Brandon Sanderson's White Sand Volume 2 (BRANDON SANDERSON WHITE SAND HC)

I wish this were a novel by Sanderson instead of a graphic novel. Plot is too slow with mainly political maneuvering that is not that interesting. It’s weird in section 5 the style of graphics changed. Only reason that I’m reading this book series is because it’s in the cosmere.

This book picks up right where #1 left off. Kenton spends his time trying to curry favor for the upcoming vote about the fate of the Sand Masters. Duchess Khriss decides to help him in an effort to get him to tell her more about the Sand Masters' powers (and because he's awful at negotiations). Ais is begrudgingly kept busy trying to keep Kenton alive with the hit out on his life and assassins showing up like clockwork. And as if that weren't enough, Kenton has to deal with Drile, the guy who wants his job, and Ais is trying to track down a crime lord before he kills her family, and Khriss is finding out some very interesting things about sand and her bodyguard.I started reading this and had to go back and reread book #1 because I couldn't remember who everyone was and what their side story was (because everyone has at least one side story in this). All refreshed, I found this way easier to follow. A lot of this book is political games with the occasional assassin thrown in for some action. The plot is getting built up for some climaxes that should come in the next book. Not that the developments aren't entertaining. I'm quite curious to see how some of these new developments will play out. And now the wait for book #3 commences.Notes on content: No language issues (all swearing is in fake languages and doesn't sound like anything in English). No sexual content. A little bit of blood and some dead assassins (not depicted super gory). One character is constantly drunk (but he's not exactly respected for that).

Fun book, though after finishing it I'm not sure all that much happens. Will be interesting to see how they wrap up the story in the next book. While the art style has its charms, I'm not sad that a new artist was used to finish the book. Their style was much clearer and easier on the eyes (literally not figuratively).

This book is still building the world and culture of this story. Unfortunately, we are still hindered by the format of the graphic novel. I liked the art style more as I read this second novel. It was a little jarring when the art changed. To be honest i didn't really like it. I think I might have if it was consistent from the beginning but what can you do. Not much happens in the way of plot. Kenton is trying to secure votes to keep the Diem alive. We don't see that resolved in this book. There is some action interspersed but not enough.

I loved the gritty style in the first volume and the first half of this one, but the style changed and became mostly simple outlines. It was jarring for me. Sanderson will still be my most favorite author. Every steady creator has at least a couple dim stars in their painted sky. The choice for the art style change were a poor choice, though, no matter who did it. It drew me out of the terrific story I was experiencing. It started right around the start of the party. I thought it was a try at making the party environment seem more clean and civilized, but it steadily got worse and lasted even after the party. Maybe it was a decision made to decrease the time needed to draw each panel. It certainly would take longer to add in all those grits. But they made the graphics more unique, real, and fantastical (seems contradictory but I do think it can be both). Near the end the art was bland nearing boredom.I say 5 stars on the story, but 2 on the art style, due to the jarring, rapid deterioration.Otherwise, thank you Sanderson and artists for the great addition to the White Sand story. I hope the real style is back for volume 3!;)

Condition: the book came in wonderful condition. I am very pleased and excited to have this is my collection.Contents: I haven't read this yet (I have read Brandon's full-length unpublished novel version and loved it), but just skimming through it I love the vivid color and glossy pages. However, the illustrations seem grainy to me. It's not that they're poorly drawn; rather I think the art is just not my style. Most of the characters look like they have bad acne scars. I'm excited to read this, though, and happy I purchased it.

I liked that this was an easy read. Can't wait to finish the series.Book is not very long, just letting you know. But it is a graphic novel after all, so this is not unexpected, and it's not a bad thing either. Short and sweet is often better than long and dull. My own opinion anyway.

White Sand has been a labor of love for Sanderson. He has built political intrigue within a familiar yet different world than our own. I have really enjoyed the graphic presentation until the final chapter of volume two. The change in art style disengaged me from the story. Overall, pleased with the story, did not like the change in styles.

I wasn’t particularly enamoured by the first volume of ‘White Sand’, but it was an intriguing and new form of media for one of Sanderson’s stories and seemed to have several areas of potential. Of course, the first of a series also needs to be granted a bit of leeway because of the necessary preoccupation with establishing setting, tone and characters. Not that ‘White Sand’ has managed to do this anywhere near the level generally expected of Sanderson’s novels.However, this second volume has almost failed to engage me at all. It seems to be treading water. It isn’t that nothing happens, but rather that the plot doesn’t actually seem to be progressing.After the events of the first part, Kenton is trying to consolidate his position and protect the future of the Sand Masters. This generally means that the second volume is little more than a series of Kenton visiting different figures one after the other interspersed with assassination attempts against him. There isn’t much more to this volume and there is a distinct lack of character development. There is also a considerably underwhelming cliff-hanger.Khriss is probably the most interesting element of the book. But this isn’t really due to anything she does in this story but more to do with her role as the writer of the ‘Ars Arcanum’ in the expanded Cosmere and her brief appearances in other works of Sanderson’s.The book is divided into six chapters. The style of artwork drastically changes for the last chapter for some unfathomable reason). Half the characters are virtually unrecognisable. Even Kenton doesn’t look like the same person. Although, presumably there must be some good reason to do such a ridiculous thing it still doesn’t alter the fact that it is quite disrupting and distracts from what story there is.So far ‘White Sand’ hasn’t been anywhere near as engrossing as most of Sanderson’s works. It’s hard to gage whether it is the story itself or the transition to graphic novel. I expect it is more to do with the conversion after reading the excerpt from the original that was included in the ‘Ars Arcanum’. Hopefully, the third volume improves things.

I liked the smoother art in this volume. I also felt that it allowed for differentiation between sand masters which was a problem I had in vol 1. Now the groundwork was done it was also nice to see the plot accelerate as well as far more magic. Great as a fan of Sanderson's wider work to hear the Trell name drop and get into the lore of the world and especially sand mastery. Enjoy it!

Really didn't grab me like the first one, I'm still struggling to finish it. It's very heavy on the politics.I can't fault the art however the drawings are beautiful, there's just not a lot of action for the artists to capatilize on

Pictures are worth a thousand wordsGraphic novels are worth moreI would recommend to anyone who likes to read fantasy

And White Sand is a great graphic novel.