The Alloy of Law

Second reading: even more intense than I remember. This new era is better than the first, and I didn't think that'd be possible.

Didn't think Mistborn could get better, but I was wrong. This era makes the first one look almost primitive. The new cast of characters are likeable, and I really want to read more about them.

It was cool, nice knowing that the universe continues and to hear some familiar names and identify familiar things from their history. It was also great to learn about how the magic system had developed and evolved over the years and see that in a big of a modern setting. But I felt like it didn't have the thrill of the first series, I wasn't as invested in the characters. But I did stay till the end so that counts for something.

I wanted to like it, but I guess I just wasn't in the right head space for a western buddy cop book. I'll try it again in the future.

This book was happier than all three Mistborn books combined

It feels great to be back in the Mistborn universe, but wow, what a change! The technological leap after 300 years has landed us in the wild west and it is awesome! Gun fights, trains, electricity, and skyscrapers.... And yet somehow it still feels very much like a Mistborn book.

The Alloy of Law is a faster paced action story that has a “buddy cop” kind of vibe. It's a refreshing change, and it sets up what may be another dive into Mistborn lore. Really looking forward to books 2 and 3 in the Wax and Wayne trilogy!

This book is a short introduction (well, relatively short, by Sanderson's standards) to the second Mistborn era. I can't think of another series I've read like this one where the first part becomes the lore and religious background of the second part. The setting and style of these books is totally different but still immensely entertaining. There is continuity with the magic system, but it turns out there is still plenty more to it than we thought we knew.

Bastante entretenido, nada pasteloso ni excesivamente religioso como me parecieron la segunda y tercera entrega.

Es un buen modo de continuar la historia, da gusto seguir leyendo sobre la alomancia y la ferruquimia.

It seems like this book was written for graphic audio. As always the pacing was fast and on point and in the end there are some hints of greater mysteries to come.

3.5 stars

Was going to give it 3 stars, but then Brandon Sanderson put in those few magical words which had me scrambling for the next book!
Gahhh, this guy is really good at what he does!

I was a little disappointing at how far removed this was from the rest of the Mistborn series. Overall a good book though!

I'm not against steampunk-type fantasy, so a Mistborn novel in that type of era intrigued me and despite the nay sayers saying that this novel is Sanderson's weakest book, I thoroughly enjoyed it and gobbled it up over a weekend. It doesn't hit the high notes that the original series did in the sense that it doesn't seem quite as epic or worldly as the original trilogy, but I kind of enjoyed the fact that it was fast paced, full of action, mystery and had characters that I instantly loved. I perhaps didn't get quite as emotionally involved with this one as with Vin and Elend's story, but it was highly enjoyable nonetheless. More of an adventure, fantasy romp than an epic, but I think that's okay and was glad to see the world of Scadrial progress and morph into a new era and highly excited to see where it goes from here, especially with numerous revelations toward the end. Not a weak book at all, but an all around lighter adventure in the Mistborn universe.

This book was like Mistborn (all your usual Allomancy/Feruchemy) + Scooby Doo (a little humor added by Wayne) + Sherlock Holmes (sleuthness courtesy of Wax). Definitely different from the o.g. Mistborn trilogy but a great beginning to a new Mistborn era.

I always fill so fulfilled when I finish a book by Brandon Sanderson. His plots are so well developed and his characters are so well thought out - their personalities and nuances pop off the page and make them so real.

I kind of love/hate him... I love love love his writing. But I hate how he's so good that nothing compares. For example... I'm reading through the Harry Potter series right now, and I think I can't completely enjoy it because I'm forever ruined on fantasy. Nothing is as good... sorry J.K.

Confession: I think I might even like Sanderson better than Tolkien. shhhh... I've got it bad.

If Mistborn is Avatar, then The Allow of Law is Korra. Taking place many years after the events of the first trilogy, Alloy starts a new series more focused on allomancer/pharochemist characters, which opens up an entirely new world of skills not previously explored. Being able to slow down time + heal? Yeah, that sounds useful. The story itself is more of a detective story, with some likable characters. I worried it would be too much driven by the period it was set in, but the characters were the main focus.

If Mistborn is Avatar, then The Allow of Law is Korra. Taking place many years after the events of the first trilogy, Alloy starts a new series more focused on allomancer/pharochemist characters, which opens up an entirely new world of skills not previously explored. Being able to slow down time + heal? Yeah, that sounds useful. The story itself is more of a detective story, with some likable characters. I worried it would be too much driven by the period it was set in, but the characters were the main focus.

reviews.metaphorosis.com

3 stars

Wax' life as a lawkeeper is done with when he returns to Elendel to resume his status as Waxillium, Lord Ladrian. With the occasional lapse, he turns dutifully to rebuilding House Ladrian's finances, and to marrying well. But a visit from his ex-deputy, the wisecracking Wayne, draws them both deep into a complex criminal plot.

“I'd like to write a western.” That's what I imagine going through Brandon Sanderson's mind. “With a nod to superheroes. And what the hell, let's make it Hollywood-friendly. A superhero Hollywood western, that's what we need.” If that was his plan, he succeeded. Unfortunately, the pyrotechnic chase leaves credibility and story gasping by the way.

I first encountered Sanderson via Mistborn, and I looked forward to returning to that world. Unfortunately, the years I've been gone seem to have blurred the crucial last pages of The Hero of Ages, the prequel to Alloy. Even going back to check them, I didn't find the language Sanderson relies on so heavily here. References to Harmony and the Words of Founding left me floundering, rather than grounded, since it seemed I should know them. References to various Allomantic powers tended to be awkward little information dumps - more mechanical than interesting.

Background is a minor issue, however. Sanderson notes that he wanted to work with a world that evolved. What bothered me is what this evolved into. From the interesting, original world of the Final Empire, emerges a world that could largely be drawn from a generic Hollywood western. The marshal who tries to retire, but returns to fight one last bad guy, the trusty sidekick who makes jokes but is steadfastly subordinate to his hallowed boss. Plus one plucky damsel and one distressed. Bad guys just need to shoot things up from time to time. Good guys take responsibility for everything, even when it's not conceivably their fault. It's fine as a western, but it's so determined to be a western that it forgets its SFF side. (Though it does throw in a nod to New York policing.)

Even more troubling is how much this seems to be pre-scripted for a movie option. There are all sorts of sequences that sound like they'd make great visual special effects. As prose, though, they fall flat. Worse, they take precedence over the story. It's not a huge obstacle, but when I want Hollywood, I go to the movies. I read books for narrative, not flash. I don't know whether Sanderson was consciously aiming at producers, or has simply seen too many films. Either way, it didn't work for me.

Some of the characters' quirks seem similarly contrived. Wayne works to hard to be interesting that he's just not believable. Rushing to catch the bad guys and save the good ones, Wax takes time for apparently talented sketches. Initially, I assumed the references would be the foundation of internal illustrations, but those never turned up, which left the sketches hanging as a weird distraction. They'd look great on screen, I'm sure.

Sanderson's built his reputation on logical magic systems pursued to their logical extremes. Here, however, he throws in some loopholes of the comic book variety. Some Allomancers can slow time. But a gun fired from a slow-time bubble deflects unpredictably. There's a good narrative reason for this - otherwise those folks could just shoot everybody and be done with it - but there's no good in-story reason for it, and it breaks from the relative logic of the magic system. A portion of the finale is similarly based on an ex machina solution.

Because this is so strongly a comic book western, there's relatively little surprise in it. You can predict from early on what the broad strokes of the story will be, and you'll be right, even down to some of the comic flourishes.

People like to say that space opera is descended from westerns. There's a way to bring them together while keeping the spirit of each (e.g., some of Bob Shaw's stories). Unfortunately, this is largely a standard western inhabited by comic book superheroes and begging to be adapted to the screen. Maybe it's all in support of what appears to be a Mistborn game.

This is not to say that Alloy is a bad book; it's quite readable. However, it's a pretty substantial disappointment from Sanderson - enough of one that while I'll read his other work, I'll think twice about dipping back into this era of the projected-to-be-long Mistborn sequence.

I like this much more than the original trilogy. I wasn't expecting to, I usually don't like having to meet a whole new cast of characters, but I like them even more than I did the originals. The small nods to events and characters in the first trilogy were very well done, a nice touch for those that new the references without being distracting for those that didn't.

I was worried when the author delayed the rest of the series to do this unplanned book, but I'm glad he did. I'm even excited that there are going to be three more books in this time period before moving on.

Sometimes you shoot yourself in the foot. This is one of those times for me. After the high of the Mistborn series I gave up on The Alloy of Law because I did not want a low point in the “Metalverse”. And boy did Brandon make sure that I regret it. The next trilogy in this verse is probably Brandon at his best but it does not rate five stars because the concept is old. Other than that it has all the ingredients including some very nice humour and the most imaginative action scenes. (Hitting a bullet with another bullet was stretching it a bit though Brandon). There is always a “goosebump” moment in the books and in this was delivered with aplomb in the form of the “Mistcloak”. All in all a highly recommended read and a long wait for the next instalment.

Sanderson took this series in an unexpected direction. I started the Mistborn series expecting a fantasy story, which I got in the first three books, but now it's evolved into a Steampunk story. Still, I'll be interested to see how it continues.

Executive Summary: A fun, but predictable story. Mr. Sanderson does a great job of adding a new layer of complexity to the excellent magic system from the original Mistborn series that should appeal to anyone who enjoys well defined magical systems. A few minor complaints, but overall very enjoyable.Audio book: Micheal Kramer is an excellent narrator. This is the first time I've listened to him, and I hope it won't be the last. I actually met him briefly at a signing for [b:A Memory of Light 7743175 A Memory of Light (Wheel of Time, #14) Robert Jordan https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1336055749s/7743175.jpg 10558806] and got to listen to him do a live reading. He does voices for the characters and really adds that extra something I wish all audio book narrators would do.Full ReviewThis book started out great right out of the gate. Things really ramped up further when Wayne was introduced. The pairing of Wax and Wayne is one I really enjoyed.Wax reminds me a little of Roland Deschain from the Dark Tower series. Wayne reminded me a little bit of Sherlock Holmes simply for his frequent use of disguise and various voices/accents.The main drawback for me was Marasi. I like her character in concept. A smart, resourceful women who is well studied on law and lawkeeping. The execution left a little to be desired for me however. I found her personality annoying. Vin got a little whiny at points in the original series, but I found that far less bothersome than the “helpless noble” persona Marasi has.The book also slows down in the middle, but not for long. The antagonist is pretty well done, although a bit too much mustache twirly in place.Most of the plot twists were pretty obvious to me ahead of time, but that doesn't matter. The characters, the magic system, and the action really sucked me into this book.I especially liked the additions Mr. Sanderson added to his already great magic system. He introduced some pretty cool ideas by mixing Allomancy and Feruchemy to make “Twinborn”. This is especially excellent with the addition of guns to mix making for some really fun action scenes.Overall this was a really enjoyable book that I read at just the right time. I was in the mood for something fun and light and this fit the bill nicely. I hope Mr. Sanderson gives us more stories with Wax and Wayne sooner rather than later.

Initially, I hit a point where I just couldn't get into reading this book; in part because of my opinion that the third Mistborn book was rather mediocre. In true Sanderson fashion though, by the time I hit the midpoint of the book I simply couldn't put it down. It was a fun, quick read once that happened. I surprised myself with this book in that I don't read much steampunk/western-fantasy, it was actually good!

The Alloy of Law is a fun romp in the world of Sanderson's earlier Mistborn trilogy. The world has advanced three hundred years, from medieval technology levels to about Victorian levels. Electricity is just starting to be found in homes, though people are suspicious of it, and trains and guns are fairly widespread. Think Victorian England meets the Wild West and you'll be in the ballpark. The main characters of the Mistborn trilogy have faded into legend by the time The Alloy of Law takes place, and it's really interesting to see how they are revered (or not) by the characters in this book.

The Mistborn series has a well-developed system of magic that I found unique, creative, and complex but easy to follow. Allomancy is the art of burning ingested metals to do particular effects; different metals (and the ability to burn them) allow you to do different things. Tin, for example, lets you enhance your senses, leading to the nickname “Tin-eyes.” Burning steel lets a Coinshot “push” on metals, telekinetically moving the metal away from themselves. (Or themselves away from the metal, if the metal too secure to be moved!) On the flipside of the coin (Ha!) is Feruchemy - a feruchemist uses metal accessories, often in the form of armbands or other jewelry, to “store up” his resources - he can become deaf and blind for a time, in order to use that resource later and have super-hearing and eagle-eyes, for example. Nothing is ultimately gained or lost, just stored until it's needed.

The writing in Alloy was certainly not as deep as the Mistborn trilogy, but Sanderson has said in interviews that this was supposed to be a fun break between books. If you're looking for a quick, fun adventure story, this is definitely a good book to pick up. From the witty banter between characters to the surprising choice of romance, this book kept my attention from start to finish. Sanderson is a very skilled author and I am eagerly looking forward to the sequel, as the book ends on a cliffhanger!

You can find all my reviews at Goddess in the Stacks.

A very well written part 4 of the mistborn series, looking forward to future books in this series.

I haven't read the first books so I am missing some of the background stories but not enough to diminish my enjoyment. The main characters are essentially the rugged lawman and witty sidekick but done so well they have become my favorite duo. The details and consistency of the religions and magic systems really drew me into the world.
Metals can be “burned” internally by certain individuals to create effects on the world- heal, soothe or incite emotions, push or pull on metals and even speed or slow local time. Even though it sounds simple, the complexities and interactions add a wonderful layer to the tale.
I'm planning to return to read the original trilogy!

I must admit I probably should have finished the mistborn series before reading this (as it is #4) but I didn't. I did not have any problems reading it only revealed a few things I didn't know yet. It is interesting. I think Brandon Sanderson's world building is superb. This was not as heavy as 1,2 and 3. I enjoyed reading it and look forward to reading more from the mistborn series.