Dark One Volume 1 is a great read. It’s a fun, dramatic, dark fantasy. Once you start reading this tome it’s hard to stop.

Dark One Volume 1 is an interesting fantasy where real life and fantasy overlap and collide. The main character Paul, has visions that turn out to be more than fantasies that are just in his head...

There is also a theme of mental health in this story. Paul is seeing a doctor who thinks the visions he has are just fantasies in his head and nothing more. As the story goes on we find out these visions are much more than that. There is also a strong message in this book that we should all try listening harder to people who have visions and mental health issues.

One aspect of Dark One Volume 1 that I really liked is the dynamic between Paul and Feotora. They are very different characters who have many similarities. You can see they are different sides of the same coin. I love characters who are similar but different like this. You can make some many comparisons between them.

The ending of this book feels like end of the first chapter of an epic. I look forward to reading more. I want to see what happens to Paul and Feotora. What happens to Paul’s mom and do we learn more about his father.

I highly recommend this book. It’s a great story and I’m sure there will be many more volumes about the Dark One to come.

Stay awesome and keep reading!

As a major fan of Sanderson (23 books and counting!) I approached this new graphic novel with some minor trepidation. As cool as the ideas were in White Sand, I felt that as a graphic novel it ultimately fell flat. Fortuantely, not being confined by Cosmere for this next foray into graphic novels turned out to be a boon. This story is so damn good. Wedded with top notch art, I think Sanderson hit it out of the park with storytelling that more closely aligns with his other work. Complex and epic, Sanderson hallmarks.

'Dark One" volume 1 is an admirably woven tale of two worlds that slowly collides as the story progresses. The main character's cluelessness directs the curiosity of the readers well into gobbling the book. In the end, I do have an issue with how weak the introduction of the world has been but with graphic novels tending to be more quick-paced I completely understand the direction.

Rating: 3.5
I had to read this as soon as I saw it was by Brandon Sanderson. He knows how to write a good fantasy, with great world building, intriguing characters, moral dilemmas and a story that hooks you in.

On a high level, this graphic novel is no different, most of those pieces are still there in this story. It asks interesting questions around hero vs villain, destiny, and goes in unexpected directions.
There were parts that I really enjoyed, especially Feotora and what she does, Nikka and her backstory, the court hearing... Really, most of what happens for most of the book, is pretty good.

On the other hand, I felt a little lost at times in the formal language that didn't flow naturally at all. Because of this, I'm still not sure that I grasped everything. I especially didn't understand what pushed Paul to drink for example. Initially he was so opposed to it, but then the story that convinced him... It felt like that should have convinced him to not drink it at all. I didn't get it. And that was just one of the things where I wasn't fully following the character motivation. But once that happened, the story kind of lost me. It got me back with the court hearing, and I was intrigued enough to want to read the next one, but not enough to think it was a great read overall.
It's also possible that one of the reasons I got lost at times was because the story was missing narrative context. The dense-ness of the story didn't seem to fit that well into a dialogue only format.

Overall, I'm intrigued enough that I'd want to read the next one, and hope that Volume 2 will explain some of the parts that confused me.

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

My students LOVED this title. The art is incredible, combined with Brandon Sanderson's ability to create a world -- unmatched.

I received this arc from Netgally in return for an honest review.

Brandon Sanderson does it again, giving us a dark, torturous tale of one man who embodies the duality of both savior and destroyer. Paul Tanasin struggles with visions of another world, one where he is destined to be the chosen one. Paul's life is not simple and he strives to be both normal and sane. When Paul's real world and the one he thought he hallucinated come together, his world will never be the same. What set this apart from other graphic novels is how well we get to know Paul and his life before. Sanderson's character's are some of my favorite, so I am not surprised that even in this medium he builds us a character we crave to see more of.

The story and themes were typical Sanderson, who weaves stories like a master. This is the fist volume of this new series and I am eager to see where it goes. Knowing Sanderson, it will not move in the direction most travelled. Where Sanderson brings the story to life with his words, the art in this volume is dark, gritty, and, at times, violent and bloody. You would think this would be a quick read but each page required time to take in each piece to see the entire picture. The one downside is the darkness and art style, at times, were a little overwhelming, I am visually impaired so this could be more of an accessibility issue rather than how the wider audience would view it. I would say that viewing this as an ebook did help with accessibility quite a bit, allowing me to focus in on scenes that had a lot going on.

Final thoughts on this first volume, is that it is one more piece of Sanderson's ever growing series...legacy that I am eager to add to my collection.

Thank you to Netgalley and Diamond Book Distributors for this ARC!

I picked up this graphic novel as I wanted to delve further into the writing format as well as intrigue based on the art style and the author! This one definitely did not disappoint. The world building and magic system was right on par with what I had heard of Brandon Sanderson's work and has me excited to read more from this author. I also really loved the art style throughout this graphic novel. It had me completely immersed and the plot left me wanting more. It made for such a fun fantasy read and I cannot wait to see more from this series.

I enjoyed this graphic novel more than I anticipated! This first volume did a good job introducing the aspects of this fantasy world. The landscape, politics, and worldviews of the people were all well thought out, however, I found it to be a little info-dumpy at times.

I liked the themes of fate/destiny explored in the story and thought they were well done. I also found the ending to be very intriguing and felt it set up the continuation of the story good. The artwork was nice but I really enjoyed the illustration and found it added to my enjoyment of the story. Overall I found this to be a fun first volume that created a lot of potential for this story to grow.

I'll be posting my reviews publically on 3-31-21

My Review:

Oh yeah, this book had Brandon Sanderson written all over it and I'm not just talking about the front cover… Was that a stupid joke? Yes. Will I probably continue making stupid jokes? Obviously. Anyway, my point is that this story seemed like a signature Brandon Sanderson book and it did not disappoint! While he has other, better books, I was enthralled by the story and this world that Sanderson has created. I've never really sat and read a graphic novel written by this author (he has a few others that I do plan on reading) and I was very impressed!

The story was VERY fluid and fast-paced. At first, I was worried that it wasn't going to give enough details because of how quickly it was moving, but the way it was written helped me understand everything that was going on while still keeping the whole thing rolling smoothly. I had read a few other reviews about this book saying that it was slow-moving and everything so I went into it with lower expectations. I'm very disappointed in myself for having so little faith in one of my favorite authors! The build-up in this story is the same as he has in other books. Even objectively, without comparing to other books by Sanderson, I think that this book was very exciting. It had a lot of fighting scenes that kept my attention and there were many mysteries that I kept trying to figure out while I was reading. 

On top of all this, I'm trying to figure out if this book is part of his ever-growing Cosmere. I'm inclined to believe that it is because there was a very offhanded reference to the book Warbreaker. While those who haven't read the book would just look at the comment and move on, I had an entire MOMENT when I read the comment. I had the put the e-reader down and just take a deep breath and think about what that ONE comment could imply about this story's place in the fictional universe! All the possibilities it could bring to other stories in the universe! I may be overthinking it but if these author's books have taught me anything, it's to overanalyze every little thing and never trust that somethings only as it seems.

I am a huge fan of Brandon Sanderson. His novels are some of my all-time favourites, so whatever he works on, regardless of the medium, I will read it.

Dark One was slightly disappointing. Everything reads as fairly basic compared to his other works. Nothing in Dark One is genre breaking or truly unique. The hero vs. villain and light vs. dark tropes rely heavily on already established uses. So, while Dark One does not introduce anything worth mentioning, it does utilize this trope effectively.

Sanderson’s ideas tend to be vast and full of depth. Dark One is no exception. I really enjoyed the introduction to the main character and the world. This blending of reality and fantasy allows readers a fairly comprehensive understanding of the world and characters even if both feel under developed by the end of the graphic novel.

The artwork isn’t my favourite style art for a graphic novel, but it’s certainly not the worst. For those of you who have read White Sand and were not a fan of that art, I’m happy to inform you that the art in Dark One is vastly superior. The coloring plays up the tropes and illustrates some spectacular scenes.

Overall, Dark One is slightly disappointing as the world and characters feel under developed. However, the blending of reality and fantasy work well to communicate to readers the vastness of what this world could be in the next few volumes.

I have been reading The Mistborn trilogy by Brandon Sanderson, and also read his debut, Elantris earlier this year, so I was intrigued to see what his graphic novels would be like. I could not imagine Sanderson's rich world-building and detailed magic systems fitting into the graphic novel format, and I think this story would have been served a whole lot better as a novel. It was an interesting concept for a story and the duality of two world's Mirandus and Earth being side by side and reachable only by certain people was intriguing and well thought out. The confusion of the main character, Paul Tanasin, when he finds himself on Mirandus is endearing and I really liked this character. He is introduced in the story as a fairly ordinary teenager living in New York, but who sees and is able to converse with a girl who claims to be his sister, but who is not really there. The world-building of Mirandus is actually really well done despite the graphic novel format. We learn about The Narrative from Rasik, one of the Drull,, a subservient race who reminded me of the Skaa in the Mistborn trilogy:
"The Narrative is the bedrock upon which our world is built. It is not a book - it is the web of life, time, fate and destiny."
The Narrative repeats in every generation. A Dark One rises and is countered by a Destined One, both of whom have always been from Earth. But is it perhaps time to change the narrative?
I recommend this graphic novel to fans of Sanderson and fantasy stories that are just a little different.

"

An interesting take from Brandon Sanderson, but I am loving his graphic novels. As with all of his books, the world building is great. And you get invested in the characters right away.

I don’t read a lot of graphic novels but seeing that this was written by Brandon Sanderson who many of my friends rave about meant I was very keen. It’s probably not a complete story as the ending had me definitely wanting more but as an intriguing beginning it definitely hits the spot. Essentially we have a young teenager who has an imaginary friend who is anything but. Paul needs help freeing himself from his delusion but has no idea he’s about to get thrust into a world were destiny overruns everything. Dark and Light fight but it’s always a predetermined outcome but perhaps Paul can change things ?
I liked the illustrations and it was mostly very easy to follow the dialogue and story. I say mostly because I found certain speech bubbles that were red on black a little difficult to focus on. I do however think artistically that it worked very well to help bring that character to life. An interesting idea with an ending that left me wanting to know what happens next.
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from Netgalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair

3.5 stars.

A dark fantasy about a 17-year-old named Paul who continues to have, what he thinks are, hallucinations; they are actually prophetic visions from another world called Mirandus. When a horseman shows up from Mirandus to kill Paul, Paul annihilates him and takes his sword. He is swept into the other world.

The illustrations fit the story very well. They hold a classic comic book feel. The pacing is good and the transition between the “real world” and “other world” to show the connection is creative. I look forward to more releases in this series.

Thank you Netgalley and Diamond Book Distributors for this ARC. I think my high school students will really like this graphic novel.

3 stars *may change

Well, this was something else. I like graphic novels just fine, but I usually prefer the ones with more simplistic or modern cartoon art styles. This was exactly like a classic superhero comic (Although I suppose it would be supervillain in this case).

I've read a decent amount of Sanderson books, and boy did this read like one. Look, props to the guy, I really mean it. But if I have to read another #GIRLBOSS female character it will be too soon. The one thing he does that I think is pretty decent is that snarky dialogue. I think he has a very simple writing style, no matter how convoluted the actual story is.

This was...A lot happened? Wow. I can't even recall most of the events. I didn't care much for whatever the princess was doing, but man am I interested in that serial killer. Deranged characters truly are something else.

I'm not a comics kind of person.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for providing an advanced reader's copy.

Paul Tanasin Might be crazy, His mother and his therapist have only made him believe this all the more. After all his only friend is the ghost of a dead sister he never had and he's seeing visions of a dark fantasy world that doesn't exist.
A world run by "The Narrative" which forces a never ending battle between good and evil to play out over and over in a never ending loop. Obviously he's crazy, Right?
I'm a Brandon Sanderson fan but When I began reading Dark One Vol 1 I was feeling a bit of the mediocre creeping in to this, reminding me of my White Sand experience (The Graphic Novel Series previously released Adapted from a Brandon Sanderson idea). It really reminded me of an extended Heavy Metal Magazine story minus the sex and gore. I'm glad I followed through to the end though because I really enjoyed where the story went in the second half, and I really want to see where this story goes next.
The Art is decent, as I said I struggled a little with the story at first but it all made sense by the end...stick with it. The writing is fine, the confusing and vague bits at the beginning are intended so they are not a sign of the bad writing Ive seen in some graphic novels where the writer gets lazy and decides to let the art carry them.
I'm pretty sure this falls outside of Sanderson's Cosmere universe though by the end I could see some of the last Stormlight Archives books being a bit relatable(not connected).
Bottom line is after start where I struggled the end and payoff was worth the journey and I'm looking forward to the next Volume.
I did hear that The Dark One was supposed to be a multimedia property with a TV being made run by J. Michael Straczynski, and a pair of Prose Novel prequels as well.

The moment I saw Dark One available for review, I grabbed it. Brandon Sanderson is my all-time favorite author. And there was no way I was going to miss out on his newest graphic novel. With his previous graphic novels, I struggled a bit. So I was pretty nervous about this one, but I was honestly blown away by the storyline and art.

The artwork is beautiful. I had to look through all the pages a second time just to make sure I didn't miss anything. But the stand out aspect of the Dark One was easily the storyline. It was such a great concept and I am already itching for the next installment. Sanderson is a master at unique storytelling, so I am really excited to see where this one goes.

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read this.

As a huge fan of dark fantasy and a Sanderson virgin I felt like this would be the perfect introduction to determine if he was my style.

The Dark One completely exceeded my expectations and kept me captivated and invested in the story from pretty early on.

The art style is gorgeous with gorgeous dark, gritty style that lends itself well to the rather intense nature of the plot line.

A land that lives by the narrative. Of good and evil. The dark One vs the exalted one. Except things happen that twist the narrative on its head.

As a fan of morally grey characters I LOVED our protagonist Paul and his storyline is brilliant! A lot of people seem to have said they wanted redemption for him but in certain ways I feel like his actions are his redemption for what he was told to be via "the narrative".

The ending was a twist I didn't see coming initially and has left me desperate for me but also incredibly angry and frustrated because I need to know what happens!

Brilliant read with interesting plot line, gritty but beautiful artstyle and bittersweet poignancy scattered throughout.

Honestly, it amazes me just how many projects authors like Brandon Sanderson can juggle at any given time. Dark One Vol. 1 is written by Sanderson, adapted by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly, and illustrated by Nathan C. Gooden and Kurt Michael Russell. All of which begs for our attention.

We've all had dreams of finding our way into other, more fantastical worlds. Yet that dream became a reality for young Paul. Once, he had visions of a strange world. Then, one day he found himself trapped in that very world.

Worse, he is very much not the person he dreamed himself to be. Where he had pictured himself the hero of that fantastical world, in reality he's the villain that makes the people tremble with fear. This begs the question, can he escape this fate, or this world?

I went into Dark One Vol. 1 with sincerely no idea what to expect. I knew that I've loved Brandon Sanderson's writing in the past, and in general I'm willing to give many series that come out of Diamond a try. But that's about the extent of my expectations.

So I was pleased with what I found inside the pages. Paul's story is a fascinating one, with some seriously major twists and turns. I love that it flips all expectations on its head, and in general really has fun running with that concept.

I do wish that the pacing was just a bit slower in the earlier parts. I feel like I didn't have much time to grow attached to Paul's character before the world got flipped on its head. Maybe that's for the best, considering the path that Paul is now heading down. Hard to say.

The artwork is divine, and Nathan C. Gooden and Kurt Michael Russell did a fantastic job of bringing the story, characters, and world to life. It really made the whole experience a bit more memorable for me.

It's the color palette in particular that is really sticking with me, if I'm being honest. It reads as a cross between a desert and a fantastical world, which actually does seem to be fairly on point. Still, it's not a combination you see every day, and that makes it stand out.

I'm looking forward to seeing what happens in the next volume of this story. I have a feeling that Dark One Vol. 2 will get darker before all is said and done, and I will do my best to prepare myself accordingly.

Well, that was pretty weird. This is a "how the villain becomes the villain" (outside his choice) story in graphic novel form, a pretty interesting concept. It was visually dark; I liked some of it but found other sections hard to follow. The story was confusing and sets up the next installment. I think this will find a lot of fans, but I'm not sure it was for me. It was okay. 3.5 stars.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a temporary digital review copy.