The Sunlit Man

The Cosmere #27

by Brandon Sanderson, Ernanda Souza (Illustrator), Nabetse Zitro (Illustrator)

From the #1 Kickstarter campaign of all time—#1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson adds to his Cosmere universe shared by Mistborn and The Stormlight Archive with a new standalone novel that combines fantasy and science fiction. Illustrated by Ernanda Souza, Nabeste Zitro, and kudriaken.

Running. Putting distance between himself and the relentless Night Brigade has been Nomad’s strategy for years. Staying one or two steps ahead of his pursuers by skipping through the Cosmere from one world to the next.

But now, his powers too depleted to escape, Nomad finds himself trapped on Canticle, a planet that will kill anyone who doesn’t keep moving. Fleeing the fires of a sunrise that melts the very stones, he is instantly caught up in the struggle between a heartless tyrant and the brave rebels who defy him.

Failure means a quick death, incinerated by the sun…or a lifetime as a mindless slave. Tormented by the consequences of his past, Nomad must fight not only for his survival—but also for his very soul.

Note from Brandon:
I sincerely believe that books don’t live until they’re read. While I would write even if no one were reading—it’s who I am—I thrive because I know the stories are being brought to life by all of you. In this, stories are a special kind of art, particularly when written down. Each of you will imagine this book, and its characters, a little differently—you will each put your own stamp on it, making it yours. I don’t believe a story is quite finished until that has happened—until the dream in my head has become a reality (even if briefly) in yours.

And so this book is yours, as they all are once you read them. Thank you so much for bringing life to my work, and to the Cosmere.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction, Audiobook, Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy, Adult

335 pages, ebook

First published October 1, 2023

About the author

I’m Brandon Sanderson, and I write stories of the fantastic: fantasy, science fiction, and thrillers.

The release of Wind and Truth in December 2024—the fifth and final book in the first arc of the #1 New York Times bestselling Stormlight Archive series—marks a significant milestone for me. This series is my love letter to the epic fantasy genre, and it’s the type of story I always dreamed epic fantasy could be. Now is a great time to get into the Stormlight Archive since the first arc, which begins with Way of Kings, is complete.

During our crowdfunding campaign for the leatherbound edition of Words of Radiance, I announced a fifth Secret Project called Isles of the Emberdark, which came out in the summer of 2025. Coming December 2025 is Tailored Realities, my non-Cosmere short story collection featuring the new novella Moment Zero.

Defiant, the fourth and final volume of the series that started with Skyward in 2018, came out in November 2023, capping an already book-filled year that saw the releases of all four Secret Projects: Tress of the Emerald Sea, The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England, Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, and The Sunlit Man. These four books were all initially offered to backers of the #1 Kickstarter campaign of all time.

November 2022 saw the release of The Lost Metal, the seventh volume in the Mistborn saga, and the final volume of the Mistborn Era Two featuring Wax & Wayne. Now that the first arc of the Stormlight Archive is wrapped up, I’ve started writing the third era of Mistborn in 2025.

Most readers have noticed that my adult fantasy novels are in a connected universe called the Cosmere. This includes The Stormlight Archive, both Mistborn series, Elantris, Warbreaker, four of the five Secret Projects, and various novellas, including The Emperor’s Soul, which won a Hugo Award in 2013. In November 2016 all of the existing Cosmere short fiction was released in one volume called Arcanum Unbounded. If you’ve read all of my adult fantasy novels and want to see some behind-the-scenes information, that collection is a must-read.

I also have three YA series: The Rithmatist (currently at one book), The Reckoners (a trilogy beginning with Steelheart), and Skyward. For young readers I also have my humorous series Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians, which had its final book, Bastille vs. the Evil Librarians, released in 2022. Many of my adult readers enjoy all of those books as well, and many of my YA readers enjoy my adult books, usually starting with Mistborn.

Additionally, I have a few other novellas that are more on the thriller/sci-fi side. These include the three stories in Legion: The Many Lives of Stephen Leeds, as well as Perfect State and Snapshot. These two novellas are also featured in 2025’s Tailored Realities. There’s a lot of material to go around!

Good starting places are Mistborn (a.k.a. The Final Empire), Skyward, Steelheart, The Emperor’s Soul, Tress of the Emerald Sea, and Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians. If you’re already a fan of big fat fantasies, you can jump right into The Way of Kings.

I was also honored to be able to complete the final three volumes of The Wheel of Time, beginning with The Gathering Storm, using Robert Jordan’s notes.

Sample chapters from all of my books are available at brandonsanderson.com—and check out the rest of my site for chapter-by-chapter annotations, deleted scenes, and more.

Reviews

[Elle]

Watch him announce an additional 17 books that he wrote in the time it took us to read these four.

[Matt's Fantasy Book Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review is a transcript of my video review of this book, which you can watch here.

Simply fantastic, and hands down the best Brandon Sanderson book in years.

This book rocks, it’s everything I could have dreamed of when I first heard of the secret projects, and I legitimately think this is the best Sanderson book since Rhythm of War back in 2020. So to back up a bit for the 2 of you watching this who don’t know, last year Brandon Sanderson announced he had secretly written 4 books that he would release quarterly in 2023 via kickstarter, and it became by far the most successful kickstarter of all time.

My impression of these kickstarters before this book has been mixed. I absolutely loved Tress of the Emerald Sea, thought The Frugal Wizard's Handbook for Surviving Medieval England was just so-so, and thought Yumi and the Nightmare Painter was written for a different audience than me. But this book….this book beat them all, and makes me very happy with the secret projects overall and more than that, really restores my faith in the direction that Sanderson is taking his books.

I’ve always been a fan of the way Sanderson writes his books, and consider him one of my favorite authors. But I’ve had a lot of concerns with the direction of the cosmere in terms of the way it has gone from a subtle easter egg hunt in the books, to an overarching narrative akin to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And while I like Marvel, and honestly think that the Cosmere going in that direction might be a good thing, I haven’t liked how Mistborn Era 2 handled that direction and was concerned that this path was the new way. Maybe it still is, but this book certainly switched things up in an amazingly positive way.

But before we go into the tie-ins specifically, let’s talk slow down and talk about this book on it’s own.

The setting of this book needs to be talked about in detail, because it’s Stormlight level amazing. Basically, this book takes place far into the future in what feels like the cosmere space age. It’s common for people to jump between planets. On the planet this book takes place on, the planet is extremely small and spins slowly. The star that the planet is orbiting around is so close that it emits so much heat that if the sunlight touches you, you die instantly. But the sunlight also contains investiture (think, mana). The sun is reflected by the planetary rings so they do have daylight, but when the sun rises fully it kills everything. So the people who live on the planet constantly have to keep on the move to stay ahead of the sunlight via hoverbikes and hovering airships.

There are two main factions in this book, one led by the Cinder King who is extremely powerful and quite evil - and one that is trying to stay away from the Cinder King. When the Cinder King catches people, he will either chain people to the ground and make them get burned to death, collecting their remnants on the next pass around the world, which is used for fuel - or turns them into mindless drones that obey his every will.

Now you mix all this together, and what we are left due to the fact everyone has to stay on the move is the fastest paced Brandon Sanderson book by a long shot, it feels like it almost never lets up off the gas and it’s such a wonderful change of pace from the normal Sanderson technique of easing you slowly into the world and the story.

The protagonist of this story is a character you will already know if you’ve read some of his other books, but I don’t want to ruin that for you as it’s fun to uncover that mystery. But this character is basically playing the role of a lone wanderer, kind of an old Clint Eastwood typer character from a classic western, where he shows up, has to save the local population, and walks away into the sunset when his job is done. I happen to love old westerns, so to read this in fantasy form was a real treat.

There are the usual Sanderson twists and turns not just to the plot, but with what we know of the magic and the world themselves, and it tied together into an epic final showdown that I’ve come to expect, and to love from him.

So earlier in this review I talked about why the cosmere tie in’s here worked so much better for me than some of his other books, namely the 4th book in Mistborn Era 2, The Lost Metal. I think it will be hard to explain without really planning this review out, which I never do, but I’ll do my best. I think I loved this version for two primary reasons:

1st, in the Lost Metal we got a book that was so heavily dependent on intense cosmere knowledge across multiple different series, that it almost made me feel like you have to have devoted yourself to Cosmere lore to be able to appreciate the book. And while I am one of those people, I also read literally hundreds of fantasy books and I just can’t remember things to the level that I would have in the past if I just kind of got deeply rooted into a few series. Many of the things went over my head, and it felt just overly done. But in this book, you only need a loose knowledge of some of the books to be able to get 95% of what is going on. I think if you just read the first two Stormlight books, you are good to go - even though reading some Mistborn and reading one of the short stories, Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell will give you more background. And it’s been over 3 years since I read the 2nd Stormlight book, and I felt like I got virtually everything I needed to know still stuck in my brain here. That’s the right way to do these cosmere tie-ins. Go ahead and make them prevalent, but don’t lock out people from enjoying the content if they haven’t re-read the books recently.

I think the 2nd reason these cosmere tie-ins worked so well is because this was a standalone book. You don’t have to read this to appreciate the other books, or at least I don’t think you will. This feels like a great little fan service book that didn’t need to be written, but thankfully was. I love that.

So overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who likes the Cosmere, which I feel like nowadays is most fantasy readers. It’s a wonderful addition, and one of Sanderson’s best books - and hands down the best secret project book even over Tress of the Emerald Sea, which was awesome. And while I know that will likely be an unpopular opinion as I’m pretty confident most people will end up liking Tress more, I just can’t get over how wonderful this book was and how much it really stands up to some of the huge, epic books that Sanderson has written.

[Petrik · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review is a copy of the transcript of my video review of The Sunlit Man.

3.5/5 stars

The Sunlit Man is a detailed exhibition of the bright future of Sanderson’s vision. Sooner or later, fans of the Cosmere must not miss reading this dedicated tribute novel from Brandon Sanderson to his readers.

“Ideals are like statues in the wind. They seem so permanent, but truth is, erosion happens subtly, constantly.”

Here we are. It has been one year and a half since Sanderson broke the record for the number one most-funded Kickstarter campaign with his four secret projects announcement. Today, The Year of Sanderson is over. The fourth and final secret project, The Sunlit Man, is here. And it has been read. My 2023 reading year has been sunnier thanks to the existence and anticipation of each secret project novel. To recap, after experiencing a drought of Cosmere novels since the release of Rhythm of War in November 2020, we have, in return, been blessed with four new Cosmere novels since November 2022. Yes, four Cosmere novels in less than a year. The Lost Metal, and three of the four secret project novels: Tress of the Emerald Sea, Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, and finally, The Sunlit Man. Where did The Sunlit Man rank in my excitement level? It was my second most anticipated secret project, immediately after Yumi and the Nightmare Painter. As a diehard fan of the Cosmere universe and The Stormlight Archive, it is imperative for me to read every book related to the series. Even if or when the story does not take place on Roshar, like this one. This is why The Sunlit Man was my second most anticipated secret project and the result? Well, honestly, I have mixed feelings about it. Let's talk about it. And I will start by discussing some required reading first. And then, I will move on to talk about the parts that did not work with me first because I want to end this review on a more positive note.

“Nomad and the sky weren’t currently on speaking terms. But they’d been intimate for some time in the past, and he still knew his way around her place.”

If you haven’t been paying attention, Sanderson has mentioned that starting from The Lost Metal, many new book releases in the Cosmere universe will no longer put the Cosmere interconnections as Easter Eggs. And I believe that circumstance has been applied to The Sunlit Man. When Tress of the Emerald Sea and Yumi and the Nightmare Painter came out, the reading suggestions and guidelines for Sanderson’s Cosmere changed among reviewers. I’m not here to question or discuss any of those reading guides, but I do agree strongly that Tress of the Emerald Sea and Yumi and the Nightmare Painter can be read, and highly enjoyed without reading any other Cosmere books first. I have seen other readers reading any one of these two books as their first Sanderson novel and loving the heck out of them. But for The Sunlit Man, I do not think the book can be enjoyed without doing some required reading first. I cannot see it. As Sanderson said, this one is written for the fans of the Cosmere who have been there with him throughout his career. And the myriad of Cosmere terminologies and connections reflected that. My recommendation is this: do not read The Sunlit Man until you read at least all of The Stormlight Archive books, including Dawnshard novella. This isn’t merely to understand what the main characters frequently talk about but also to enhance your reading experience. I probably would have rated this book 2.5 or 3 stars if I hadn’t read all the books available in the Cosmere first. No kidding. I am caught up to the Cosmere, and even then, there were some frustrating parts caused by missing information and context that I, and everyone, can’t attain yet. Because, well, the books where the events the characters and I’m referring to aren’t published yet.

“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 Sunlit Man is a story about Nomad. 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 pays the ultimate price? That’s the premise of the novel.

Like the previous three books, there is a new storyline to tackle on this planet named Canticle, and it could make The Sunlit Man a standalone novel. But in my definition, it is not. As I said, it is possible to read Tress of the Emerald Sea and Yumi and the Nightmare Painter without reading any other Cosmere books first. One of the main reasons behind this is that the main characters in the new planet are new characters in the Cosmere. We haven’t seen them before in any other books. These books were their first appearance. Nomad is a supporting character in The Stormlight Archive. He has been there since the beginning of the series. The Sunlit Man takes place after the events of the unreleased book 5 of The Stormlight Archive. We don’t know how long exactly, but my point is this. His character’s background and many parts of his characterizations and development can be read in The Stormlight Archive. Not in The Sunlit Man.

“The winds made him remember who he had been: a man who would have died before treating people as he’d done today. No, the storm did not offer him refuge. As much as he liked the rain— as much as it felt right to him— the memories were too painful.”

In The Sunlit Man, the plotline and the significant character development are driven by Nomad’s determination to redeem himself over a supposedly horrible set of events we cannot read yet. And hearing Nomad saying he's not the same man as before or he is stressing over key events he vaguely referred to repeatedly became seriously repetitive and annoying after a while. No, Nomad. I do not know what you're talking about. The book hasn't even been written yet. The book has not been published yet! Other than Nomad, there is another main character, Auxiliary, who is always together with Nomad. And again, for the same reason, because I couldn't tell who he was or because the details of his origin are not written yet, it was difficult for me to feel invested in Aux's predicament and struggle.

In most situations, I probably would not have minded withholding information up to this level. But it's a different situation when the main character constantly refers to the event. It truly felt like I was missing, at least, a book I should read first. Technically, yes, I did. Everyone does. Having The Sunlit Man taking place decades after The Stormlight Archive 5 is the biggest reason why my enjoyment of it increased and decreased. It felt like Sanderson was telling us some events we should know have happened without showing them yet. Because of this, the pivotal moments did not feel earned or satisfying enough, which usually isn't the case with Sanderson's books. Usually, with Sanderson’s books, this kind of scene could make me skip a heartbeat with their immense impact. Here, I was like, “Ooohhh, that was cool.” And then, I move on to the next page. Fortunately, there were stunning interior illustrations to stamp these scenes in my mind more vividly. But more on this later. Let’s talk about the pacing.

“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?”

If you have read the previous three secret projects, you will know Sanderson employed an experimental voice or storytelling in his books. All four novels felt distinct from one another. And I loved Tress of the Emerald Sea and Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, but I couldn’t get with The Frugal Wizard. In this case, the tone and writing style in The Sunlit Man is undoubtedly more attuned to the mainline Cosmere novels, but the pacing is experimental. In The Sunlit Man, Sanderson intentionally utilizes breakneck pacing with non-stop action after action after action. And because Sanderson is already very limited in the character development of Nomad and Auxiliary because he MUST NOT spoil readers on the events that happened in The Stormlight Archive 5, this breakneck pacing made it even more challenging to care and feel invested in the character’s journey. There were not enough calm moments to develop the characters. The supporting characters, Elegy and Rebeke, felt forgettable and uninteresting. It is true I have read all the books in The Stormlight Archive, and again, Nomad has been there since The Way of Kings. However, most of Nomad’s inner struggle and conflict here relies on overcoming the events we haven’t read yet. But as a precious character in The Stormlight Archive said, despite not knowing the details of the events that transpired, moving forward with the book is the only path I have left for now.

“Conquest doesn’t remove countries… It removes lines on a map. Unity requires something else.”

That summed up my thoughts on the elements that did not click with me in this novel. I know. I know. I have been quite negative in my review so far. But rest assured, it is not all disappointing. My opinion is an unpopular opinion. And remember, most of the issues I had lie in the fact that I felt like I skipped reading some necessary books to read first before reading The Sunlit Man. I am 90% sure I would love The Sunlit Man more when I reread the book in the future after I read book 5 of The Stormlight Archive, and more new books in the universe. For now, what did I love about The Sunlit Man? The benefit from all of these? The compelling element of mysteries and questions raised based on what occurred were absolutely there. No doubt about it. And with Sanderson explicitly holding out information to not spoil the events of the unreleased or unwritten books, my excitement for the release of Knights of Wind and Truth, the tentative title for Stormlight Archive 5, has soared dramatically. This book works absolutely well as a teaser to make fans of the Cosmere and The Stormlight Archive exponentially more excited for the upcoming book 5 in November 2024. I was so stressed over not knowing the intricacies of what the hell had happened.

“That depended. In Nomad’s experience, it wasn’t when life was utterly terrible that people rebelled. It instead happened when life improved to the point that people had time to think, time to wonder. The capacity to imagine.”

And, of course, it goes without saying it was wonderful to visit a new world in the Cosmere universe. I don’t think it is an exaggeration to assume that, as time goes by and we have more books out in the universe, the future quality of Cosmere books will be bright. That said, the accessibility of the upcoming Cosmere books will, understandably, not be friendly to newcomers to the Cosmere. It has become a constant debate and question to ask where to start with reading Sanderson’s books? This past year, it has become more complicated and filled with nuance. Take The Sunlit Man, for example. As Sanderson said, this is a book written for the fans of the Cosmere, and as a fan, I am thrilled with all the inclusions of the terminologies and magic from other worlds I’ve read. Adonalsium. Hoid. Scadrial from Mistborn. Sel from Elantris and The Emperor’s Soul. Nalthis from Warbreaker. Roshar from The Stormlight Archive. Threnody from Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell. Or even those without any dedicated book yet, like Yolen. All of these played a part in The Sunlit Man, and I loved them all. It felt like Sanderson took us on a quick nostalgic trip regarding what we have known about the Cosmere, and my excitement for the future of this universe burns powerfully. Even though I am not satisfied with the missing information, the known callback to scenes, moments, and characters from the books available and already published in The Stormlight Archive was awesome. It made me realize I should pay more attention to Nomad when I reread The Stormlight Archive next year. Despite some of my criticisms, it is impossible to deny that the big moments in the final quarter of The Sunlit Man, accompanied by the colored artworks, were badass.

“Because… sometimes it’s not about you individually. Sometimes it’s about being a symbol. Sometimes you just adopt the name you’re given because it inspires people. I’ve seen it happen. Didn’t think it would happen to me.”

Finally, it is time to review the production value of The Sunlit Man Dragonsteel edition. Unlike the previous three secret projects, where one artist was tasked with illustrating both the cover and interior arts of one novel, Sanderson and the Dragonsteel team hired three artists to provide their skills for The Sunlit Man. First, we have Kudriaken, the cover artist. In my opinion, out of the four Secret Project novels, this is my favorite cover art. The red background, Nomad with his sword in the center, gold foiling, and black sprayed edges are a combination tough to beat. And at the back of the book, we have Elegy in the center with no text to disturb the artwork. Loved it. Ernanda Souza is in charge of the 6 fully colored illustrations. They are the front and back endpapers, and then 4 more interior arts. All of them look phenomenal. Souza captured the crucial scenes and elevated them with her vivid artwork. Without her contribution, I do not think these scenes would have such a strong effect on me. And the last artist, Nabetse Zitro, illustrated the other 11 black-and-white interior arts. This is where I felt underwhelmed. Zitro is an incredible artist. Look at his portfolio, and you will realize they are mind-blowing. The interior artworks in The Sunlit Man reflected only a fraction of Zitro's usual high standard. It is unfortunate, but I honestly think the overall production value of The Sunlit Man Dragonsteel edition, priced at $40, is still superior to many other fantasy books in the same price range.




Overall, though still great and incredible in some sections, my rating for The Sunlit Man will have to be 3.5 stars for now. This makes The Sunlit Man, just like Elantris, the lowest-rated Cosmere novel for me. Fortunately, although The Sunlit Man was not as impressive as Tress of the Emerald Sea or Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, I have faith that my reading experience of it would improve so much in the future. Plus, 3.5 stars is still a good rating in my definition. As a concluding installment to The Year of Sanderson, The Sunlit Man is a fitting novel that allows readers of Cosmere to trace the past we had and experience the future of the universe. I want to thank Brandon Sanderson, Isaac Stewart, the entire Dragonsteel team, and all the artists—Howard Lyon, Steve Argyle, Aliya Chen, Kudriaken, Ernanda Souza, and Nabetse Zitro—involved in the creation of the four secret project novels. Now, the wait for Knights of Wind and Truth continues. Journey before destination. Let me end this review with a passage of gratitude and parting words from Sanderson.

“This is one of my last chances to talk to many of you about the wonderful event that was the Kickstarter, so let me take an extra moment to tell you why I dedicated this book to you, the fans. I sincerely believe that books don’t live until they’re read. While I think I’d write even if nobody was reading— it’s who I am— I thrive because I know the stories are being brought to life by all of you. In this, stories are a special kind of art, particularly ones written down. Each of you imagines this book, and its characters, a little differently— each of you puts your own stamp on it, making it yours. I don’t think a story is quite finished until that has happened to it— until the dream in my head has become a reality (even if briefly) in yours. And so this book is yours, as are all of them once you read them. Thank you so much for bringing life to my work, and to the Cosmere.”

You can order this book from: Amazon | Blackwells (Free International shipping)

You can find this and the rest of my reviews at Novel Notions | I also have a Booktube channel

Special thanks to my Patrons on Patreon for giving me extra support towards my passion for reading and reviewing!

My Patrons: Alfred, Aliysa, Andrew, Andrew W, Annabeth, Arliss, Barbara, Biskit, Brad, Cade, Chris, Cullen, Dan, David, Dernerror, Donna, Donuts, Dylan, Edward, Elaine, Elias, Ellen, Frank, Garrick, Gary, Gregory, Hamad, Helen, Jenn, Jesse, Jimmy Nutts, Joie, Kristina, Lara, Lourdes, Luis, Melinda, Michael, Michael, Mike, Miracle, Mordie, Nicholas, Norbert, Radiah, RCT, Samuel, Sarah, Sarah, Scott, Shawn, Tori, Tracy, Trish, TS, Wendy, Wick, Xero, Yuri, Zoe.

[Anna [Bran. San. Stan] · Rating 5 out of 5]

2025: Graphic Audio re-read – highly recommended 2024: Re-read for WaT! 2023: Yumi is not my favorite Secret Project after all; it’s this one – this fast-paced, action-packed gift to all Cosmere fans. I hope you are as excited about this as I am, excited about the heavy cosmere implications, with Roshar (Stormlight Archive) and Threnody (Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell) as the most note-worthy, but also Scadrial to a lesser extent (Mistborn). [Taldain (White Sand) and Nalthis (Warbreaker) come up as well.] Reading this truly felt like a grab bag of Cosmere goodies, leaving me in state of perpetual excitement. So if you are a Cosmere novice, you might feel really lost, which is why I don’t recommend it to you in that case.

The story begins very much in medias res: our third-person narrator, a character Cosmere veterans already know (and no, it’s not Wit), fleeing the so-called Night Brigade for reasons yet unknown, has world-hopped himself into an unfortunate execution-by-sun situation. Why execution by sun? Because we find ourselves on a planet where the population constantly needs to be on the move in order to escape the trajectory of the sun rays that incinerate everything in their path. This constant movement is made possible by floating “cities” that are actually comprised of aircrafts, which can easily be detached, thus disassembling those cities. So yeah, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that Brandon’s worldbuilding – this time set in the space age of the cosmere – is once again creative and visually awesome.

But it’s not just the worldbuilding that keeps you invested; it’s also the action-driven plot. From the beginning, we are given clues as to who our narrator is and what he has gotten himself into, first and foremost not via exposition, but mostly via captivating action sequences.

Just as the action drives this, so does the need for answers to oh so many questions: Who is Nomad, our narrator, even if it is clear early on from which planet he hails? Why and what is he fleeing? What is this Night Brigade pursuing him? What exactly is his so-called Torment, which leaves him unable to attack others and where did it come from? How is Wit involved? Who are those people with the ember hearts? And where do those ember stones come from? What form of Investiture is at work here? What are the rules of this hard magic system? Is Aux, a disembodied voice in Nomad’s head, a spren and why is he dead? What happened with the Dawnshard in the past?

All of these questions – and many more – are answered, which makes this book immensely satisfying. Indeed, we get more information on another character, one shrouded in mystery. If you’ve supported the Kickstarter Miniature campaign, you might have heard the name Zellion before. Now you will finally learn more about them!

There’s not much else I can tell you without getting into spoiler territory, but I think it’s good to know going into this that the book-immanent plot, Nomad being stranded on Canticle and thus being forced to help its people, is resolved but the larger story arc – you’ll know it when you see it – will not be; I assume it’ll be continued another time. I feel knowing what to expect might benefit your reading experience.

So here we are. The final Secret Project. Brandon has literally dedicated this fourth book (and his 50th overall!) to all us Cosmere fans, stating he wanted to give us more insight into Cosmere lore and, in our worldhopper Nomad, a character who will be vital to future events. Now the story is truly finished, with us readers “bringing life to [Brandon’s] work, and to the Cosmere” – just as Brandon wanted.

PS: After listening to a few chapters of the audiobook, I’m really happy with the new narrator, William DeMeritt. His voice is wonderfully sonorous. I’ll definitely listen to the whole book at some point.


**************

March 31, 2022: I NEED MORE. Like right now! The first ten chapters just aren’t enough. Brilliant, exceptional, amazing. Sanderson is such a tease! This secret project is the one I’m currently most excited about.

Sanderson has stated that this book is more true to his previous narrative style which he wanted the reader to experience after his more “bizarre” narrative voices in the other secret projects. I can also confirm that this one has a lot of action already, which he has also stated as his objective.

Be warned though: This book is for Cosmere veterans only, with numerous implications and references to other worlds. This Cosmere girl is ecstatic about this book!

You can read the first ten chapters here:
https://www.brandonsanderson.com/firs...

[Melanie (meltotheany) · Rating 4 out of 5]

i highly recommend not reading this book (or review) until you are up to date with the stormlight archives. in fact, this story takes place a very long time after stormlight 5 (which as of me typing up this review, has not been released), and the main character is a beloved side character who has been there since the start of the series. but because of these two things, this reading experience really leaves you wondering how that next stormlight book is going to go. (why am i emotional just thinking about it and typing this? lol)

this next paragraph is also going to be a spoilery synopsis explanation, so please use caution - but basically the tl;dr is that the mc of this book, now called nomad, has been given the dawnshard by someone we all know and love, and by doing so he cannot hurt living people, and the night brigade is constantly after him, and why he is constantly running throughout the cosmere. At the start of this book, he lands on a planet and finds himself not only physically stuck, but also emotionally stuck by rebels who are trying to beat a tyrant enslaving them. oh, and the threat of the sun coming to burn them all alive.

but we learn even more about sprens, and bonding to them, and maybe being able to bond again after an oath is broken. And we learn more about investiture and the use of breath equivalent units as a measurement, which was wild and very cool! But we get to see a man be shaped by the events, both bad and good, to make him who he is in the present moment. yet also reminding us, that we always have the power to change who we are are, burn away what we don't want to hold, and decide what we wish to fight for.

i know this whole review has spoilers but this one is just too big to post out in the open: us knowing this takes place a long, long, long time after the events of stormlight 5, yet nomad thinking kaladin is still alive… much to think about… much to lose my mind over

this book was very expertly crafted, and will truly mean a lot to all cosmere fans. the acknowledgement was also very beautiful, and was able to bring a tear to my easily-cryable eyes. i truly know stormlight 5 is going to be a heartbreaking masterpiece even more now, and because of this book - i am truly counting the days. but now… let me go cry some more that we are no longer receiving secret projects every three months.

trigger + content warnings: gore, physical abuse, violence, talk of loss of a loved one, loss of a parent in past, human sacrifice, slavery, death, explosions, self harm for magic, mention of vomit, blood

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♡ Tress of the Emerald Sea ★★★★★
♡ The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England ★★
♡ Yumi and the Nightmare Painter ★★★★★
♡ Isles of the Emberdark ★★★

[Clace · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25

I gotta say when I started this I had so much fun with this book but there was a part that was hugely impacted by my slump and the last bits that were just not about to grip me as the first half did.

This was a great gift from Sanderson to us and I'm so sad year if the Sanderson has officially ended (waiting for defiant!) This has given us such unique beautifully written stories.

You cannot know what happened to nomad or what will happen to him because these are the events that take place AFTER SA5 but we got answers as to how and why that happens.

Nomad was a new and complex character to me until I linked him to who he really was and he was so different from the character that I'm used to but I guess that what character development does to a person.

The plot was fun to read but the side characters tbh were not the fun and that made a part of the plot near the end very boring but I was in a slump as well.

The writing style was as usual brilliant! I absolutely loved this installment by Brandon as well.

As if now my standings of the secret projects are:
1. Tress of the emerald sea 4.62
2. Yumi and the nightmare painter 4.48
3. The sunlitman 4.25
4. The frugal wizards guide to surviving medival England 3.70.

I will miss this era alot and will hope that Sanderson does something like this again :)!
~~~
Couldn't get much reading done am almost don't though. This is one of the best Sanderson books that I have ever read. Hands down.
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I got jinxed. No fast food for me am sick 🤕

Page 324, 68% read.
The effort on the weekend building while simultaneously while keeping everything else interesting is peak brandon Sanderson.
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Literally the amount of food that I have received whilst reading this book 😭😭 like the day before yesterday my friends brought some KFC with them as they came for a sleepover. Yesterday my family was meeting me so I got dominos and today my roommate ordered Dunkin for him and myself 😭😭 I really think I should prolong finishing this.
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Reading this with domino's cheese pizza while seeing Auxiliary be the sassiest honorspren. Yes even more than Syl 🤭
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I apologize for my constant dump but I need to let it out.

It's so clear that they are on nalthis because my breath becomes to yours was the main part of the magic system in Nalthis which takes place in warbreaker. The people though are referred to as Thernodites . Could they be worldhoppers from Nalthis residing is thernody or are there or are they from thernody but worldhopped to Nalthis. Hmmm.
~~~
Nomad is a very important character from the stormlight archive. I'm simultaneously reading oathbringer and am 50% through. Idk how nomad is on a different planet and how he got there maybe I'll know in the next books but how does it affect the main plot and what does the cinder king do? It's all so well put.

Brandon is a mastermind.
~~~
Since I can't update I'll update her. This books has got me in the feels 🤌😮‍💨 I honestly did not expect that..
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I asked around and I got to know there's no major spoilers aside from the obvious so I'm good to go.
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' "Kal" he asked into the storm.' A MASSIVE SHRIEK PT.1. ' "Aw, Damnation." And said with a sigh "Wit what the hell are you doing here?"<\i> SHRIEK PT.2 I LAUGHED SO HARD AT THIS 🫷😭
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The amount of cosmere referencs in this one. Like I'm eating it all up and I'll make sure to leave no crumvs because gimme all the referenc, cameos 🫷
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Okay chapter one was so good!! Like this is exactly how you start a novel. Heard this is on the darker side of the cosmere so 🤭🤭
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I GOT THE BOOK AND IM LITERALLY GOING TO COMPLETE A FATE INKED IN BLOOD AND THEN PAUSE ALL THE BOOKS IM CURRENTLY READING BECAUSE THIS IS THE CHOSEN ONE.
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Brandon Sanderson and his team outdid themselves with this series of secret projects because look at the cover and the content that we got this year! Truly beautiful...

[Smitty1423 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the Cosmere implications in this one but not gonna lie wasn’t my favorite.

3.8/5

[Overhaul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Después del desastroso chasco que tuve con uno de sus proyectos y que me aburre ya un poco el Cosmere con tantas vueltas y enorme longitud que está abarcando, decidí leerlo ya que se supone que trae de vuelta al "acción Sanderson".

Bien pues me he aburrido como un percebe solo en el fondo del océano. Desarrollo el porqué.

Veo muchísimo esfuerzo por centrarse en las referencias y giños al Cosmere. Mucho.

No me ha entrado desde el principio hasta el final pero para nada esta novela, vale, los fans del Cosmere les encantará estos giños pero en mi humilde opinión son demasiados y me llegó a aburrir e incluso freír la cabeza ya que muchísimo no lo tengo fresco.

Lo curioso es que por otra parte sin esos guiños o referencias la novela se queda vacía. En este los personajes son los más flojos que he leído de Sanderson, muy flojos. Y es que su protagonista no se desarrolla aquí. Pero los demás tampoco se salvan..

Interesante Worldbuilding e ideas como siempre las de este autor. Desde las ciudades flotantes, la brigada nocturna u otras parafernalias. Todo eso genial, como siempre un genio. Pero también noto que va decayendo.

Tiene su buena dosis de acción pero no sé no le llega a lo que vivía y me emocionaba la acción con Kelsier, Vin u otros personajes. Todo, todo en conjunto me ha parecido insuficiente como digo especialmente los personajes. E insípido.

Muchos, muchísimos giños en los que se parece esforzar y centrar pero a su vez le quitas eso y se queda en nada. Buenas ideas pero me falla y aburre todo lo demás.

Las referencias y giños exigen haber leído y seguido de cerca a Sanderson. Hasta me he perdido o no sabía qué eran ciertas cosas. No iba a releer nada para refrescar, obvio. Y esto pasa mucha factura.

El pasado de su personaje y muchas partes de sus personalidad y desarrollo se desarrollan en "El Archivo de las Tormentas" no en este libro.

A mi me pasó factura ya que los personajes se me quedaron insípidos. La trama no me llegó a interesar o atrapar y sobretodo..

En mi humilde opinión el Rey Incandescente es aunque no tengan que ver, se queda en un intento de ser una sombra algo floja de lo que en su momento fue el Lord Legislador. No le llega ni de lejos. Echo de menos aquellos villanos.

Fans del Cosmere que lo tengan muy fresco lo disfrutarán igual más que yo, pero me falta más sabor, enganche, personajes y emoción a la hora de seguir y esas escenas de acción de ESE Sanderson.

Es una pena porque sólo lo que sale de la mente de este autor incansable suele ser como mínimo entretenido, si hasta se llevó cinco estrellas y no le hizo falta a su trama nada más que una puta tiza. Pero claro, tenía todo lo demás y no le sobraba nada..

Me sigo quedando con el Sanderson de sus comienzos. De sus proyectos sólo el primero me ha gustado a falta de Yumi.

Esta es mi humilde y respetuosa opinión sobre uno de los autores que me hizo descubrir y gozar la fantasía. Pero hace tiempo que para mi Sanderson tan decidido por hilar y expandir ese Cosmere dejó de ser ESE Sanderson y darme lo que en su momento me conquistó. Me flojean varias cosas de sus últimas novelas.

Aunque para gustos...✍️🎩

[liv ❁ · Rating 5 out of 5]

“He had no answers. He didn’t know his destination. Maybe that was why he was so lost. Hard to be anything else if you didn’t know where you were going.”

Reading through the Cosmere standalones that came from the Year of Sanderson has been an absolute treat (and the world’s he has created), and this one has been no different. It was a treat to see a familiar face navigate a Mad-Max-esque world, where, after years of running and only looking out for himself, he is faced with a small resistance in a world ruled by a tyrant and consisting solely of ships that are constantly outrunning the deadly sun that will burn them to a crisp if it catches them. This was the most action-packed of the standalones and had a very sci-fi/dystopian feel, which was quite fun to read. Nomad’s inner turmoil is highlighted well in the story as the man who hasn’t been able to stop running has to decide whether or not to help another group who can also never stop running. This draws from epic action dystopians and its fast-paced and quick-witted nature gives the reader the feel that we too are on the run. The world is incredibly unique, as expected from Sanderson. It is also one of the most scientifically-described worlds, as the narration at times gets turned into a mini physics lesson.

The arc of this story had me at the edge of my seat and I hope we get to see Nomad in this way again. The side characters were also very fleshed out and paralleled his life in so many ways, creating a greater emotional impact for me. I cannot stress enough that this is not really a standalone. At the very earliest, it should be read after you are caught up on the Stormlight Archives, and I would recommend waiting until you are completely caught up on Cosmere before delving into this one. I promise it’s worth it. As Sanderson says in his endnotes, this secret project was for his readers and, boy, does he deliver with an epic story and some wild Cosmere lore drops.

As always, the art, done by Ernanda Souza, Nabetse Zitro, and Kudriaken, was fantastic and enhanced my reading experience. This made me excited to delve into fantasy again; a genre I've long been in a slump for.

[Książkowe Bajdurzenie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zdecydowanie najlepszy sekretny projekt Sandersona.
Recenzja: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meSZy...

[Niki Hawkes - The Obsessive Bookseller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some great Cosmere-advancing things, but overall I found it a bit, dare I say, boring? Unengaging might be the better term, at least until the last few chapters. Full RTC.

[Victor Almeida · Rating 4 out of 5]

Não foi meu favorito, mas curti bastante. Toneladas de referências, e ouso dizer que isso aqui é quase um Stormlight #5.5 (cuidado ler muito antes, porque você pode levar spoilers). Achei um tico bagunçado e corrido pros padrões Brandon.

[Eli24 · Rating 3 out of 5]

البته امتیاز واقعیم ۲.۵ ستاره هست اما خوب گودریدز هست و ضعفای رو مخش 🚶🏻‍♀️
در کل این کتاب خیلی جذبم نکرد. ۳۰ درصد اول کتاب که داشتیم دنیاشو میفهمیدیم، ۳۰ درصد بعدی تازه میخواستیم ببینیم کی به کیه، یهو ۴۰ درصد اخر تازوووووند😅
من به دو علت کتابو تا اخر خوندم یکی بخاطر اشارها و حرفای nomad راجب کازمیر و دانشارد و دومیش بخاطر آکس نازنینم🥹😍
یک ستاره بخاطر آکس به داستان دادم و یک ستاره نیم بعدی هم بخاطر چهل درصد اخری داستان که انصافا خوب بود

[Jeraviz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me venía quejando de que con los últimos libros de Sanderson necesitas haber leído todo el Cosmere para entenderlo y eso repercutía en la acción y la trama. Pues me ha callado la boca con la última novela secreta.

Para leer El hombre iluminado necesitas haber leído al menos el primero de El Archivo de las Tormentas y algo de Mistborn. Y da la casualidad de que esos son los proyectos que más me gustan en el Cosmere de Sanderson. A esto le añadimos una historia que me ha recordado a la Torre Oscura de King, o a los antiguos westerns donde un forastero llega a un pueblo para poner orden.

Aquí vemos a Nómada, nuestro protagonsita que solo conoce la vida a la fuga. Obligado a saltar de un mundo a otro en el Cosmere cada vez que la Brigada Nocturna le gana demasiado terreno.
Y el planeta en el que aterriza es de los mejores wordlbuildings de Sanderson de los últimos años. Un planeta en el que no te puede tocar el sol porque te fríe y la gente está obligada a vivir moviéndose perpetuamente en la sombra gracias a ciudades flotantes.

Aquí volvemos a ver un poco al Sanderson más épico e imagino que me ha gustado porque me ha tocado la fibra con ciertas referencias a libros pasados y que la trama me ha resultado mucho más emocionante que las anteriores novelas secretas. Pero también les doy la razón a los que se quejan de la saturación de guiños y referencias.

De todas formas, es de agradecer un autor que escriba tanto y tan seguido. Es imposible tener un nivel de 10 siempre pero nos da varias historias que disfrutar al año y creo que eso no lo hace nadie más ahora mismo.

[Sana⁷ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Out of all the Secret Projects books, The Sunlight Man was the one I was the most excited to read. After finishing reading all the previous Secret Projects stories and enjoying them, I had been even more hyped to pick this book up.

The Sunlight Man, the last Secret Project book, is different than the rest of them. While the other books have a more or less kind of connection to the Cosmere universe, The Sunlight Man is the most connected to it.

Our main character's name is Nomad and he's a traveler. He's Skipping from planet to planet, trying to hide from a mysterious group called the Night Brigade. We find Nomad in a small world struggling with an enormous sun trying to kill everyone and everything. Because of the extreme temperatures, the humanity lives in the shadows, in hovering airships. Their clock is ticking - they can be killed either by the sunlight or by a tyrant called the Cinder King who's obsessed with the idea of unity, the need of control and the will of becoming the most powerful being. He makes ember men and ember women out of people - they became enhanced reflexes and strength, but lose their minds in the process. Oh, and parts of their chests are burnt away. Literally.

Nomad, who knows nothing outside of running away, wants to find a power source and a way to escape the planet. The rebels that he meets are supposed to be his way out. But when he gets to know them and their desperate fight to find freedom and to keep being alive, he finds himself struggling between his need to escape and the need to help them achieve their goal.


Honestly, I should enjoy reading The Sunlight Man. Hell, I should really, really love it. But I had a huge trouble with connecting to the characters, even the main ones. And, because of it, I couldn't bring myself to care about what was happening in the book. The only moments my mind felt sharp and focused were the little ones where the names I knew were mentioned. While most of the time I was like 'oh, okay', the moment a name of someone I knew showed up, I was like 'OMG WHAT??'. It shouldn't surprise me, considering the big connection The Sunlight Man has to the Cosmere universe, but I found myself feeling shocked and positively surprised. I wish I could feel so alive while reading the book as much as I was when I saw the previously known names being mentioned :(

[Jonah Evarts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brandon Sanderson has proven yet again that he is an absolute machine at writing stories.

The Sunlit Man is a thrilling, fun, action-packed installment in the Cosmere. I’m sure that if, like me, you are already neck deep into his work - you will love this as much as I did. There are so many references to his other work in this book, so many tie-ins I wasn’t expecting, and a general expansion on Cosmere lore that I delighted in learning about.

As always with Sanderson, the world building and magic are top notch. And as always, they are intrinsically tied to the emotional beats of our protagonist. Who in this case is a world-hopping outlaw named Nomad.

Nomad, without saying anything in the way of spoilers, is someone you’ll quickly realize belongs to the world of another of Sanderson’s series. He’s on the run from a group called The Night Brigade, and the book starts with a thrilling sequence of him arriving on a new planet and being forced to adapt to his situation on the fly. This set the pace moving forward, which I loved. This entire book was hard to put down, with each chapter leaving me desperate for the next.

I would say that you absolutely need to have read The Stormlight Archive to read this. There is a lot that won’t make sense or will be a spoiler for the series if you haven’t already. This is unlike the other Secret Projects, which I think are readable on their own.

The reason that this book gets only 4 stars from me - despite being incredibly fun, surprisingly emotional, and a wonderful addition to the Cosmere - is that I felt like the side characters were not great, and the villain fell a little bit flat for me. Some of the supporting cast was great - Aux, Rebeka, and Elegy to name a few. But there were many more that I just didn’t connect with and felt like the influx of names and people felt unnecessary. The cast could have been trimmed to just a handful of named characters with the same effect.

All in all though, I can’t believe he pulled this off. The fact that Sanderson wrote 4 BOOKS in a year on top of other stuff and they all ended up being this high of quality… what the hell man!?? HOW?? ARE YOU EVEN HUMAN???

….. as a writer myself, I am only a little bit jealous.

I’m very content with the year of Sanderson. Excellent way to cap it off.

[Jake Bishop · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick warning. I am normally a person who thinks Cosmere reading orders are bit overblown, and that connections without context spoil way less and are less important than people act like they are.
So that being said.
DO NOT READ THE SUNLIT MAN UNTIL YOU ARE CAUGHT UP ON THE STORMLIGHT ARCHIVE. Incase someone in the future is reading this, first off grats on the time travel. Second as i'm writing this Rhythm of War is the most recent novel in The Stormlight Archive. I have a feeling if this came out after Stormlight 5 people would say it spoiled Stormlight 5 because it alludes to things that happen on Roshar after Stormlight 4, but as someone who has not gotten Stormlight 5, without context I still have no damn clue what's happening in that book. Still thought, don't read this until you have read at least Oathbringer.

Ok, the actual book.

I quite liked it. This is pretty easily the fastest paced Sanderson book, which is not good or bad, it just is. But it has been a while since I have read a book where from cover to cover the characters are just in a constant struggle to survive, and it definitely had me turning them pages. I hadn't thought of it during the book, but in the postscript Sanderson compared it to Mad Max story, and ya bang on. Familiar, old character who looks young thrown into some ridiculously dangerous local problem. It has a very similar feel, except Nomad is a lot more talkative than Max.

Very Cosmere stuff heavy, really well paced, the world is incredibly creative, one thing I have loved about Sanderson being in stand alone mode for the secret projects is that we get more of his more wild worldbuilding ideas, and I have really liked them all. And I really enjoyed the way it all came together and ramped up. This probably isn't a life changing story, or a book I am going to think about at night for years to come, but holy hell did I have fun.

8.1/10

[Librukie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perseguido por la Brigada Nocturna, Nómada se ve obligado a saltar de mundo en mundo del Cosmere en una huida que parece no tener fin... Hasta que llega a un planeta en el que se verá involucrado en un conflicto entre un tirano y los rebeldes que han decidido plantarle cara. En este planeta la gente vive en constante movimiento, huyendo de un amanecer y un sol que lo destruye todo, siempre a pocas horas de la destrucción, y quizá sea esa similitud con su propia situación la que hace que Nómada tome partido en el conflicto.

"El hombre iluminado" es la última de las novelas secretas, la más frenética y la más interconectada con otras historias del Cosmere, especialmente de "El archivo de las tormentas". Si en las otras las referencias son guiños o atañen a personajes o elementos secundarios de la trama, en esta son una parte fundamental de su entramado, por lo que es necesario estar al día con el resto de novelas (sobre todo con El archivo y con Arcanum Ilimitado) para entender la mayor parte de lo que está pasando aquí. Si bien creo que a pesar de recomendar leerlas en un determinado orden, las otras dos novelas secretas se podrían llegar a leer independientes (con Trenza es así y con Yumi si me apuras mucho, puede que también), con esta sí que desaconsejo absolutamente leerla independiente. Quién empiece por aquí a leer a Sanderson se va a encontrar absolutamente perdido.

Y bien... Si esta novela es TAN Cosmere y está tan relacionada con una de mis sagas favoritísimas de Sanderson... ¿Por qué no consiguió apenas removerme? ¿Por qué sentía que no estaba leyendo a Sanderson? ¿Qué fallo?
Después de darle muchas vueltas al asunto creo que la respuesta sería... El ritmo. Al principio de la reseña ya dije que es la novela más frenética de todas, y aunque para muchos esta sea una buena noticia, para mi no lo es tanto. Con el tiempo he descubierto que soy una lectura que disfruta más de historias pausadas, que se cuecen a fuego lento, en las que el desarrollo de personajes tiene un papel fundamental. Es algo totalmente cuestión de gusto personal, pero en este caso ha chocado totalmente con el estilo de esta novela. La acción es constante, y siento que no ha habido momentos para llegar a conocer a los distintos personajes que aparecen en ella, ni siquiera a Nómada. Y cuando falla esa conexión, esa empatía por los personajes, todo lo demás se me cae. ¿Por qué voy a sentir miedo por un personaje que no me remueve nada? ¿Por qué voy a estar en tensión en las continuas escenas de acción por unos personajes que apenas conozco? Hay mucha gente que critica libros como "Juramentada", "El pozo de la ascensión" o "Elantris" por ser quizá demasiado lentos o introspectivos. Yo también lo hice en algún momento de mi vida, pero en este siento que ahora necesito que en las sagas haya libros o momentos así. Momentos que me permitan descansar entre tanta acción, que me permitan entrar en la mente de los personajes y conocerles mejor. Que hagan que me importen. Porque los personajes de Sanderson siempre me gustan mucho, y esta vez me ha sorprendido mucho y me ha impactado que... Simplemente me diesen igual.
Y entiendo que esta es un poco la tónica de las novelas secretas: no estaban pensadas para publicarse en un principio y no son tan meticulosas, ni tienen quizá las pretensiones de una novela normal. Son más ágiles, exploran estilos diferentes y se centran más en la acción. Pero inevitablemente, aún sabiendo esto, muchos vamos a ellas buscando lo que solemos tener en el autor de forma habitual, y muchos nos llevamos el chasco. A pesar de que, aunque no nos ofrezcan lo mismo, tampoco son malos libros. Simplemente no tienen el mismo objetivo, y creo que se nota.

Otra cosa que he notado es que tras tantas novelas secretas en un mismo año las referencias han llegado a saturarme. Y no quiero que esto se malentienda. Adoro que el Cosmere sea un universo interconectado que poco a poco vaya yendo hacia una trama común en la que todo se entremezcle. Adoro que haya referencias y guiños... Pero creo que en estas novelas se ha abusado un poco de ellas, y en esta directamente creo que se cimenta todo en las referencias hasta tal punto de que si las quitas... El libro se queda en nada. Llega un punto en el que los guiños pierden impacto, porque hay tantos, hasta varios por capítulo, que ya los esperas. Esa ilusión, ese brinco que me daba en el corazón cada vez que captaba algo en otras historias... Desaparece. En otras novelas las referencias y las conexiones eran más sutiles, y nunca se descuidaban los personajes o la trama en favor de ellas. Tenemos ahí "El metal perdido", cuya trama también se apoya mucho en las conexiones, pero aún así me encantó. Porque siento que tiene su propia personalidad, su propia esencia, y los personajes han tenido su espacio. Pero en esta... Siento que todo lo que pasaba me daba igual, porque lo que importaba era saber qué próximo detalle de "El archivo" iba a descubrir.

A pesar de todo esto, que sé que me he explayado... No es una mala novela, de verdad. Es una historia entretenida, con buen ritmo (para mi demasiado alto, pero cuestión de gustos) y que se lee muy bien. Pero no me ha dejado al terminarlo esa emoción, ese poso que me dejan otros libros de Sanderson. El final creo que lo remonta, pero incluso hay varias partes hacia la mitad en las que he llegado a desconectar. Creo que le sobran acción y páginas, y una historia al estilo "Esquirla del amanecer" o "Danzante del filo" le hubiese sentado mejor. Algo más cortito que fuese más al grano. Aún así me lo he pasado bien leyéndolo y asomándome una vez más a eso tan enorme que se nos viene en esta gran aventura que es el Cosmere.

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read The Sunlit Man because it is book 4.5 of the Stormlight Archive.  While it did include some familiar characters, I could not have been more surprised by the content.  Suffice it to say that there are spaceships in the story!  As for the quality of the narrative, it is not bad, but it also does not hold a candle to the other Stormlight books and novellas.  In fact, what this story reminds me of most is an episode of Dr. Who.  WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD  It has so many of the classic Who elements--purposefully confusing the reader/viewer, virtually non-stop action, a stranger who mysteriously appears on the scene and has superior knowledge and abilities to all the locals.  I like to read everything in a series that I am following, but I easily could have missed this installment without too many regrets. 

[aria ✧ · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Adonalsium’s fortune gaze upon you. And may you always outrun the sun.”

Brandon Sanderson’s mind must be a beautiful and terrifying place to be. How does he come up with these ideas?! No but seriously, how does he imagine such unique worldbuilding and magic systems because I am baffled. I’ve read all of his works and he still managed to have me mumbling, “how did he come up with this?” as I was reading. One thing for sure though, the Cosmere is leaning more into the science fiction than the fantasy. And I am a sucker for magic that makes sense.

all the casual cosmere lore that was dropped has me frothing at the mouth in excitement for mistborn era 4.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I definitely like this book better than Wizarding Guide but I did not enjoy this as much as Yumi and Tress. I would probably rate more of a 3.5/5.

Check out my review here if you so choose! https://youtu.be/9bPI0unX0To?si=KycFL...


While the other books were able to easily be read as standalone novels, I do not feel like this can be read as a standalone. You almost need to have read all of Sanderson’s books to enjoy this one; especially Stormlight. I definitely would recommend reading Stormlight before this book. (I saw another review mention some stories from Arcum Unbounded as well) The main character is from Roshar so there are a lot of references to that series. My problem was that it had been so long since I last read the Stormlight book, that I do not remember everything which made the book more frustrating for me. Especially when it came to terminology—almost need a glossary to help jump my memory for this book. You get some explanation of things, but it is not until later in the book do you get the little pieces here and there.

It’s frustrating knowing you should know something but you just cannot remember—that is how I felt reading this book.

Without giving spoilers, the main premise of the book is about Nomad who has world-hopped to another planet and when he jumps to this planet he is instantly thrown into an execution/prisoner situation in which he is to be executed by the sun. The sun on this planet is a death sentence therefore the people on this planet are constantly running away from the sun. They are never sitting in one place, they live in moveable cities of ships and are constantly faced with the threat of the sun and the changing landscape. There is also a tyrant on this world called the Cinder King who is hunting down Nomad and the group he is with. Nomad is also being hunted by the Night Brigade—this explains why he is always running from planet to planet and why he will continue to be important in later stories.

Since the main character is from Roshar, if you read the Stormlight books you will believe this is someone you should know, but the book refuses to tell you until later in the story. It's annoying not knowing who the main character really is, you are constantly giving references but it seems to be a secret for some reason. This took away the enjoyment of the story for me since I kept trying to guess who the person was instead of just enjoying the story. I prefer stories where you are sharing the story with the main character rather than the main character constantly keeping information from you and giving you bits and pieces.(this started to give me the same frustration I had with SP2)

I will say this was an enjoyable read, it just was not my favorite. I did enjoy the book more later on and there were some good scenes towards the end. But I did not find it shocking, or groundbreaking. It just felt like a good in-between novel to read between Stromlight books.

I know a lot of people will enjoy this book because I believe the majority of Sanderson’s fans love the whole Cosmere premise and can remember all the details and intricacies of the magic systems and politics. But personally, I am not really a huge fan of the Cosmere landscape. I am having a hard time keeping track of everything, and I am starting to feel like I cannot just pick up one of his books and enjoy it unless I am caught up on every book he has written in the Cosmere worlds. I don’t want to constantly be rereading his books every time I want to pick up one of his books. This book references the magic system of Warbreaker, Mistborn and tons of Stormlight references. I understand a lot of people will disagree with me on this point but I have really enjoyed the books by Sanderson that are able to stand on their own—even if they are part of the Cosmere. I just felt like this book required me to be refreshed on Stormlight and I wasn’t, which took away some of my enjoyment. Maybe if I reread this book during my Stormlight reread I would feel differently, but I just was not that excited by this book in the end.

[Hamad · Rating 4 out of 5]

“You never get to be ready. You just have to move forward anyway.”

This was the fourth and final secret project, and in terms of enjoyment, it’s my second favorite after Tress! When it first came out, I saw some mixed reviews that raised concerns. However, I believe this one is crucial to the cosmere universe since it ties into the other stories, making it feel "more canonical," in a sense. I agree with others that this book requires a solid grasp of the cosmere to fully appreciate, but as someone who hasn’t yet read Rhythm of War, I still found it thoroughly enjoyable.

Sanderson’s writing remains as captivating as ever, showcasing his talent for world-building and crafting intricate characters. This time, the pacing felt notably different; the narrative is packed with rapid-fire action scenes, which I enjoyed, though some readers might prefer a bit more breathing room between them. Typically, Sanderson’s books start slowly and build up to the renowned Sanderlanche, and this one followed that pattern, but put it on steroids!

The book features imaginative world-building set in the future, with a magic system centered around sunlight, which ties into the story’s title. It takes place after the events of the fifth Stormlight book—still unreleased at the time—so there are a few spoilers for earlier books, and some events are mentioned vaguely, which might be frustrating. However, it also piques my interest to revisit this book after finishing the Stormlight series to catch any details I might have missed.

At its heart, it’s a story of vengeance, yet it carries Sanderson’s unique touch. The narrative unfolds with a sense of mystery—some elements of which I didn’t fully grasp—and is packed with action. The illustrations are stunning, and I wish Sanderson would consider hiring illustrators permanently for his future works. This marks his 50th book, dedicated to his readers, which I find sweet and touching!

[Robin (Bridge Four) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review was originally posted on Books of My Heart

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 where 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

[Reem · Rating 4 out of 5]

this damned scene?
tears in my eyes while getting ready for work this morning.
I WAS NOT READY.

sidenote:
though this gave mostly nostalgic and vague tragic backstory to a loved character since we last saw him, his companion was the best thing, I love him. because he lost a big part of himself, he has to narrate his interactions to give meaning to his monotone, referring to himself as "The Knight" or "the Hero"😆😆

"This storming world, the knight says with a breathless voice. Indicating horror, not arousal, since that word is sometimes used both ways. Just in case you were wondering."

[J.J. Garza · Rating 3 out of 5]

Puede que parezca un poco injusto, pero voy a tratar de establecer mis razones. Al final, El Hombre Iluminado no es mejor ni peor que el resto de las famosas ‘novelas secretas’: su particularidad principal es que está mucho más conectada al resto del Cosmere que el resto. Por lo tanto requiere más lectura previa, aunque no creo que este aspecto en sí demerite al libro.

No, tengo otras razones por las cuales decidí ponerle una puntuación ‘baja’ al libro. Algunas son de mis preferencias como lector de fantasía y otras por lo que creo que son problemas objetivos de la novela. Entonces vayamos por las primeras: me está preocupando que la magia dura de Sanderson se está volviendo menos mágica. Ahora hablamos de unidades de investidura y capacidades de salto, de porcentajes y mediciones. Para mí una magia que es cognoscible, que se puede medir y determinar y que tiene causas y consecuencias conocidas no es magia y lo siento mucho. Era una cosa casi maravillosa en Elantris y en El Camino de los Reyes, pero especialmente desde El Ritmo de la Guerra se ha vuelto sumamente mecánica. En este libro se repiten las partes que me parecieron más soporíferas del cuarto volumen del Archivo y que tienen que ver con lo que parece ser una afición de Sanderson por la ingeniería mecánica. A mí estas partes me desconectaron abiertamente del libro.

El Cosmere prosigue su agresiva ‘marvelización’ con más y más puentes narrativos entre sus mundos y esto es de agradecerse. Aquí sí se necesita conocer varias novelas para entender bien todo, así que no recomendaría a nadie que no esté prácticamente al corriente.

Los demás problemas me parecieron relativos al porqué de esta novela, cuándo se publicó y qué es lo que describe. No voy a marcar spoilers porque luego Goodreads me oculta todo, pero iré con cuidado. El protagonista de esta novela, Nómada, es un personaje secundario del Archivo de las Tormentas que ahora vive como fugitivo brincando mundos por todo el Cosmere. Uno de los problemas principales es que este personaje es uno de los únicos dos miembros de cierto querido grupo que no ha sido tan desarrollado como los demás en las novelas principales. Y como esta novela está ambientada años después del quinto libro que falta un año para publicarse entonces no se sabe bien cuál es su trasfondo y qué es lo que lo ha llevado a ser así. Por lo tanto, termina sintiéndose como una versión deslavada y repetida de Kaladin, y el clímax de la novela parece como un refrito.

Entonces El Hombre Iluminado sirve más como un largo ‘teaser’ de cosas que vendrán en el Cosmere que una novela que se sostenga por sus propios méritos.

Lecturas requeridas: todo el Archivo de las Tormentas, incluyendo Esquirla del Amanecer. Sombras del Silencio y de preferencia haber leído los siete de Mistborn.

[Alex Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lost for words at how gripping and immersive this experience was.

It truly made me realise how immense the worlds that Brandon Sanderson has built are. I was so invested in Nomad and Aux and it felt - although worlds apart in setting and trope - like a perfect Stormlight Archive novel.

With many new faces and a few old ones (no spoilers), it was a perfect fiftieth Sanderson book.

I genuinely cannot fault anything about it.

5/5

[Joshua Harkey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sanderson does something special in this book.

I think it's been a while since Brandon has written anything this dark and serious, which can make for quite a shock when you pick it up. It's not grimdark of course, but it's taking some ideas that have been explored in the Stormlight Archive and really asking some difficult questions in response.

The *theme* in this book is really strong and really well done. I don't want to say too much about it, but there's several things running in parallel which drive the message and the tone so hard. There's so many different things all working together so smoothly to tell this story.

The amount of Cosmere stuff going on here is an absolute blast of course. The gloves are off, and in this case the finished product is phenomenal.

I also feel like I've noticed Brandon being a bit more subtle and thoughtful in his writing than usual. It's not quite my favorite of the Secret Projects, but I do think it's probably the "best written" of them.

I received a free copy of this book as a beta reader, but purchased a copy for myself.

[La Librería de Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sanderson lo volvió a hacer

Hablar de este libro sin soltar una retahíla de spoilers es muy complicado, pero podéis considerar esta novela como un "Avengers" del Cosmere. No por la presencia de personajes sino porque es necesario haberse leído TODO lo que se ha publicado de este universo para poder entender cada una de las mil referencias a las novelas anteriores.
Nómada es un personajazo, Auxiliar más de lo mismo y este mundo... donde la investidura se saca de un sol que derrite hasta las piedras es muy interesante. Se nota mucho que Sanderson nos ha dado esta novela como aperitivo para hacernos ver lo que se viene en el futuro del universo.
A mi parecer, esta es la mejor Novela Secreta de las cuatro si estás al día con el Cosmere, pero si no has leído todo lo relacionado con el universo el mejor sigue siendo Trenza.
Estoy deseando ver a dónde quiere llevarnos Sanderson con todo esto, una pena que hasta el año que viene no salga el quinto libro del archivo.

5 estrellas bien merecidas.

[Mangrii · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me ha parecido una novelita flojeta y algo genérica en general (quizás, funcionaría mejor como novella), pero la info cosmeriana y los guiñitos bien salvan los muebles y nos dejan rucando la cabeza así como algún que otro WTF. El hombre iluminado nos lleva hasta el futuro lejano en la línea cronológica del Cosmere, y además, lo hace con un personaje familiar — pero que es secreto de estado— que hasta el día de hoy era un secundario y tendrá un papel crucial, según el propio Sanderson, en el futuro del Cosmere.

Nómada lleva, desde hace años, una vida a la fuga, obligado a saltar de un mundo a otro en el Cosmere cada vez que la implacable Brigada Nocturna le gana demasiado terreno. Así acaba en un nuevo planeta y de inmediato se ve implicado en la trifulca entre un tirano y los rebeldes que solo pretenden evitar que los conviertan en esclavos sin mente. Y todo bajo la amenaza constante de un amanecer cuyo calor derrite la misma piedra. El hombre iluminado se lee a toda pastilla, en una huida constante hacia delante que nunca para de ganar impulso. Es la típica historia del oeste, donde un forastero llega a un nuevo lugar y ayuda a poner orden, pero en otro planeta un poco más caluroso.

Siento pensando en ella que solo salva los muebles gracias a sus conexiones con el Cosmere. Y eso, probablemente, lo dice todo. Gracias a que identificamos quién es Nómada desde los primeros compases, ganamos una importante historia de fondo para su personaje y nos involucramos un poco más emocionalmente. No obstante, la novela mantiene su nivel habitual de entretenimiento, pero El hombre iluminado se nota sin pulir, sin algo más que nos atrape a parte de sus conexiones.

El villano es un poco de opereta, los secundarios apenas tienen relevancia en la historia y lo único fascinante — a parte de estos vínculos ya mencionados— es el mundo creado por Sanderson y el sistema mágico implementado de Cántico, además de alguna aparición estelar. Y es que si la trama flojea, en comparación, el planeta y su sistema de magia resulta fascinante e intrigante a partes iguales. El mundo de Cántico es bombardeado constantemente con rayos solares mortales que derriten la piedra y remodelan el paisaje en cada vuelta, razón por la cual los habitantes del planeta han estado viviendo una vida nómada y siempre en movimiento para escapar del sol. Viven en ciudades móviles y flotantes capaces de dividirse en unidades más pequeñas en cualquier momento.

Si miramos los cuatro Proyectos Secretos de cerca, este es obviamente el más conectado con todo el Cosmere. Es más, el propio Brandon lo dedica a todos los fans desde el principio. Y es que entre toda la aventura, no hay solo guiños o pequeñas referencias como sucedía antes, sino que es obligado para que el lector pueda disfrutar El hombre iluminado que conozca unas cuantas cosas antes. Es más, diría que lo mejor es ir totalmente al día, pero otros discutirán el caso y dictarán sentencia.

Reseña completa en el blog: https://boywithletters.blogspot.com/2...

[David S S. Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fun book written with a Sci Fi vibe but ties closely into the Cosmere. I’m not convinced it must be read before Wind and Truth or after Rhythm of War but I’m glad I did. I’m especially glad I read it after Dawnshard and The Lost Metal but not necessary.

There is a big reveal of the MC that has a bigger payoff if you’ve been reading the Stormlight Archive books so that is super fun.

The pacing was a bit quicker than an average Sanderson book and the world building is fantastic and it’s a new location (or at least to me it was…it’s hard to tell with Sanderson if some things have popped up elsewhere 😜.

I love that he wrote this during COVID as a gift to his fans. The Secret Projects are all so good! Well, at least Tress and Yumi were and they were written for his wife. I never read Frugal Wizard and that was just for him, it was a fun project but Sunlit was for us 🤗

I’ll definitely reread this one sometime. It may not be a 5 star for everyone but I rate based on how much fun I had and I had so much fun visiting this place. I guess I like the Sci-Fi meets Western with bizarre worlds. Still has heart ❤️ 😜😁