The Bands of Mourning
Ratings632
Average rating4.3
I got spoiled on some of the details of this book. But it was still a great adventure!
if there was ever a quote to sum up the organized chaos of the Wax & Wayne series, it's this one.
“Plan?” Marasi asked.
“Not dyin”
“Anything more detailed than that?”
“Not dyin... today?”
Looking forward to more with these characters!
I really like Wax and Wayne.
A lot of folks don't like Era 2 as much, and I think it is because expectations are for it to be similar to Era 1 (I love Era 1). I went in expecting these novels to be different in scope, characters, and tone. I did expect the foundations of Sanderson's storytelling to remain the same, and in that aspect, this novel delivered.
Part multi layered quest, part Indiana Jones, this was a rollicking adventure that starts hot and never lets up. Looking forward to finishing Era 2.
5 STARS
WOW. Sanderson lo ha vuelto a hacer.
Sabía que este libro me sorprendería, pero no me veía venir por dónde. Este libro lo tiene todo: un ritmo trepidante, una capa mucho más profunda para personajes que lo merecían, una historia que te tiene al borde de la silla, mucho Cosmere y una “sanderlancha” de las potentes.
Es el libro más largo de los tres primeros de Era 2, y siento que se me ha hecho más corto que ninguno. Hasta ahora me estaba tomando la saga de Wax y Wayne como unos libros para disfrutarlos, sin exigirles el nivel de otros libros de la saga, pero éste ha destacado por mucho frente a los dos primeros.
Y con esto cierro el que me da que es el último libro de “Mistborn - Wax y Wayne”, aunque puede me equivoque, porque tengo la sensación de que El Metal Perdido va a ser algo más grande que simplemente eso y requiera una categoría para él solo. Sea como fuere, estos tres primeros libros los he disfrutado un montón, y me alegro enormemente de haberlos dejado para el final para poder gozármelos sin exigirles nada a cambio.
3.50/5.00
Alright, now we are talking Mistborn. This books does a good job of worldbuilding we have come to expect from the cosmere. There are some interesting moments, some twists I didn't see coming, but final twist is quite obvious since I read Stromlight 5 prologue. Good book, but predictable plot. Not even close to Mistborn era 1.
Finally, finally we see the face of the character shadowing the Mistborn series. And all that feruchemy worldbuilding is quite good.
As usual with sanderson, it's well written and has a really good pace. The Swiss inspired people in masks were a bit ridiculous to my liking, though. I also think that the antagonists here were quite weak, even though it tapped that emotional key. It was a bit dull and misplayed, IMHO.
As with any sanderso book, I loved it. I love how each relationship developed, especially with steris and wax.
And steris. She has to be my fave next to Wayne.
The direction of the story starts to get tense. I'm starting to fear for some of the characters, and a scene towards the end almost had me screaming. But the best moment was between steris and wax. I cried.
Each of the characters were given their moments to shine and grow. Wayne never fails to make the laugh
A thrilling tale I devoured. Each book is better than the last.
Reread leading up to the Lost Metal - I actually think I liked this a bit less on reread. Apart from the final 20%, the only part of this book I really liked were the larger Cosmere connections and some of the character development. Ironically my reread of Era 2 has actually made me ~less~ excited for The Lost Metal, which I wouldn't have expected. I am excited for the conclusion, and I know Sanderson is great at endings, but I won't be too upset to see the end of this Era.
Original Review:
Mistborn Era 2 is very hard for me to rate. The plot is just so much less interesting to me than anything else Sanderson does. Halfway through this book, I still did not care at all about any plot happenings. The second half of this book, though, was much better. Reminded me a lot of Indiana Jones and the reveals were pretty damn good.
But what Era 2 is good at is characters. The character of Steris is just so good. She really shines so much more in this book. Marasi and Wayne are also super interesting characters to read about, and MeLaan is great too. And the slow-burn courtships that happen in this series are genuinely well done; some of my favorite romances and I'm not a big romance person.
I think I enjoyed Shadows of Self the best out of Era 2 so far, but I am now very excited for The Lost Metal!
Hooo, where do i start? the ending really hit all the high notes of a classic blockbuster movie climax a la Avengers, with the moment of desperation when Wax died, to the sudden revelation of the Bands of Mourning being that stupid spearhead that Wayne nicked right from the start :joy: it was fantastic to read and also why i'm still not asleep yet at 1+am even though i have to go in to the office early tomorrow morning. truly a Sanderlanche!
i kinda knew that Wax wasn't going to really die because he's already on the cover of The Lost Metal but if i hadn't seen that yet i would certainly be quite worried since this is book 3 of Era 2 and usually big plot shifts can happen at this juncture. i was really rooting for Marasi to be the ones wielding the Bands of Mourning to light the place up and save everyone, but ah well. also, those people with the red glowing eyes? did we ever see them in Era 1? are they completely new to this world? and why is it that Trell now seems to be the icon that all the “bad” people are gathering around? also that epilogue!!!! is that Kelsier!? or is my guess completely off?! i mean, he's the Survivor, right!? is he really coming back???? what's going on???
i also really liked where everyone is romantically at this point. i was really worried about Steris's safety this whole time but i'm glad that she's wound up safe and happy with Wax, i like that Marasi is still kicking ass by herself and even has a foreign suitor now, and Wayne, being the complete lunatic that he ism is probably best suited for something casual with MeLaan.
totally excited for the new book coming out this month!
Whew, what a book. I had enjoyed Era 2 so far, but I hadn't been thrown a heater like The Final Empire or The Well of Ascension. Well, this is that heater. So much growth happened for the cast and there was never a period where the story dragged. But man, I have SO many questions after finishing this.
4.5 stars! Definitely the best of the series so far (mistborn era 2)! Dramatic, adventurous & with a perfect blend between character & plot driven.
I am not really fond of Wax, but Wayne, MeLaan & Steris really made this book for me!
4.5 stars! Definitely the best of the series so far (mistborn era 2)! Dramatic, adventurous & with a perfect blend between character & plot driven.
I am not really fond of Wax, but Wayne, MeLaan & Steris really made this book for me!
Very engaging and managed to expand not only Scadrial, but the Cosmere in general.
I already have a million theories about Trell, the next book etc.
I didn't give it 5 stars, because I continue to feel like one of our POV characters is a cardboard cutout. I find absolutely nothing of interest in Marasi. Each time I read from her POV, I feel like I've been forced to endure a very boring work meeting.
I also didn't like how convoluted the outcome of the last big battle was. Wax agreeing to duel his stupid uncle? For what? You wait until the guy disables the bomb and pull the old "just kidding" and blast push the bastard off the plane. And you're done.
Other than that, I can't wait for The Lost Metal!
P.S.: I just KNEW it was Kelsier and not the Lord Ruler who helped the "new" race. There was no way the Lord Ruler wouldn't have joined the battle against Ruin had he been around, considering how extensively he prepared for it and how much he knew. The question is, where is Kelsier now? Did he really fall dead?
Wederom een fantastisch avontuur in de stijl van een western gemengd met een stevige dosis Indiana Jones en zalig zotte humor.
De manier waarop de Mistborn-wereld opnieuw wordt uitgebreid, is zowel ontzagwekkend als intrigerend.
Ik kan niet wachten om meer te weten te komen. Tegelijkertijd kriebelt het enorm om de serie opnieuw van het begin te herlezen, omdat ik zeker ben dat ik nieuwe aanwijzingen ga ontdekken en theorieën zal ontwikkelen bij een tweede lezing.
Ik hield ook heel erg van de karakterontwikkelingen in dit volume, vooral deze van Steris. Tot nu toe was zij een vrij onbekend, beetje saai en onopvallend, maar hier kwam ze echt tot haar recht en begon ik voor haar te supporteren. Haar bloeiende relatie met Wax vind ik ook heel goed gedaan.
Wayne is een andere favoriet. Hij is buitengewoon onbeleefd, maar of hij effectief zo is of gewoon extreem naïef blijft onduidelijk. Hij heeft een absurd gevoel voor logica dat zowel vertederend als verbijsterend is. Hij is een personage waar ik zowel van haat als van hou, hij frustreert en charmeert tegelijkertijd. Ik hoop dat hij nooit verandert!
De verhaallijn vond ik ook geweldig. De toevoegingen van de wereld en de verkenning van het verleden van Wax brachten een serieuze meerwaarde en verhoogden de inzet.
Een deel vond ik wel voorspelbaar en er zijn elementen die niet meteen mijn favoriete verteltechniek zijn, alhoewel ik wel begrijp waarom ze zo moesten zijn.
Zoals vaak het geval bij een Sanderson-boek, gaf het einde mij kippenvel. Een echt schokkende onthulling en ik kan niet geloven dat hij daarheen gaat! Zo benieuw hoe dit verder gaat!
9.5/10
Somehow Sanderson always succeeds in creating a likeable character with personal problems in the first book, only for them to become a God and spectacularly save the world in the third book. It works every single time. Additionally, the continuous world-building and expansion of the Cosmere is awesome. I can't wait for all these books to come together, and I am more hyped than ever for the final entry in Mistborn era 2.
Hoid's appearance was expected, but waaay too brief. I kept waiting for him to jump from round a corner throughout the whole book. ☺️
I thought this was the last book in this series so you can imagine my confusion when the size of the world and the complexity of the mechanics within it all completely blew open towards the end.
If I'm being pedantic I'll say it's not as strong as the more focussed previous entry - unsurprising since the last book didn't have to shoulder the burden of trying to smoothly add about a thousand new plot points to the series - but still a great time.
The finale could be quite epic.
Damn that epilogue! The only good thing to come out of this book was Wax and Steris