Dark One: Forgotten

Dark One

by Brandon Sanderson, Dan Wells

Every year in the United States there are fifteen thousand murders, give or take a few hundred. Of those, nearly forty percent go unsolved.

In this six-part audio series, Christina Walsh is determined to change that. After struggling with the loss of her father, she sets out on a journey to bring the justice that has eluded her to the families of other victims. And she starts with a particularly strange case. The murder of world-renowned violinist Leona McPherson who mysteriously disappeared years ago after a concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. As Christina digs deeper, the story gets stranger. Leona was a prodigy, someone too good to be forgotten, but that’s exactly what has happened. She’s been forgotten. Entirely. By everyone who knew her. From the gushing music critic in her hometown to the detectives investigating her murder, even her own mother.

So Christina embarks on a cross-country mission, with her roommate Sophie, to figure out what happened to Leona. In the process, she uncovers a trail of similar victims who have suffered the same fate. But if no one can remember the victims, how can the killer possibly be caught? Christina’s only leads come from a crazed homeless man’s ramblings, a mysterious glass eye, and an otherworldly totem. Is Christina crazy or has she stumbled upon something so implausible it must be true?

Genres: Fantasy, Audiobook, Mystery, Fiction, Horror, Thriller, Crime

7 pages, Audible Audio

First published January 10, 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

[Anna [Bran. San. Stan] · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, this was so much fun! I really don’t understand why this collaboration hasn’t gotten more attention. Dark One: Forgotten is an audio serial in the “style of a true crime six-episode podcast.” Before you go check out audible, it is important to know, going into this, that this mockumentary podcast does not deal with a regular old crime; as Dan Wells pitches it, halfway through the serial you realize there is a supernatural serial killer murdering people, making this a mix of murder and mystery - which all happens on Earth but not everything you encounter is actually from Earth.

Dark One: Forgotten is also a prequel to the graphic novel Dark One which I have yet to read. If you also haven’t read the graphic novel but want to know in very vague terms how those two tie into each other, continue reading; if you don’t, skip this paragraph. Dan said one plotline in the graphic novel is about a boy on earth, who realizes fantasy people from another world are trying to kill him; the other plotline is about this boy’s mom, a lawyer, who is defending in court “a serial killer who turns out to be this supernatural monster from the fantasy world. The audio series is the prequel to how that guy got caught” (Intentionally Blank episode: “Writers on Wheels – Dark One: Forgotten”). (ICYMI, Brandon and Dan are currently collaborating on a Dark One prose novel and a second graphic novel.)

The first episode begins with our podcaster, 22-year-old college student Christina Walsh, discovering facts and impossibilities about the murder of Leona McPherson, a world-renowned violinist, in 1994. Initially that’s what the circumstances around Leona’s murder seem: impossible because everyone around Leona has flat-out forgotten her, even her own mother.

Her perky friend Sophie, who presumably is supposed to be comic relief, joins her in her investigation. Sadly, I found her incredibly annoying – though I’m not sure if it’s because of the text per se or simply the actress’s interpretation of the role. Also, I had problems distinguishing the two girls’ voices, at least when Sophie wasn’t being annoying.

I won’t go into anything else because it really is best not knowing too much of what to expect. Just give this a listen and prepare to be thoroughly hooked! I honestly would have enjoyed this even if Brandon’s name was not on the cover, Dan did an excellent job. (Brandon himself says
he considers himself “more an editor“ here, though Dan stresses how much it is also a “Brandon book.“) Now I’m off to read the graphic novel!

[Nick Morrison · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh this was not for me. Maybe I can't do audio dramas, but the whole thing felt juvenile and the protagonists were cringey and insufferable.

[Stanley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really hope this audio drama finds its audience because it was really good, but feels as if it has gotten lost with the recent release of Tress.

I’m going to have to reread the Dark One GN to see where this sits, but it feels like this can easily stand on its own without having to read the GN, which I don’t fell like many people understand if they are even aware it exists at all.

The production was of very high quality with a big cast of quality voice actors. The story grabbed me early on and held me throughout. Some of the twists seemed familiar with some of the books of Wells’ I’ve read before.

The very end fell off a bit for me or I would have given it a five. Overall, I still really enjoyed it, though, and finished it on release day.

I also feel that fans of of the Sadie (by Courtney Summers) audiobook will dig this one.

[Shaghayegh · Rating 4 out of 5]

با توجه به اینکه گرافیک ناول دارک وان رو از قبل خونده بودم فکر می‌کردم باید خیلی مربوط به اون ماجرا باشه، اما به راحتی میشه به عنوان یه کتاب مجزا بهش نگاه کرد و به شدت ازش لذت ببرد.
فایل صوتیش محشره، گرافیک آدیو نیست اما دست‌کمی از اون نداره. و یه جوری ضبط شده که انگار داری پادکست گوش میدی.
داستان ماجرا هم خیلی جذابه. داستان از جایی شروع می‌شه که یه دانشجوی موسیقی بنابه‌دلایلی شروع به تحقیق راجع به قتلی می‌کنه که سی سال پیش اتفاق افتاده، اما هیچ‌کس (هیچ‌کس حتی مادر، معلما و دوستای صمیمی اون دختر، که یه وییولنیست نابغه و مشهور بوده) اونو به خاطر نمیارن. انگار اصلا وجود خارجی نداشته. با تحقیقات بیشتر متوجه میشه که موارد مشابه دیگه هم وجود داشته، افرادی که تو زمینه‌ی هنری خودشون نابغه بودن، اما بعد از قتل طوری فراموش شده‌ن که انگار وجود خارجی نداشتن. و همین تحقیقات آغاز دردسره.

[Shreyas · Rating 3 out of 5]

'Dark One: Forgotten' (Dark One #0.5) by Brandon Sanderson and Dan Wells.






Rating: 2.5/5.




Review:
Back in 2020, I read the Dark One (first volume) graphic novel when it was initially released in a limited run. It has been a long time since I last read it, and, as a result, I don't remember the intricate details of the plot except for the basic premise and the unflattering fact that the first volume ends on a major cliffhanger. On the other hand, 'Dark One: Forgotten' is a prequel story with only certain minor connections to the graphic novel. It is written in a six parts long true crime-like podcast format and deals with the background story involving a supernatural criminal' capture (who is undergoing a trial as a part of a minor arc in the graphic novel). As such, it isn't an obligatory requirement for you to have read the graphic novel to fully understand this prequel story.

Secondly, before I begin with my review, let me make it clear that I'm not ideally accustomed to the audiobook medium of storytelling. I don't have any issues against those who consume stories through the audio medium. Rather, it is my inability to concentrate properly while listening to these stories that make me not enjoy the audio medium as compared to reading books. Therefore, I struggle a lot to fully immerse myself into the stories whenever Brandon Sanderson releases an original work in the audio-exclusive format. Usually, I would have preferred to wait for the print version of these stories, but considering it has been almost two years since the release of 'The Original' and 'Lux: A Texas Reckoners Novel' (Dragonsteel Entertainment had earlier promised print and digital release about one year after the audio-exclusive release), I have no hopes left of seeing the story released in the printed or digital format any time soon.

Despite my issues with audiobooks, I still believe that the audiobook format is the best-suited format for this story. Written as a 6-part true crime podcast, with all the various sound effects, blunders, and audio fumbles by the in-world narrators, I think that it would be difficult to replicate this story in a format other than the audio medium. It can be done, but it won't carry as much impact as listening to the audiobook.

While the concept is cool, it doesn't feel like a Sanderson story in the slightest. This might be cause most of the writing work was done by Dan Wells, while Brandon acted more like an editor here occasionally dropping in some hints and tips about how to move the story along and connect it to his graphic novel (though Dan stresses how much it is a "Brandon book" in their podcast). I'm yet to read a book written by Dan Wells, but seeing how he integrated some amount of grittiness into the criminal aspects of this story, I'm considering checking out more of his solo works as soon as possible. I usually have no issues with expletives and cursing in books, but listening to it being mentioned so frequently (though they were beeped out, one could easily ascertain what those expletives were) in a Sanderson-affiliated work felt far too jarring at first.

The book had so much potential, but it felt wasted in hindsight. The concept was great, and the brilliant twists and turns made me invested in the story. There were some great moments in the story. I also loved it when the narrator made some pop cultural references (I remember Tom Holland, Alexa Bliss, and a few other celebrities being namedropped). The story had every single ingredient to make a mouth-watering recipe, but alas, it failed in its execution. The more I think about the story's potential, the more disappointed I get at its botched-up execution.

The voice acting is mostly acceptable, and the recording quality is top-notch. The (in-world) podcast host, Christina Walsh, does a great job with her presentation. Her best friend, Sophie, often joins in as a co-host of the podcast. And, that's where the problem begins. First of all, Sophie is far too annoying to listen to. I don't blame the original voice actor since I'm certain that Sophie was written like that with a misguided belief to be a comic relief character, but unfortunately, it does the opposite. Every time Sophie added some of her commentary in her annoying voice, I cringed hard. Humor has never been Sanderson's forte, and although Dan Wells is also partially responsible for the writing, I'm still greatly disappointed at Sanderson for his maladroit handling of humor in this book. Also, I had issues with distinguishing the voices of the two co-hosts, especially when Sophie wasn't annoying or swearing out frequently.

Ever since I started reading mystery books, I have come across a variety of amateur detectives – from young kids to teens to middle-aged folks to old people. Among all these, Sophie and Christina feel to be the worst of the lot. It can be argued that they were inexperienced and amateurs when it came to investigating crimes, but so was the case for the other fictional amateur detectives. They seemed too naive, inconsiderate, clumsy, and inept in their attempts to solve this mystery. Imagine making inappropriate jokes and shouting at an innocent witness while interviewing them! Such sections, in particular, bugged me a lot.

But that wasn't all! There came a point in the story when I got drawn into it and was enamored enough by the slick twists and turns to let the deficiencies be forgotten to some extent. But then, the awful ending happened. Well, if you are generous enough to even call it an ending. It felt so rushed, painstakingly convenient, and lackluster that you are left wondering what the hell just happened (and that too, not in a good way). It was a ridiculous ending with no payoff that makes me feel like a fool for wasting my time with this story.

By the time I was done with the book, I felt nothing but disappointment and resentment. I was disappointed because the story had the potential to be great, but it fails in an embarrassingly spectacular fashion at its climax. And resentment for investing my time and efforts in this story. But, art is subjective. It is still a decent concept with plenty of effort put in by the voice artists and the recording team, so I could see some people enjoying the story for that. However, as someone who has loved almost every Sanderson-associated work out there so far, I just hope someone somehow wipes out all my memories of reading this book, and hopefully, 'Dark One: Forgotten' remains forever forgotten by me.

[Hans Kjenes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really fun listen! A Sanderson story, in the form of a true crime podcast.. If this is any indication of what the colaboration with Dan Wells is going to be like, i'm super excited.

Excellent voice work by the actors playing the parts here, a good mystery with plenty of suspense, and a really nice piece of background and setup for future Dark One material. Made me both want to re-read the comic, and to check out more of Dan's work.

[Kylan Draper · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like it, I tried.

Main problems I had:
- It was pitched (in the Sanderson/Wells release video) as a "true crime podcast similar to those you have listened to before. If you like 'Serial' and those types of shows you will like this". And that is not really the case. I am an AVID (48,000 minutes of true crime podcast listening time last year) true crime fan. This is a story that is told through the lens of a podcast. They gave about 70% effort into making it feel like a real podcast. It was close, but it felt hurried, in that it was close to being a realistic and convincing podcastbut they didn't quite put in the polished touches and reworks to get there. They hung their cap on quirky inovative things that, while cool, did not create an immersive podcast feel.
- Many of the voice actors sounded too similar to distinguish. Which isn't good because the whole "book" is done as a voice recording so there are no dialog tags. ESPECIALLY the two main characters (two female undergrad roomates) it was impossible at times to distinguish who was talking.
- READ THE "genre" TAGS. This is a SUPERNATURAL, FANTASY, HORROR, MYSTERY. If that sounds cool to you, and you go into it expecting that then you might like it. BUT, again, that is not how it was described in Sanderson and Wells' release video. It is not realistic, it is supernatural fantasy. Which leads me to my next point.
- The first time that the characters, or the author for that matter, even suggest that this could be a supernatural (fake) thing is about 2.5 hours into listening (its about a 6.5 hour listen) so like, 1/3 of the book you are running on the assumption that this is a normal crime in a normal world committed by normal people.
- NOTHING IS EXPLAINED! Few clues are even dropped throughout the book (come on Sanderson) and even less is explained at the end. It ends so abrupt and ridiculously that you will just stay there staring for about 30 minutes wondering what you just listened to (not in a good way) I expected more from a Sanderson work. At one point I looked at how much time was left- 28 minutes. With almost nothing resolved I told myself, "here comes the Sanderson avalanche of dot connecting and whiplash- get ready!" 2 hours after having finished the book I am still waiting for my whiplash.

THE GOOD:
So why did I give it even 2 stars?
- It is very unique and creative and I appreciate what they are going for. This could lead to some really great stuff if people continue to polish this outline and perfect it.
- The voice actors did AMAZING. The performances by all involved in recording was outstanding.
- I have to assume that this will be continued in other works, and that two writers as good as Sanderson and Wells did not just make something this disappointing.

[ᒪᗴᗩᕼ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4¼⭐

…the bullet points
- mystery thriller
- with a supernatural twist
- felt like an actual podcast
- dramatization w/full cast
- a fun, quick listen
- part of a series…I think

This is only available on Audio…but not only on Audible. I listened on Libby through my library. It did have a slight ya-ish feel to it since the characters are college-age but otherwise, it was a very entertaining story that was very well performed. The important thing to note is if you can’t deal with the supernatural…then this isn’t the audiobook for you.

…about the narration
🎙️🎙️🎙️🎙️🎙️/5
- A Full Cast Dramatization performed by…Rachel Jacobs, Sophie Oda, Keith Szarabajka, Kaleo Griffith, Avery Waddell, Kelli Tager, John H Mayer, Mia Barron, Luis Bermudez, William Elsman, Nan McNamara, Jim Meskimen, Roxanne Hernandez

...the score
➨ 8.43/10 | Opening-9 | Characters-8 | Plot-8 | Atmosphere-8.5 | Writing Style-8.5 | Ending-7.5 | Overall Enjoyment- 9.5

[Joel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I forgot to think of a review

[Dustin (dragonarmybooks) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a BookTube channel where I review books, give reading suggestions, and more! Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/dragonarmybooks

---

I love Brandon and I love Dan and I love audiobooks, but I'm not sure this audio experience quite worked for me. And I think it all boils down to two things: the voice acting and the script. I'll add in a third that is all on me, but I just don't love paranormal, supernatural, low fantasy. And that's what this drama ended up being.

Dark One: Forgotten is definitely a fun experiment. It's a six-part audio series told primarily in podcast format as Christina Walsh and her best friend Sophie embark on a cross-country mission to investigate the murder of a world-renowned violinist who mysteriously disappeared years ago. The only thing is, no one seems to remember the violinist. She's been forgotten. Entirely. What starts as a simple mystery, slowly turns supernatural about 2/3 into the story. And it all ends with a climactic but unsatisfactory conclusion that seems to come out of nowhere.

While the concept is cool, it really doesn't feel like a Sanderson story in the slightest. That might be due to the unique genre or it could even be due to the format, but I think it's primarily due to the fact that Dan Wells wrote it and Sanderson didn't. I do love Dan's work, but don't listen to this one thinking you're going to get brilliant Sanderson worldbuilding or magic systems. There's not even really a "Sanderlanche," so temper your expectations.

The voice acting is certainly acceptable, and the two podcasts cohosts do great with their presentation, but their voices are FAR too similar to be able to distinguish between the two. Unless Sophie was cussing (which she often was), I could not figure out who was talking. A few of the voices, particularly for elderly people, were laughable and distracting. And the dialogue choices, at times, had me rolling my eyes. But I guess Dan was trying hard to give these girls some personality. Which is a thing. When you listen to a podcast, you've really got to click with the host. If you don't, then it doesn't really matter what they say because you're going to not be interested. So if you don't click with Christina or Sophie, which is a very real possibility, then you might become disinterested fairly quickly.

With all of that being said, I still enjoyed the listen. It's quick and easy to consume. The recording quality is top notch. And the concept is super cool. In fact, I think there is something here. This can be a successful storytelling medium. I just don't think they cracked the code with their first attempt. I could see some people, however, really enjoying this experience, and I wouldn't blame them for it.

[Florian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really intrigued by this, but damn does everything past the 70% mark need suspension of disbelief to make even a bit of sense.

[Tammie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

This was an interesting audio book that's set up to feel like you're listening to a podcast. I really got into this and was enjoying it until I got to the part where the main character's roommate gets involved. I've got to be honest, she almost ruined this book for me. She was so immature and annoying. I think she was supposed to bring some comic relief to the story but I didn't find her funny. She felt like a character that should have been in a YA novel. Thankfully, I was able to ignore her enough to enjoy the rest of the book, but this could have been a 4 star read instead of a 3.5 star read if she hadn't been in the story, or if she had been written as a more mature character.

The mystery itself was good and I liked the supernatural aspect of the story. Apparently this is a prequel to a graphic novel, but I've never read it and I don't plan on reading it. This worked well enough on it's own.

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[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed that immensely. Don't go into it thinking it's a book. Think it's a podcast series, dramatized. Then you're on the ride with Christina. That was very fun.

[Josh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Creatively conceived but poorly executed, this story is another in the trend of audio stories told in podcast format. It’s not a novel in the sense that it is written from a descriptive and literary viewpoint, it’s told in the voices of the narrators and nothing is described except what the narrator chooses to. The concept around the crime show is a good idea as well as the cook off no one being able to remember the victims. But the story goes off the rails pretty quickly.

The narrator is terrible. It’s hard to listen to her quivering voice and overacting for several hours straight. Especially near the end it’s just so over the top and unbelievable that you want someone to put her out of her misery. From a story perspective there are also issues at the end, because nothing is really explained and it becomes comes hard to follow. There’s some interesting twists and turns but at the ending confrontation with the villain it’s all fluff and no substance. It just doesn’t make any sense and leaves out all the details of what’s really going on behind the scenes and it’s just poorly written overall.

This is a far cry from the quality that Sanderson is known for and I would not recommend it.

[Marcie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do I Know You!?!

OH! MY! HELL!

I KNOW I have said this A LOT! ESPECIALLY when it comes to Brandon Sanderson's books AND Dan Wells' books, but I SWEAR I am telling the truth! NO EXAGGERATION!

This is by far the BEST collaboration book Brandon has EVER DONE!

AND THIS is BY FAR the BEST Audible book I have EVER LISTENED TO!

ALL the narrators/actors are phenomenal! It was better than those old time Radio shows!

The typical Brandon plot twists, the wonderful Dan mysteriousness.

You cannot expect anything but greatness from these two and greatness is EXACTLY what you get!

I CANNOT say enough!

So STOP READING MY REVIEW AND START LISTENING TO Dark One: Forgotten Already!

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!!!

[Jasmine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was really fucking good

[Panda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audiobook (7 hours) narrated by a full cast, including:
Rachel Jacobs
Sophie Oda
Keith Szarabajka
Kaleo Griffith
Avery Waddell
Kelli Tager
John H. Mayer
Mia Barron
José Luis Bermúdez
William Elsman
Nan McNamara
Jim Meskimen
Roxanne Hernandez

The narration is excellent, as is the audio, mixing, editing. Absolutely flawless.

I love the style of the narration. It reminds me of the podcast style of Listen for the Lie, which gives the book a nice flow.

This is definitely a book I would recommend listening to on audio or doing a immersive listening, with both audio and print, as the narration team did such an impressive job.


I was curious about this collaborative book by Brandon Sanderson and Dan Wells. I had previously read Elantris, written by Sanderson, with Wells as a contributor. A completely different style of book.

Dark One: Forgotten is an entertaining ride.

The characters and the world are fantastic.

The base of the world is the United States, that the two main characters travel across in order to solve a mystery. They meet several people along the way, as things get a little weird. We go from a crime mystery, to into more of a psychological dark fantasy. It is AWESOME!

Outside of the previous book mentioned, Listen for the Lie, I cannot come up with examples of comparative stories without potentially ruining the experience for you.

At 7 hours, while not a short story, it's perhaps something you could squeeze between novels you already have on your list. I am predicting an enjoyable experience for most. This is likely something I will read again.

[T · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars
This was SO. GOOD. 5 stars all the way through until the ending, which I felt was a bit rushed. The audio on this is FANTASTIC and gripping! So glad I picked this book up because WOW! I hope there’s a sequel or something because this is one of the most interesting audiobook formats I’ve ever read, and I loved it! Kudos to the authors and performers/narrators. I loved it!

[Susan Farris · Rating 5 out of 5]

A haunting tale of remembering and forgetting. Seeing the Cris and Sophie's friendship endure through repeated trials was very touching as was the ode to the sacredness of every single life.

[Candice · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 ⭐️’s rounded up.

*sigh*

So Brandon Sanderson is usually not my forte, but my husband and I made a deal to read a book of each others choosing. Keeping my side of the deal I FINALLY finished this “Audio Drama”.

To start with I can see where the author was attempting at making this a mysterious somewhat spooky “book”, although the mark was definitely missed. The two main characters, Christina and Sophie, are unbearable. There were many times that I wanted to give up but I persevered. It all seemed a little too reachy if you know what I mean. As in an author who wanted to see if he could delve into another genre that is just not their expertise. I was not interested up until the last hour of the book when they mentioned “Skid Row”. My interest was immediately perked to only be let down by the fact that it really had nothing to do with anything. Speaking of such, there were a lot of little details that could have been left out.
To wrap it up, the book was very juvenile and gave off a very annoying vibe overall.

[Xavier De Becker · Rating 4 out of 5]

In general, I am not an avid audio book listener. When I do decide to listen to a book instead of reading the actual words, it's mostly due to have something to do when I'm doing household chores, or if there is no alternative reading method. My attention to the story however does slip more often with audio books, and I miss certain details that I would have picked up if I had read a paper copy. So, I was expecting the same 'meh' feeling I have after every audio book when I put on Dark One: Forgotten. And I can give several reasons why I had a much better experience than other times.

First, this story plays with a different storytelling method that I have not seen (or heard) in fiction. For those of you who don't know, the story is told through six episodes of a murder mystery podcast. The story is not given to you by the author, but delivered to you through the voice of a fictional music major student who decides to investigate the murder of a famous violinist. Fans of the Serial podcast will instantly recognize the structure of the episode: the reporter gives a monologue with a few questions that they then try to answer by interviewing experts. It is a very unique way of telling a story that I very much liked.

Second, even though I was aware this was a story set in the Dark One universe, I have not read the graphic novel and know nothing about it. As such, I didn't know what to expect. And I think this greatly increased my listening experience. I was figuring out what was going on along with the main characters. The tension was palpable. That said, I don't think I missed anything by not having read the graphic novel. I am much more interested in reading it than before, so goal accomplished, I guess?

Third, the tone is much, much darker than in Sanderson's normal stories. He wrote this story together with Dan Wells, and I think this shows. There were some horrific scenes and descriptions that made me look over my shoulder as I was doing the dishes. I don't want to give anything away, but two thirds into the story, something happens to the main character that deeply disturbed me and made me think what it would be like to be in her shoes.

I still had some criticisms though. I thought the main characters were more annoying than likeable, and there were some things about the sound design that could be better. Most of the time the team took really great care to make it seem that the podcast was recorded by the main characters, e.g. noises in the background, muffled voices if the character was standing farther away from the mic. However, I had a problem with the rather basic cello music that was played, supposedly by a genius cello student, and near the end a character's voice was really loud, although he was standing very far away.

Overall, I really enjoyed this experience, and I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for something to listen to while doing chores.

[Kiri Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

First seven chapters were... not what I expected. This audio-only release listens like a radio theater drama, and I would have DNF'd if I didn't trust these authors. The true crime theme just wasn't working for me and some of the characters felt a little too over the top.

Then came chapter eight.

And a plot twist I was hoping was in the works came. And the Sanderson/Wells magic came through.

Two stars for the beginning. 4.5 for the end. And landing on 3 because the language and politics (moderate left leaning) marred the experience in both the beginning and the end. Story is much more similar to Wells’ usual style than Sanderson’s.

[Michael West · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars

Audio-only Audible exclusive. (I won't be doing a CAWPILE review of this due to the different presentation of the book - presents itself as more of a podcast production)

Fairly entertaining with some well-done production value. Overall it had an intriguing story and pretty good twists. I will say the sidekick character (Sophie) grated on my nerves something fierce.

[Udy Kumra · Rating 5 out of 5]

2/20/23: 5 stars. The first BranDan collab is a fucking banger.

[Chelsea · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so good! I can see why it wasn't for everyone—for one thing, there's just an inherent slight cheesiness in the beginning when you're listening to a cringy fake podcast, for another it slots into a cross-genre gray area (is it horror, "true" crime, fantasy, sci fi, podcast, audiobook?) and for a third a full cast audio production is always at risk of having one badly cast character ruin it for everyone.

But it was phenomenal.

The characters were exciting and dynamic. The thematic through lines were great. The kitschy podcast thing actually really worked for me. The twists were all obvious enough that they slotted right into place, but in a more suspenseful dramatic irony way than a too predictable way. I love weird experimental cross genre things and this took the best of Dan and Brandon plus some great experimentalism and merged it into something I loved.

[Avinash · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise was quite good so was the initial execution and it piqued my interest instantly.

But...

It felt a bit dragged after the first quarter, then again it got momentum half way through and became really interesting.

But...

THAT END oh.. that end :/ It felt rushed and clunky and left me with some unanswered questions and an unusual dissatisfaction for a Sanderson project. I liked "The Original" far better. Hopefully more stories of this world will give some of those answers. Could have been 8 / 8.5 easily but for now 6.5 out of 10. A decent listen still.

[Heather-Lin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started with the graphic novel, which was mediocre at first, them hooked me but good. THIS however was immediately fascinating and only became more and more interesting (and fun!) with each new discovery or strategy. I love-loved this. This could be listened to as a standalone, but more than ever I'm invested in the Dark One storyline.

The full cast audio production is absolute perfection, so definitely seek it out even if there exists a print edition. You won't be sorry!

***

GR Personal Rating System:
★★★★★ 5 Stars ~ LOVED
★★★★☆ 4 Stars ~ ENJOYED
★★★☆☆ 3 Stars ~ LIKED
★★☆☆☆ 2 Stars ~ MEH
★☆☆☆☆ 1 Star ~ NOPE

[Josh Witcher · Rating 1 out of 5]

The first book I've ever read... started to read...that I didn't finish from either of these 2 authors.
My gawd. Authors, can you please, PLEASE use editors who think critically and will maybe challenge you despite if you have a big name or not? Please?

These characters...the lead one and her roommate are the most annoying and obnoxious leads that I have ever seen in a book. Especially the roommate. She was written for a sassy, comedic vibe and Wells/Sanderson should stick to what they know because nothing, not a single thing she said ended up being funny. Not even remotely funny. 90% of her dialogue came across as ignorant, annoying or eye rolling levels of obnoxious to the point of it being so obviously over the top and "I'm trying WAY to hard to be funny" that it's not even close to believable that anyone would behave like this all of the time.

I put aside my belief in reality for the sci-fi and fantasy aspects of books. What I expect... especially from established authors and 2 that I actually love/like... is to then not extend my suspension of belief of reality to the characters or other aspects that are not involved in the otherworldly parts of the story.

I don't know who thought the roommate as a main character, the Watson to Holmes so to speak was a good idea but the authors and editors read this and I can only guess we're to intimidated to tell them of the need to tone it down. Yeah, I get that I may be overreacting a bit. I thought so too so I kept going. I realized that I wasn't when it not only continued, but the dialogue in question absolutely doubled down and became both more frequent and more obnoxious to the point that for the first time ever, I couldn't finish a book written by either author.

It just became to mind numbingly, well, stupid is the best term other than the obnoxious and annoying ones I have frequently used in this review.

Each guy has easily earned a free pass. Heck, Sanderson has earned a lifetime of free passes for me just on the enjoyment his books have given me over the years. This book however? Not a great look for those 3 words, stupid , annoying and obnoxious to be the first 3 I think of when I think about this book which I honestly hope doesn't happen often.

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I knew this was a prequel to the Dark One graphic novel, which I haven’t read. But the premise of a story told via a true crime podcast drew me in. Maybe I would’ve like the book more if I knew more about the original story.

Although the story is about a serial killer and the characters are in college, the writing style seemed very middle grade or like it could’ve been adapted for Disney Channel. The dialogue didn’t seem very believable and felt a bit overacted to me.

[the_bookish_took · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know, this is exactly what a story by Brandon and Dan would look like. It was very interesting—and of course it was some sort of fantasy type story.

First, being audio was a bit difficult for me to get into having to go back time and time again because I'd miss something (definitely a me problem), but it did capture my attention and the mystery aspect was interesting. Definitely intrigued to know more about that guy and the wizard guy. That's the thing about audio. I still can't pronounce the name and I can't even spell it because I haven't seen it.

But for it being something I don't necessarily get into it was still a lot of fun. Some of the things came across very well while others came across not so great in audio format—but my preference is and always will be reading the written word.

Format aside, it did pique my interest when we started learning about the victim and the mysterious circumstances and then Sophie, when she wasn't swearing (HATE they went that route, but glad they beeped most of it out), was funny. I don't really have an opinion on the voice acting.

The ending was getting a little uncomfortable but I would love to read—listen, I guess, to more of it because there's definitely more there. And now I'm going to bed. Go, give it a chance. I can't agree and don't like all the things in there, but it's definitely entertaining and worth listening to the story.