The Alloy of Law

So much fun. In doing something rare in the fantasy genre, Sanderson has revealed the much bigger picture of where the Cosmere could be going. Set about 300 years after the dark (ash-filled) ages of the Final Empire/ Mistborn trilogy, Scadrial is evolving through scientific progress, much like late 1800s-early 1900s America in our world. There are skyscapers, electricity and returning to the city as a noble house lord is Waxillium Ladrian, who has spent 20 years out in the frontier Roughs acting as lawman and investigator. Our original heroes and their story has become history for the current crew, which involves Wax's partner eccentric slider Wayne and the wide-eyed but shyly intelligent Marasi. This time around, Mistborns are extremely rare (if they exist at all), but feruchemy has become more prevalant in the population and there are a few updated metals in allomancy meaning each character has a very interesting combination or subset of skills, especially our heroic Sherlock/ Watson style duo. The villain was certainly interesting and a foil, and a lot of the mystery beats were like a Western in a city emerging from the industrial age, but I'm amazed and keen to see where Sanderson takes this next.