The Lost Metal: A Mistborn Novel

The Lost Metal has been a long time coming; something you can't say very often about Brandon's books. And with it, the conclusion of Era Two of the Mistborn Saga. There are more stories to tell on Scadrial, and always another secret, but for now, this is our goodbye to Wax and Wayne, and it was a memorable one.At his recent annual Dragonsteel Convention, Brandon Sanderson gave the keynote speech, in which he talked about common boundaries in the writing industry. Your typical do's and dont's, and how he has always struggled to play by these rules. He entered the publishing industry at a time when big, interconnected universes were not as commonplace—or popular—as they are today (see the MCU). Yet, that's exactly the type of story he wanted to tell. And as we now know (again, see the MCU) there is a demand for this type of story in the fantasy genre; quite a large one. But even so, there are hurdles to overcome when building this type of universe. The largest of course is that you don't want your future readers to feel overwhelmed by what appears to be an enormous list of required reading just to experience your world "properly". I can absolutely understand that perspective, and also understand why Brandon was careful to relegate all his cosmere intricacies and easter eggs to the background for all these years. Things that were fun to know, but that you didn't need to know. So, back to his keynote address. He tells us all of this for one specific reason: things are about to change. Beginning with the The Lost Metal, the "gloves are off", so to speak. The connections and intertwined story beats are no longer something moving in the shadows, hiding in the background; it's coming to the very forefront of the events within. He's not hiding it anymore, nor is he trying to. The cosmere is a vast universe full of a diverse variety of planets, peoples, stories, and magics; and it is opening up like never before.Now, I completely understand if that's off-putting to some, and I will just say that I absolutely do think you can still enjoy The Lost Metal in its own right, even if the only Sanderson books you've read are Mistborn books. But there's no doubt that the lid is being blown off this thing, and frankly, for many of us who have been reading these books for years, it's exactly what we've been waiting for. It's one revelation after another, deeper and deeper as the story continues, and a whole lot of "this could change everything" moments. This isn't the first cosmere work to explore these concepts (Secret History and Rhythm of War both did so to a relatively large extent, and others to smaller extents) but it is the first to do so this blatantly, in a way that affects the main story arcs directly. And man, was it fun.Beyond all the cosmere nerdery (and believe me, I could go on) The Lost Metal proves a satisfying conclusion to the second era of Mistborn; though one that still evades the five-star rating. I think I was just never as in love with the industrial era setting as I was with the first era's high fantasy one. But even so, it was an impactful and enjoyable story, as Wax, Wayne, Marasi, Steris, and a whole host of characters new and old try to save their city from the impending threat of Trell.The implications for the cosmere in this story, and what they mean going forward, seem massive. As compact as this story was, it leaves a lot on the table. A lot to play with for the future. And you better believe I'll be right here waiting.

This will be a spoiler-free review, just FYIThe adventures of Wax and Wayne in Mistborn Era 2 are concluded in this book, and are wrapped up quite well. This whole series is an uncommon genre-combination of Western and Fantasy. What I've always particularly enjoy about the Wax and Wayne series is how Sanderson melds these two genre's together into a compelling story.A staple of the Western Genre is contradictions and tension between lawlessness and order, modern versus traditional, and wilderness versus civilization. Here is where I think Sanderson has excelled in this series and within this book. The themes and questions raised throughout this novel in relation to this theme have been thought-provoking and well-answered.The characters within the novel all grow and change in ways that I appreciate and find really satisfying. They were all built off of the changes within the previous book and I ddin't feel like anyone was left out of growth and change. This might be the most character-driven book of the series and it's done well.The plot is pretty-well thought-out and just about every unanswered question from the beginning of the series is wrapped up in this novel, making it a satisfying experience.There were only a handful of things within this novel that I didn't enjoy, chief of which was the big push 'forward', so to speak. This novel is the ending of Era 2, and as such it also serves as a way to push the world of Scandrial forward into Era 3. As such, I found that this book didn't have quite the same Western vibe as previous entries, as it worked it's way into a more 'modern' setting. I personally wanted more 'Western' vibes, but I understand why the author did what he did in here and it makes sense, which I can appreciate.Overall, I found it very enjoyable and a satisfying conclusion. I still enjoyed 'Alloy of Law' and 'Bands of Mourning' more, for various reasons, but this was a wild ride that I enjoyed and would recommend to others.

One suggestion: I reread ALL the Mistborn books before starting this one, including the "Secret History" found in the Arcanum Unbound collection. Previously I'd been simply reading each book as it came out, which led to a lot of things forgotten by the time I got to the next book. By reading them all in sequence quickly I saw patterns I had missed previously, and it all helped me really enjoy how Sanderson pulled it all together in this final story. I really enjoyed it.

The latest Mistborn novel (seriously you need a chart of work out what number this is) sees the wrapping up of the second era, following Wax and Wayne as they and their friends try to really understand what’s happening.It took me a while to get my head into it - it’s a long time since the previous pair of novels and I had to pause to read synopses of them online to re-catch myself up. But once everything was properly loaded back in my reading sped back up.This is probably the most Cosmerey of Cosmere books that Sanderson has output so far. I think it’s probably the least entry level novel - and there’s a lot that definitely works better if you’ve read the other Cosmere series to this point. And probably that also makes this novel required reading for everything else from here on.A really good end to this era. I’m looking forward a lot to finding out what the next will entail.

The stars are for the content but how come this is £12.99 on .UK and $9.99 on .com - 54% more for a digital download, just ripping off UK customers.

If you haven't read the others this is not a good book to read first. This is an ending. It is a powerful and exiting expansion of the Mistborn world building and the most Cosmere (Sandersons larger connected universe) aware of any of the series to date.If you have read the rest though this includes fantastic development of all major characters, answers to long term plot arcs and the climax to their conflicts. Sanderson also uses the work to comment on self realisation, the power of forgiveness, friendship and compassion as well as the ability to transform a situation or a person. The book also effectively sets us the third promised Mistborn series fans have been aware of fir some time. A book that is an excellent conclusion but is actually more. It is multiple endings to multiple plots, characters and ideas and the seed bed for the next generation.

A few years have passed since the events of the previous book. Wax is now in politics and Maresi and Wayne are both still working for the police. The threat of civil war is getting bigger, along with potential conflict with the southern countries. Into this pot of trouble, the Set's plans are coming into play with potentially devastating consequences for Elendil.Well we've been waiting a while for this one. I was expecting answers and we definitely got them. It was both bigger and smaller than I imagined, events definitely ramped up but not quite as much as I thought.As mentioned above this is an incredibly Cosmere heavy book. I have read most of Sanderson's work but most of it only once, some twice, and there is so much of it now that unless you are constantly re-reading it, or have a much better memory than me, then quite a lot of the connections go over my head. Yeah some of the stuff reminded me of Elantris but most of it I hadn't a clue. I still don't think you need to know everything to enjoy it but at this stage you definitely need to know of the existence of the Cosmere and how most of his books are related. I find myself spending too much time wondering if I should really know what they are talking about or whether I've met this character before etc.I also found all the talk of the different realms, how they interact etc is hard to follow for the more casual Cosmere fan. It is cool to be honest and if I were still in my teens, early twenties I would be all over it but it's hard to find the time now for basic reading, let alone deep dives into how all the magic systems are related etc. It takes just a little shine away from a very good book. Sanderson even made me care about Wayne in this one, which I didn't think would happen!Though it is an end, it really is the start of something else as there is so much going on, and looks like so much more that is coming, it feels more like a joining series than an outright self-contained series. I enjoyed it a lot, the author's imagination cannot be doubted and I am constantly amazed at how well thought out the 'magic' systems are in his books. It's a very different series than the original, and it grew on me more than I expected. Now the wait begins for Mistborn Era III.

We've waited a long time for this. I enjoyed it a great deal and there is so much to get swept up in, but the plot was less interesting than previous novels. As ever, the action is pulsating, the characters are fantastic and you are left wanting more. May well be that a second read is needed. I disliked TWOA the first time I read it, after all.