Yumi and the Nightmare Painter: A Cosmere Novel

Brandon Sanderson

Jul 2023 · Secret Projects Book 3 · Dragonsteel, LLC · Narrated by Kate Reading and Michael Kramer

About this audiobook

From the #1 Kickstarter campaign of all time—#1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson adds to his Cosmere universe shared by Mistborn and The Stormlight Archive with a new standalone novel especially for fans of fantasy romances. Narrated by Kate Reading and Michael Kramer.

There is a world. One of endless night, surrounded by an even deeper darkness. Filled with nightmares come to life, twisted shapes that slink to windows and ease open doors, sliding across floors to look down on helpless faces. 

There is another world. A bright world, so bright it burns. Filled with stacked stones that call forth miracles, raised by callused hands that tremble in their work, drained with each stone lifted, settled, lifted again.

Between these worlds two souls connect. Collide. Entwine. 

A bridge. A path. 

A road to both worlds changing forever. 

Yumi has spent her entire life in strict obedience, granting her the power to summon the spirits that bestow vital aid upon her society—but she longs for even a single day as a normal person. Painter patrols the dark streets dreaming of being a hero—a goal that has led to nothing but heartache and isolation, leaving him always on the outside looking in. In their own ways, both of them face the world alone.

Suddenly flung together, Yumi and Painter must strive to right the wrongs in both their lives, reconciling their past and present while maintaining the precarious balance of each of their worlds. If they cannot unravel the mystery of what brought them together before it’s too late, they risk forever losing not only the bond growing between them, but the very worlds they’ve always struggled to protect. 

Note from Brandon:

Even for a compulsive planner like me, sometimes a story emerges like magic. Unexpected, unprompted. You build an outline in days, craft worlds during a compulsive daydream, and develop characters with a burst of imagination like the brief flash of a firework. 

That was Yumi and the Nightmare Painter for me. The unanticipated story of two people who find one another.

May your dreams live as mine sometimes do.

Ratings and reviews

This was an exceptionally great Cosmere addition! An extremely intriguing, yet beautifully misleading mystery ties together in the end so wonderfully I kind of wish to introduce new readers for this book specifically, however they wouldn't understand many parts from the narrator's point of view which I found equally enjoyable and endearing. I also very much enjoyed the book because of the inspirational aspects too, X was my favorite of that franchise as well, so this story really plucked those emotional strings in a very particularly reminiscent and precise manner. Thank you all who made this book possible!

68% repetitive. 32% good stuff. So disappointed. This isn't up to Sanderson's usual high standard of storytelling. The story's progression is soooo slow. One whole chapter devoted to Yumi's shopping for dresses and getting her first bra which is something you might see in a Lifetime Network movie (not a good thing, for those who don't know that reference).

Brandon Sanderson never disappoints. I'm always enthralled when I get the chance to listen to a new book of his. As an EMT, I usually spend a lot of time on the road, picking up patients or waiting for something to happen. For the past 2 years, I've listened to the entirety of Brandon's cosmere novella. It has given me something to focus on in the disappointing or tragic nature of my job. And for that, I'm very grateful.

About the author

Brandon Sanderson was born on December 19, 1975 in Lincoln, Nebraska. He received a bachelor's degree in English and a master's degree in creative writing from Brigham Young University. His first book, Elantris, was published in 2005. His other works include the Mistborn series, the Stormlight Archive series, Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians series, and the Reckoners series. In 2007, he was chosen by Harriet Rigney to complete A Memory of Light, book twelve in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. He has continued the series with Towers of Midnight and A Memory of Light. In 2018 his title, White Sand Volume 2, made the Best Seller List.