Ranking a Year of Sanderson
What a blessing this year has been.
Last year, in March, Brandon Sanderson announced that he had written five novels in secret, and was planning to release four of those five books throughout the following year.
This lead to the biggest Kickstarter campaign of all time.
I opened Youtube, watched a couple minutes of the video, and backed the Kickstarter the second it was announced. I was losing my mind. My brother was confused. My dad understood.
I really wanted to back the entire year and get merchandise boxes each month, but as a struggling college student, I didn’t have the funds.
I did, however, get hardcover copies. They’re still wrapped in plastic. I’ll be moving in the first half of next year and I plan on buying more bookshelves then. I am craving that satisfying moment of taking the plastic off and putting it on my brand new shelf in my own apartment.
Four new Brandon Sanderson books in one year. Plus, Defiant, the last book in the Skyward series, is coming out in November. But I won’t talk about that here. I’m focused purely on the secret projects. Still, five new Sanderson books in one year?
A blessing. I’m telling you.
For those of you who don’t know, the Cosmere is similar to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. All of this takes place in the same universe, just on different planets. Some characters have capacity to travel between these planets! It’s all very cool and very exciting.
I’ll be ranking the secret projects here, from least favorite to oh my god this blew my mind.
If you aren’t aware of the secret projects, in order of publication, we have:
Tress of the Emerald Sea, a whimsical book about pirates and fighting for love.
The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook to Surviving Medieval England, an action-packed book with interdimensional travel, a lot of comedy, and spies.
Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, a darker novel centered on creativity with romantic undertones.
And Sunlit Man, a fast-paced, intense science fiction novel where the sun can and will melt you.
My reviews for each one will be linked at the end. The headings of each section will take you to Goodreads, so you can read other people’s opinions of it, too.
4. The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England
I have to be real with you.
I didn’t remember the whole name for this book.
I know I was just raving about what a blessing it has been to receive so many new Brandon Sanderson books in one year, but this one fell flat.
Frugal Wizard is the only secret project that does not take place in the Cosmere. It’s about a dude who wakes up in Medieval England with no memory of how he got there. The plot that ensues is magical Jason Bourne in Medieval England. Interdimensional travel, wizards, and spies are what make this book unique. However, the side characters are lackluster and the Saxon gods are hard to recognize. Sanderson gives very little backstory or knowledge about these gods and the reader is expected to pick it up.
I know I was going through a lot when I picked this book up for the first time, but the lack of explanation about the gods left me feeling frustrated and distant from the story.
3/5. Not my favorite.
Alright, we’re going up.
Nomad, who is a character that appears in other series(Just not by that name.), ends up stuck on a planet where the sun fries humans and melts mountains. On this planet, there’s a tyrant who has a monopoly on the energy source that keeps people moving. On a planet were the sun’s rays can kill you, being mobile is pretty important. Nomad ends up in the middle of this internal war and has to make some tough decisions to find his way off the planet and back on the run from the Night Brigade.
Sunlit Man is full of Cosmere references. A lot of them went over my head. In addition to this, I feel like part of the Stormlight Archives was diminished for me because of this book. If I had read more Cosmere novels, I have a feeling this rating would be different.
Also, the side characters, just like in Frugal Wizard, were flat. I found them to be underdeveloped and generic. A lot of this was likely due to the distance Nomad kept placing between himself and the people on the planet, but I could not connect with them.
While the book was fast-paced, it was hard to care about anybody other than Nomad. And I wanted to, because the world was so intriguing.
4/5.
2. Yumi and the Nightmare Painter
This book made a lasting impression on me.
Painter walks the streets of the city late at night, painting the nightmares that haunt people so they manifest as something that isn’t harmful. Yumi is a yoki-hijo, tasked with stacking stones to attract spirits and improve people’s lives. They end up in each other’s bodies. They have to work together to find out why they’re switching bodies, what planet each other is from, and how to fix their homelands.
This book had me giggling, laughing, crying, sobbing, and grinning from ear to ear. I adored this book. It was Sanderson’s first true adventure into romance, and it was wonderful.
It was a love letter to creativity.
It’s narrated by Hoid. Though this book is significantly darker than the other secret project narrated by Hoid, his quirky, comedic traits still shine through. Hoid’s comedic brevity is necessary because of the darker undertones regarding trauma and healing.
5/5. I wish I could read it for the first time again.
I’m not certain what it is about Tress of the Emerald Sea. I devoured it in two days. I’m obsessed.
Tress lives on a black salt rock with her family. She spends her free time collecting cups, cleaning windows, and spending time with Charlie, the man she loves but won’t admit it to. She doesn’t want to brave the seas (Which are made of twelve different types of spores that explode into different materials depending on the color when touched by water.) until Charlie gets kidnapped by an evil sorceress.
The cast of characters in this book is phenomenal. They are diverse. They are relatable. The dynamic between all of the characters was really nice and fun to read about. Most importantly, I could relate to Tress. Her growth felt distinct and realistic. And I have never, ever, liked a rat named Huck more.
It is also a Cosmere novel. This was the first book I read that was narrated by Hoid. At first I was shocked, then I was confused, then I was laughing. It was great.
It was a very fun, lighthearted, and whimsical book that made my chest feel warm. I have a copy to sit on my shelf and a copy to annotate. It may be my favorite book.
5/5.
~~~~~~
The revelation of Sanderson’s secret projects and the subsequent Kickstarter campaign created a wave of excitement and anticipation I could feel in my spine.
From the magical journey of the unnamed man in Frugal Wizard to the intense struggle for survival in The Sunlit Man, each book offered its own distinctive elements. However, it was Yumi and the Nightmare Painter that captivated me. Its blend of adventure, romance, and creativity left a lasting impression on me, making it a book I wish I could experience again for the first time.
But it was Tress of the Emerald Sea that captured my imagination. With deadly oceans, a captivating cast of characters, and a whimsical world, this Cosmere novel enchanted me. Tress’s journey, coupled with the delightful narration by Hoid, made it a heartwarming and cozy read.
These secret projects have showcased Sanderson’s versatility as a writer and further expanded the rich tapestry of the Cosmere. I am eager for Defiant, the final installment of the Skyward series, and every future novel Sanderson gets to publish.
For more detailed reviews of each book, you can visit the following links:
What did you think of the secret projects? Do you agree with my ranking? Leave a comment and let me know!