Book Review: Yumi and the Nightmare Painter by Brandon Sanderson

This is the third of Sanderson's Secret Projects. It's another Cosmere novel, but with a more personal feel as it's about the unique relationship of the two main characters. Drawing from a lot of recognizable influences, this one is quite interesting.

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?

Read on for my spoiler-free review.

Overall Impression

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.

Plot

The plot is a mix of things, it's a bit of a slice of life of how the two characters, Yumi and Painter, live out their lives, but also an investigation as they try to unravel the mystery as to why they are joined and what they can do to help those around them. The point of view alternates between them in separate chapters, but most of the book they are together so it's not as prominent as in other of Sanderson's books (eg, Elantris).

Characters

There are two main characters that we alternate with, starting with Yumi, the yoki-hijo of a hot world under a blazing sun. She stacks stones to call the spirits which aid the families there. In contrast is Nikaro aka Painter, the nightmare painter, who lives in a cold world of endless dark under neon lights. He works a lonely shift catching manifestations of nightmares, and paints them in ink to drive them away. Their approach to life, the world, and their art is wholly different, but these differences bring them together in a powerful way as their force to live in each other's world. It's great to see them warm up to each other throughout the story.

Setting / World Building

This is a Cosmere novel and we get some interesting details about Sanderson's greater universe here. There are a few supplemental characters, like Hoid and a Cryptic spren from Roshar, that help the main characters figure things out. Most of that is very high-level, though, and if you're not up to speed with other Cosmere novels (and even if you are) you don't need to worry as it's only tangentially related to the plot. How exactly the body swapping starts happening is something you'll have to read, but I did like the major twist of allowing each other to also be present. That allows for dialogue and further development without having to do something like in the anime movie Your Name by Makoto Shinkai where the characters would have to leave behind notes.

Without spoiling too much, we have a very interesting contrast between the societies that Yumi and Painter live in. Yumi has very hot ground, floating plants, and a brilliant large sun. Her life revolves around priestly rituals to draw out spirits that help people. Painter lives in a shrouded world, able to see only a single star in the sky. The world is illuminated by artificial lights powered by hion- a pair of magenta/azure lines that cross every settlement. Between each small town is never ending darkness where the nightmares come from. These are actual entities that consume people and must be driven away to survive. Painter's world is a cold, dark, and harsh place, but Yumi's is hot, restrictive, and also harsh in its own way.

Final Thoughts

In the foreword, the author mentions how it's the favorite of the 4 secret projects and I can totally agree- this one was incredible. The setting is great and the two characters are contrasting, but special in their own special ways. I liked some of the discussions of why each finds art appealing and what is important in art because they have very different opinions and approaches to it. I also liked the accompanying illustrations, though I only learned later that they were in full color (my kindle only displays in greyscale).