Shadows of Self

The Alloy of Law was romping, fun story that only lightly touched on the mythological side of the Mistborn universe, but Shadows of Self plunges you head first into the mythology that we had all fallen in love with in the original trilogy. Yes there is still a fun, mysterious story all its own, but it weaves, much more profoundly, the original trilogy's depth and world altering magic and creatures. Happily there are some familiar faces from the original trilogy in this one as well as some answers on what happened to certain factions that we knew from the original. Where Alloy of Law was much lighter, this second instalment brings on some heavy subjects and much more world wide implications.
Wax's story this time around is somewhat tragic and you must read all the way to the last pages to really realize how emotionally tied you feel to this character, as a reveal brings out a realization that is both heartbreaking and also raises tons of questions about what kind of story you've been reading all along. I really liked Wax as a character from the start, but it wasn't until that moment, when I shed tears and my heart ached for him that I truly realized how much.
Wayne, as in the first book, is easily labelled as the comic relief character, but he still has depth to him that slowly gets revealed more and more in this volume, even through his crazy hat exploits and strange way of dealing with other characters. He certainly is responsible for most of the laugh out loud moments and when one character calls him ‘cute', I couldn't help but nod my head in agreement.
A lot of comments I read said that readers didn't really care for Marasi's story in this volume, but I really enjoyed it. Her struggle to have Wax approve of her and say so, but also wanting to distance herself from him in order to be appreciated on her own merits was something I really understood. Seeing her grapple with this conflict inside of her may not have been the centre of action and mythology heavy, but it seemed very genuine.
Overall I found this to be an excellent followup to Alloy of Law and a leap ahead for the series as a whole. There is SO much to chew on in this volume, that I'm sure I'll be mulling it over for days to come. I can't wait for Bands of Mourning in January now to see how it all pans out. If you were a little underwhelmed by Alloy of Law, I encourage you to give it another look and continue by reading this volume, which I believe is a very positive step towards the height that was the original Mistborn trilogy.

Executive Summary: Another decent entry in the Mistborn series, though I didn't enjoy it as much as some of the others. 3.5 rounded up, because it's still one of my favorite series.Audio book: I switched from text to audio with [b:The Alloy of Law 10803121 The Alloy of Law (Mistborn, #4) Brandon Sanderson https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1442889632s/10803121.jpg 15035863], and so long as [a:Michael Kramer 690164 Michael Kramer https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] continues his excellent narration, I'll never switch back.Full ReviewThis is probably one of my most anticipated books of the year. Unfortunately for it, it follows close on the heels to one the others: [b:The Aeronaut's Windlass 24876258 The Aeronaut's Windlass (The Cinder Spires, #1) Jim Butcher https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1425415066s/24876258.jpg 24239884]. Both are books by my favorite authors that I expect to be a lot of fun. Both delivered. However, I felt that Aeronaut delivered better.This book has excellent characters, great world building, and easily one of my favorite magic systems. In fact the only magic system I like better is the one from Mr. Sanderson's Stormlight series. However, writing humor isn't one of Mr. Sanderson's strong points. I really wish he'd stop trying. It wasn't nearly as forced or as groan worthy as some of his other books, but it did leave me rolling my eyes more than it had me laughing.I have a hard time deciding exactly why I didn't like this as much as the past novels. I was always excited to pick it back up and listen, but I found my attention wandering at times. I think if I had to pick any one thing, it was all the religion stuff. Normally I find mythology fascinating. Mr. Sanderson rewards the long time and careful readers with references back to past events and characters from the original trilogy. While I find the evolution of fact into myth and religion itself quite interesting, the frequent talk of it wore on me a little.Overall though, this is a fun book with some great action that always shines when Mr. Sanderson uses the magic system he built in new and unique ways. I'm interested in seeing how its use continues to evolve as the technology does as well.This book seems to do a good job of setting up the trilogy without feeling like it just stops. I have many questions and theories about what might happen next and I can't wait to get the next book to see where things go next.