White Sand Vol.1 was the first installment of Brandon Sanderson’s first foray into graphic novels, and it blew me away; from the story to the artwork it was a stunning beginning to a truly epic tale. The second installment begins right where the first one left off with Kenton flying away from Duchess Khrissalla, so he could try and wrap his head around the fate of his diem. Of course, the Duchess is furious with the young leader of the Sand Masters because he hid who he was from them.
After the duchess and her entourage leave, Kenton begins to think about how he will resolve the fate of his diem. The story then briefly shifts to Kenton meeting with some of the people who had just voted to disband the Sand Masters, and at the second meeting, he runs into the duchess who informs Kenton that she will be assisting him to save the diem of the Sand Masters.
Aside from having to change the minds each and every person who voted to disband the Sand Masters’ diem, he is having to deal with assassins, a rival Sand Master seeking his own power and the general hatred and fear that diem has encouraged to grow in the light side of the planet. And while Kenton is doing what only a Sand Master can do the Duchess is trying to help in her own way and to find out what had happened to her betrothed.
The art, a beautiful mix of dark and gritty that graced the pages of the first installment continued to grace the pages through the first 5 chapters of this installment. Now while the artwork for the last chapter was still quite excellent it did change taking on a lighter tone, softening quite a bit yet somehow, it managed to keep the essence of the characters unchanged. It was an interesting twist that threw me for a moment, and it forces me to wonder what the change means for the art for the next and last installment of this story arc.
The storylines are continuing to wind beautifully together in a fantastic way, I am eagerly awaiting the last installment of the story, but until then I will keep looking through the pages of these two volumes to try and wring every last drop of information from their pages.