The Sunlit Man - Brandon Sanderson

⭐ 8.5/10

(Originally written by Tim)

The best Sanderson in years! This felt like a classic Sanderson read to me - you are introduced to an interesting world with a precise magic system and a specific planetary environment. In this case the magic is familiar (which makes it exciting in its own way), and the environment is kind of a spin on Stormlight's. I read the book in basically a week, and I thought it had a satisfying conclusion that got me excited for my next one. I forgot that's how these used to make me feel!

I am sick of every Sanderson protagonist being so introspective. Everyone talks in therapy language, and everyone has trauma they are working through. Heck, trauma is a super power in these books! I think its super lame, but this book is in the Cosmere and directly tied to Stormlight, so its more a continuation of all that. It doesn't help that each book the protagonist has an invisible companion that they can talk to, framing their internal dialog as a conversation. Again, Sanderson also has a terrible sense of humour, kind of juvenile but also kind of dad-on-Facebook. Hard to explain, I just wish he would stop trying.

But enough bad! This book moves really quickly, and the POV character felt like a new voice in a Cosmere of like-minded people. I think the real strength of this book is the expansion of the cosmere, exciting me for what is to come in this massive world. Some of the recent books have made the Cosmere feel small and repetitive, but this one had my imagination churning once again.

I had the thought while reading, and maybe I've said something along these lines before, that these are kind of like my Marvel movies. I don't think I could do a movie-to-book comparison for all of them, and the narrative/team-up nature doesn't really track, but I mean more in a quality way. Some of the recent books have felt late-tier Marvel, with recycled ideas and humour. The dream is that Stormlight 5 in December is Endgame, the culmination of this entire phase, but this book interestingly takes place after that (which I thought was a cool choice). As I keep talking the analogy falls apart, since in Marvel the connective tissue and easter eggs is what makes me not like them, where as in these books when magic systems or planets connect I am thrilled. This book had a lot of new lore, which was exciting to me, and the connections to what came before it were intriguing.

The score might be inflated because of how disappointing the last few years have been as a Sanderson fan, but this one encouraged me that he's still got some juice and has me excited for Stormlight 5. Much like how Joe realized he doesn't like or need world building for good fantasy, I realized that's all I need to enjoy fantasy. That is what makes easter eggs exciting, since it feels like puzzle pieces coming together in the universe he has built.

If you are invested (Sanderson joke) in Stormlight I think this is a must read. If you have never read Sanderson this would be last on the read order list. So basically this review was just for Will.