The Alloy of Law: A Mistborn Novel (edition 2012)

Great story. Back to the world of Scadrial, but 300 years after the events in Mistborn: The Hero of Ages. This story has a nice victorian/steampunk feel to it, with a western touch in the beginning. In a way, it reads a little bit like a mystery story. I loved every bit of it except one thing. The end does not feel totally complete. It's like there shoud be another story with these characters. Please mr Sanderson write another one! ( )

While I adore the other Mistborn novels, this one disappointed me. I didn't feel really connected to the characters, and I felt that the action happened too quickly. I would have also liked to hear more about what happened in the 300 years since "The Hero of Ages" ended. For example where did the new metals come from? The story finally started to really interest me in the last three pages of the epilogue, so I hope that if or when more Mistborn books are written they will continue the plot stared in "The Alloy of Law" and I'll like them better. ( )

After finishing a reread of all three books of Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy, I finally felt ready to tackle this book. Sure, I was aware that The Alloy of Law could technically be read as a standalone, given that it's set 300 years after the events of The Hero of Ages and stars completely new characters. Nonetheless, I wanted to refresh my memory on the background of the world and especially Allomancy lore.

Good thing I did too, because even though centuries have passed and characters like Vin, Elend, Sazed and the rest of the gang are long gone, their lives and stories have become immortalized in this world's history and even religious canon. They are respected figures, with cities and landmarks named for them, and being able to recognize references such as these makes the reading experience that much better. The magic systems of Allomancy and Feruchemy are also still around, and in fact are made even more interesting by all the resulting possible combinations of metal powers that people can possess.

The protagonist of The Alloy of Law, for instance, is known as a "Twinborn", someone who has access to both an Allomantic power and a Feruchemic power. Waxillium Ladrian's set of abilities allows him to push on metals as well as change his mass at will -- a useful and powerful combination which serves him well as a crime-fighter out in the lawless frontier called the Roughs. But then his uncle dies, and Wax is recalled to the city and his noble roots. He reluctantly turns away from his lawman past and prepares to take on the role and duties more befitting a lord of his stature -- until a gang of bandits called the Vanishers surfaces, robbing trains and kidnapping hostages, and Wax realizes he can no longer stand idly by while decent people get hurt.

I'm not surprised at how much I enjoyed this. If there's one thing I can count on, it's that Brandon Sanderson gets better with each book he writes. Even though his Mistborn trilogy featured more characters and a more epic and elaborate story, I think I might have liked The Alloy of Law better than all three of those books put together. Despite its simplicity, I loved the western-like setting as well as the mild hints of steampunk I caught from passing descriptions of the new and extraordinary technology. It's always amazing to me whenever we get to see a fantasy world evolve like this.

It was also nice to see the humor between the two characters Waxillium and his friend Wayne. I don't think the book is meant to be a lighthearted read exactly, but I like it when Sanderson writes funny scenes like this with clever and witty banter. Reading this book made me laugh quite a few times, a fact I don't take for granted, especially since I make it no secret that I was not particularly happy with how things ended in The Hero of Ages. I don't deny that it might have even soured me on the whole trilogy, so to follow it up with something like The Alloy of Law definitely had the effect of lifting my spirits somewhat. The ending of the book sets things up nicely for the next installment, and I'm already looking forward to it. ( )

[b:The Alloy of Law|10803121|The Alloy of Law (Mistborn, #4)|Brandon Sanderson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1317794101s/10803121.jpg|15035863] was very amusing to read. It reminded me how much I love the Mistborn trilogy. People who try to read this novel without reading other books set before, will be a little bit puzzled. Many religions are not explained very much and without knowing the past of Scadrial, I think they will be very hard to understand. The same applies to Allomancy and Feruchemy.
I think that this book does not realistically deserves rating greater than 4 stars, but I will give her 5 because:
1) Wayne was so much fun. I laughed out laud many times while reading about his 'tradings' and other life philosophies. He is one of my favorite supportive character ever!
2) This is one of the rare fantasy books I read where world & culture & science actually advance and develop as time progresses.
3) Did I mention that I loved 'Misborn' ? :)
( )

This was the first Sanderson book I enjoyed in quite a while. The writing was well thought out and the characters were charming without being cardboard. Since it has been a while since I finished the Mistborn Trilogy I did have trouble following all the religious cults briefly mentioned (an appendix on that would have been much appreciated) but the different attitudes to the people of the first trilogy were interesting asides. The book was very enjoyable and highly recommended. ( )