The Lost Metal
Ratings497
Average rating4.4
4 or 4.5 stars. Pretty fun read overall and an enjoyable ending to this part of the series. Lots of great Cosmere stuff too. I hope we get some more with some of these characters later on.
Lost Metal is one of Sanderson's most glorious and wittiest books yet. Wayne is one of the greatest Sanderson characters out there and this book has some of his best dialog and actions.
Going to miss era 2.
9.5/10
Sanderson did it again!
The whole book was an absolute blast. Discovering new stuff on this planet, then suddenly mixing with multiple other Cosmere works was perfect.
I felt the urgency for stopping disaster through the entire part three. The ending for Wayne is absolutely perfect. Hoid just passing by is perfect.
The missing 0.5 points are for the anticlimactic scene when Marasi drains the pool. This scene had the potential to be epic, but it missed the mark by a mile, in my opinion.
I'm definitely coming back to Mistborn era 2 at some point!
I couldn't have asked for a more perfect wrap-up for Era 2 and I can't wait for Era 3! I might do a reread of Era 1 and 2 soon :)
A great end for era 2 of the Mistborn saga, inviting the readers to go deeper into the Cosmere and preparing future installments for a more interconnection with the other stories in this universe.
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If you've been following me for a while, then you know that I'm quite a fan of Brandon Sanderson's work. It's not like I hide my opinion on his incredible talent, or his amazingly fascinating worlds or magic systems. Brandon Sanderson is a true genius at fantasy writing. There's no doubt about it. I usually rave and rave about his latest books after I'm done reading them, but this time I find that I can't do that.
The Lost Metal was good. It really was. A good ending to Mistborn, Era 2. So why do I feel just a little let down? I won't spoil anything, I promise, but there's a few things that just didn't quite live up to my standards of Sanderson's work. Which may be too high, honestly. I expect a lot from him, and maybe I should tone it down. ANYWAY.
I will admit that I did not reread the previous three novels before diving into this one. It's possible that would have increased my enjoyment of this one. There's a lot going on in this world, and it's hard to keep things straight. ESPECIALLY when Sanderson introduces a lot of other cosmere-related characters in this book. (Aren't sure what the cosmere is? A lot of Sanderson's works take place in the same universe, and many of the characters are planet or world hoppers, meaning they can appear in more than one series. Confusing? You bet. But it's also super cool to see a familiar face in a new series.) Sanderson took the cosmere up a notch in this book, and like I've mentioned elsewhere, I'm not sure it worked for me this time.
So how come? Well, when you have to read all the other cosmere-related books (probably 10+ books at this point) to understand something, it can be a bit of a drag. AND THAT'S COMING FROM SOMEONE WHO HAS READ ALL THE OTHER COSMERE BOOKS. It's a lot to be familiar with and remember, especially when you're a heavy reader like me. So basically, I guess what I'm saying is this. The book was decent, it just had too many...details? I guess? That sounds ridiculous, and I'm aware of it.
ANYWAY, I love Wax, and I love, love, love Wayne. I'm so glad he was featured prominently in this one. Marasai is still fascinating, but I was THRILLED to see that Steris's talents were finally put to use on a grand scale in this one. She deserved the spotlight and the recognition. Sanderson's female characters never really disappoint — they're all vastly different from each other, and I love that they're not reduced down to love interests or wallflowers. I'll definitely be picking up the next Mistborn era when it comes out, but with some hesitancy, I guess.
Did this review make any sense whatsoever? Who knows.
Sanderson aquí se ha desatado completamente con el Cosmere y nos prepara, a falta del quinto del Archivo, para terminar lo que será la primera parte del universo con un ecuador que parece muy prometedor de cara a lo que venga en los próximos años.
A very fast paced book and a suitable ending to the Second Era of the Mistborn series.
There was no lack of action, planning, mysteries and answers, of the type that brings more questions (which is really the best kind).
We got a better look at the Cosmere and multiple references to other, already familiar, worlds and characters.
As a negative I will point out the same thing I have already mentioned in the other books - lack of character debt. Not because their stories weren't well plotted, but because there was no time spared.
This makes the book very fast and easy to read on one hand, but robs the consequences of impact on the other.
I also feel that some of the “cameos” by characters from Eta 1, were slightly underwhelming. I somehow expected better set up and suspense building. Though it was nice to see said characters.
All in all, I liked the book and I am excited to read more about Scadrial and its future. And if for some reason you haven't read Era 2 but somehow ended this review, please do not skip it! It holds vital information for the Comsere and all evidence indicates that it will turn into a hot zone in the (maybe not so distant) future.
This was absolutely amazing. Can't wait to see how it plays out in other Cosmere books.
What an end to Mistborn Era 2. I'm glad I was there the whole way and I think this actually be one of my favourite series of the Cosmere so far, Stormlight Archives notwithstanding since I haven't finished or caught up with that one yet. Naturally, this review would spoil all the books of Era 2 up to Book 3 before this one.
There's a more sober feel to this one, taking place several years after the events of Bands of Mourning and seeing Wax as happily married and a father of two. There're several mentions between Wax and Wayne about how they're “too old” for certain things (like getting exploded), so I assume they're in their 40s or so by this time. Wayne meanwhile is broken up with MeLaan and feeling desolate, worthless, and positively existential, pondering on the role he is playing and needs to play in the bigger scheme of things.
I didn't get why Marasi needed to have a relationship with Allik at all. I could understand why she perhaps needed a failed crush on Wax in the very beginning but I thought she was pretty happy going along by herself. Her relationship with Allik seemed a bit tacked on at best, since we barely see him anyway in this book. It just seemed to be there to tick a checkbox for Marasi's character development, which I didn't think was necessary at all.
The characters in this one are still a blast to read, with all the familiar brands of humour out in full force. Wayne proves himself to be a treasure as always with his wildly inappropriate and untimely interjections to the consternation of Wax and Marasi, Steris is still being Steris and writing out disaster preparation plans when she's bored, but I also missed MeLaan in this book since she strikes out early to go on another mission and doesn't return. That bit also felt a bit too obvious a device for conveniently removing MeLaan from the plot without actually having to kill her off or anything drastic like that, and again I didn't understand why that was needed given that MeLaan has been with them since Book 2. Luckily though, we still have some kandra humour from VenDell, although he's not an integral part of their operations as MeLaan was.
This book is one that really opens up a lot of questions about the Cosmere. I might even say that it ends with more questions asked than answered, at least regarding the Cosmere. With our characters on Scadriel, the plot has pretty much wound to a close. There are some little references to the world of Stormlight Archives in here, but it probably wouldn't spoil readers who haven't read or are halfway through reading that series (like me having only finished 2 books from SA). Or at least, if there were spoilers, I don't understand them and that's the same as no spoilers to me. I look forward to revisiting the Cosmere bits of this book in the future when I have caught up with Stormlight Archives so I can fully appreciate which bits are easter eggs and callbacks to other books, and which bits are new information entirely.
About the ending: I was really, really agitated when I read the ending. Here is the barrage of my emotional response: “this is some Sam and Frodo bullshit!! the sidekick is actually the real hero in the end!? i had a bad feeling when the book's prologue was a scene from Wayne's childhood, it just didn't bode well, y'know? but i'm mostly kinda pissed at Harmony for literally ignoring the hell out of Wayne for the entire series and then just swooping in to give him that final nudge to sacrifice himself at the end. that was such a bullshit move!!! and i'm also kinda pissed that it wasn't Wax, mainly cos i'm the least attached to Wax of all of them, but also cos like, it was always *building* up to him being the sacrificial lamb but for one reason or other, either cos Sanderson is attached to Wax or he has other purposes to fulfill in presumably Era 4, we just kinda shift the burden of sacrifice off of him and give it to Wayne instead, who had never asked for this and was never developed to be the end-game until this book.”Yeah, I really didn't like that Wayne was the one who had to sacrifice himself in the end. I didn't think it gelled well at all with what it was all building up. I definitely felt like it should've been Wax, if anybody. I know this book was dwelling a lot on who and what makes a hero, with Wayne always feeling like it should be Wax. Personally, this cliched but all-too-true quote sums heroism up to me: “With great power comes great responsibility.” Wax enjoyed great power, being almost a Chosen One when he was literally pulled back from the cusp of death by Harmony himself to take up the Bands of Mourning and enjoy unlimited Mistborn powers to reverse the situation and win the day. He continues to enjoy all the plot armour of a hero, but when I feel like the situation is called upon for him to pay his debts and to shoulder that responsibility of being a hero, that is suddenly shifted to Wayne in the end? I just can't stomach it! It's framed as Wayne stepping up and being a hero in his own right in the end, but it just doesn't feel right - it just feels like Sanderson couldn't bear to kill off Wax for whatever reason and decided to just shift it to Wayne instead.
Overall, I really enjoyed this whole series and it has some of my favourite characters in the whole Cosmere so far, hands down. There's a high possibility of me revisiting this one in the future.
3/5 stars per Goodreads' “I liked it”.
As a Brandon Sanderson Cosmere book, it just didn't wow me as much as I've come to expect. It was certainly better than Elantris but not as good as Final Empire, Way of Kings, or Warbreaker. Unlike most of the earlier books, I think this one suffers if you haven't read most of the other Cosmere books, and the way that characters are starting to crossover between series is getting pretty MCU-ish, and not exactly in a good way for me.
The main plot line was quite a bit more ‘super-hero' than ‘Victorian detective', as opposed to the other Wax and Wayne books, which I found disappointing too.
I think I'll need to let it digest and process some more of my feelings, but overall I think it was just ok.
unexpectedly this book jumped into my top 3 cosmere books and not going to lie, my favourite mistborn story. the amount of cosmere connections was enough to make me entirely grateful for reading the entire cosmere before this. also Wayne is a top 3 all fantasy favourite for me now.
Truly a rusting good end to era 2, I look forward to Stormlight 5 and Mistborn Era 3.
Really enjoyed this final entry in the second era of Mistborn. I think it's Sanderson's most fun and fast paced novel yet, with a ton of cool Cosmere connections and some really excellent action sequences.
My only gripe is that it feels like a lot of characters have more story to tell, while they dealt with the major story beats that have been ongoing through the series it felt like Sanderson opened up a lot of interesting stories here that then don't get wrapped up. Presumably these are stories for future eras of Mistborn, but I would have liked to see these characters get to work through them.
Mucho que procesar aún , pero un cierre más que correcto para la historia de wax y Wayne. La cantidad de referencias al cosmere están brutales , y no digo más para no dar spoilers
It's been awhile since my last Sanderson book, enough that this really made me remember that no one does fantasy like Sanderson!! So many cool things in this book with wider connections to the larger cosmere. Also reading this made me realize how out of touch I've become with the cosmere as a whole and that I really need to reread some things and read the novellas I haven't read. Like there was a MAJOR twist in Stormlight 4 that I completely missed until now... Anyways fantastic end to Era 2 and excited for what's to come!