A Body-Hopping Romance: Brandon Sanderson – Yumi and the Nightmare Painter

I’m reading the Secret Projects out of order, but I’m so glad I picked this one up when I did. Also, huge thanks to my library for holding the audiobook, because Kate Reading and Michael Kramer are legends for a reason. I liked this quite a bit more than Tress, so expect some gushing. 🙂

YUMI AND THE NIGHTMARE PAINTER
by Brandon Sanderson

Published: Gollancz, 2023
Hardcover: 365 pages
Audiobook: 14 hours, 43 minutes
Narrated by: Kate Reading, Michael Kramer
Standalone
My rating: 8/10

Opening line: The star was particularly bright when the nightmare painter started his rounds.

Brandon Sanderson brings us a gripping story set in the Cosmere universe told by Hoid, where two people from incredibly different worlds must compromise and work together to save their worlds from ruin.

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?

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He wouldn’t be Brandon Sanderson if he didn’t come up with not one, but two, totally original magic systems in their very own settings, just for a standalone. Sure, it’s a standalone that is part of the Cosmere, it’s narrated by Hoid again, but he doesn’t play a very active role. This is not a spoiler at all, but it is kind of funny, so I’m not going to say any more on the subject.

We meet Painter, a young man whose job is just that: nightmare painter. That means, he and hes colleagues go out to patrol and when they see a while nightmare, they paint picutures to chase them away or destroy them. It may sound stupid when I explain it, but I promise Sanderson makes it sound cool and totally sensible. Like who wouldn’t start drawing shoots of bamboo to get rid of a scary creature made of shadows?
We also meet Yumi, a young woman who also has a job to perform, one that demands every single second of her life. As one of the few yoki-hijo of her people, it is her duty to live her life by strict rule, following ritual after ritual, many of them dead boring. The most important part, however, is stacking stones in order to draw out the spirits which then, in turn, help the people with their daily needs. Again, this may sound silly the way I write it, but it felt super plausible in the book itself.

Both of these POV characters – voiced by Michael Kramer and Kate Reading, respectively – already have their plates full and each face some kind of conflict. But the story really kicks off when they suddenly wake up in the other’s world and, at least in Painter’s case, in the other person’s body. They soon figure out the mechanics of their strange connection – Painter inhaibts Yumi’s body in her world, she hovers nearby as a sort of ghost, when Yumi is in Painter’s world, she looks like herself but Painter is equally invisible to others – but what they need to learn is how the hell to sever that connection and how to solve their worlds’ problems. It’s a great set-up, not only for a fantasy novel, but as you can guess from this post’s title, for a romance.

Yumi and Painter bicker quite a lot and only slowly turn into something like friends. Each learns to appreciate the little things the other one has to offer, their personality quirks and their talents. I did not expect to like the romance aspect of a Brandon Sanderson book that much, but these two really grew on me. If you like a slow burn but are not usually into romance, this might be just the thing for you.

What was expected is the crazy twists and the wonderful fantasy elements. I can say hardly anything about them without giving things away, but I had so much fun slowly exploring these two different worlds and their quirks, as well as the two magic systems and their purpose. In Painter’s world, you get technology and television and restaurants. In Yumi’s world heat rises from the ground, plants hover, and machines are frowned upon. But there’s a lot more to it than that. As usual, Sanderson lets us explore the worlds at a pace that is neither too fast nor too slow. This being a standalone (for now), there isn’t too much of a learning curve and the magic systems are kept rather simple, although no less intriguing for that.

This book has pretty much everything I enjoy in a quick standalone fantasy, and that is not supposed to sound negative in any way. You have the big epic fantasies, like the Stormlight Archive, where it takes thousands and thousands of pages to follow characters over years and years, and I adore that kind of fantasy. But. There is and always will be a place for a nice and not too long standalone book, especially if it’s well paced, has characters that are easy to love, some humor, some romance, and excellent plot twists. I really enjoyed the hell out of this and would even recommend it as a Brandon Sanderson starter book – even if Hoid’s asides won’t make much sense.

I could have followed Yumi and Painter for a couple of hundred pages more, no problem, but I am glad the book ended when and how it did. The dedication and acknowledgements make it even more touching, because Sanderson wrote this for his wife, and the love is visible on every page.

MY RATING: 8/10 – Excellent

P.S.: I have the UK edition from Gollancz, which features the lovely endpapers, but none of the gorgeous inside illustrations. Thankfully, you can view them all here (beware spoilers).