Rating: 4/5
Brandon Sanderson is a fantastic world builder. Admittedly, I've only read a couple of his solo books and the ones he wrote for the Wheel of Time series. Each of the stories felt distinct though. This one goes off in another direction compared to his other stories I've read. I know this connects into some of his other works, but I haven't read those and this still felt like a solid story.
It is set within a desert region of a planet. There is a group of people known as Sand Masters that are able to manipulate sand using magic. The protagonist is a member of this group, but at the lowest levels because his ability is minimal. After some events that I don't want to spoil, he sets out on a journey with a group from another region of the world, which opens things up quite a bit.
I thought the art fit this book perfectly. It can be monochromatic, which makes sense in a desert, and the illustrations have a grainy quality to them. There were times when I found it difficult to differentiate characters because of this though. As the story progresses, there is more color introduced. Only a couple of times do any of the images stand out.
As the first part of the story, this sets the tone really well. It has a mostly self contained story while setting up the next portion. The main character is a stereotype of sorts. Maybe its because of the fantasy genre or perhaps it is Brandon Sanderson, but I felt like the attitude and situations were not unique. That said, this book was enjoyable and I'm looking forward to continuing the story.
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