A review by the_midwest_library
The Sunlit Man by Brandon Sanderson

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I finally read the last of the Sanderson Secret Projects. I saved this one for after my reread of the Stormlight Archive and I'm so glad I did! 

Overall I think this book has some seriously spectacular callbacks and Easter eggs, both retrospective and prospective. I really enjoyed our main character and I definitely caught on very quickly as to who this book was about but I know other readers spent the whole book wondering who exactly Nomad was. So the cryptic nature of how his POV was provided I think was great. 

My biggest gripe with the book is that I really felt like this book specifically was just kind of floating in space out in the cosmere without anything to really ground it. I think that the selling points for this specific book are those Easter eggs and those callbacks, and those little sprinklings of potential future secrets that we are getting. I think the plot of this book if I were to look at it independently was weaker for me. 

Overall, I had a really enjoyable experience. I'm glad that I waited to read this until after my reread, but this definitely is not an impactful story for me as a Sanderson reader. I have felt more impact from some of his short stories and novellas compared to this from a plotting standpoint.