The Sunlit Man
Ratings380
Average rating4.3
Probably one of my least favorite Sanderson books, but still wonderful. I found myself a bit lost or uninterested at times, but it still had a satisfying ending.
8.5/10
Really cool part of the Cosmere. I love how Brandon is just talking about different worlds and peoples of the Cosmere as if we know as much about it as Nomad does.
The only reason this isn't 5 stars is because the names were a bit weird, and the pacing was off at times.
"In a fight of one against many, chaos favored him."
I managed to squeeze in all four Sanderson secret project books before the end of the year, and that’s a big deal to me. Normally I don’t read authors/series back-to-back like this. I’m somewhat glad I did, because it lets me really compare the four books against each other in terms of my enjoyment and arrive at a (somewhat) legitimate review score. The tl;dr version is that it’s a decent book (particularly if you really sink your teeth into Cosmere stuff), but definitely not a stand-alone story, and be at least caught up with the Stormlight Archive through Rhythm of War before riding this ride.
Nomad, a key player in the Stormlight Archives, is on the run, and winds up on a murderous mudball of a planet. The sun is actively trying to kill everyone on its surface, forcing its residents to live in moving cities that travel just in the sun’s wake so as not to, y’know, fry. The Cinder King is the despot of this planet, trying to unify everyone under his singular rule (and thumb). The rebel faction on this planet are the ones Nomad falls in with, and the book follows his story of trying to escape this planet while also saving the people from the Cinder King’s rule.
From, basically, page 1 Sanderson throws you into the deep end of Nomad’s predicament, and from there it’s wall-to-wall action until the end. It’s a very fast paced book, which is somewhat uncharacteristic of Sanderson. It’s also rife with Cosmere spoilers for the unwary, so it’s important that you’re well-versed in your lore before tackling this one. I appreciate that the Cosmere exists, but I don’t do extensive Cosmere study, leaving me having to do some emergency cramming to understand some of the more intricate details. It’s definitely not a stand-alone read, which Sanderson owns in the afterword. This book is Sanderson’s gift to the fans, and it shows.
I ended up with a 4 star rating on this one, just because I definitely didn’t enjoy it as much as Tress or Yumi, but I did like it more than Frugal Wizard. It’s just really fast paced (have I said that enough?), and there’s a lot going on. It’s a must-read for anyone invested (hahahaha) in the Cosmere, though.
Run run run as fast as you can...you can't catch me because I am the Sunlit Man!
This book feels like Mad Max on the Cosmere and it's absolutely amazing.
Un emocionante regreso al Cosmere con todas las de la ley en un mundo donde los rayos del sol son una sentencia de muerte, un antiguo conocido trata de proteger a sus habitantes mientras huye de unos cazadores y se llevan a cabo ciertas revelaciones del universo de Sanderson. Para mí, el mejor Proyecto Secreto.
Ahora falta volver a Roshar.
...
Y con esto terminan las publicaciones de los 4 libros que lanzó Brando Sando este año. Mi orden de favoritos fue:
1. El Hombre Iluminado (Proyecto Secreto 4) - 4.5/5
2. Trenza del Mar Esmeralda (Proyecto Secreto 1) 4/5
3. Yumi y el pintor de Pesadillas (Proyecto Secreto 3) 3/5
—
No he leído el Proyecto Secreto 2 (no hace parte del Cosmere y creo que le he dedicado mucha lectura a Brando Sando este año, hay que variar, hay que variar!), pero eventualmente lo haré.
Brilliant addition to the cosmere. A wonderful capstone to the secret projects and a thrilling look to what will come next.
Such a great finish to the Kickstarter. Read all the Secret Projects and ended with this one even though I am only half way through the first Strormlight Archive book. The reading on that one has been slow but this novel got me excited and will now be a catalyst in finishing the Stormlight Archive soon. I would be give this book a 4/5 just because I don't know all the references from SA yet.
PS: The other three Secret Projects are an absolute gem. Defintely a 4.5/5 or 5/5 for me!
I'm a bit worried that the interconnectedness of the Cosmere may have jumped the shark with this book.
Spoilers:
A few things that may be popping up in upcoming sci-fi cosmere books had me a bit worried, like dead ancestor 3D printers and Sig having an Iron Man suit-like voice in his ear telling him how much battery power he has left. An enormous amount of time of the book was spent figuring out how to fly up over a mountain, and felt a bit like a poorly planned out chapter from The Martian.I feel like I've heard Sanderson talk before about "yes, and" and "no, but" as devices to propel a story forward, and the entire middle third was "no, but" over and over and over again. They solve one problem to have an unintended consequence from it pop up and have to deal with that, and that's 15 chapters worth of material.
I've been a bit worried that the Cosmere crossovers are going to become too impactful on individual story plots since The Lost Metal, and I think we're approaching a Marvel situation where you're actively missing out on understanding individual stories if you haven't read all the other material. I trust Sanderson could pull this off better than any other author, and I'll still gladly get books of his as soon as they come out, but I'm definitely starting to get wary.
This is probably my Favorite of Sanderson Secret Projects Novels
The premise is that Nomad is running from a mysterious group called the Night Brigade and he has been jumping from world to world in the cosmere trying to escape this group that is hunting him.
There is so much I want to say but don't want to spoil it for those who might read it at some point. What I can say is that if you are a cosmere fan or not I think you would enjoy this kind of sci/fan book. Its got its science fiction aspects as well as Cosmere magic system and investure within this book with several references to both Scardial from Mistborn and Roshar from Stormlight Archive
I love the connections, I love discovering more info about Wit/Hoid (cosmere fans know it, if you dont know it read more cosmere lol) and the shards of Andolnasium I am trying really hard not to spoil anything here and will be doing a video review on my channel
This is set on a unique world that is essentially melted and reformed daily from the intense energy and heat of its sun and the people of this world live on the run from the sun travelling the world trying to stay on the nightside of this world and imho this is a very unique setting for a cosmere world and one I really like reading about
not much more I can say about this without spoilers so I will leave it at that for now
Originally posted at www.youtube.com.
Contains spoilers
Loved it, so sad this is the last of the secret projects, it's been so much fun to look forward to and read these books this year!
Nomad was a really interesting character to follow very cool to see Sigzil again and learn what happened to him since the events of the stormlight archive and Auxiliary is great when he first mentioned the thing about giving his final bit of soul to Nomad to power him up I was already like 'oh no'... It was an epic moment in the end, but also a very sad one... And now Nomad has lost his only companion :(.
The story was fun, some great side characters, and it was interesting to see Nomad trying to figure out the way the planet and it's magic worked and I loved the ingenious ways he used Aux. I love a good story about someone discovering their powers, but it's also so much fun to see a smart character who knows exactly what he's capable of in action. And as always a very satisfying but painful ending.
The way my heart skipped a beat at the Kaladin namedrop I'm embarrassed frankly.
Anyways, once this gets going it REALLY gets going. What a way to end the secret projects. The cosmere gloves are well and truly off.
I'm so ready for Stormlight 5.