Review
An e-copy of the book has been provided by the publisher, Diamond Book Distributor, in exchange for an honest review.
Brandon Sanderson’s prowess in storytelling and writing is undeniable with his ever growing readers. With that alone, I have a sensibly high expectation for this graphic novel. Not having read (finished, really) any of his works, though, I am unaware of how he lays his story down. Additionally, reading his work in a medium that relies strongly not on the writing alone but with a team effort in art, placement, and sequencing of the story, I was trying to grasp a better construct for review.
Jumping straight on, the art, on its own, is magnificent! Details are marvelously planted—they give life to the environment and contribute to the emotional status of the characters. I specifically enjoy the visuals when the main character’s [Paul] room was shown. The amount of clutter in his room showcases his level of restlessness and of the anxiety that he has over the “unknown” that’s shrouding his life.
Moving on, the choice of colour for the speech bubbles are highly perplexing. I am clueless as to whether they overlooked this part as they were focused on the idea that the novel will be in colour, but reading the book in grayscale is a nightmare! A tiny black speech bubble that is suspended on a similar tone of black background will trigger you some vertigo! Add to that, there were also white/gray speech bubbles with light texts.
The use of panels shows an organic flow of story. It keeps the readers invested without drowning them with so much events. There was also an impressive use of onomatopoeia and the brilliant placement of silence to intensify moments in the scene.
‘Dark One” volume 1 is an admirably woven tale of two worlds that slowly collides as the story progresses. The main character’s cluelessness directs the curiosity of the readers well into gobbling the book. In the end, I do have an issue with how weak the introduction of the world has been but with graphic novels tending to be more quick-paced I completely understand the direction.
About the Author
Brandon’s major books for the second half of 2016 are The Dark Talent, the final volume in Alcatraz Smedry’s autobiographical account of his battle against the Evil Librarians who secretly rule our world, and Arcanum Unbounded, the collection of short fiction in the Cosmere universe that includes the Mistborn series and the Stormlight
Archive, among others. This collection features The Emperor’s Soul,Mistborn: Secret History, and a brand-new Stormlight Archive novella, Edgedancer.
Earlier this year he released Calamity, the finale of the #1 New York Times bestselling Reckoners trilogy that began with Steelheart .
Brandon Sanderson was born in 1975 in Lincoln, Nebraska. As a child Brandon enjoyed reading, but he lost interest in the types of titles often suggested to him, and by junior high he never cracked a book if he could help it. This changed when an eighth grade teacher gave him Dragonsbane by Barbara Hambly.
Brandon was working on his thirteenth novel when Moshe Feder at Tor Books bought the sixth he had written. Tor has published Elantris, the Mistborn trilogy and its followup The Alloy of Law,Warbreaker, and The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance, the first two in the planned ten-volume series The Stormlight Archive. He was chosen to complete Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series; 2009’s The Gathering Storm and 2010’s Towers of Midnight were followed by the final book in the series, A Memory of Light, in January 2013. Four books in his middle-grade Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians series have been released in new editions by Starscape, and his novella Infinity Blade Awakening was an ebook bestseller for Epic Games accompanying their acclaimed Infinity Blade iOS video game series. Two more novellas, Legion and The Emperor’s Soul, were released by Subterranean Press and Tachyon Publications in 2012, and 2013 brought two young adult novels, The Rithmatist from Tor and Steelheart from Delacorte.
The only author to make the short list for the David Gemmell Legend Award six times in four years, Brandon won that award in 2011 for The Way of Kings. The Emperor’s Soul won the 2013 Hugo Award for Best Novella. He has appeared on the New York Times Best-Seller List multiple times, with five novels hitting the #1 spot.
Currently living in Utah with his wife and children, Brandon teaches creative writing at Brigham Young University.
