The Sunlit Man by Brandon Sanderson Narrator: William DeMeritt
Series: Cosmere
on October 1, 2023
Genres: Science Fiction Fantasy
Length: 11 hours, 11 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Kickstarter
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Years ago he had comrades in arms and a cause to believe in, but now the man who calls himself Nomad knows only a life on the run. Forced to hop from world to world in the Cosmere whenever the relentless Night Brigade gets too close, Nomad lands on a new planet and is instantly caught up in the struggle between a tyrant and the rebels who want only to escape being turned into mindless slaves—all under the constant threat of a sunrise whose heat will melt the very stones. Unable to understand the language, can he navigate the conflict and gain enough power to leap offworld before his mind or body pay the ultimate price?
The Sunlit Man is the last of the four books Brandon Sanderson wrote while not touring due to the Covid travel restrictions that was part of the most successful Kickstarter of all time. The other books in the the four book Kickstarter were for his wife and son, but Sunlit Man is for the fans. It features one of the characters from the Stormlight Archives after the events of the yet to be completed book 5 of that series. Written as a standalone, this is much like the Hulk, Quantum Leap or the old Westerns were the wanderer shows up to save the day before moving along. It will definitely help your enjoyment of the book if you have at least read to book 2 or 3 of the Stormlight Archives or any of Sanderson’s works set in the Cosmere or else you might not understand the magic system and some of the finer points of The Sunlit Man.
Nomad is one of the well known characters from the Stormlight Archives and some of the fun of this book is discovering who he is and why he might be on the run going by a different name and jumping planet to planet. With his friend Aux, who may or may not be a spren from Roshar, he has jumped onto a planet this time about to sacrifice a bunch of people to the sun. There are so many questions the reader will have in the first few chapters as we learn just bits and pieces along the way of this character on the run from the Night Brigade, why he isn’t allowed to harm anyone, how he is tied to Wit, why did he hold the Dawnshard for awhile and why is his spren almost dead. There were a lot of questions from the very beginning and in true Sanderson fashion they are doled out a little at a time during the story to help us understand this characters and the life he is living today, without spoiling anything that might be happening in future books from the original series.
Nomad finds himself on a world with two different sets of people. One is the Cinder King, a man with a burning ember in his heart keeping him alive. He is cruel and looking to dominate the entire planet. The other set of people spend most of their time dodging the Cinder King and the Sun. On this planet the full force of the sun will annihilate anyone it’s path and leave behind a soul stone. These are used as power sources by people on the planet to keep their flying cities running. For the Cinder King this means using the people he is trying to conquer to fuel his empire, for the resistance it means letting loved ones volunteer when it is their time. The investiture on this planet is so strange and Nomad needs to figure out how to use it if he is ever going to escape this planet and stay ahead of the Night Brigade.
The things I loved about this story are really the things I love about most Sanderson stories. The worldbuilding is incredible, the people are complex and the heroes are always broken. Nomad has a past he is still trying to outrun and that brings up a slew of questions.
“He put his hands to his skull, digging his fingers into the skin. How could he run so hard and never get anywhere? The journey was supposed to be the important part, wasn’t it? Why, then, was he so miserable?”
How long should he run, is this a life worth living, he used to fight for people. He used to be a different man.
“But he could still hear. And somehow, in shutting out the light— there within the blackness of his own design— he felt something. Something of the person he’d once been. Words once spoken. In a moment of glorious radiance.”
The story is great, the plot, the villain, the discoveries made, and sacrifices given. It was a true heroes tale and journey. Maybe our Nomad will regain part of the man he used to be, maybe he won’t. But I will hope to see him in future Cosmere tales. Whether as the main character or just someone who tags along for part of the adventure, I don’t care as I enjoyed the journey our intrepid Knight seems to be on and hope that somehow and in someway he finds whatever redemption he is searching for. This was my favorite out of all four of the Kickstarter books and thought it was a great way to end the journey we started with Sanderson a year ago.
I want to say that one of the other great things about all of the Kickstarter books have been the art inside. Brandon Sanderson loves to show you some of the details of his worlds and I liked the art in this book so much. I listened to the audio but I went through the ebook to see all the artwork and will one day reread the words with my eyes to enjoy this story again with the art at the same time.
Narration:
William Demerit narrated one other Sanderson book I have read. He was really perfect for this role as well. The narrators for The Stormlight Archives are great but it was nice to get a new voice for a new main characters and enjoy the performance from a PoV. William captured all of the characters so well. I really felt for Nomad and Aux as more of their tale was revealed slowly. He was a great new voice for a fantastic new lead. His pacing for the story was great and really added to my overall enjoyment.
Listen to a clip: HERE
About Brandon Sanderson
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.
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I’m always amazed at how prolific he is. I wish I had half of that drive and skill. ;D
It is amazing. Just think of all the stories in his head that he just won’t have the time to write.
What an interesting sounding book! Thanks for sharing! I am intrigued now 😀
Carole, if you haven’t read any Sanderson he is one of my favorite authors ever. All his stories are deep in foundations and really are so great.