Yumi comes from a land of gardens, meditation, and spirits, while Painter lives in a world of darkness, technology, and nightmares. When their lives suddenly become intertwined in strange ways, can they put aside their differences and work together to uncover the mysteries of their situation and save each other’s communities from certain disaster?
Yumi and Painter, "practical" artists in two different cultures become somehow bound to each other such that they experience each other's worlds.
This story took me a little while to get into, and required a fair amount of "let me explain what is going on..." from the narrator to understand some Cosmere concepts that in other books/series are meted out more slowly.
Still, I enjoyed the characters and their self-exploration as well as the imaginative world.
Content warning Lots of Cosmere Spoilers
Like Tress, this book contains a number of Cosmere in-references and features Hoid as the narrator. Pretty quickly you find that Hoid has found himself in yet another ridiculous situation where he's incapacitated in some way (like Tress), but he's unable to act in this one (unlike Tress). Taking Hoid's place in the role of "mentor" is Design, the cryptic that Hoid picked up in the Stormlight Archives. Now she's a buxom woman now (or rather, the illusion of a buxom woman) with "definitely very human mannerisms". I enjoyed her persona here, it provided the comic relief as a stand-in for Hoid. They really are made for each other.
The ideas behind how the Nightmares work and how the world functions really didn't make sense to me at first, but when the reveal comes at the end of the novel it all satisfyingly clicked into place. Like, in the initial chapters, I was wondering if it was tidally locked, but turns out, no.
Other thoughts:
The moral lesson / Painter's growth was good. He did that thing again where he has a character plainly lay out the backstory which is useful, but I'm not a big fan of that. The third viewpoint character (who didn't really get any viewpoint scenes) was nice, I enjoyed her. The reference to Threndony was A+.
Entertaining early adult romance of extravagant differences. As I jump into a standalone story set in a larger universe, it's hard to judge if some of the author-character hand-waving is clever or cheap, and I know I found the concluding twist to be both, but I'll try another.
I didn't think I would fall in love with this book, and I had trouble picturing a Sanderson romance novel, but goddamn he can write anything and I will read it. I loved Yumi and Painter learning about each other, and I thought the Sanderlanch was one of his (if not the) best executions he has had.
Content warning mild writer influence spoilers
I thought Tress of the Emerald Sea was going to be my favorite of the secret projects, and was not prepared for the ride this book took me on. I’ll be up front in saying that I don’t obsess over the Cosmere, and in fact have read things all out of order from “The Proper” reading order. This book absolutely can stand on its own, no Cosmere background necessary, but there are small details (and probably more than I noticed since I don’t retain small things book to book all that well) if you know where to look.
This book connects two people, Yumi and Painter, from two very different backgrounds. One grows up under strict guidance, her day dictated moment to moment, with no place for frivolous thoughts or actions. Her place in the world is to be the yoki-hijo, the one chosen to speak with spirits and get their cooperation in helping the people of her world. The other also dedicates himself to his people, but his service takes the form of being a Nightmare Painter—one who banishes dark spirits that materialize in his city and feed on the bad dreams of its residents. The more dreams it eats, the stronger it gets. A plea from a spirit brings Yumi and Painter together, where they each experience the other’s life in their body and have to figure out the what and the why of things before it’s too late.
In true Sanderson fashion the “what” and the “why” do a lot of the heavy lifting in this story, and things are kept appropriately mysterious until near the end. I loved the continuing discussion about the value of art, the power of friendship (in a not overbearing way), and how two opposites can come together and make something special together. There’s also quite a bit of irreverent commentary (from our narrator telling the story, someone you’ve met before if you’ve read other Sanderson books), some very touching moments, and a romance that didn’t have me rolling my eyes. That, dear reader, is kind of a rare thing for me.
It (obviously) has strong Japanese roots in the story, which is acknowledged by Sanderson in the afterward (mild influence spoilers) (both Final Fantasy 10 and Hikaru no Go are sampled from here, but twisted enough to be satisfyingly different), so if that feel of story isn’t your thing, you might be disappointed. I, on the other hand, was engaged throughout the whole book (even Tress had small sections that felt a bit drawn out to me), to the point of waking up two hours before work so I could finish it.
Highly enjoyed this one. Super, mega, totally recommend it.
3.5 stars.
Premise:
I wanted to love this book so badly because I was enchanted by the premise, but here we go.
Plot and pacing:
So, what I liked was the part 1 and 4. In the first part, we get to know our main cast, Yumi and Painter, and their respective world. It took me some time to put all the information pieces together due to the constant change of point of view between the two of them. Brandon did his best to make the descriptions rich and vivid, though. I adored the japanese/korean spiritual vibes.
Part 2 and 3 cover the story that sees Yumi and Paint connected to each other, trying to figure out the reasons. The pacing here was off for me. The plot did not hold a grip on me and I had difficulties to see where the clues would lead. I am not sure …
3.5 stars.
Premise:
I wanted to love this book so badly because I was enchanted by the premise, but here we go.
Plot and pacing:
So, what I liked was the part 1 and 4. In the first part, we get to know our main cast, Yumi and Painter, and their respective world. It took me some time to put all the information pieces together due to the constant change of point of view between the two of them. Brandon did his best to make the descriptions rich and vivid, though. I adored the japanese/korean spiritual vibes.
Part 2 and 3 cover the story that sees Yumi and Paint connected to each other, trying to figure out the reasons. The pacing here was off for me. The plot did not hold a grip on me and I had difficulties to see where the clues would lead. I am not sure if it was just me or was meant to be like that because in part 4 we have Hoid explaining how everything precisely went from beginning to end. One reason I loved this final part was all the juicy cosmere information, but on the other hand, it left me with the feeling I didn't really need to read parts 2 and 3. I was not happy with how all the plot, clues, and mystery were handled.
I felt like the stakes were never high enough. I did not feel any suspense or the dark atmosphere that I was expecting from a planet surrounded by a black layer and walking nightmares.
Characters:
The main cast was very well developed but the side characters were just forgettable, besides Design and Hoid, whom we meet in other Cosmere books as well. I loved Yumi's development, where she starts learning what freedom means. Their romance was very cute.
The noodle shop run by Design was everything, haha :D
Conclusion:
Design and Hoid saved this book for me.
Credits for the template below go to Melinda
CHARACTERS
This is the third of Sanderson's "Secret Novels" and the strongest so far. It starts off slower than the previous two, but ultimately builds more emotional attachment between the reader and the characters than its predecessors. I do like that Sanderson is wringing some things that aren't of epic scope (and length), but still tell an good story with impressive worldbuilding.
The Year of Sanderson has been a treat. A new Sanderson book every three months is truly spoiling us. I appreciate that not all Secret Project books are in the Cosmere, and if they are, Sanderson has the opportunity to try something outside of his typical epic fantasy.
Yumi and Nightmare Painter is my favourite Secret Project to date. I enjoyed Tress of the Emerald Sea but my familiarity with the concepts of the world allowed me to jump in without much resistance.
And mine you, this wasn't normal stacking. No simple largest-to-smallest tower. No, this was expert-level ceremonial, artistic stacking. With a vengeful air.
Yumi and the Nightmare Painter was a bit more concealed in everything. There is a slow reveal to the magic of the world, characters are delicately expanded, everything is a little strange and the conflict isn't immediately known. This deliberate pace allowed Sanderson to play …
The Year of Sanderson has been a treat. A new Sanderson book every three months is truly spoiling us. I appreciate that not all Secret Project books are in the Cosmere, and if they are, Sanderson has the opportunity to try something outside of his typical epic fantasy.
Yumi and Nightmare Painter is my favourite Secret Project to date. I enjoyed Tress of the Emerald Sea but my familiarity with the concepts of the world allowed me to jump in without much resistance.
And mine you, this wasn't normal stacking. No simple largest-to-smallest tower. No, this was expert-level ceremonial, artistic stacking. With a vengeful air.
Yumi and the Nightmare Painter was a bit more concealed in everything. There is a slow reveal to the magic of the world, characters are delicately expanded, everything is a little strange and the conflict isn't immediately known. This deliberate pace allowed Sanderson to play with the relationship between Yumi and Painter and it was well executed.
"Practice," he said, "and luck". The less you have of the first, the more you need the second.
The further we get into the Cosmere the more connected the stories, histories and concepts become. It didn't seem like Yumi had significant Cosmere revelations but whenever Design spoke to Yumi and Painter I got the impression that what wasn't said was almost as significant as what was said. The amount of Cosmere characters, worlds, Shards that were referenced made me wonder if I had forgotten a detail or if I was getting new information. I will have to read a summary or two on fan sites to understand the significance of Yumi and the Nightmare Painter and how it fits into the larger picture.
Things only have the value we give to them. And likewise, actions can be worth whatever we decide them to be worth.
Cosmere implications aside, this was a very enjoyable read. Like any Sanderson book the "Sanderlanche" was starting to percolate around the 80% mark and it was quite the rush to the end. I never felt the story lagged and enjoyed the two seemingly unique worlds our characters were from. I found the character frustrations relatable as they tried to sort out what was happening.
I look forward to the final Secret Project instalment and then begin the hype train for Stormlight Archive #5.
Another fairy-tale like story set in the Cosmere, told by Hoid. A light read with beautiful artwork by Aliyah Chen. Some of the more obvious questions about how the world works are explained away tongue in cheek by Hoid, so the world building holds up even with some of the more unbelievable parts, if such things exist in a fantasy novel.
This was probably one of the more engaging Cosmere novels that Sanderson has written thus far. It features a pair of very different artists from very different worlds. The story involves a bit of a body-swap with a twist, so each gets to see how their other world looks like and learns from it. Combined with an intriguing setting and a plot focused on the mystery of what is going on, you get a formula for a book that is hard to put down. It also features plenty of illustrations by Aliya Chen which further add to the story.
For a full review, check out my blog: strakul.blogspot.com/2023/07/book-review-yumi-and-nightmare-painter.html
