Shadows of Self
Ratings685
Average rating4.1
Best of Era 2 so far....Part mystery, part magic, part Wayne trading for stuff.
This one feels much more a part of the Mistborn universe than the Alloy of Law. Alloy of Law had parts that reminded you, but this book felt more Mistborn--felt more connected to Era 1. I am not going to say anymore to avoid spoilers...and that ending was fantastic. I flew through this one.
4.75 STARS
I was pretty disappointed in this book. I think that Brandon Sanderson is good at making interesting characters who feel 3-dimensional and realistic, but I just felt like all of these characters were cartoony. They just weren't believable and I couldn't make myself care about them. It also felt like he was trapped by wanting to make this a trilogy, because he has villains that he wants to use in the future, and he kept them around in this book only to remind you that they exist, even though they didn't move the plot along at all. Just kind of disappointing.
Age range: 15-18
This is the first book in a while that I'm putting an age cap on, but I just don't think this book would hold an adult's interest. I definitely won't read it again. Violence and such.
Por algún motivo, solo había escuchado cosas negativas de este libro, y ciertamente me estaba pareciendo más flojo que el anterior hasta ese final.
Un libro entretenido, unos personajes que me siguen encantando, una trama que se enrevesa y un final que te rompe.
Mi valoración pre-final era de 3 estrellas y me veo obligado a cerrar el libro con 4.
2.50/5.00
The book has a good ending. I did enjoy some of the characters, with Wayne and MeLaan being my favorite. I also enjoyed the interaction between Harmony and Wax as well as the tension between. Buttttt, I was also a bit bored. I was like, is this book just another villian? Now Kandra ? The world building progresses a bit, and I do like how real the world of Scadriel feels. But that cannot be attributed to Era 2.
Overall a decent read.
I think I liked it a bit less than the previous one. The story was more personal, but pretended to be bigger actually. Maybe some fo the plots will evolve later. It was a fun read though
As ever, I'm in love with Wax and Wayne. This does have a slight feel of second book syndrome, but still largely enjoyable. I have a telling some the things are for er shadowing for later books.
I don't know how he did it, but Brandon Sanderson turned the characters he set up in Alloy of Law–easily my least favorite Sanderson book to date–into people I empathize with to the point that the last part of the book emotionally wrecked me, almost out of nowhere.
So screw you, Brandon Sanderson, for making me feel something. But also thank you for making your characters so gloriously, horribly human.
Overall, really enjoyed this one. While Alloy of Law felt more self contained western/Victorian action thriller, I found that Shadows of Self started expanding that to the wider Mistborn lore and a lot of very interesting and far-reaching questions are being asked. We also have your usual Sanderson mix of tortured heroes, semi-mysterious comic relief characters, unknowable omnipresent gods and demi-gods, and just a whole lot of fun.
Continuing where the first book left off, we follow Wax now as he, at the behest of Harmony himself, tracks down a mysterious and nigh invincible creature that's looking to start a revolution in Elendel. Marasi is now pursuing her dreams as a constable led by Aradel, while Wayne is still... Wayne.
Steris continues to be my favourite character of this series, if not of the entire Cosmere, which is saying a lot considering she's such a side character who has barely appeared in Books 1 and 2 so far. She's like Mr Collins from Pride and Prejudice, but less pompous and more honest. We left off Book 1 with a really weird and sticky romance undercurrent going on between Wax and Marasi, but which Wax has pointedly avoided by stupidly getting engaged to Steris - and yet, he seems to be gaining ever more affection and respect for her, his partner in this almost-marriage of convenience. I wouldn't be mad if Steris ended up with Wax, but tbh I don't think she needs him to shine on her own. I'm kinda hoping that she'll turn out to be an OP character in a later book - why would Sanderson put such a bright and unique character in the wings for no reason and to serve no plot purpose? Her damsel in distress role has already expired at the end of Book 1.
Some lore theories for the rest of the series: I still wonder what is it that "moves" Bleeder and Bloody Tan and it's not Harmony (and that conversation he had with Wax in his head was so weird and hilarious), it can't be Ruin/Preservation anymore so I'm not sure if it was ever fully explained. I had a Cosmere super-fan explain to me that name Marasi mentions at the end, Trell, is the god of Sazed's old religion. My cross-Cosmere theory is that Trell is going to end up being someone from the Stormlight Archives... it's wild and I don't know enough of my Sanderson timeline and connections enough to back it up but I just have a hunch like that.
Some thoughts on the ending: The moment Bleeder took on Lessie's face and mannerisms, I had a sneaking suspicion that Lessie had been Bleeder all along, but I quelled those suspicions given that Bleeder never revealed it and chose to only say it *just* after Wax had to kill her - again. I gotta say **poor Wax**!! having to kill the person you loved not once but *twice*!! He not only has to work through that but also the whole trauma of realizing that this person you loved had lied big time to you, had murdered a vast number of people, had conspired with your murdering uncle against you, and was inches away from putting a bullet through your head just moments before. I hope Wax realizes that Bleeder, though she had been Lessie, was no less of a murdering psychopath of a kandra.
I'm in too deep now to stop reading this series and so intend to finish up Book 3 before the new book for Era 2 comes out in mid-November.
I thought it had quite a lot more lulls in the story compared to the other entries, but it always pulled you back in. A lot of growth/potential growth for Wax & co. So many plot threads and stone left unturned heading into the next entry that it felt like a tunnel to the next entry rather than its own. Either way I still had a good time with this and look forward to reading the next.
I read this pretty much within a day.
I enjoyed the storyline - the stakes have been increased significantly by the end of it.
One thing I wish was different is the length of these books. Sanderson is packing full stories in 350 pages and I think his character work and world building are suffering a bit because of that. I believe the books would've benefitted by a bit more bulk to get the reader more invested in those characters and get us more grounded in this world.
Regardless, I enjoyed it quite a lot and plan on picking up the next book in the series as soon as I'm done with this review.
8/10
Wax 9/10
Wayne 10/10
Marasi viewpoints 4/10
Thoroughly enjoyable most of the time. More character development than the first book which was great to see. The storyline feels deeper and more connected to the awesome world that was created in the first Mistborn era. However, I found myself putting the book down and doing something else way too many times when I flipped the page and realized that I had to read another “Marasi at the police station” chapter.
Sanderson is a gift that keeps on giving. Definitely didn't see it coming with the kandra in the end and now can't wait to see how Wax deals with all that in the next book.
As good as the last one but with that extra zing of Brandon Sanderson ultra-plotting leading to characters and events from the previous book being recontextualised in fun unexpected ways.
With literally any other writer you might think he's doing a ‘Luke and Leia are siblings actually' kind of thing, but since you know he's plotted out every story years ahead in obsessive detail you can feel safe it was all part of the plan.
Long story short, this book has another great Sando ending.
Terwijl het eerste boek in dit tweede Mistborn-tijdperk meer gericht was op het introduceren van deze geëvolueerde wereld en de nieuwe personages, maakte dit tweede deel veel meer verbindingen met de originele trilogie, waardoor het voor mij een veel diepere impact had. Waar het eerste boek vooral een entertainend avontuur was, was dit tweede boek ook nog eens een emotionele rollercoaster. Je voelt dat een groter verhaal wordt opgebouwd en dat einde was weer een onverwachte klap.
A ver, definitivamente me gustó más que el primero. El misterio de este primer libro me mantuvo más interesada, peeeero, quedé con demasiadas dudas D:
Wayne y Steris tkm
3.5 stars.
I liked this one more than the previous thanks to the larger presence of Harmony and TenSoon. This helped me out to connect to the first era trilogy that I loved so much. I also like Wayne for his craziness and fun. However, I cannot really connect to the other main characters and I am not a fan of western atmosphere, making my reading experience not as involving as I wanted to.