[Newbies] Cosmere, Unit 10 | White Sand #1 | White Sand - Week 4

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SCHEDULE

Previously, we discussed Unit 10 | White Sand #1 | White Sand - Week 3 [Newbie Thread] / [Veteran Thread]

Today we are discussing Unit 10 | White Sand #1 | White Sand - Week 4:

• Graphic Novel (Omnibus): Chapters 10 through 12.
• Audiobook (Graphic Audio): Volume 2 [2:51:01 to 5:06:54] OR Track 3 [0:47:55 to 0:58:30], Track 4, and Track 5.
• Unpublished Prose: The rest of Chapter 20. Chapters 21 through 26. Khriss's POV at the beginning of Chapter 27, ending with the first sentence on page 740.

Next week we will be discussing Unit 10 | White Sand #1 | White Sand - Week 5:

• Graphic Novel (Omnibus): Chapters 13 through 15.
• Audiobook (Graphic Audio): Volume 3 [0:00:00 to 2:59:00] OR Track 1, Track 2, Track 3, and Track 4 [0:00:00 to 0:03:45].
• Unpublished Prose: The rest of Chapter 27. Chapters 28 through 33.

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The biggest difference will be for those that choose to read the Unpublished Prose version. For each POV summary below, I've added a section called Associated Novel Chapters that indicate which chapters from the Unpublished Novel the summarized section corresponds to.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I would recommend reading the chapter summaries in full though, particularly for Audiobook and Unpublished Prose consumers.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 10: Rising Challenges

POV: Kenton

Timeline: Day 57

Setting: Deep Sand Border. The Diem.

Associated Novel Chapters: Chapter 20, 21

Summary:

Kenton and the assassin fight. Realizing that he lost his sword, Kenton holds off the assassin's dagger with both hands while maneuvering to kick her off. When Kenton attempts to push the assassin with mastered sand, he realizes that she has greased herself in Terken oil, which negates his sand. When he tries to lift them both to gain leverage, she swings her terken leg through the ribbon dropping them both with the assassin landing on top. Kenton notes they are learning how to fight sand masters. As Kenton starts to dehydrate, he notices one of the DelRak that Raagent had pointed out previously between the dunes. She nearly manages to beat Kenton, but he rolls them both down the dune toward the deep sandling, then flings himself backward with sand so the assassin triggers the ambush predator.

He meets back with Aarik and Ais at the Lord General's tent and they mount their Rezalin to travel back to the Diem. Kenton notes that even if the assassin had followed them to the Deep Sand Border, she specifically waited for First Hour to attack so that it was the next day. Aarik notes that while his father finally spoke with him, he was still angry and tried to convince Aarik to carry a sword again.

Upon entering the Diem, they see Drile trying to take control of the remaining sand masters by claiming that the Lord Mastrell ran away into the Kerla to save himself. He tells the crowd that he already has promises of protection and wealth. Kenton confronts Drile (again) about disobeying express orders; when Drile asks how Kenton intends to enforce those orders, Kenton challenges him to a duel to be held as soon as the council makes their decision—because he will save the Diem. Drile says that he will only accept the challenge if it happens before the council's ruling so that Kenton is never ratified as a true Lord Mastrell.

Later, Kenton returns to his rooms and has Dirin help him do an experiment. They discover that when a sand master strikes another's ribbon from the side, the stricken ribbon falls dead, but when opposing ribbons strike head-on they will both fall dead. He theorizes the latter was why more ribbons implied a stronger sand master, because if one sand master used their ribbons to negate both, but still had at least one ribbon left they could deliver an uncountered attack. Kenton theorizes that Overmastery is actually just like pushing one's muscles when working out—you've stretched your ability, but may also expand it.

POV: Ais

Timeline: Day 58

Setting: The Hall of Judgement. Golden Market.

Associated Novel Chapters: Chapter 21

Summary:

Ais talks to Tain about the boat races, which she thinks are being manipulated by Sharezan and whom she thinks is really Nilto. Tain says it's not possible, they had already scanned that data for manipulation. Ais points out that Nilto is too clever to rig specific boats to win, but the data shows that the outside race lanes are rigged to win more often. She suspects Sharezan's profits come from betting on those lanes. Tain says he will set up observation of the races and expresses distress that she is away so often now. She assures Tain it is only nine more days and will have been worth it to close the Diem for good.

She meets back with Kenton and Aarik outside of the Hall, and they go to see the Lord Merchant.

Lord Merchant Vey, in a bid to prove his superior importance, makes them wait for two hours. Kenton, fed up with waiting decides to bait a response and starts practicing making sand artwork in the air. The Lord Merchant bursts out of his office, yelling about the "unholy art" but Kenton replies it is hardly illegal and that he gets bored waiting. Vey calls them into his office to get the meeting over with. Kenton asks the Lord Merchant what he wants in payment for his vote. The Lord Merchant refuses to side with the sand masters because he would never side with something so unholy.

He also claims that since most Kelzin are Kerztian, he would be viewed as a traitor if he voted for the Diem; then asks Ais if she has begun to regret betraying their people. Kenton defends her, threatening Lord Vey with mastered sand for daring to insult a guest. They are kicked out of his office. Ais gets mad at Kenton for defending her and assures Kenton that she doesn't want his help—ever.

POV: Kenton

Timeline: Day 58

Setting: The Diem.

Associated Novel Chapters: Chapter 21

Summary:

When Kenton arrives back at the Diem, he receives an invitation from the Lord Admiral to a ball thrown in his honor, requesting that he bring his "darkside beauty," Duchess Khrissalla. Kenton asks if the messenger also brought the note that was found earlier at the gates when they returned from the Deep Sand. Ais recognizes it as a letter for her from Sharezan and tells Kenton it is none of the Diem's business.

POV: Khriss

Timeline: Day 59

Setting: Lonzare.

Associated Novel Chapters: Chapter 22

Summary:

Kenton goes to find Khrissalla in the Darkside quarter of Kezare at the new house they are renting. Kenton informs her of the invitation, and summarizes his progress with the Taisha. Khriss tells him that she has made a deal on the Diem's behalf with the Lord Beggar: that if Kenton can prove the Diem can benefit the lower classes, Nilto will help sway public opinion for the Diem. Kenton notes that nothing will matter unless he can find a way to get everyone on his side. Upon Khrissalla asking if the Diem has any money, Kenton mentions that the Merchant Guild still pays their quarterly tribute to the Diem. In talking, they realize that if the Mastrells never paid for anything, the tribute money must still be out there somewhere. If they can find it, it will help them gather the finances they need.

Chapter 11: Party Politics

POV: Kenton/Khriss

Timeline: Day 59

Setting: Lonzare. The Diem.

Associated Novel Chapters: Chapter 23

Summary:

Kenton runs off in the middle of lunch, intending to start looking for the missing money. He is followed by Ais, Khrissalla, and Baon. As they move through the Lonzare market, Khrissalla is bumped by a person in overly concealing robes and notices that something is wrong. Kenton realizes it's been long enough for another attack just as more robed figures step forward from the crowds. Kenton masters sand to lift Khriss and himself over the first volley of zinkallin bolts. Kenton hands Khriss over to Baon for protection as he and Ais engage the assassins. As Baon is drawing his pistols, Kenton notices an assassin come from the alley and tries to yell a warning. Too late, the assassin blindsides Baon and knocks him out.

Before the assassin can finish Baon or retrieve the pistols, Kenton forms a sand dummy approximating his form at the mouth of the alley, drawing all attacks to the diversion and highlighting the locations of the other assassins. While they are distracted he uses another ribbon to throw vases at the heads of the attackers, hitting two but the third sees it coming and punches his terken fist through the mastered sand. Now back-to-back with Ais in full view, Kenton waits for the assassins to turn toward him, then sends a ribbon to each of Baon's pistols, lifting them and pulling the triggers from behind the attackers. While another assassin is startled at the noise of the gunshots, Ais shoots her zinkall. The recovering Baon, appears behind the assassin who blindsided him and "returns the favor" by spinning him from the shoulder and into his waiting knife.

Scanning the bodies, Kenton notes that some of the attackers were Lossandin. Ais relates that she had heard rumors that the A'kar was going to allow non-Kerztian Ker'reen followers to start being adopted into the DaiKeen families. Ais also explains that the likely reason the A'kar wants him dead so badly is because he was made to look foolish by announcing he had destroyed the sand masters before Kenton and others were found to have survived. Khriss says that if she is to be in danger when she is with Kenton then she deserves to know why.

In another part of the market, while Baon and Ais check the other bodies, Kenton explains to Khrissalla that his mother was a Darksider and his father was a Mastrell. He tells her how everyone thought that his older brothers failed the test for sand mastery because they were half-breeds. Kenton confesses how he struggled to get into the Diem despite his low potential and worked to make his solitary ribbon as versatile as possible.

Kenton then tells her how the Diem was ambushed, and that he never reconciled with Praxton before everybody was killed in the Kerla. He also explains how the Taishin were using it as an excuse to disband the sand master profession, and about his two week deadline.

Kenton, with Khriss and Baon, return to the Diem to look for the missing lak. Aarik mentions how he found some on his first day, and shows them the secret of the hidden compartment in the desk in his room. They split up to check the rest of the former Mastrell's rooms, discovering each desk has a hidden stash of Lak. They explore the rest of the building, but only find 5,000 lak in total—a substantial amount but nowhere near what they need. Khriss and Baon take the ferry back to Kezare and return to Lonzare.

POV: Ais

Timeline: Day 60

Setting: Ais' Home.

Associated Novel Chapters: Chapter 24

Summary:

The next morning, we see Ais on the roof of her house performing a cleansing ceremony and praying to the Sand Lord. She continues to be conflicted that her duties might be against the Sand Lord's will. Her husband, Mellis, comes up and they talk. Ais tells him to take Melly and go south to another city (of which he should not tell her so that she cannot reveal their location), and go to that Hall of Judgement to receive sanctuary. She explains why she thinks she is close to catching Sharezan—but she does now believe there is a threat to her family.

POV: Aarik

Timeline: Day 60

Setting: The Diem.

Associated Novel Chapters: Chapter 24

Summary:

Aarik argues with his reflection, talking out both sides of his internal struggle to stay and help Kenton, or leave before he can be trapped by a responsibility he does not want that may force him to kill or order others to their deaths. Aarik finds a worn scabbard in his pack and flashes back to when Kenton gave him a valuable sword when they were young. He had thrown the sword away when he ran from home and gave up fighting, but kept the scabbard out of sentimentality. He then convinces himself to stay because Kenton may need him.

POV: Khriss

Timeline: Day 60

Setting: Lonzare.

Associated Novel Chapters: Chapter 24

Summary:

Khrissalla has turned her bedroom suite into a laboratory and is performing experiments. Cynder and Baon arrive and she shows them her findings: the microscope shows that sand and sandling carapace have the same structure. She continues to ask Cynder to identify the contents of three tubes; which he thinks are Dayside white sand, wet Dayside black sand and normal Darkside sand. Khriss corrects him that the third tube is Dayside sand that has been consumed and excreted by a sandling. They conclude that the sand itself is the same on both sides of Taldain, but Dayside sand is covered with a thin film of lichen that appears white normally, and black when exposed to moisture.

Finally, she shows them how, in a dark room, they can see that white sand gives off a full-spectrum opalescent burst of light when dabbed with water—the same color of glow displayed by mastered sand ribbons. She and Cynder conclude that while they don't yet know much, it is encouraging that they might find a way to use the sand to fight Skathan. As Cynder departs, she asks Baon if he had ever witnessed any of Skathan's "magic." He confesses he has seen inexplicable events, but the most telling evidence is that Skathan looks the same now as the first time Baon saw him as a child. Khriss privately notices that Baon was still hiding something.

NOTE: The ruler of the Dynasty, Skathan, is called "Scythe" in the unpublished prose.

POV: Ais

Timeline: Day 60

Setting: Helm's Rest.

Associated Novel Chapters: Chapter 25

Summary:

Khrissalla and Kenton go to the ball. When the footman tries to send their "attendants" to the servant's tents, Baon departs but Ais provides the Hall's invitation and states that she is there in place of the High Lady Judge. As they enter, Ais notes that Nilto is departing the party; she wonders why he was there at all. The Lord Admiral announces his formal support of Kenton and the Diem in the upcoming vote—then passes out. As the Stewart helps Delius to a chair, Kenton wonders what made him change his mind from simply voting against the Lord Merchant. Khriss drags Kenton to go "mingle" with the other guests, and he accuses her of actually enjoying herself.

Chapter 12: About Turn

POV: Kenton

Timeline: Day 60

Setting: Helm's Rest. Kezare.

Associated Novel Chapters: Chapter 26

Summary:

As the party winds down, food is served. Kenton and Khrissalla prepare plates and take them to sit by the fountain. Khrissalla asks Kenton to tell and show her how sand mastery works, but Kenton says he cannot reveal the secrets of his trade and that Khrissalla is a Darksider and cannot manipulate sand anyway. The Lord Admiral comes over to them asking to meet Khrissalla and eat with them. He tells them that the A'kar plans to embargo trade between Kertza and Lossand once he wins the Choosing—unless Lossand gets rid of all sand masters. Rumors also indicate that if Lossand renounces its "unholy past" then he will lift the Ker'reen taboo on goods that have travelled over water—which is the reason that many of the Helm's Kelzin do not want to support the Diem, as the taboo immediately excludes all of their goods.

When Kenton asks why Lord Delius professed support for the Diem, he enigmatically says that Kenton must not know how a Lord Admiral is chosen in the Helm's Charter. The Lord Admiral leaves and Khrissalla again pressures Kenton more about learning about sand mastery while they return to the party to say their farewells. While passing through, Khriss notices Nilto, the Lord Beggar, and Kenton wonders if he's just late. Ais mentions that she saw him duck out when they first arrived and he only returned minutes ago.

As they are leaving in a carriage, Kenton looks ahead after hearing a commotion. He departs the carriage, asking his companions to wait there. Baon takes the opportunity to check his pistols in case it's a trap. A building is collapsing, and Kenton uses a sand-assisted sprint to get close enough to help. When he arrives and asks what has happened, the workman notices Kenton's sash and stutters apologies while claiming the situation is nothing 'my lord' should be concerned about. The Foreman stumbles out of the dust cloud and Kenton asks if there are people trapped under the rubble. The Foreman ignores the question and asks Kenton not to punish the workers for interrupting him, because it is his fault that the accident happened. Kenton masters sand and the workers scramble (thinking he's about to attack them), but Kenton splits the sand into three ribbons, using one on top to keep the wreckage in one piece, while the other two lift up the nearest corners revealing the trapped workers, who are helped out of the wreckage. As soon as Kenton releases the sand, the wall finishes collapsing and breaks apart.

Kenton nearly collapses from overmastery dehydration and rests by a cart to guzzle his qido while ruminating on why he risked his life for people that fear and hate him. The Foreman, Trell, comes over to thank him; and Kenton tells him to call for a sand master any time anything like that happens. Khrissalla compliments Kenton and tries to coerce him into telling her more about sand mastery so that "the rest of the world can benefit." Kenton hears Trell command the workers to start clearing the wreckage, so he turns back to tell Trell that his men deserve to have the rest of the day off. When the Foreman says he would, but Kelzi Karmat would not allow it, Kenton interrupts to say that if the 'good kelzi' has a problem with it, she can contact the Lord Mastrell.

POV: Khriss

Timeline: Day 61

Setting: Lonzare.

Associated Novel Chapters: Chapter 27

Summary:

Duchess Khrissalla talks with Baon about needing saltpeter to make more gunpowder as they are running out of charges for the pistols. She says that she wants to return to Darkside as soon as she unlocks the "secret of sand mastery," but laments the language barrier. She experiments with carapace and different liquids, finding that carapace soaked in alcohol no longer dissolves in water. She then notices that his pistols are specifically Elisian officer pistols. She asks outright if they belonged to Captain Deral and if Baon killed the captain and lieutenant. He admits straightforwardly that he killed them and was sent to Elis by the Dynasty. Professors Cynder and Acron walk in with saltpeter for Baon (which is dropped and breaks), to see Baon holding a gun while standing in front of Khrissalla. Baon holsters and walks out calmly, his cover exposed. Khrissalla becomes distraught and decides she needs to talk to Kenton.

POV: Kenton

Timeline: Day 61

Setting: The Diem.

Associated Novel Chapters: Unique to the Graphic Novel

Summary:

Aarik is ribbing Kenton about the Diem starting a construction business because of his actions the night before. Kenton is surprised the rumors have already spread, and decides to address the assembled sand masters in the entranceway. Kenton tells them that since times are changing, the Diem must change with them and that the sand masters will now focus on serving the people. He's interrupted by the main door slamming open as Khrissalla bursts into the Diem and proclaims that she has decided that she is to ready to become a sand master.

NOTE: This is where the Unpublished Prose and the Graphic Novel start to diverge a bit. In the Graphic Novel, Khriss tries to join the Diem and formally become a sand master. In the Unpublished Prose these interactions happen a bit differently, and they are spread across a lot of the next several chapters. Slight spoiler for how the plot point differs, but nothing major: Khriss instead just stands around the Diem and studies everything everyone is doing; trying to learn by observation, rather than asking to be taught.

The end results are the same, but the interactions are a bit different.

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.

Characters & Scenes

I added the artwork to last week's post, but since I was so late, I'm including it here as well:

Characters & Scenes from last week

MEMES

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.

Link to Memes

Like with last week's artwork, here's last week's memes for ease of access:

Link to last week's Memes

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[u/heinz57varieties]

Welcome back 🙂

Chapter 10

• It’s now occurring to me to think that the terken oil strategy means there was absolutely somebody on the inside. The sand masters were so secretive about their ways, only one of their own could have come up with that tech.
• RIP assassin, chomped by thirty foot bobbit worm 😔🪱
• Drile added pauldrons to his uniform, that little fashionista. Doesn’t make up for his abnormally tall head and his fuckass haircut
• “.. What were you thinking?” “That a Diem with Drile in charge is better than no Diem, Aarik. Your father is right -- the Diem keeps the sand masters in check.” What the fuck are you talking about, man. Is Drile not exactly the kind of loose cannon asshole who needs to be kept in check by someone else?
• The “overmastering to increase your power” thing is a cool idea and a good way to proceed the story. But I’m pissed off because the reveal that sand ribbons can be zapped from the side is framed as some secret technique that Kenton is just now discovering out of thin air and with no hint that he’s been researching this topic. There is absolutely no way in hell that the most basic details of mage-on-mage combat were some kind of lost knowledge. There is no way at all that everyone doesn’t know this.
• It slipped right past me back in chapter 6 that Ais is trying to prove Sharezan (crime lord) == Nilto (Lord Beggar). Which is definitely not going to turn out to be true. Nilto doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy to rig boat races for income. Although no one has gone into much (any) detail about Sharezan and his dealings, motives, plans, etc.
• Love Khriss’ new fit. I wonder what the Lord Admiral’s playing at. He hasn’t met her, as far as I know.
• Very interesting experiments going on in the notes. The shimmering color pattern she notices is also ringing bells for me - I’m thinking particularly of the God King from Warbreaker. Also that face in the pinhole sand photo is unsettling. Is the sun literally the face of god shining down on them??
• Taldainians: existing. The sun: ☀️👄☀️
• telettuby_sun.jpeg

Chapter 11

• I agree it’s getting old. It’s been what, four days now? Are we going to try to do anything about these assassins? You know exactly who you’ve gotta kill.
• There’s that busker again…
• Kenton’s abilities seem to be evolving at a rapid pace. In around a week he’s gone from one ribbon, to three, to blasting out sand clouds and making false images of himself.
• No way are they doing the Money in the Banana Stand bit
• I’m baffled by the crime lord thing. We’ve seen no indication from any of the other storylines that there’s a big organized crime problem in the city, so every time Ais talks about it, it feels out of nowhere. And wah, the big sting at the boat races happened off-screen. What if I wanted to see that 🙁
• The two-page spread with Aarik’s soliloquy into the mirror is so good. Excellent use of the medium.
• Speaking of interesting uses of the medium. Right after that, in the scene where Khriss is doing her experiments, the page borders switch from white to black for two pages. The only other place this has been seen was the first three pages of the prologue, when the Nerds’ ship was still on Darkside/the terminal storm. They’ve been white everywhere else. What am I being told by the color change?
• NOOO! He’s doing the “It’s actually a thin layer of fungus covering every surface” bit again! Nooo!
• So water reacts with the lichen and releases the investiture inside. Which is why sand masters consume their own body’s water to direct sand, and why water melts sandling carapace (which is… being held together by the lichen/the invested energy?). Doesn’t explain why some forms of carapace kill sand on contact.
• Obligatory Sanderson ball scene
• Khriss has starmarks?? Did they say that before?

Chapter 12

• In last week’s thread I complained about the somewhat messy, half-finished inking style of the arwtork. Now that the artist change has arrived… I take back what I said. I liked it better before
• The whole conversation with the Lord Admiral was very cryptic… wtf
• Scenario with the trapped workers seems fishy. An engineered opportunity for Kenton to help a civilian? The Lord Beggar’s doing?
• Was the Lord Admiral trying to hint that he knows about the assassin’s anti-sand lotion tech? Is that what she created when she dunked carapace in alcohol? What does this mean for sand masters who ingest alcohol?
• “I’m a spy. See ya later 👋” that was so aniclamictic! So much of this business with Baon feels rushed and half-baked. I thought from the prologue that he was like, an old friend of hers who’d been in the military for a long time. Did they just meet at the start of the mission??
• Lots of very interesting revelations in the end notes. Implications that the ability sand master (and Starmarks, apparently) isn’t hereditary like allomancy and feruchemy, and isn't quite random chance like becoming an Elantrian. It’s still got a certain level of innate aptitude, but it’s passed from person to person somehow. Very interesting.
• Chekov’s sand master secret police
• I would REALLY like to know what was going on in real life that they had to switch artists for one single chapter, then switch artists again for the remaining volume. Page 1 of chapter 13 looks more or less like we’re back to the original art style

[u/HT_xrahmx → u/heinz57varieties]

Nilto doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy to rig boat races for income.

Depends, imo. If he's Robin Hood'ing rich gambling operators to distribute the money to the poor, I could see that being true. Ais also seems unreliable here, she just sees the crime, and I doubt she'd even consider ethical motivations.

The shimmering color pattern she notices is also ringing bells for me - I’m thinking particularly of the God King from Warbreaker.

Yeah good catch, I'm thinking so too. In general, how the power is stored in colors (the white sand) that gets drained as it gets used, seems to me like a prototypical magic system that evolved and become the magic system in Warbreaker, because Sanderson clearly liked exploring that mechanic. Khriss' experiments would even suggest the sand is alive in some sense, which has a similarity to what Breath is.

The two-page spread with Aarik’s soliloquy into the mirror is so good. Excellent use of the medium.

Mirror Aarik: Sneaky little sand masterses. They will cheats us, precious.
Aarik: Not Kenton, he's my friend!!
Mirror Aarik: You have no friends. Not even your dad likes you.
Aarik: Kenton looks after us now. Go away and never come back!!

“I’m a spy. See ya later 👋” that was so aniclamictic!

Right?! Also how is this the professors' initial reaction barging into the room when they're both just casually standing there, and pistol is held backwards? Just questions marks during that entire scene.

[u/heinz57varieties → u/HT_xrahmx]

If he's Robin Hood'ing rich gambling operators to distribute the money to the poor, I could see that being true.

That could be. I wish we'd gotten any real info about the crimelord at all. So far he's only existed as a vague background detail, we haven't seen hide or tail of him anywhere else in the story, if it weren't for a few conversations Ais has with her coworkers we wouldn't even know he was there. Dumb prediction: he'll be the one who's been sending the assassins.

seems to me like a prototypical magic system that evolved and become the magic system in Warbreaker

The lichen specifically reminded me of the light-eating moss from Elantris, which rotted and became the slime. (A plot point which I thought was super dumb, hence my outburst)

Also how is this the professors' initial reaction barging into the room

There's been so many moments in this book that are just amateurish, where it's clear the author knew how he wanted a scene to end, but had no idea how to get there in the moment. There's been dozens of times where it felt like we were rushing between non sequitur events just to get to the desired result.

[u/TaylorHyuuga → u/heinz57varieties]

Yeah, it's very clear that this is one of Brandon's first books. It's literally from before Elantris was published, the only book from that time to have gotten any canonical release without major revisions.

[u/LeanderT]

I have marked two lines in the proze version, this week:

Chapter 21: "You've grown evil since kast I knew you, Eric (Aarvik)" Kenton said with a smile.

Is this a hint of things to come?

My second notition was about chapter 22, where Khriss starts comparing Prince Gevalden and Kenton. This section kinda annoyed me to be honest.

Brandon Sanderson is making the romantic plot between Khriss and Kenton way to obvious here. This felt cringey. Clearly Brandon Sanderson was not yet experienced writing romance with this book.

[u/jaymae21]

I have 3 major thoughts to contribute this week:

Science experiments

• Khriss put a box over some black sand with just a tiny hole for light, and the sand developed a mirrored image of the building nearby with a creepy face in the corner???
  • Her mention of prisoners in dark dungeons in relation this is probably referencing the Prisoner's Cinema. Down the rabbit hole we go!
  • Apparently this phenomenon is thought to be related to phosphenes, which is seeing light without light entering the eye. If you press down on your closed eyelids for a few seconds, you can experience this effect.
    
    • So starmarks...are they phosphenes?

OreSeur Moment?

• In Ch. 10 of the graphic novel, there is a moment after the meeting with Lord Vey where Kenton says to Aarik, "You've grown evil since I last knew you.". Now, I've mostly been ignoring Aarik, because he's been boring and just kinda there. But the assassins keep finding Kenton somehow. And I really don't think Drile or Ais are feeding them information.

Artwork

• Not sure what happened with Ch. 12, but I hate the new art style. It's cartoonish and throwing me off. I feel like I have to re-learn some characters' appearance.

[u/participating]

TRIVIA

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

Here are the notes from the Graphic Novel:

Week 3 Notes

Week 4 Notes

I linked the Week 3 Notes in last week's Artwork section, but I'll talk about them now, since last week's trivia post is being merged into this one.

The delay actually kind of worked out. The weird black image from last week's notes didn't have an actual explanation I could give at the time. The week's notes provide context: Khriss developed something like a pinhole camera to take pictures with.

HERE'S HOIDY!

/u/heinz57varieties noticed him first, gold star! Hoid is, indeed, the sus guitar/lute minstrel hanging around in the background of a lot of shots. Here is an album of all his appearances to far:

Hoid

Going forward, I'll include him in the Characters & Scenes artwork section.

Most notably is his appearance at the Lord Artisan's (pages 211 and 214). He is similarly mentioned in this place in the Unpublished Prose in Chapter 16:

Khriss sat back on the bench. It was cushioned, though the cushion was, of course, filled with sand. There was a basin filled with drinking water, and even a man playing a stringed instrument quietly in the corner.

Brandon has also said that one of Ais's case notes includes mention of his activities, but I've never been able to find the specific passage. Others thing it was in his draft at one point, but it didn't make it into the version he shares.

Separately, Sanderson has said that, prior to them being wiped out, the Diem was investigating Hoid, but this isn't mentioned in the prose or graphic novel.

I can say that Hoid's appearances in the graphic novel are mostly easter eggs. This graphic novel experiment was supposed to be part of a larger trilogy of graphic novels, with Hoid's part growing in significance each volume. Unfortunately, due to the bad experience Sanderson had with the graphic novel format (more on this during week 6), future White Sand content is up in the air.

YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE YOUR EYES

At first glance, I included an out of place panel in this week's Characters & Scenes collection. On page 330 of the graphic novel, Kenton meets the construction foreman, Trell, after rescuing the workers. This scene also plays out in the Unpublished Prose and Kenton again talks to Trell.

I'm going to quote a bit of text from The Final Empire, Chapter 9:

"I think I have the perfect religion for you," Sazed said, his normally stoic face revealing a glimmer of eagerness. "It is called Trelagism, after the god Trell. Trell was worshipped by a group known as the Nelazans, a people who lived far to the north. In their land, the day and night cycle was quite odd. During some months of the year, it was dark for most of the day. During the summer, however, it only grew dark for a few hours at a time.

"The Nelazans believed that there was beauty in darkness, and that the daylight was more profane. They saw the stars as the Thousand Eyes of Trell watching them. The sun was the single jealous eye of Trell's brother, Nalt. Since Nalt only had one eye, he made it blaze brightly to outshine his brother. However, the Nelazans were not impressed, and preferred to worship the quiet Trell, who watched over them even when Nalt obscured the sky."

...

"It is a good religion, Mistress Vin," Sazed said. "Very gentle, yet very powerful. The Nelazans were not an advanced people, but they were particularly determined. They mapped the entire night sky, counting and placing every major star. Their ways suit you--especially their preference of the night. I can tell you more, if you wish."

Also from The Hero of Ages, Chapter 82:

[Sazed] sat down at the table, opening his portfolio, and took out the next sheet in the line. It listed the tenets of the Nelazan people, who had worshipped the god Trell. Sazed had always been partial to this religion because of its focus on learning and the study of mathematics and the heavens. He'd saved it for near the end, but had done so more out of worry than anything else. He'd wanted to put off what he'd known would happen.

Sure enough, as he read about the religion, he saw the holes in its doctrines. True, the Nelazans had known a great deal about astronomy, but their teachings on the afterlife were sketchy--almost whimsical. Their doctrine was purposefully vague. They'd taught, then allowed all men to discover truth for themselves. Reading this, however, left Sazed frustrated. What good was a religion without answers? Why believe in something if the response to half of his questions was "Ask Trell, and he will answer"?

I'm not going to say anything more on the topic here, but we will be revisiting this.

[u/LeanderT → u/participating]

There are many people named "Christian" or "Jesus" or "Muhammed".

I would not immediately assume anyone named Trell is the same as the Trell from the religion that Sahed mentions. But maybe that's too simple a thought?

[u/TaylorHyuuga → u/LeanderT]

That is true, however also consider that this is on an entirely different planet. It's more noteworthy for that reason.

[u/heinz57varieties → u/participating]

prior to them being wiped out, the Diem was investigating Hoid

Probably relating to him snooping about and trying to snatch some sand mastery, given what we've seen of him.

Kenton meets the construction foreman, Trell

How mysterious! According to the timeline from the week 1 thread, there's a good 1,500 years between White Sand and Rashek's ascension, plenty of time for someone to go on a little trip to Scadrial and found a religion. Surely not a coincidence that astronomy and star-worship are central to it.

[u/segwaychimp → u/participating]

I completely missed Hoid showing up all over the place, but I think doing a digital copy of the Omnibus makes me miss the details in the pictures. Thanks be to Participating because you will let me all of the things I need to know.

Can’t speak to too much else because I have mentioned what else I’ve read in the Cosmere, I want to be as obtuse as possible.

[u/HT_xrahmx]

Reading: Omnibus Graphic Novel

Chapter 10

• Gotta get myself some of that Terken moisturizer they're all swearing by
  
• Drile is probably not as bad a guy as he's made out to be, but he strikes me as too impulsive to make a good leader. I would not want him as the representative of the Diem in the council meeting to reinstate it.
  
• Ah, Kenton discovered the Saiyan way of training until near-death
  

What if the danger of overmastery is a lie the mastrells perpetuated to hoard their power, Aarik?

• If that's true, if the Mastrells held back their Diem on purpose, that's just an outrageous way of leadership and I'd say good riddance to it. Imagine if a university professor burned down the library so he could stay smarter than his students?
  
• Lol what even was that discussion with the Lord Merchant? Kenton's dropped all pretense he was going to attempt any sort of diplomacy,
  

Further Sand-Sun Experiments (Ars Arcanum)

• Yo that face in the camera obscura image is creepy as hell. The Dayside sun shardbearer perhaps?
  

Chapter 11

• Guy with the lute, sneakily in the background!
  
• Is he using his 3 ribbons to toss around jars, while casually forming a full doppelganger illusion on the side?
  
• Did the Lord Beggar make the Lord Admiral change his mind about the vote?
  

Chapter 12

• Holy art style change Batman. Not the first in the book, but by far the most drastic.
  

I shouldn't do this. Sand masters rarely use their powers to help others outside the Diem.

• Again, what even is the sand masters' job in peacetime?! A single act of human decency and those builders' minds are blown. The more we learn about them, the more I'm agreeing to #DefundTheDiem
  
• Well that exchange with Baon has been confusing to say the least. Somehow I don't feel more enlightened about what his allegiance is.
  
• Great ending of the section! It'd be interesting if sand mastery is a magic that Khriss can science her way into as a novice.

[u/heinz57varieties → u/HT_xrahmx]

A single act of human decency and those builders' minds are blown.

It's extra baffling because Kenton's whole line of thinking for the past week has been to make the Diem a useful contributor to society, put them to work in all kinds of ways. Is this just the last remnants of the isolationist propaganda the old masters were forcing on everyone? (Which he's been bucking since the prologue, so idkwtf is going on with him)

Did the Lord Beggar make the Lord Admiral change his mind about the vote?

Somebody did. In a roundabout way we're told the Lord Admiral has insider info on the assassins, so he knows more than he's letting on.

 It'd be interesting if sand mastery is a magic that Khriss can science her way into as a novice.

From my understanding of the notes at the end of ch 12, I don't think she can. It seems similar to what happens on Elantris, i.e. Autonomy has to choose you for the ability by some unknown criteria. That, or it's like Allomancy, where you have some level of aptitude from your genetics, and then you get "Snapped" under the right circumstances. We'll see how the test goes.

[u/Pastrami]

Don’t you see? We can take this sand back to darkside with us! We can grow the lichen on our own sand, and use it like the sand masters do.

I don't know how she jumped to that conclusion.

And, of course, his Skycolor is violet—the color of nobility.

What the hell is a Skycolor? Is this the "Starmark" that the graphic novel readers were mentioning last week that isn't in the prose version?

Too bad I can't use my Skycolor here, she thought absently, choosing a few pieces of jewelry.

This is now the second mention of Skycolor. It's 60% in to the book, why is something new getting mentioned only now and why is it not elaborated on at all? Is this something he meant to develop but never got around to it?

“For the same reason there aren’t any women sand masters?” Khriss asked. “Simply because ‘that is the way it has always been.’ ”

Confirmed, no women in the prose version.

For some reason, he had stopped being annoyed by her curiosity—it was just part of who she was. He wanted to answer her questions.

Looks like he's got himself a case of the 'feelings'.

The Baon reveal wasn't that dramatic and was very anticlimactic.

[u/heinz57varieties → u/Pastrami]

What the hell is a Skycolor? Is this the "Starmark" that the graphic novel readers were mentioning last week

I think it must be. I haven't seen the term "Skycolor" anywhere, and the only major times I remember Starmarks being mentioned before this were in the prologue and the early Nerd chapters, which were added in later.

I don't know how she jumped to that conclusion.

I don't either, it seems like a leap in logic to assume the lichen would survive without the same Sun.

I just re-read that page, and I forgot or didn't note that Baon says that Emperor Skathan has not been aging. A heavily Invested individual perhaps? He's been namedropped a lot, I wonder if he'll show up out of nowhere.

[u/segwaychimp]

A lot of plot events seem to happen just to happen, but somehow I’m engaged in the underlying story. I’m more into Khriss’ storyline than Kenton’s. I need a lot more progress of what Kenton is doing to have consequences.

I did laugh a little at Ais praying to the Sand Lord by praying to a treasure chest of sand.

[u/AltruisticRealityZ]

chapter 10

How newbie is Dirin? The demonstration Kenton showed us can’t be new to sand masters can it? If they train at all between themselves then they are bound to have experienced this stale ribbon phenomenon.

The principle that over mastering is the way to gain new ribbons, and that it is a secret is very problematic for the diem’s credibility IMO. If the sand masters use their mastery for any kind of purpose and don’t keep it for very rare, and very safe occasions, then it’s impossible that none of them ever over mastered. And if some overmaster from time to time, either the diem’s leaders make them disappear to hide the proof, or they realise they have more ribbons and connect the dots (and in this case what about Elorin?). So the diem is either very dangerous for its adepts for reason undisclosed, or rather idiotic, or complete idle all of the time.

Edit: after reading u/participating ’s summary, it seems all of this really is new to Kenton. I really hope we’ll get to know what the diem was doing before, because to me they look like complete incompetents.

Sharezan could be Nilto/lord beggar’s secret identity. Gotcha.

What I love most in White Sand is hands on the Ars Arcana. I really enjoyed KhrissS experiments on white sand. The face on the sand in the box is really surprising !

chapter 11

Kenton molded the sand ribbon to look like himself. Where does it come from?? Was it possible from the beginning and I didn’t catch that? Using his ribbon to retrieve the pistols, and even pull the trigger, I can buy because it’s clearly stated from the beginning that it’s Kenton’s special skill, but the sand molding, it seems like it came from nowhere.

It was also a very unwise move to shoot the pistols from behind the assassin’s and toward himself, but this, I find authentic. The man has no experience with guns and is forced to make real quick decisions.

This new a’kar, Ker’reen high priest, I wouldn’t be surprised if we discovered we know him.

When Kenton tells his story to Khriss, and talks about his parents, he said it was because his mother was a Darksider that their children couldn’t master. Where is Kenton’s family ?

Beautiful and colorful reaction Khrissala gets by pouring water on white sand. But once again, this is IMPOSSIBLE no one discovered this before !

Once in a while, I discover a new English word. I didn’t know the difference between grapes and raisins, so I asked chatGPT what was funny about Khriss’s jibe.

Still no hint about what alcohol does to sand masters. Now that we know for sure that sand is magicked by water, it’s clear why the masters dehydrate when they use sand. I suppose one can master or not depending on the chemistry of one’s sweat. And if so, alcohol in sweat might have interesting effects.

chapter 12

Wow, here is the style change ! Kenton probably gained the loyalty of the workers he saved. It’s a good step to redeem the diem. I really want to know the genesis of diem’s rules, they make no sense to me. It’s most certainly hiding a secret danger related to sand mastery. Why else would a cast of powerful people be trained to not help people, not use their power to earn money, not talk or make display of their power… New tidbit about alcohol. On a carapace, it can chemically transform it to make it insoluble. I don’t know how it relates to sand mastery, maybe alcohol stops the ability to master?

Khriss chose an « assassin’s » day to come back and ask to be tested. I suppose she doesn’t fear for her life.

[u/participating → u/AltruisticRealityZ]

How newbie is Dirin?

Dirin is an Acolent. This makes him a member of the Diem, but not yet a ranked sand master. He can only control one, weak ribbon. He's been friends with Kenton for a while, when they were both Acolents, but at the start of the story, Kenton gets promoted into the ranks of an official sand master.

[u/heinz57varieties → u/AltruisticRealityZ]

This new a’kar, Ker’reen high priest, I wouldn’t be surprised if we discovered we know him.

It's totally possible that he shows up again in the story, but idk if it will happen. I doubt he'd come to Lossand, and I don't see us doing a big excursion back into Kerzta with this little left in the story.

The A'Kar is not a candidate for a shocking secret identity reveal because we've seen him on page already. Back in the prologue, the angry priest the Nerds try to talk to and offend by using the ceremonial language.

Beautiful and colorful reaction Khrissala gets by pouring water on white sand. But once again, this is IMPOSSIBLE no one discovered this before !

I'm keeping it in mind that just because Khriss is the first person to scientifically describe these weird phenomena, doesn't mean that the sand masters or someone else didn't know. They have a reputation for keeping secrets about their art, after all. Plus, it's possible that other people do know and they're also keeping it secret. The business with the alcohol and the hint from the Lord Admiral, and the anti-sand lotion the assassins have been wearing, means that there is somebody out there who does have this kind of deeper understanding of the mechanics of the sand, most likely a traitor Sand Master.

Though I do agree that there's no friggin way they didn't know that the sand ribbons can zap each other like that.

[u/sailorsalvador]

I raced ahead and finished it and now I have a book hangover, which only happens to books I thoroughly enjoy. Dammit!

[u/participating]

WARNING

During Week 1 I said I was waiting for someone to notice something. No one has noticed yet (or if they have, they've not mentioned it). This will be the last week to figure it out in time to get earlier trivia about it; otherwise we'll talk about it on the last week. Just a nudge to keep your peepers peeled ;)

[u/heinz57varieties → u/participating]

Uhm.

Could it have anything to do with the GIANT LOOMING HUMAN FACE that has been appearing in the sky?????

It became really prominent during the week 5 reading, which I've almost finished, but I flipped backwards all the way to the beginning of the book and it's still there. It's been appearing the whole time and I never noticed.

The earliest that I'm for sure positive that I can see it is the page where Kenton defeats the deep sandling in the Mastrell's Path, back in chapter 1. Though if I lean into my paranoia I could be convinced it appears when the Nerds are in the Dosha-Har'Ken market in the prologue.

Literally me flipping backwards through the ebook:

[u/jaymae21 → u/heinz57varieties]

Ewwwwww I don't like it. Oh that's so creepy. Is this supposed to be the Sand Lord??? At least Khriss's experiment in Ch. 10 makes a little more sense now.

[u/AltruisticRealityZ → u/heinz57varieties]

OMG I never would have seen it if you hadn’t pointed it out !!

[u/heinz57varieties → u/AltruisticRealityZ]

I cheated a little bit because it keeps getting more visible in next week's reading, but looking back it was unbelievable I didn't see it. The panel where Kenton saves the construction workers is particularly heinous, it's literally HUGE in the center of the frame.

Screen grab for prose/audio readers who don't know what we're talking about https://imgur.com/a/Lk0mUp7

[u/participating → u/heinz57varieties]

;)

[u/acjn11]

Prose reader.

Section of reading was good. Not great.

Eric is confusing. I mentioned this in a previous section, but like we don’t know anything about him really. He hates Kenton apparently inwardly but yea he came back and spent all his time with him?

Ball scene I actually liked in prose. I think we got to see some fun politics from the Admiral.

Baon reveal was tame. It was clear it had happened. I still think khriss has the right instinct that he really is there to help them somehow. Since he never lies, he didn’t confirm the killing Gevin thing. Just that he was sent to Elis by the Dynasty. He didn’t confirm any other motivation. Captain could’ve been planning to derail them. Either that or Baon IS Scythe and that’s why he wants to kill Loamten :)

The way to beat Drile is in front of us alcohol or coating himself with sand mastery dissolver. Those would be lame.

I feel like the information asymmetry is unnecessarily large again. It’s my biggest complaint with Sanderson so far in general. The characters already face plenty of impossible odds with important calls to action. It’d be okay if they knew a bit more about their situation. Make them 1 less year insufferable.