The Sunlit Man - Brandon Sanderson

Published as an audiobook by Dragonsteel, 23-04-2023.
Narrated by William DeMeritt.
Originally published 2023.

This is one of four 'secret project' books that Brandon Sanderson released in 2023, along with Tress of the Emerald Sea, The Frugal Wizard's Guide to Medieval England, and Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, and is the third I have read. It is also the one of the four that has the strongest connection to Sanderson's 'cosmere' universe, often referencing characters and even events from his Stormlight Archives series, that began with The Way of Kings.

If all this sounds like a lot of connective tissue, then brace yourself. The Sunlit Man may take place on a planet that has previously not been visited within the cosmere, but the main character, Nomad, is someone who has in the past been a knight radiant on Roshar (the main setting of the Stormlight Archives). Not only that, but as the story progresses, it is revealed that he is a specific character from the Stormlight Archives series, one who - while not the most prominent in that series - at very least has name recognition. Although we are not told the full details of the story, Nomad has moved on from that world, becoming an apprentice to Wit/Hoid (who appears in all cosmere stories), briefly wielding a Dawnshard (something mentioned most prominently in the novella Dawnshard), and is now on the run from a group called the Night Brigade, using his abilities to 'skip' from planet to planet. This means he also has knowledge of many other planets from other series set in the cosmere, including Scadrial, the planet that is home to the Mistborn series, beginning with The Final Empire - the first 'generation' of which is still my favourite Sanderson series.

Oh, and I suppose I should mention the actual plot of this book a bit too?

Canticle is a small planet with a sun that burns everything to ashes, meaning that the inhabitants must stay ahead of it in flying cities, always living in darkness. Their get their power from 'sunhearts', which can only be formed by sacrificing people to the sun and gathering the jewel on the next rotation. The villain of the piece is the 'Cinder King', who seeks to destroy all other cities and rule over the planet with the aid of his mindless 'Charred' soldiers. Nomad gets caught up in the action, accidentally befriending another city as he seeks to gather enough investiture to 'skip' to the next planet.

In case it is not yet obvious, I would not suggest letting The Sunlit Man be the first Sanderson novel you read. 

If, however, you are already a fan of his, and have read (at least) the Stormlight Archives, then The Sunlit Man is an interesting and fast-paced book. It might not be as epic as some Sanderson novels (the main storyline takes place over approximately one day on the planet Canticle, and focuses on only two or three main characters), but it is suitably action-packed, full of sci-fi/fantasy elements, with the standard Sanderson tropes of page-turning plot, creative magic systems, laboriously set-up jokes, and last-minute 'twists' that the audience don't always figure out ahead of time. 

It's worth it.

Completed 20 October 2025.

Previous Book ~ Next Book

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