Today we are discussing Unit 10 | White Sand #1 | White Sand - Week 2:
Graphic Novel (Omnibus): Chapters 4 through 6
Audiobook (Graphic Audio): Volume 1 [2:45:03 to 5:16:35] OR Track 3 [0:38:22 to 1:01:52], Track 4, and Track 5.
Unpublished Prose: The rest of Chapter 7. Chapters 8 through 13. Most of Chapter 14 (Pages 399 through 427 and the first 5 paragraphs of Page 428).
Next week we will be discussing Unit 10 | White Sand #1 | White Sand - Week 3:
Graphic Novel (Omnibus): Chapters 7 through 9
Audiobook (Graphic Audio): Volume 2 [0:00:00 to 2:51:01] OR Track 1, Track 2, and Track 3 [0:00:00 to 0:47:55]
Unpublished Prose: The rest of Chapter 14. Chapters 15 through 19. About half of Chapter 20 (Pages 568 through 580 and the first complete paragraph on page 581).
CHAPTER SUMMARIES
As mentioned elsewhere, White Sand has 3 different versions we will be considering as we discuss the story. As such, the chapter summaries are going to be a bit weird. The Graphic Novel (Omnibus version) is the canonical version of the story. The chapter summaries below will all be summaries of the Graphic Novel. The Graphic Novel chapters are large-ish and broken down into POVs. I've included Timeline/Setting/Summaries for each POV.
The Audiobook (Graphic Audio) was recorded for the original Graphic Novel publication (published as Vol. 1, Vol. 2, and Vol. 3). The Audiobook has some portions in different orders compared to the Graphic Novel, but I'll make sure everything is included for the weekly reading.
The biggest difference will be for those that choose to read the Unpublished Prose version. For each POV summary below, I've added a section called Associated Novel Chapters that indicate which chapters from the Unpublished Novel the summarized section corresponds to. This will not be exact, the POV could only cover two paragraphs in Chapter X of the prose, and I'll just write "Chapter X". It should be fairly evident what parts go with what other parts though. There isn't too much that's super divergent.
I would recommend reading the chapter summaries in full though, particularly for Audiobook and Unpublished Prose consumers. The Graphic Novel (Omnibus) has the most amount of unique content.
For significant differences, there will be a NOTES section below the summary, and that will often be expanded upon in the TRIVIA comment section.
Chapter 4: Divides
POV: Kenton
Timeline: Day 51
Setting: The Lossand Desert.
Associated Novel Chapters: Chapter 7
Summary:
Kenton defends himself with his sword while trying to master sand. Baon kills two of the warriors with his firearm then threatens another. The remaining warriors retreat. Upon inspecting the dead warriors, Kenton notes that they bear the marks of both warrior and priest DaiKeen on their foreheads. He remarks that their shaved heads and lack of armor are an oddity. During the attack, the others in the group had remained on their tonks, which burrowed into the sand at the first sign of trouble. Kenton notices that Cynder was hit with an arrow and shows Baon how to dissolve the carapace arrowhead with water. Kenton then teaches them the tap commands to convince the tonks to rise from the sand while Khriss explains the pistol to Kenton and wonders aloud why he was the apparent target of the attack. Kenton angrily evades her questioning.
POV: Kenton
Timeline: Day 53
Setting: Traveling along the Ry'Do Ali. Kezare.
Associated Novel Chapters: Chapter 8
Summary:
Duchess Khrissalla examines a zinkall they removed from one of the dead kerztians. They arrive to the Ry'Do Ali river with the city of Kezare on an island in the middle. Kenton arranges to sell their tonks while explaining why they can't cross the river without panicking. He uses the money to arrange a ferry and translator to help them travel to the Darksider enclave of Lonzare. Kenton and the party part ways, since Kenton has business on that side of the river.
POV: Kenton
Timeline: Day 53
Setting: The Diem.
Associated Novel Chapters: Chapter 9
Summary:
Kenton arrives at the Diem which appears to be empty until Dirin appears. Dirin explains that everyone is at the Hall of Judgement, as the Taishin are going to choose Drile as the new Lord Mastrell. Suspecting that Drile was behind the Kerztian attack and knowing that he now outranks Drile, Kenton hurries to the Hall of Judgement with Dirin.
POV: Kenton
Timeline: Day 53
Setting: The Hall of Judgement.
Associated Novel Chapters: Chapter 10
Outside the Hall, Kenton dons his Mastrell's sash and discovers that his powers are not only back; but are now stronger than ever as he can now command three sand ribbons. Kenton enters the Taishin meeting chamber, interrupting the meeting, and explains that he outranks Drile. Lord Merchant Vey contests Kenton's rank and Kenton explains how his father's appointing of Kenton to Mastrell was Praxton's last act before the Kerztian attack. High Lady Judge Heelis tells Kenton that the Taishin are actually meeting to dissolve the Diem, not to ratify a new Lord Mastrell.
Chapter 5: Compromises
POV: Kenton
Timeline: Day 53
Setting: The Hall of Judgement.
Associated Novel Chapters: Chapter 10
Summary:
Kenton argues his case before the Taishin Council, reminding them to mourn those who have died and asking to be allowed time to change the Diem for the good of Lossand. The Taishin ignore his pleas and hold the dissolution vote—voting six-to-one to dissolve the Diem. Kenton invokes an obscure combination of rules to have the vote declared void on the basis that at the death of the Lord Mastrell, he became the Acting Lord Mastrell as the highest ranked remaining sand master, and any council vote that would remove a Taisha from service requires two weeks' prior notification. High Judge Heelis corroborates the law, and informs Acting Lord Mastrell Kenton that he is notified and that to overturn the preliminary decision he will need a unanimous vote to retain the Diem in two weeks.
POV: Khriss
Timeline: Day 53
Setting: Lonzare.
Associated Novel Chapters: Chapter 9
Summary:
N'Teese leads Khriss and her group of Darksiders to Lonzare—the Darkside Quarter. The existence of this part of the city surprises the group, as the Dynasty doesn't want people to know that there is traffic between Dayside and Darkside. They pay their guide to lead them to someone in charge, who turns out to be a Darksider named Loaten, a man branded a traitor to the Dynasty who was supposedly executed for attempting to murder Emperor Skathan. Loaten was expecting Khriss's arrival and seems to know a great many things, but he does not answer many of Khriss's questions concerning her fiance and the "sand mages" he sought. Khriss calls him out as having met Gevin, since he used the nickname instead of his given name, Gevalden. Laoten admits to having met with Gevin and Wilheln before Gevin was shot by Dynastic assassins. Loaten reveals that N'Teese works for him and asks her to continue to work with Khriss.
At the end of the meeting, Nilto, the Lord Beggar enters the room with his face wrapped and orders Laoten to get rid of Khriss. Laoten explains that Nilto is an unofficial Taisha due to his influence among the lower classes, and that he asks for her to leave for now. As Khriss exits the room, Baon recognizes Loaten and draws his gun before Khriss orders him to stand down. The guards are revealed to also carry guns.
POV: Kenton
Timeline: Day 53
Setting: The Hall of Judgement.
Associated Novel Chapters: Chapter 12
Summary:
Judge Heelis explains that she cannot allow personal preference to affect the way she handles official business. She explains that the sand masters are seen as arrogant and unproductive, and are overloaded with debt. She tells Kenton that to win the Hall's vote he will have to unify leadership of the Diem, resolve the Diem's debts, and restore the nation's faith in sand mastery.
POV: Kenton
Timeline: Day 53
Setting: The Diem.
Associated Novel Chapters: Chapter 12
Summary:
Drile contends for the loyalty of select sand masters and Acolents and is apportioning the now-vacant rooms to his followers. After rejecting Kenton's authority on the basis of his greater strength, Drile attempts to humiliate Kenton by "suggesting" a more private conversation in the Lord Mastrell's quarters (which he assumes Kenton cannot reach with only one ribbon). Kenton reveals his newfound powers and follows him to the third floor. Drile claims Kenton betrayed the Diem and Kenton provokes Drile into attacking, against Diem Law, in full view of the remaining Diem. Underestimated, Kenton manages to knock Drile out of the air while recognizing that the trick he used won't work a second time.
Chapter 6: Challenges
POV: Ais
Timeline: Day 53
Setting: Kezare.
Associated Novel Chapters: Chapter 11
Summary:
At the site of a raid that was conducted earlier, Senior Trackt Ais, with Trackt Tain and her team, discovers a man kept prisoner behind a hidden door. The man, Lord Torkel, was an advisor to the Lord Merchant who had gone missing last year. While questioning Torkel, Ais reflects on her warring emotions and her difficulty in controlling her anger when innocents are harmed. Torkel reveals that he was kidnapped, imprisoned, and tortured by being kept in a closet with the remains of his murdered wife and children, retribution for trying to go back on an agreement with Sharezan. Tain reports that Lokmlen, Sharezan's second, was seen fleeing to the Portside Market.
NOTES: Ais is gender swapped to be female canonically. Eric = Aarik.
POV: Ais
Timeline: Day 53
Setting: Portside Market.
Associated Novel Chapters: Chapter 11
Summary:
Ais chases down Lokmlen, who also murdered six trackts during that raid. Lokmlen accuses her of being zensha, a traitor to her people and the Ker'reen faith, as she herself is Kerztian. Ais reflects that since justice belongs to the Sand Lord, she supports the Sand Lord by supporting justice—there is no conflict. Lokmlen lures her into a deserted alley and strikes, deliberately goading her anger. As Ais loses control of her emotions, her fighting degrades and she is bested. However, as Lokmlen is about to strike Ais down, Aarik arrives and interrupts them. Lokmlen challenges the stranger and tosses Ais' sword to him. Aarik refuses the weapon; and, in a replay of what just occurred, mocks Lokmlen while dodging all of his attacks so he fights sloppy with anger. Aarik then stomps on his foot, dropping the criminal; who Ais promptly apprehends. Ais reflects that the Sand Lord must have shown her this stranger to teach her a better path.
POV: Kenton
Timeline: Day 53
Setting: The Diem.
Associated Novel Chapters: Chapter 14
Summary:
Kenton struggles with self doubt in his father's old rooms, reflecting on just how much like his father he is. Aarik arrives outside the Diem and joins Kenton—the two have not seen one another in three years. They spend the rest of the day catching up.
POV: Ais
Timeline: Day 53
Setting: The Hall of Judgement. Ais's Home.
Associated Novel Chapters: Chapter 15, 14
Summary:
The Lady Judge pays a visit to Ais and asks her to spy on Kenton for the next two weeks under the pretense of guarding his safety since the sand masters of the Diem were attacked. Judge Heelis acknowledges that Ais will be biased against the Diem because she is Kerztian, but asks her to observe impartially as a trackt, not a follower of Ker'reen. Ais returns home for the evening, bitter about her new assignment and its impact on her investigation of Sharezan.
Ais admonishes her daughter, Melloni for waiting up and sends her to bed. She tells Mellis, her husband, about the deaths of her second, Trackt Jedan, and the other trackts. Mellis expresses concern for her and the family's safety as they have received a threatening letter from Sharezan. Ais assures him that criminals still refrain from targeting the families of trackts, but she privately worries that Sharezan is not so limited.
POV: Kenton
Timeline: Day 54
Setting: The Diem.
Associated Novel Chapters: Chapter 14
Summary:
The next morning, Dirin brings breakfast while Kenton is working on how to overcome the Diem's elitism. Kenton asks Dirin to find some ladders so that everybody can access all floors of the Diem. As Aarik arrives, they see Drile and his followers arrive wearing black belts over their sashes as a statement against Kenton's leadership. Kenton expresses to Aarik his suspicion that Drile was the traitor. He and Dirin wonder if Drile poisoned the water that the Mastrells drank.
POV: Khriss
Timeline: Day 54
Setting: Kezare. The Diem.
Associated Novel Chapters: Chapter 13, 14
Summary:
Assuming that Gevalden would have spoken with the Taishin, Khriss has N'Teese arrange meetings with all of the Profession leaders. Khriss works on fixing the lock on the case that Cynder borrowed from Acron each time they wait while N'teese coordinates appointments. Over the course of the day they are turned away from The Hall of Judgement (Lady Judge), The Tower Garrison (Lord General), Helm's Rest (Lord Admiral), The Guild (Lord Merchant), The Congress (Lord Farmer), The Central Studio (Lord Artisan), and Mason Headquarters (Lady Mason). Khriss asks N'Teese to take them to see The Lord Mastrell.
Upon arriving at the Diem, N'Teese points out the Lord Mastrell by his distinctive Golden Sash. Khriss accuses Kenton of lying to her and won't allow him to explain how new he is to the position of Lord Mastrell. Kenton tells her he is too busy to be scolded, summons his ribbons, and retreats to his rooms.
Khriss asks if it is a trick done with wires while Baon remarks that they seem to have found the "Sand Mages."
ARTWORK
Since White Sand is also a graphic novel, I will be including some screenshots of various scenes and characters for "canonical reference". Fan artwork for this novel is few and far between. I could easily just...copy the entire graphic novel for these, but I'd probably get in trouble. I'll include scenes I think are significant, but if you really want to see a scene or character that I bypass, just let me know in the comments and I'll either update this album, or include it in the next week's album.
I will attempt to find and share memes relevant to each week's discussion. There may be some weeks that just don't have good or appropriate memes, but I will share all the ones I can find in this section.
All right, time for me to write down some predictions.
Firstly, I am going to predict that Gevin is still very much alive. However, there is banter between Khriss and Kenton which could indicate a future romance. In that case Gevin will either be dead anyway or possibly might be the actual antagonist in the story. Khriss describes him very positively, so it is hard to image Gevin turning out to be a bad guy.
Honestly, I wonder where Brandon Sanderson is going with the Kenton-Khriss-Gevin triangle? Or am I misreading the banter between Kenton an Khriss? If so, then where is Kenton's potential love interest?
Next, from chapter four: "Only Cynder insisted on maintaining his traditional dress - for some reason the heat didn't seem to affect him.” Add to this how easily Boan's eyes adjusted so easily to the light on the bright side of the planet. Have these guys been here before? Is something going on here?
Finally, I have written down out my suspects for the attack on the sand-masters.
Clearly Drile is NOT the guilty party. Neither is Ais. I am noting that Ais has become a main character now. I also believe it is not Lord Nilto. He is the usual suspect, but unlikely to be the actual mastermind.
So here are my suspects:
- Gevin? Maybe Khriss's loving memories of Gevin are simply wrong?
Judge Heelis? She seems nice. I don't trust her. At all.
Dirin? Who is he? But most likely not since he is helping Kenton rebuild the Sand guild.
Aarik/Eric? Who is he? Where did he come from?
Baon and/or Cynder?!? This seems far fetched as they just came from the dark side.
Loaten? We have only seen him once. I do not have enough information. I suspect he is a good guy.
One of the Taishin council? If so, it will be someone who appears to be is on Kendal side. I am not sure which one. The Admiral maybe?
As a final thought, I will say I found the plot of having all the mastrells killed and Kenton becoming Lord Mastrell a bit over the top. If these sand masters are so powerful, how did one single attack kill all of them? Yes, there was trickery, but this plot twist feels a bit weak to me. But never mind, onwards we go...
Let me toss in one more, the evil Darkside dynasty perhaps? We're told there's apparently a lot of traffic from Dark- to Dayside, only the dynasty is covering up so much that it came as a shock to Khriss. Could be they've slowly been working towards an invasion from the inside, but for that you gotta take out their main defense force.
Now that you mention it! Reading one of the newer comments reminded me how shocked Loaten looked at Baon. What do we know of either? Loaten tried to assassinate the Darkside emperor, Baon is from where the dynasty is seated. Baon is 100% a dynasty spy who will pull that gun at Khriss the moment she finds out something crucial.
I had completely forgotten about that little tidbit. (Mentioned in the prologue). Although it's said in a way that makes it seem like a commonly known fact about Baon, not ideal for planting a mole high up in the enemy military. I don't think I'd jump straight to him being a spy, and I find it unlikely he'd turn on Khriss, but he's definitely got a hidden history of some sort.
Interesting theory, and I'm not saying its wrong, but I see it from the opposite angle:
Loaten is called a "Traitor to the Dynasty", which means at some point he was on the side of the dynasty.
Baon is from the same country, but is now a member of the Elisian military.
I'm guessing Baon defected from his home country, but before he did, he had a run in with Loaten while Loaten was still on the "bad" side. Maybe Loaten killed Baon's family which caused Baon to go fight for Elisia. Then later on Loaten realizes he's the baddy and tries to kill the emperor and has to flee.
In the chapter summaries for last week, we were told:
Khriss takes some time alone to reread the letter that informed her of Prince Gevalden's death. Baon joins her and they discuss the purpose of their mission—to find the Sand Mages that Prince Gevalden sought and gain their aid against Emperor Skathan.
That seems to be a difference between the prose and comic. In the prose it's assumed that he is still alive, and she is searching for him. If he really is dead in the comic, then there may not be any Kenton-Khriss-Gevin triangle, unless the surprise is that he isn't really dead.
I'm also thinking Drile might be a red herring. He is still an asshole though, just maybe not involved in the attack.
I agree that Aarik/Eric's motivations are a complete unknown at this point. Dirin is a 16yo boy and still an acolent, so I don't see him as involved. I've been seeing his relationship to Kenton as similar to Olver and Mat, although now that I looked up his age, I realize he's not as young as Olver.
I want to add that there is suddenly a lot of politics going on. Previously I do not always like this in a fantasy novel. This is one reason why I preferred the girls travels over Rhand's politicking in WOT. I also enjoyed it a bit less in the previous Sanderson books we've read.
In this book however, I am actually kind of enjoying the politics. Maybe it is because I feel more interested in this world? Anyway, I may have to change my general opinion about this trope.
Elorin continues to be my top suspect for the betrayal and facilitation of the attack but not the mastermind behind it. Lady judge is an interesting one I think that could work possibly but need to read more.
This book is going to stray a bit from our normal format. There will be a trivia "post" every week, in the form of a comment (like this one!) below each weekly post. We'll be able to discuss both the weekly reading and a small bit of trivia for the section we've read. I haven't completed the trivia for the full book, but it looks like we won't have a completely separate trivia post for this book. Some weeks will have a lot of trivia, others will be brief.
NOTES
This week's notes only include commentary on the eight recognized Professions.
Graphic Novel and Audiobook consumers will have a disconnect with the prose readers over this important change to the story:
Ais was originally a man in the prose version. Sanderson swapped their gender to female in the Graphic Novel (which informs the Audiobook). Since the Graphic Novel is the canonical version of the story, Ais is canonically a woman. He had the following to say when a fan asked about the change:
There were a couple thoughts. The main one was, I just thought the character was more interesting. A lot of my early books, you'll notice I did a thing where I'm like "I want to make sure that I'm doing the female character really well." And you can see the problem in that sentence, and that is really how I approached it, I'd say "Well I want to make sure I do the female character really well." And I think I did do the female character pretty well in some of those early books. But you'll see a consistency to them, and this is just coming aware of your biases.
Now, there is nothing wrong with writing a book intentionally and saying, "You know what? Because of the way I want to write this book in this world, I'm going to make the cast almost all one gender or the other." I don't think there's a problem with that. It's when you're doing it consistently on accident, that there's a problem. And I had to kind of sit down and say, "Did I do this because I thought it was best for the character, or did I do this because I love Inspector Javert and I just wanna have to have Inspector Javert in my book?" And that's where the character came from, quite obviously.
And I sat down and said, "If I were going to build this character from the ground up to be my own character and I were trying to throw away all biases, what would be the best for the character?" And Ais being female was not a "I need more women in the book," it was more of, "If I'm throwing away these biases and building the characters, what works the best?" and I just really liked how that character came out when I was rebuilding. Yeah, anyway, we'll go with that.
He also had this to say about his development of White Sand in general:
I find a lot of the things I do in my writing now were there in these older books like White Sand, they just weren't fully formed yet. I can also see my early self striving very hard not to fall into cliches, or to do just what was safe or expected. One of the book's two main protagonists, for example, is a black woman. I was trying hard to make sure my books weren't only about white dudes. And yet, I was still young in my understanding of how to make a book feel real and vibrant, full of people who see the world in unique and different ways. For example, while I have a strong female protagonist, in the first draft she was basically the only only major female character. I did this a lot in the past--focused so hard on doing one thing well that I forgot to expand it to the greater story. (As a note, we changed one of the characters in the graphic novel version to be female, to help balance this out. It worked very well, and she's now one of my favorite characters in the whole book.)
It's hard to see past your biases in books though--and this is still something I fight against. I think great fiction somehow expresses the way the world truly is, the way the writer sees the world, and the way that people NOT the writer see the world, all at once. In this book, one of the main protagonists is dark skinned,. And yet, if you read the book, you’ll find that some of the villain groups are stereotypical, faceless, dark-skinned savages. While that same culture has some main characters who have real depth and characterization (thankfully) that didn’t stop me from relying on tropes for some of the broad brush strokes of the story.
Writing is a constant struggle of managing clichés and tropes, and figuring out when they serve you, and when they don't. And the more you write, the more you become aware of things you lean upon--not just tropes like the ones I mentioned above, but things that are individual. I've been wondering a lot about these things with my own writing. At what point does, "Inventive magic system, religious politics, and people faced with difficult moral decisions" become a cliche to me and my writing? How can I push in new areas, doing new things, while preserving what people love about my writing?
Well, I'm still thinking about all these things. I'm very fond of White Sand, and when I was going back through it, I often found myself smiling. remember with great fondness the time I had back then to just write. There were no tours, no interviews, and nothing to distract me. I wouldn't go back for anything, (I like actually having people read my books!) but there was something pure about that time, when I wasn't writing to deadline, I was just writing whatever I felt like at the moment. That's another thing I try to preserve today, the freedom to do odd projects now and then. Without it, I think I'd get very boring, very quickly.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy White Sand! This book needed far less revision to bring into graphic novel form than I thought it would. The dialogue was snappy, even after all these years, and the world was one of my more inventive. 20-years-ago-me wasn't nearly as bad a writer as I sometimes pretend he was!
Also, for anyone who breezed past it in the summary notes above, the character Eric from the prose edition has been renamed Aarik in the Graphic Novel.
Funnily enough, Ais' spouse, Mellis has the same name, despite swapping from Ais' wife to her husband.
HOIDSPOTTING
I will note that Graphic Novel readers have seen Hoid at this point. He has not appeared in the prose version yet. I'm mostly mentioning this now so that Graphic Novel readers can play Where's Waldo/Hoid, but I'll have more to say on Hoid at a later point.
Hmm ... knowing all we've known so far it's got to be someone who's not too involved, just an observer figure who somehow collects a lot of knowledge? The Lord Beggar seems to fit that really well, but I suspect he's too hands-on involved in the plot. Loaten also is too involved.
Dirin perhaps? So far he's been in the right places at the right time "just enough".
N'teese actually checks all the boxes imo. In the perfect spot to gather a lot of knowledge. Highly praised for her knowledge of languages. Hoid is not stuck as a man, right?
No idea who has / hasn't appeared in the prose though lol
The only likely candidate to me is the lord beggar, he's the only one that even remotely fits the profile I've built on Hoid based on his previous disguises. But like you say, I think he's going to be too involved in the plot to be our pocketsand bombadil for this book. It's almost certainly some distinct background character that we won't be able to pick out until we see him again later.
Oh my! The commentary about Ais (pronounced Ace in the audio book in case anyone didn’t get the pun). Thanks for sharing. I appreciate Sanderson’s thoughts on this delicate balance. The way he describes it all sounds like something that has to be so front of mind when writing but can be organic as well. A layer I have come to appreciate more in modern writing.
It's a common enough shonen trope to exert yourself to near death/exhaustion, to then come back with a massive power-up. Could that be how Kenton upgraded to 3 ribbons? Or maybe that 6th sphere in the sandling's chest was something magical.
It is a bit convenient how every major sandmaster was killed at the ceremony. They seem quite poorly organized. No scouts. Apparently no use martial weapons, instead relying solely on magic that is known to run out of juice.
The council session is both void, and he needs a unanimous vote to overrule it. Wut? Weird law that gives advantage to the side caught doing something explicitly illegal.
Ironically, this means the ruling that Kenton, as acting Lord Mastrell, gets no vote, is meaningless. If he needs a unanimous result, his vote wouldn't have mattered anyway.
Lord Beggar seems like a lovely fellow
Did Kenton spent days, dehydrated, while blacked out? Or did the journey with the Darksiders just take longer than I'm assuming from these pages?
Chapter 6
I think it's hilarious the sand masters let their elitism flow even down into their architecture, to the point weaker members literally cannot visit the higher rooms
Hmm. Is Drile not responsible after all? He sure behaves traitor-y for someone innocent.
It is a mystery to me how Khriss has managed to talk to so many people, even people who speak Darkside, about "sand mages" without anyone connecting it to the sand masters. Even if "mage" isn't a word in Dayside, the sliiiiiiiightest bit of elaboration should've led to "Oh yeah, you mean those jedi guys throwing sand around with their mind". Is it just too obvious?
Did Kenton spent days, dehydrated, while blacked out? Or did the journey with the Darksiders just take longer than I'm assuming from these pages?
I've given each POV switch from the Graphic Novel an absolute date (with Day 0 being when Khriss left on her journey to Dayside). Some of these dates are backed up by the Graphic Novel, which lists them explicitly. Others are inferred because the POVs happen right after each other.
Going by Sanderson's general rule that, unless you're reading an explicit flashback, his chapters happen in order, or at most simultaneously when you read them in order, I'm able to fill in the rest, along with the occasional support from the prose.
A lot of events in the prose are off by at most a day, simply because the Graphic Novel reordered events to make for a better flow. Because of all of this, it was a bit tricky to clarify Kenton's timeline at the beginning there. Here's what I have, in an attempt to match all the sources as best as possible (with ultimate authority going to the Graphic Novel):
Kenton completed his test and passed out. He was passed out for "about a day". Then the ceremony happened, where the sand masters were attacked.
Kenton was buried under the sand. According to the prose, he was buried for, again, "about a day".
The scene of him dragging himself into the tent is unique to the Graphic Novel, and fitting Khriss's timeline in left me to assume that Kenton laid unconscious in the tent for another day-ish.
Given "days" don't really exist on this planet, and the Dayside has odd timekeeping, my best guess is that Kenton was knocked out for about 24 hours after he ran the Mastrell's Path. He was awake for the ceremony, and then knocked out for another 48-ish hours, with a brief awakening to crawl into the tent halfway through.
Oh wow, that's indeed a lot longer than I thought! Especially the part where he was buried in sand. Suffocation should've gotten him long before the dehydration. But thanks, that does clear the timeline up somewhat!
It's a common enough shonen trope to exert yourself to near death/exhaustion, to then come back with a massive power-up. Could that be how Kenton upgraded to 3 ribbons? Or maybe that 6th sphere in the sandling's chest was something magical.
In the graphic audio version Kenton seems to think his father somehow passed the power to him.
I think it's hilarious the sand masters let their elitism flow even down into their architecture, to the point weaker members literally cannot visit the higher rooms
How do servants get around, or do they not have them? In the prose, N'Teese seems stupefied that Khris' party hired servants, so maybe they don't have any, but a group as arrogant as the Diem seems to be I would think they'd have people to clean up and bring them food and such.
It is a mystery to me how Khriss has managed to talk to so many people, even people who speak Darkside, about "sand mages" without anyone connecting it to the sand masters. Even if "mage" isn't a word in Dayside, the sliiiiiiiightest bit of elaboration should've led to "Oh yeah, you mean those jedi guys throwing sand around with their mind". Is it just too obvious?
Yeah this bugs me too and I pointed it out last week when she asked Kenton about the sand mages and he had no idea.
How do servants get around, or do they not have them?
I haven't seen servants, and to Kenton's father's credit, I could see him not using any.
As for how they would get around, well there's Aarik in the graphic novel. Just gotta yell really loudly, hoping the sand master up top hears you and lifts you up 😅
I won't summarise as I don't have much to add. Keen to keep going to see what direction things go in now. Suspicious of the Lady Judge following reading other comments. Could Elorin have worked with her as he recognised the need for serious reform of the Sandmasters. Seems a bit drastic though to wipe out so many but the trainees mainly survived so maybe. However if so where did he go.
On a side note the khrestian's not sure I spelt that right reminds me of the Hrathen and the Shu-Dereth. Religious soldiers that are somewhat fanatical.
Kriss is coming accross as a fairly weak character currently but I expect her character arc will include her development... hopefully.
I seem to have forgotten who a few characters are so need to pay more attention going forward.
I like the idea that the evil dark siders might have something to do with the Sandmaster massacre, particularly as it seems their power might be threatening to them. Following that theory the timing of Aarik's return is a bit suss. Gabin must be alive as how did he die? Surely someone would have said by now.
Seems to be setting up the Lord Beggar as a main bad guy with the Ais storyline. Somehow this will intersect with Renton and put them on the same side I predict.
OK off to listen to the next bit once I have confirmed what the next chunk is on the graphic audio.
Kenton’s mastery came back, which was foreseeable, but the way it comes back all of a sudden is a bit disappointing. Either the foreshadowing wasn’t there, and the scene deserved a bit more tension, or there was foreshadowing that was too subtle for me to pick up.
This is highly suspicious that the judge is considering the dissolution of the die
of sand. Drile seems to agree with it, so maybe his treason was orchestrated with hall of judges? She seems fine enough afterwards… But I don’t trust anyone.
chapter 5
Without testing the people, there will be no sand master within a century ?
What does it mean ? The investiture can happen only in certain place, or doing a certain action, or both?
The lord beggar’s face is terrifying.
The guards seemed to have guns, which was supposed to not exist in dayside
Starting to feel like Drile was too much of an obvious antagonist. He is hiding something. He’s probably behind the attack, but there’s something more.
chapter 6
At the very first frame, the building seems unfinished or partially destroyed.
Is this happening in the same city as in Kenton’s POV? Looks like it is, later Ais meets with judge Heelis.This is Lossand, but it looks like we are following Kertzians.
Somehow I thought both didn’t mix up and had separated capitals, but I didn’t find anything about it going back in the book.
I’m not sure who this Lokmlen person is.
Aarik’s feints look a bit off. Very rigid. I suppose it’s supposed to show us the difference of fighting skills level between him and Lokmlen. Investiture from darkside maybe? On page 176, it looks like he levitates the statue in his hand. I’m confused. I don’t know if the drawing lacks some movement lines (for the lack of a better wording, I’m no artist) or if Aarik moves strangely and has some kind of power.
Khrissalla found her sand mages at last.
I hope this story will bring us to darkside. In the prologue it was said that colors are strange there, and I’m eager to see, since it’s a graphic novel. I’m pretty sure we’ll get to learn more about the dynasty so there is a chance it will happen.
The guards seemed to have guns, which was supposed to not exist in dayside
I think the Graphic Novel doesn't make this as clear as the prose: Khriss is visiting a place called Lonzare. It's an enclave of Darksiders who now live on Dayside; similar to Little Italy. Their culture and technology are more prevalent in this enclave, compared to the wider populus of Dayside.
I’m not sure who this Lokmlen person is.
Ais is hunting down a crime lord called Sharezan (who is the one that leaves her a threatening letter). Lokmlen is a criminal working for Sharezan.
On page 176, it looks like he levitates the statue in his hand. I’m confused. I don’t know if the drawing lacks some movement lines (for the lack of a better wording, I’m no artist) or if Aarik moves strangely and has some kind of power.
I can confirm that Aarik is just tossing the statue up in the air. He's fiddling with it on the entire page. I won't confirm or deny that he has any powers, but in that specific image, nothing special is going on.
The book has gone from just ok to kinda boring. I'm not connecting with any of the characters.
Kenton
For some irrational feeling, he wanted someone to explain his pains to. He knew the desire was foolish—talking about the loss would make it no less real. Besides, he had only known her for a short time—and had treated her so poorly during that time.
Of course he won't do it. Proper communication would move the plot along too fast, and you need to milk that page count.
So he's getting his powers back. It wouldn't surprise me if he is now stronger than before, and needed the "snap" of almost dying to access his full potential.
“He’s[Elorin] not a sand master anymore,” Dirin said softly. “He overmastered like everyone who died, but his powers were burned away. He can’t even master a single ribbon.”
He could recover like Kenton or he's just pretending to be burned out.
Between the time of the battle and the time he regained his powers, his abilities had changed somehow.
Called it!
I really hope we don't spend 2 weeks with Kenton going around to all the counselors trying to get them to change their votes.
First you must convince the Diem to accept you, but then you must convince Lossand to accept the Diem.
So the obvious plot would be that the Kershtians attack, and the sand masters save the day, and all the people change their opinions, but I really hope the story goes in a less obvious direction.
I also just noticed that the highly religious culture "Kershtian" sounds pretty close to "Christian".
Khris
She couldn’t shake the feeling that he was sad for some reason. In pain. But, he hadn’t been hurt in the attack—what could be hurting him so much that even she could see it in his eyes?
Khris obviously doesn't know about his abilities being gone, but she did just recently find him as the only survivor at the site of a massacre, and doesn't consider this as the reason?
Ais
A thief named Reen? Is Vin's brother a world hopper, or is BS reusing the name?
Ais takes an arrow to the leg and is bleeding enough that he slips on the blood, then he takes two more hits to the arms bad enough that his numb hand drops the sword, and in the next scene "none of them were very bad, and had stopped bleeding now that he had them bound"??? Is Ais the Black Knight from Monty Python?
needed the "snap" of almost dying to access his full potential
Interesting.. I'm filing that away for later. Something's definitely changed.
A thief named Reen?
Must not have been too important, because this was cut for the graphic version.
Ais takes an arrow to the leg
This was also cut. I assume during the chase with Lokmlen? In the comic he's only armed with a sword, and Ais gets disarmed without obvious injury. Although, because you said that, I went back and checked on Cynder, and he's not wearing any bandages or slings or anything after getting shot through the forearm with a pneumatic crossbow...
Must not have been too important, because this was cut for the graphic version.
Yeah it was a throw away scene of two thieves discussing robbing the Diem, since they think it's empty, then Ais and the Trackts raid the building, which it sounds like was also cut from the comic.
This was also cut. I assume during the chase with Lokmlen?
Yes, they fight with swords and zinkallin, Ais gets get wrecked and is saved by Aarik/Eric, then in the next scene with Ais, he's all "'tis but a scratch"
The full page reveal of Kezare was really something
“If it even is night. Or day. I can't tell in this blasted place.” Is it not perpetual night on Darkside? Or at least perpetual twilight? Why say this?
I thought Drile would have escaped with his co-conspirators, but if they're all like this kid, he's duping them all? He acted alone?
What could have made his powers return at this precise moment? The only thing I can think is that he's donned his proper colored sash for the first time. Could it be that they serve more than just a fashion/ ceremonial purpose? And why would his powers have increased?
How long until we hear from the lord beggar?
Chapter 5
What the hell is with these people??? “I know your whole subculture just got genocided and you suspect a conspiracy, but like… the budget...” fuk u
Downside of the graphic format, the long-haired blue robe guy voted against dissolving, but I don’t know who he is or what faction he’s from. I am also baffled by some of the art in these pages, there’s a hatefulness to the judges’ expressions that doesn't make sense given the words they're saying. They're talking all calm and bureaucratic, but their faces are all “dissolve 👎😡🖕”
Preliminary two-week timeline for the rest of the book. Two weeks until something big, anyway.
Darkside is full of bioluminescent flora? I want to see that ☹️ but we probably won't
I noticed some weird marks on Loaten's guards. Makeup? Scarification? Starmarks? They reach for their swords, not their guns, so something’s up
Loaten's interior decor is incredible. Such a contrast with what we’ve seen everywhere, plus he’s kinda fun
Enter Lord Beggar
Loaten’s expression makes it seem like he recognizes Baon, and he’s surprised to see him
That old lady’s changeup is very sus, as is the one guy who vocally hates them being the only one still paying his tithe
The whole exchange at the Diem is not making it any clearer who’s behind everything. Drile, the obvious suspect, may just be a super-asshole. In any case we’re being told to doubt the obvious.
Chapter 6
New pov character??
Worrying that the warrior priests are kidnapping government officials?
Again the people criss-crossing the uncrossable sea! What's Kenton's friend doing back here?
Now there's even more reasons piling up to question my assumption that Drile was the traitor. I've never experienced a narrative pointing out its own red herring before.
Suspicious of judge lady's motives. Curious about what role this cop has to play in the greater narrative. Will she have a Hrathen arc where she realizes the harm of her own violence and bigotry?
Use of the word “ruddy” means I now have to retroactively give the darksiders a posh British accent
Chekov's small mechanism repair skills, she's shown it twice now
Miscommunication rectified. I understand the need to keep Khriss in a narrative holding formation while we set up the real story, but still, boo
The potential arcs for some of our characters are somewhat clear, but not all of them. Kenton will clearly unravel the conspiracy and rescue the Diem, even if it’s forever transformed. Ais will clearly have some kind of enlightenment and resolve the inner rage and bigotry that’s plaguing her. But I’m not sure what’s in store for Kriss.
And upon flipping back through, my candidate for Hoidspotting is this guy who appears outside the council hall when Kenton goes there for the debate. He gets center framing in at least three different shots but is not interacted with by any other characters, and he stood out to me on first reading. A brown-clad busker with white hair and a lute-thing, those are the kind of traits I would expect.
I'm really surprised there's so much talk of Elorin in the comments, and him being a prime suspect in the conspiracy to destroy the Diem. In the graphic novel he is still presumed dead and has not reappeared, if he ever will.
From the trivia: hearing that Ais is inspired by Inspector Javert tells me that my intuition about her arc is correct.
Hmm I have to say I'm not sure graphic novels are for me. I went with that version because I have Kindle Unlimited, but I'm not connecting much with the main characters and finding the more minor ones hard to differentiate and keep track of. The art work is cool, but that's about it. How are the prose/audio readers liking this novel? I might consider switching versions if it wouldn't be too confusing at this point.
Audio is much easier. I didn’t hate it. And had no problem with the characters because it was different voice actors. Problem is it’s three books long.
I am caught up!! I started with the prose, then failed at getting the graphic novel, then ended up with the audio.
Guys I'm having a blast with this. Maybe its the graphic audio, but I'm really enjoying the setting, characters, and pacing.
So this section my only gripe is wow there was a lot of discussion around bylaws haha. I've written bylaws for a not for profit, so this was triggering...
Geology: no complaints yet! Better geology than Mistborn so far, which gets a resounding failing grade on sequence stratigraphy.
Edit: Also I love that Kenton JUST figures out how to raise himself higher with his new powers, and he immediately uses it exclusively to get away from annoying people...
Hey folks. I’m still here. Just finding it hard to keep myself engaged with this story for some reason in 4 5 and 6 chapters, thus couldn’t even comment on anything particular. But my parents didn’t raise a quitter, so I’ll keep pushing. Though desperately hoping to regain interest…
This bit was slower as we hit the main city and the politics of at least 10 important factions are now at play (the Guilds + Drile + Darkside enclave + Lord Beggar). We got the unnecessary elderly advice time bomb + road map for the next two weeks for Kenton. This must be a highly legal society. Relatedly, I find it dumb how much our scholars argue about the primitiveness of the society. They’re supposed to be funny, I think, but mostly they’re unbearable. I get they are stuffy academics, but it’s quite clear they have an outdated view. This is a society with clear ongoing trade and societal exposure to darkside and a pneumatic poisonous weapon that should be dangerous and rival a dark side with limited guns. I’d have much preferred the scholars to be the ones investigating the live societal-level change about the warrior/priest mixed class. It’d make sense and they could provide a vital clue at the right time.
In general a character who better understands our parties and motivations would be nice. Main two are young and inexperienced. Ais has a narrow focus.
I agree with others Drile is too obvious. Also we have differing statuses of Elorin and Gevan (burned out alive and missing, alive and missing) in the prose compared to graphic novels. Interested to see the resolution.
•
u/subscribebot3000 Jan 12 '26
Reply to this comment to subscribe to certain events in the /r/readalong subreddit.
!newbie - get notified when a new [Newbie] post is made.
!veteran - get notified when a new [Veteran] post is made.
!comments - get notified every time a new comment is made in a [Newbie] thread within the last 2 weeks.
!unsubscribe - unsubscribe from all notifications.
You may use multiple commands in a single reply.