Mistborn – Wax and Wayne
Brandon Sanderson
This is a combined review of the three Wax and Wayne novels that are set in an era after the original three Mistborn novels (Mistborn, The Well of Ascension, The Hero of Ages). The Mistborn trilogy was actually the first set of Brandon Sanderson novels I ever read, so I had high hopes for these follow-on novels (please don’t laugh at my very old reviews). However, unusually for a Sanderson novel, I was kind of disappointed so I didn’t review them immediately.
The Alloy of Law’s first chapter was the best! I could have heard far more about Wax’s old life rather than his new one. It is interesting to return to the same stomping grounds of the original trilogy 300 years later, where technology has actually happened despite, or perhaps because of, the scarcity of magic. This is something rare for a fantasy series, although my beloved Ruined certainly has magic and technology battling it out. However, the city that Wax sees and the one he fights for frustrates me. Burn it all down and try again! And that bloody uncle of his…
Wax’s slow romance burns a little brighter in the second novel Shows of Self. This novel moved quickly due to Wax’s insistence on doing everything himself. Kandra tactics and the way Kandra have moved on from the original Mistborn series is explored in depth here, and some very surprising information comes to light. It’s nice to have a ‘God’ who actually responds, even if it is sometimes not in the way you expect…
The eventual conclusion of this series in The Bands of Mourning finally plays out the showdown of Wax and his uncle that readers have been anticipating from the beginning of the trilogy. The relative expansion of the physical world of the Mistborn saga allows Sanderson more scope for future novels (although I hope that is not the main reason for doing it). In addition, we also get a look at more Allomancy and Feruchemy which is the part of these novels that I am actually always excited about.
I’m actually going to give these 4 stars… Shock horror! I never expected to downgrade a Sanderson from a 5 stars, but these just lacked the awesome storyline and connectable characters of his latest stuff eg. Legion or Steelheart. Don’t worry, I’m still going to be getting my hands on the latest novels in his epics (even if I’ll never forgive him for taking time off to work on that stupid Wheel of Time epic…)
Although I might flippantly reply to a question of “What is the meaning of life?” with “There isn’t one.” this novel provides a better answer, or at least contemplation of the answer. People often have regrets about what they could have / should have done differently. There are the typical lists of ‘The Top 5 Things People Regret’, but this novel actually offers readers a gentle guide to how to go about improving things now.
The blurb suggests that there will be redemption, but there isn’t really. Sophie ends up being in worse and worse situations until there is no way out for her. But it’s not really Sophie’s fault. She is only 12 when she enters the system, and she doesn’t have a good grasp of right or wrong when she is thrown in the deep end.
I was pretty excited about the missing town! How was this one going to be explained? And of course there was a fantastic explanation! The other parts about the set up of the underground rooms seemed predictable and boring in comparison. Because I knew Jessica could solve any problem, it wasn’t exciting anymore.
This novel is full of action, action, action. The battle scenes and killings almost seem non-stop. Talking might be Em’s preferred way of negotiation but with Olivia on the loose it’s just not possible! Cas gets some airtime, and Galo and Aren finally are forged into full characters with their own thoughts and motivations.
Let me start out by saying first that this novel was terrible. Really terrible. The first half is lovely: the (seeming) main character developed well and I enjoyed the writing style. Unfortunately half way through the whole picture changed and I was left not wanting to finish the novel. I honestly no longer cared about anything that happened to Vale because her life was so boring and her real self so pathetic. Not to mention that Slate suddenly turned into a pile of goo.
This novel just got stranger and stranger, and I actually really enjoyed that. First there’s the strange Babies, and then there is a Zoo with a self-made savior. Then there is Mira and her conflicting personality traits and trusts. Despite feeling like I didn’t get to know the characters very well from Mira’s warped perspective, I didn’t actually want to know anything about the others so that I could better understand what Mira was going through.
Oh dear. This novel sat on my shelf for about 2 years before I picked it up. I just wasn’t feeling another strange disappearance or mystery after
Oh gosh. This was terrible. I skimmed the first half so I could get to where the FACE business actually happened. Then I was so disappointed in Martin’s eventual internal monologue about his face that I just dropped the book. I could have even dropped it in the pool, it was that terrible! The supporting characters might have actually had something to do in the second half of the novel, but I wasn’t waiting around to find out.
The storyline on this is quite decent, with quite a few plotlines to keep the reader entertained. Unfortunately, the narrative was a little scattered, and I think it could have benefited from Prayer’s perspective. Warner was so completely biased against the Bigs that the filtered narrative was difficult to follow and a bit unpleasant.