The Sunlit Man – Brandon Sanderson (2023)

The Sunlit Man by Brandon Sanderson, published in 2023, is part of the expansive Cosmere universe and concludes the author’s ambitious Secret Projects series. Set on the perilous world of Canticle, the story follows Nomad – a man burdened by a mysterious curse and pursued by the sinister Night Brigade. This high-stakes science-fantasy adventure pushes the boundaries of survival, identity, and moral conviction against a backdrop of deadly sunlight, living cities, and haunted skies.

Plot Summary

Beneath a sky rimmed with flaming rings and scorched earth, a man fell into the mud of another unforgiving world. His name was not known to its people, but across countless planets, some had whispered of him as Nomad – a fugitive from the Night Brigade, haunted by failure and bound by a mysterious affliction known as the Torment. Stripped of his ability to fight, denied even the weapons he once wielded with honor, he ran not only from enemies but from the memory of what he used to be.

On Canticle, the sun was a predator. Its deadly Invested light devoured all in its path, leaving behind ash and agony. Here, people lived on floating cities – patchwork crafts stitched from metal and desperation, rising at dawn to sow quick-growing seeds in the twilight and fleeing before the solar inferno returned. Those who fell behind were chained to the soil, sacrificed for reasons wrapped in ritual and cruelty.

It was into this cycle of flame and flight that Nomad Skipped. Weak, nearly drained of the Investiture that sustained him, he woke among the condemned. Chains waited. Ember-hearted enforcers – monstrous figures with burning cores in their chests – watched like vultures. As he tried to resist, his Torment bound his limbs. When he acted in defense, he locked up. To kill, to fight, to even threaten – all denied him by the curse he bore.

Dragged into an arena, Nomad faced the ember warriors in a grim contest where peasants were hunted like prey. His instincts screamed to run, but something deeper refused to yield. Using only wit and agility, he bested a warrior without striking a blow, tricking the Torment with cleverness and pain. For a moment, the crowd fell silent. For a moment, they saw in him something impossible – a man who had faced the sun and lived.

But the punishment was swift. Bracers were locked on his arms, draining heat from his flesh. Glowing Eyes – the city’s cruel leader – watched with malevolent satisfaction as Nomad collapsed into darkness. When he woke, he was among those marked for execution.

The sun approached.

Bound beside others, Nomad watched the horizon ignite. With no tools, no strength, and no hope, he faced death under the blaze of Canticle’s morning. But where others burned, he fought. Using the last trick the Torment allowed, he summoned Auxiliary – his shapeshifting, semi-sentient companion – as a crowbar, wrenching himself free and hooking onto a fleeing hovercycle. Fire scorched his back. The chain held.

Dragged behind the escaping craft, battered but alive, Nomad was taken to Kilahito – a ramshackle city of ships fused into a drifting refuge. There, he was paraded through the streets like a curiosity. Some whispered of him as Sess Nassith Tor – One Who Escaped the Sun. Glowing Eyes, however, saw a threat to his order and sought to break him through violence. Still, Nomad refused to resist, knowing the cost of defiance.

He met others in Kilahito. Rebeke, a fierce young woman who had risked all to save her sister. Three matriarchs – Confidence, Compassion, and Contemplation – who ruled with differing philosophies. And Jeffrey Jeffrey, a man with too much beard and not enough patience. These people, broken and scarred, carried on in the face of annihilation. Nomad tried not to care. He told himself he would leave. He always did.

But when he saw Glowing Eyes raise an ember-forged spear to burn a gap-toothed man who had once saved him, something broke. Something old stirred.

Though the Torment blocked his every weapon, he summoned Auxiliary not as a sword but as a shining spectacle, hurled into the air with precision. The act startled the crowd. It bought seconds. Seconds were enough. He shattered his own thumb, drew forth a new form of Aux, and dared Glowing Eyes to stab him. The man obliged.

As the spear pierced his chest, Nomad absorbed its Investiture. The Connection to Canticle ignited. Language, sensation, clarity – they returned. He understood the words now. He understood the stakes.

He escaped, again. Rebels took him in. Among them, Rebeke guided him through the wilds. He learned the truth of the ember warriors – not born, but made. Speared with burning Investiture and bound by bracers, they became weapons of tyranny. But one among them, a young woman named Yslin, had broken free of her programming. She was something rare – a Sunlit One, one who could endure the fire and yet hold on to humanity.

Nomad trained with them, not in combat, but in cleverness. He studied how the engines worked, how the energy of the sun could be harnessed. Each day, cities lifted to the edge of annihilation, sowed fields, and vanished before the fire consumed them. With every sunrise, hope dimmed.

The Night Brigade arrived at last – interplanetary tyrants with red Investiture, hunting Nomad across worlds. With their power, they could shatter the cities of Canticle. They offered terms to Glowing Eyes. He accepted.

Nomad made his stand.

He disabled bracers, freed ember people, and turned prisoners into fighters. Using stolen Investiture, he created a beacon – a flare so bright it drew the attention of Kilahito and other cities. People came, drawn by the impossible – rebellion that breathed.

In the final confrontation, Glowing Eyes wielded a colossal weapon, channeling Investiture through the heart of a city. Nomad faced him, not as a warrior, but as a symbol. He outmaneuvered, outthought, and outlasted. At last, the tyrant was undone, not by a blade, but by the courage of those who had once cowered beneath his shadow.

With Kilahito safe, Nomad stood in the dawn. The sun burned at the horizon, but it no longer held dominion over him. Yslin, the Sunlit woman, offered him sanctuary. He declined. The Night Brigade would return. He could not bring death to their doorstep.

He walked away, into the firelight, with Auxiliary at his side. Still chased, still broken, but no longer running from himself.

He had remembered who he was.

Main Characters

• Nomad (Sigzil): The central protagonist, Nomad is a deeply haunted wanderer carrying a burden known as the Torment – a condition that prevents him from causing harm or wielding weapons directly, yet grants him resilience and enhanced strength. His past is shrouded in loss and sacrifice, but through Canticle’s trials, he gradually reawakens a sense of purpose and morality, evolving from a fugitive to a reluctant hero.

• Auxiliary (Aux): Nomad’s mysterious sentient Shardblade-like companion, often manifesting as tools or weapons. Though dead, Aux speaks to Nomad in his mind with wry commentary, offering both strategic support and emotional grounding. The bond between them is a poignant thread, marked by loyalty and subtle sorrow.

• Glowing Eyes: The menacing ember-powered enforcer and ruler who seeks to dominate Canticle’s people through fear and control. He embodies the cruelty of unchecked power and presents one of the main antagonistic forces Nomad must confront.

• Rebeke: A young woman from Canticle who defies authority to rescue her sister. Intelligent and determined, she gradually becomes a key ally to Nomad, representing the spirit of resistance and familial loyalty.

• Confidence, Compassion, and Contemplation: Three elderly matriarchs who form the ruling council of the city of Kilahito. They embody varying philosophies—pragmatism, kindness, and deep thought—and play a crucial role in shaping Nomad’s interactions with Canticle’s culture.

• Jeffrey Jeffrey: A gruff yet oddly amusing member of the Kilahito society. Though often skeptical, he adds a layer of local texture and humor to the city’s ensemble cast.

Theme

• The Burden of Power and Nonviolence: Nomad’s Torment prevents him from using violence, making his survival a test of ingenuity, restraint, and endurance. This theme probes the ethical cost of power and questions the righteousness of force in the pursuit of justice.

• Redemption and Identity: Nomad is a man on the run not just from the Night Brigade, but from his past and former self. His journey across Canticle becomes a crucible where he confronts his traumas, rediscovers his values, and wrestles with the question of who he truly is.

• Sacrifice and Hope: The citizens of Canticle, forced to live in motion to outrun the deadly sun, symbolize the cost of survival and the strength of community. Their daily sowing and fleeing rituals echo a powerful cycle of perseverance and faith in the face of annihilation.

• Oppression and Rebellion: The authoritarian rule of Glowing Eyes and the systemic cruelty of the sun-executions critique hierarchical control and ignite a narrative of rebellion. The oppressed strive to claim agency, spurred by the smallest glimmers of resistance.

• Cosmic Isolation and Connection: As part of the Cosmere, the book expands on Investiture, Skipping, and Connection. It explores what it means to be untethered from home, yet still bound by moral and spiritual ties to others across worlds.

Writing Style and Tone

Brandon Sanderson’s writing in The Sunlit Man is cinematic and urgent, blending vivid action sequences with deeply introspective moments. The prose is direct but textured, favoring clarity and momentum while embedding philosophical inquiry within the protagonist’s inner monologue. Sanderson excels in world-building, sketching out Canticle’s solar dangers, airborne cities, and ember warriors with immersive detail, yet always tethering the spectacle to emotional stakes.

The tone is somber yet hopeful, often teetering between despair and resilience. Through Nomad’s dry humor and Aux’s ironic interjections, the narrative maintains levity even amidst brutal circumstances. There is a mythic quality to the storytelling, underscored by themes of rebirth and the tension between destiny and agency. Sanderson’s careful balance of fast-paced plot and existential reflection makes the journey as thought-provoking as it is exhilarating.