White Sand, Volume 1 (White Sand, #1)

author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Wayne
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2016/07/16
date added: 2016/07/16
shelves: graphic-novels
review:
'Brandon Sanderson's White Sand, Volume 1' is an adaptation of an earlier Brandon Sanderson work that had remained unpublished. This is explained in the foreward by Brandon Sanderson. The comic book adaptation is by Rik Hoskins with art by Julius M. Gopez.

The planet Taldain has a dark side and a light side. On the light side are deserts and living in them are the Sand Masters, people capable of magically controlling the sand in ribbons. Kenton wants to be a Sand Master, but his ability is different and his father stands in his way. When a tragedy strikes Kenton's tribe, he finds himself in the company of Khriss, who lives on the dark side. His ways are tribal and nomadic, hers are more sophisticated. There are other characters introduced, but there stories look like they will be continued in the next volume.

Along with the story, there are character design pages and panel breakdowns. The problem with adapting a novel is that it can feel overly descriptive, and that's how the story starts out. The review copy I was provided gave scaled down quality for the art, but it looks to be fine in some "real" pictures I've seen. The problem I have is that the panels on every page are created in oblique shards. This is fine for a bit but it started being something I noticed and I wish they had done more interesting things with the panels than just geometric shapes. The story kind of bogs as more characters are introduced and they feel like they just suddenly appear with no introduction or reason given for them to be in the story. These stories begin to be known as the volume ends, so perhaps the next one will settle in. I like Brandon Sanderson's writing and the trademarks are here. I'm just not sure a graphic novel was the best way to present this one.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Diamond Book Distributors, Dynamite Entertainment, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.


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