"Why is there a wall?"
Welcome to the first of five articles leading up to Hoid's Storybook Collection launching on BackerKit. In these posts, we'll share a little more about the stories you can expect to see as part of this collection and reveal the covers.
As you might've seen on our social media, in the weeks leading up to launch, we'll be tagging along with Hoid and Design as they travel the Cosmere. To pass the time, Hoid has decided to share his greatest hits with Design, and maybe finally get her to see them as he does. We wouldn't recommend placing any bets on that.
If you missed it, here’s the first episode of their journey.
We couldn't be more excited to share these beautiful picture books with you, and to announce a brand new Secret Project: a Hoid's Travails tale called The Fires of December. These stories have lived in the pages of the Stormlight Archive (or, in the case of the Chasmfiends, on the backs of Story Deck Cards) and in the hearts of readers for years. Now they're individually bound with gorgeous art, ready to live on your shelf the way the stories already live in your head.
On Fridays, we'll send a newsletter with all of Hoid and Design's adventures and any campaign reveals from the week, so you can be part of the fun without needing to follow us everywhere.
Looking Back on The Girl Who Looked Up
In one of the many dark, forgotten rooms of Urithiru, a Lightweaver and her Cryptic work together to tell a story. This particular room hosts a stage that had lain empty for millenia. Shallan was the first in thousands of years to perform here, and she told Pattern the story of The Girl Who Looked Up, about a girl who lived in a time before even storms—the only girl curious enough to question the wall surrounding her people and brave enough to seek the other side.
As Shallan concludes her story, she tells her spren that “It’s a lie, Pattern. A story. It doesn’t mean anything.”
On Roshar, this story is told with different endings and different meanings. In Shallan’s version, the girl discovers that the wall was meant to keep her and her people contained, rather than to protect them from the rest of the world. The girl’s actions bring the storms, and the wall crumbles.
This story is told again, though. After heartbreaking failures and difficult moments, Shallan finds herself hearing it from Hoid. In a moment of tenderness and mentorship, he admits to her that “the longer you live, the more you fail. Failure is the mark of a life well lived… Trust me, I’ve practiced.”
Hoid’s version of the story ends differently, and in Hoid’s Storybook Campaign, the tale has been expanded by author Brandon Sanderson and illustrated by Alexis and Justin Hernandez. This edition captures the darkness of a world without stormlight and the value of someone willing to look up. Perhaps it means something after all.
Watch the next episode of Hoid and Design’s journey followed by Sanderson Storytime, where Brandon reads The Girl Who Looked Up.
Cover Reveal
Alexis and Justin Hernandez bring this story to life with a dreamy, painterly style honed through work with Disney, Wizards of the Coast, HarperCollins, and Simon & Schuster. It's exactly the aesthetic this particular tale deserves.
Coming Up
The Girl Who Looked Up asks what happens when someone dares to question what they've always been told. It's a story about walls, and what it costs to cross them. Over the next four weeks, we'll be exploring the other stories in Hoid's Storybook Collection the same way.
The Hoid's Storybook Collection campaign launches March 3 on BackerKit. Follow the campaign now so you don't miss it!
https://www.dragonsteelbooks.com
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