Shadows of Self

Shadows of Self is the fifth book in the Mistborn saga and the second book featuring Wax and Wayne. Worker strikes, religious conflicts and terrorism is threatening to upset life in Elendel and the surrounding Basin. It all seems to be a conspiracy to bring down society. But why? Wax and Wayne are on the investigation.

While the first book technically stands alone as a complete story, and did not rely on Era 1 to be enjoyed, this book you likely need to have read at least The Final Empire (though the full original trilogy would be best) to catch all the references and history of what's happening in the book's modern era. This leads me to my favorite thing about this installment - all the direct connections back to Era 1. I continue to be show more fascinated with how the world has grown and changed. There are even additional elements added to how allomancy and feruchemy interact together. Just when you think you know how the metals work, there's always another secret to be revealed.

The banter between Wax, Wayne and Marasi is highly enjoyable. I liked getting to know MeLaan, which both hearkens back to Era 1 and feels completely fresh. I'm glad she's joined the crew. We also get to see a little bit more of Steris. I like her. I hope she gets more page time in the future.

The ending has a surprising twist that I didn't see coming though now in hindsight I can see how the foreshadowing was laid out. I feel so bad for Wax. I wonder how this will impact his relationship with Harmony. show less

Continuing the adventures of Wax and Wayne from the previous novel, I was surprised to find that this one was a much stronger novel than the previous one. Perhaps it's because the first one did a fine job of introducing the characters and letting us enjoy one more round of allomancy tastiness, and now we can revel in the established strangeness with more freedom, here.

But probably not. I honestly loved diving a bit more deeply into the history (of which we're all pretty familiar in the first trilogy) and getting involved in the machinations of gods. It's great nostalgia, since, of course, we got to see them BECOME gods. Too cool, right?

Well, it's not so simple as that. This story's end was telegraphed from the very first pages, and the show more only reason it didn't fall into the blah category was entirely due to the strong writing and the choice of trope. It turned this ostensible fantasy/western into a timeless tragedy.

Which was pretty pleasant.

We all love a great tragedy. Comedies make us sad, and tragedy bring us great joy, after all. Gotta love it.

And no, if you're looking for gigantic battles rather than personalized shootouts, be forewarned. This novel has a comfortable feel, always pretty close to the cuff, and the constant shifting between Ruin and Preservation is creating some pretty precious pearls in the world.

This place, 200 years after the first trilogy, is finally beginning to grow on me. I think I'll also always prefer Sanderson's adult titles better than his YA.

There is plenty of shape-shifty gore, limbs being torn off by coin-shot, corruption, and drunkenness (mostly by Wayne). I really enjoyed this title. It might not be my favorite of Sanderson's works, but the fact is, he's done a fantastic job across the board. His average work, like this one, is still a highly-polished Three-Act-Story with brilliant and creative magic systems, well-crafted plots, and a real feel for the epic implications.

Don't miss out on this if you like his novels! show less

HOW DARE THIS BOOK.

Continuing my first read of Era 2 of Mistborn, Sanderson BROKE WHAT REMAINS OF MY SOUL for fun it seems like.

I enjoyed this plot more, perhaps because I like MeLaan more (the Kandra are fascinating) and I definitely agreed with her argument with Marasi at the end (regarding what Marasi would have the Kandra, or Harmony, do exactly. Force feed them answers to all their questions? How are they different from the Lord Ruler then?) And I looked at Marasi with some disappointment again at her suggestion that MeLaan play a pivotal role in the trial...by pretending to be someone else and give testimony that --while likely true is based on well educated assumptions, not hard facts.

The discussion about the proper way to appear show more "dead by hanging" and how to escape a coroner had me smiling in dark amusement.

In the end the utter broken anger I had over Lessie, tainted this for me somewhat as it felt wrong to hurt Wax who is a giant teddy bear. (Wayne still remains fav) show less

The fifth Mistborn novel and second Wax and Wayne novel is fairly different from the previous one; while The Alloy of Law was a short, fun adventure that largely stood alone, Shadows of Self is longer and more invested in the "lore" of the Mistborn world in a way that Alloy of Law was not.

Consequently, I liked it less. As soon as an omnipotent voice turned up and began narrating to Wax stuff about the conflict between Preservation and Ruin, I knew that this one wasn't going to do the stuff I enjoyed. I think the weird thing about the Mistborn novels is that Sanderson sets up this incredibly complicated system about allomancy... but seems largely uninterested in it, it's just background to all this other stuff that makes my eyes glaze show more over. Imagine if the Avatar shows had all this stuff about bending as background but the benders weren't even main characters in the show. I just don't get it.

People praise Sanderson for his worldbuilding, but I feel like that mostly comes down to the "magic systems" themselves; what the books don't really do, I think, is compellingly explore how the magic would change the world. Here, the Mistborn world has advanced to the nineteenth century... but it's basically our nineteenth century, just some people are allomancers. I don't really see how allomancy has actually affected the structure of their society, and as a result, the magic rings hollow.

Wayne is great, though. I love Wayne. Wayne keeps me going. show less

4.5
It was way better than the the first book , the dialogue and characters were a masterpiece as always but they shone in this book more .The plot especially the twist at the final part was wonderful. loved the connection made between the 1st series and this. Lookin' forward for the next book .

I had a minor quibble with the first book of this new Mistborn trilogy, Alloy of Law, which is that we didn't get much world-building in it. We got little scraps of info that referenced the characters from the previous trilogy, and showed us a little of how the metallic arts would change life in a post-industrial world. Cool things, just not enough for me, and the world felt a little flat and hollow because of it. At least, in comparison to Sanderson's usual efforts.

None of that here. This book goes deep. This book has so many references to the previous trilogy and the characters I love that I was getting teary eyed with nostalgia. You're damn right Vin was the blade when she fought. You tell 'em, TenSoon. Also, TenSoon! He's in show more it!

Revelations about the current state of the world abound, in a similar way to Hero of Ages. Sazed isn't having the easiest time as the new god of the world it seems. Speaking of Sazed, or should I say Harmony, he makes a much bigger appearance this time around. We got a few words out of him last time when he spoke to Wax as the subtle voice of god, but this time they have a full on, pages long conversation.

Basically, this was everything I wanted the first book to be. show less

I really liked this book. It was a quick, easy read but still had a lot of story and depth to it. I love how something mentioned just in passing in the original series is now about to take center stage. Great way to tie them together yet still allow this series to stand on its own.

Wayne is definitely my favorite person. The humor he brings to the table is right up my alley. There's one part near the end where I literally laughed out loud in my car (listening to the audiobook).

Sanderson is definitely one of my favorite writers of all-time. He knows how to churn out high quality work quickly while still making each series feel completely different from each other. Can't wait to read more. On to Bands of Mourning!