough that it may affect where I would recommend this piece in a reading order.
   • E. g. a new reader that reads this before any Stormlight Archive would basically have the epilogue of Oathbringer spoiled as you would already know that Wit bonds a Cryptic as soon as you hear the "name" for Pattern in WoR.
   • How much that spoils likely depends on the reader. For me, it was a huge validation that (until that scene) my guesses about Elhokar had been on-point.
4. Painter (Nikaro): I mostly liked his character. I felt that, if the work had been slightly longer, we might have gotten some better characterization/arc*; but overall I liked the character and thought the rest of his story was depicted well - especially his flaws and backstory
   • *E.g. the Carnival scene did not seem to match or evolve from the story to that point - I felt somebody described as shy and aloof as Nikaro was early on (even if he was ying to himself while trying to hide from his past), who also did not get exposed to crowds or clamor through the story to that point should have had many more misgivings about being in such a raucious crowd as the carnival was - not just immediately leap into tourist-guide-mode with no thought to the environment
5. Yumi: I really did not like Yumi at first, the TsunDere was just thick - and while I recognize that it was an invoked trope as a nod to the inspirational material; it really seemed both too thick and too inconsistant (if that makes sense to anybody other than me). Unlike most "reactions" so far, my opinion didn't change much in the second act (Parts 2 and 3). In Part 4 I disliked her a bit less, and I appreciated her arc resolution and sacrifice at the end - but I wouldn't say I liked her as a character. I also felt that Nikaro bringing her back was both obvious - and a mild downer for the ending of her arc. To me, at least, it detracts from her sacrifice.
6. I also thought that Hoids Ch 39/40 InfoDump was a bit clumsy. Some of his points are made in-story right after he infodumps (see below), and much of the rest could have been in-story - or moved to the After-Epilogue so as to not break the flow of the climax.

Spoiler

Seventeen hundred years before our story started, a machine was activated at the great Torish festival of the spirits. Not the tiny machine you’ve seen; that was a prototype. The real machine was something far greater. Scholars had crafted it to stack stones, attract spirits, and then use them as a power source.

They’d miscalculated, however, because the machine saw all souls—not just the spirits that lived beneath the ground—as a viable power source. 

<Snip>

 A shining, beautiful city full of buildings like towers, with fountains, trees, red roofs, and sculptures of dragons. Empty of people.

“It uses our souls as energy,” she said.

“Originally it did,” the scholar said. “Now it uses the spirits, which are trapped eternally to fuel the machine. Oh…what have we done?”

“Our people became but memories,” another of the scholars whispered, eyes down. “Their souls as smoke.”

Overall. Not bad but not a Cosmere Favorite. Maybe after some distance and a reread, some of my thoughts and opinons will change?

Edited July 6, 2023 by Treamayne
SPAG

[NameIess]

23 hours ago, J. Grimm said:

For Cosmere stuff, I thought that there were a lot of cool tidbits dropped throughout. I guess at the end that Yumi and Painter merged souls in such a way that he gained some of her investiture? Otherwise I don’t see how they could be alive by the time Hoid is telling this story, which has to be after the events of RoW since Hoid references his memories being stolen. Or is Yumi a cognitive shadow of some sort since she was pulled back from the Spiritual (?) realm into the physical.  

The story itself takes place post RoW, Design is in it.

[Coriniroc]

A very enjoyable story overall that I'd put on somewhat equal footing to Tress and the Emerald Sea. It took a few chapters to get into it, as the dichotomy between the two "worlds" was a bit daunting at first, but it didn't take too long to be sucked in. Thoughts feelings and likes overall include:

1. I think this is Brandon's most successful developed and written relationship that I have experienced in his novels. As he mentions in the postscript, he doesn't do romance much and I'd argue it's not exactly his strength. However, the connection between Yumi & Painter is really well done. I felt really invested in their journey together as a couple. The relationship felt very tender, real, and intimate, showing the softer side of Brandon in a nice way. The fact that this is a gift to his wife showed through very clearly. It's just very sweet!
2.  The worldbuilding of the two environments was very rich, starkly in contrast and well developed. I thoroughly enjoyed Kilahito, probably the most directly correlative world to our own that we've seen thus far. I think that's why the twist hit so hard in that I truly believed Yumi's environment was in fact real. That threw me for a loop!
3. The artwork was beautiful and complimented the cultural analogs and source work. I will say I wish there was MORE NEON! Like I said, I loved Kilahito, but the depictions of it could have been more pronounced maybe? 
4. Design was very enjoyable and I was happy to see what could be possible for spren in the future. 
5. Cosmere, Cosmere and more Cosmere. Lots of nice tidbits!

Dislikes:

1. I like Cosmere references but the realmatics of all these books are starting to grate on me. It's just very hard to follow sometimes and I have to reread explanations several times. Sometimes even then I don't get it. 
2. Goofy characters. This will be my complaint with every book, and it won't go away. But goofy/childish/silly characters just irk me to no end. Lift, Wayne, Lopen, Frugal Wizard guy and especially Hoid are not enjoyable for me. But, Hoid is a very important and special person, so I shall trudge on and not let it bother me too much. 

That's it for the most part. An enjoyable book!

Edited July 6, 2023 by Coriniroc

[Koloss17 She/They]

This book was an insane rollercoaster of thoughts. It started out with two people from different walks of life coming together, and learning to help each other with their problems. 
 

It then evolved into a Awakened machine-induced simulation that had kept the ancient souls of a civilization long gone in a constant loop for nearly 2000 years. It turned into something that I never could have guessed, and I loved it.

We got Design in a shmexy body acting as a guide, which was pretty darn awesome. I appreciated Hoid’s narration, but I liked it slightly more in Tress. Still, nice to see him as a coatrack.

Overall, I loved this narrative, and it was very different from what I’m used to reading when I sit down to read a Sanderson book. There’s really only two focus characters, and only a few others that we really get to know much about. It feels much tinier than many of his works, yet with the big reveal, so much larger too. I liked all phases of the book, and it all came together very nicely.

We also got a bunch of small Cosmere tidbits, which was honestly a lot more than Tress, but somehow felt less significant. We learned there was a planet of Sho-Del, we learned of another Shard, and that awakening is very much possible through other magic systems (or at least, that was my read), but it all felt kind of small, which I honestly liked. It felt like a side story of the Cosmere, and something that, while not integral to understanding it, made it feel more real.

Some of my favorite moments from the book:

-The fact that Design opened up a noodle shop

-Rock stacking is pretty cool, actually

-Nightmares are friends, not food

-Yumi didn’t actually die

-Hoid’s a coat rack

-Instant noodles!! But they were eaten very incorrectly.

-Flying trees

 

A great book by a great author. It left me thinking, and made me feel happy with how long it was. I don’t really need more, and what I got was a treat. I can’t wait for SP4!

[StormingTexan he/him]

I was pretty hyped for this one after the preview chapters. It took a lot longer for me to really get in to this one compared to most of Brandon’s books. Just felt like after the first few chapters it was really slow. I think it wasn’t until chapter 29 that I was really invested. That being said the rest of the book was great.
 

The worlds were really interesting to me loved the Asian influence. A few fun little Cosmere tidbits but never felt like they overtook the main story as some of the more recent books have. I loved Design and her noodle shop. Hoid’s narration was better in this one than Tress more low key. I liked Yumi and Painter and felt like the love story was well done. Great twist in this books that all caught me off guard. For sure Brandon had AI on his mind I liked the analogies and recognition of the importance of human creativity. 

I was happy when he mentioned FFX in the postscript as that was the exact vibe I was getting and one of my favorite games as well. I didn’t get the rest of the influences as I’m not really in to the other stuff. 
 

I think I still like Tress a little more mainly because I think the pacing was better and I liked a lot of the non-main characters but this was a fun read and better than Frugal Wizard for me. 

[Lightspine]

Just wanted to post a detail I've noticed upon rereading some of the earlier chapters after having finished:

Quote

“The shroud was too thick,” Izzy said. “But it’s happening for real this time.”
“I bet,” Masaka said softly, “they are very. Very. Friendly.”
“They?” Yumi asked, glancing around as she slurped up a noodle. “What are we talking about?”
“The aliens?” Akane said. “Who live on the star?”
Yumi immediately started coughing. She drank half a cup of barley tea out of embarrassment, then spoke. “The what?”
“Don’t they have newspapers where you’re from?” Izzy said. “We’ve been planning a launch! Of a ship that can travel the space between worlds. It’s been building forever. But it’s finally time for it to leave.”
“Friendly,” Masaka hissed, leaning forward. “Aliens are all friendly.”

Excerpt From: Brandon Sanderson. “Yumi and the Nightmare Painter.” Chapter 21. 

Masaka being very defensive about aliens being friends! (This is before she's revealed to be an Aimian)

[Solant he/him]

(I posted this to the Facebook Cosmere group earlier, but I wanted to share with you all and see what you think.  I know a couple of these points were made already)

 

I really enjoyed the surface story,  character building,  and Cosmere implications, all which have been discussed at length,  so I won't go into it too much.  One thing I would like to point out is that when the spirits are drawn to people stacking rocks,  it was very reminiscent of creationspren showing up on Roshar like when Shallan is drawing. The act of turning into fabrials in exchange for the art is how I imagine fabrials are created without having to capture the spren. That means that what the scholars are doing with the machine is the same as what the Sibling accused Navani of doing by capturing spren in gems and forcing them to power fabrials. 

What I enjoyed the most, however,  was the themes explored in this book.  The value of art,  to the artist is in having someone to share it with.  To the audience itself,  in the way the art changes you fundamentally.  It feels like an extension of the monologs given by Hoid at the end of each Stormlight novel.  The importance of trying new things, pushing boundaries,  taking risks.  What is beauty/art and how they relate/ differ.  The way that art has no intrinsic value or function without an audience.  Good art from a bad artist is considered great,  while the same art from a master would be considered mediocre or even bad.  

What happens to someone when they lose passion and sense of purpose and identity, and they become disillusioned and just go through the motions of doing the job. He literally just calls himself Painter. 

I also felt like a strong analogy could be made between the father machine and AI art that we are seeing in the real world.  The machine performs the same function as the the yoki hijo (artist) but without inspiration or other value i mentioned above, and is actually harmful to the spirits (audience). It literally sucks the souls from the people around it.

Never meet your heroes.  It's better to hold yourself to higher standards and become the hero you want to see in others.  The flip side of this is knowing how to strike a balance between fulfilling your duty and allowing yourself to be happy.  

 I'm also happy they got the ending they deserved. 

 

Edit: You know those quirky love-em-or-hate-em characters like Wayne,  Lift , Hoid, Lopen? I'd like to formally petition the community to accept the fanon new secret society of these characters called the Wahoopli. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk. 

Edited July 9, 2023 by Solant
TED Talk, ya'll.

[VirtuousTraveller he/him]

How this man continues to churn out such imaginative stories with rich world building and characters is magic in itself.  Brandon, this secret project was outstanding.  Thank you for sharing it with us!

My main reactions are captured in what Coriniroc said above, and are less about Yumi and the Nightmare Painter and more about this phase of Brandon’s work in general:

On 7/6/2023 at 5:50 PM, Coriniroc said:

Dislikes:

1. I like Cosmere references but the realmatics of all these books are starting to grate on me. It's just very hard to follow sometimes and I have to reread explanations several times. Sometimes even then I don't get it. 
2. Goofy characters. This will be my complaint with every book, and it won't go away. But goofy/childish/silly characters just irk me to no end. Lift, Wayne, Lopen, Frugal Wizard guy and especially Hoid are not enjoyable for me. But, Hoid is a very important and special person, so I shall trudge on and not let it bother me too much. 

I 100% agree!  That said, I felt the cosmere references were SIGNIFICANTLY better incorporated than they were in The Lost Metal.  Seeing how these references were used in Tress and now Yumi, I feel very confident that Brandon has the ability to pepper with finesse - The Lost Metal was rushed and didn’t live up to the years of waiting, to me specifically because of the cosmere reference dumping that made it almost unreadable in places.

I haven’t liked Design from the beginning, and while I admit that she was less obnoxious than she in previous entries, I still just can’t stand the unsubtle “I’m outrageous and annoying but it’s silly so LAUGH HA HA!” trope that became more prominent in Wayne, is becoming so in Lift, and was a primary color throughout Frugal Wizard.  Hoid likewise has moments where it’s just too much, not because Hoid isn’t a “too much” character (I think we all know he’s absolutely meant to be “that guy”), but when Brandon seems to be trying too hard to make him sound too much.  The little asides (not every one) sound like a fan fiction version of who Hoid has been up to this point.  At least no one yelled “hot damn!” in this story!

Those points out of the way, there’s really nothing to dislike in Yumi - the tragedy was strong, and the hidden backstory as to why Painter didn’t have any friends was well executed.  It felt overly emo at points, but that’s the genre this felt like intentionally, and it came through organically.  This is a book I’ll reread again in the future for sure!

[+Child of Hodor]

On 7/6/2023 at 4:50 PM, Coriniroc said:

 

Dislikes:

1. I like Cosmere references but the realmatics of all these books are starting to grate on me. It's just very hard to follow sometimes and I have to reread explanations several times. Sometimes even then I don't get it. 
2. Goofy characters. This will be my complaint with every book, and it won't go away. But goofy/childish/silly characters just irk me to no end. Lift, Wayne, Lopen, Frugal Wizard guy and especially Hoid are not enjoyable for me. But, Hoid is a very important and special person, so I shall trudge on and not let it bother me too much. 

That's it for the most part. An enjoyable book!

Hoid being the narrator again bugged me. A little if him goes a long way. The Lopen and others I don’t mind when they aren’t a main character or the narrator of the whole thing. 
I was so tired of Wayne as that series went on because of overexposure and Brandon is just not that funny to me. 

[CoatRackHoid]

On 7/3/2023 at 0:01 AM, LightReader said:

As I was reading it I made the assumption that Hoid's audience this time is probably Rosharan, as most of the cosmere references he makes seem to be related to Roshar, however I will need to read again more carefully to be sure though.  I might've missed something and it's just that Design's references are to Roshar since that's where she's from. I'm curious if anyone noticed a line that specifically marks the audience of this one. He does seem to be telling the story relatively shortly after it happened considering that he assumes Painter and Yumi to still be alive at the time of storytelling. (He notes that they like off-world visitors in the present tense.)

I just completed my read of Yumi and when I say your post I knew that there was a line that said Something along the lines of “you on roshar” and here it is

[TheWisestBear]

I loved this book.  There were so many things I loved about it: the beautiful art, the mystery of the plot, the floating trees and flowers, the ending, and I loved that Asian-like culture was getting some representation in a book for western audiences.  I also loved that there was a stuffie.  We also need more stuffie representation in fantasy, in my opinion.

There were some cringy moments however, moments I didn't expect from Sanderson, and that were so unnecessary to the plot or character development.  But that's a pretty minor point.

I also loved that the day after I started reading Yumi, I came across a real life set of dozens of rock stacks.  It as a nice visual for my reading.

 

On 2023-06-30 at 5:17 PM, Chaos said:

Put your full book reactions to Yumi here. Cosmere spoilers are allowed in this forum!

 

[Edema Rue she/her]

Spoiler

That’s it. That’s my entire reaction.

 it was awesome.