Title: The Alloy of Law
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Michael Kramer
Genre: YA Fantasy, NA Fantasy, High Fantasy
I purchased this book and chose to do an honest and unbiased review. The author neither requested nor is associated with this review.
Goodreads Description:
Fresh from the success of The Way of Kings, Brandon Sanderson, best known for completing Robert Jordans Wheel of Time, takes a break to return to the world of the bestselling Mistborn series. Three hundred years after the events of the Mistborn trilogy, Scadrial is now on the verge of modernity, with railroads to supplement the canals, electric lighting in the streets and the homes of the wealthy, and the first steel-framed skyscrapers racing for the clouds. Kelsier, Vin, Elend, Sazed, Spook, and the rest are now part of historyor religion. Yet even as science and technology are reaching new heights, the old magics of Allomancy and Feruchemy continue to play a role in this reborn world. Out in the frontier lands known as the Roughs, they are crucial tools for the brave men and women attempting to establish order and justice. One such is Waxillium Ladrian, a rare Twinborn, who can Push on metals with his Allomancy and use Feruchemy to become lighter or heavier at will. After twenty years in the Roughs, Wax has been forced by family tragedy to return to the metropolis of Elendel. Now he must reluctantly put away his guns and assume the duties and dignity incumbent upon the head of a noble house. Or so he thinks, until he learns the hard way that the mansions and elegant tree-lined streets of the city can be even more dangerous than the dusty plains of the Roughs.
Here's What I Thought:
This was actually a re-read for me. The first time, I read my physical copy. The second time, I listened to the audiobook narrated by Michael Kramer. Both times, I loved this book! I do want to make sure to mention that if you have not read Mistborn Era 1, you really should start there. Not only is it a great entry point into the Cosmere, Sanderson's multiverse the majority of his books take place in, but The Alloy of Law is the beginning of Era 2, set 300 years later, and will contain spoilers for the first trilogy. The first book, Mistborn (or The Final Empire depending on edition) also works great as a standalone. Then you don't have to feel committed to a huge series before you know if Sanderson is for you.
Era 1 Mistborn is like most high fantasy. It takes place in an other-worldly, dictatorship type empire with limited technology. Most of the tech that is featured is dependent on the magic system. Era 2 Mistborn, on the other hand, is able to bring modern technology (at least more modern) to high fantasy without coming across as low or urban fantasy in itself. If you are interested in learning more about about the different types of fantasy and magic systems, check out this post.
Before I get too much into the book itself, here is a quick rundown of the magic systems: Allomancy, Feruchemy, and Hemalurgy. Like all of Sanderson's magic systems, they're considered a hard magic systems. That means that there are hard and fast rules for it, as well as limitations. It is predictable and consistent.
A person with Allomantic abilities, essentially ingests different types of metals to gain different abilities by "burning" the metal. A person was Mistborn if they could burn all of the metals. In Era 1, most people with Allomantic abilities were nobility and could only burn one metal. Feruchemy is the ability to store an attribute in a metal, referred to as a metalmind. In Era 1, Feruchemists were only found amongst the Terris people and could use all the different types of metalminds. Hemalurgy uses metal spikes to steal Allomantic and Feruchemical abilities and give them to another. Below is a reference chart which shows how each type of metal may be used.
I have to say, I was skeptical when I first picked it up the first time. I was kind of indifferent to it in the beginning to the idea of parts of the book taking place in essentially the Wild West. I'm not one for Westerns, but I ended up really liking it as it was a nice change from typical fantasy. I loved seeing how people used Allomancy and Feruchemy in combination with things like guns and bullets. It was also interesting to find in Era 2, that there are no longer full Mistborns or Feruchemists. Instead, there are regular Allomancers, Feruchemists that can use a single Feruchemical ability, and Twinborn--someone with one Allomantic and one Feruchemical ability. Seeing how Wax and Wayne--both twinborns--use their abilities together in strategic ways was really cool, as the effects were not always what you would expect.
Another reason I was skeptical of this series is I have a tendency to get very attached to characters. How am I supposed to love another story set in Scadrial, but without Vin, Elend, Breeze, Spook, Ham, Sazed, and Marsh? I was, thankfully, completely and absolutely wrong. I loved Marasi from the start. Wax and Wayne's banter is phenomenal. Steris, however, I felt bad for. Despite some of her more comical comments (and all of her contracts), her heart to heart with Wax at the end broke my heart. Upon my reread, I still felt this way, but I knew how much she would grow as a character, which made me incredibly happy. Steris is just so genuine, and Wayne's comments about her make me want to slap him.
This book has something for everyone. Train robberies, love and loss, betrayal, familial duty, political maneuvering, explosions, and gun fights. As an added bonus, there are even excerpts from the broadsheets spread throughout the book that have fun Easter eggs for the book itself and even some broader overall Cosmere references. Michael Kramer, as always, delivers a top-notch performance, although the first audiobook was missing the broadsheet excerpts. It doesn't impact the story, but it takes away a bit of the fun.
I initially wanted to give this book 5 stars. In so many ways, it is just plain wonderful. But there are many parts of this book that do not hold up to the same level of complexity that I have come to expect from Sanderson. Not in the sense of prose. Sanderson always has very simple prose, which I actually enjoy. More from the world building and character development aspects. Maybe it's because he felt that he already built Scadrial, that he doesn't need to be more elaborate? I can't quite put my finger on it, but it's just not the same level as the Era 1 books. It is fun and quirky with enough Era 1 references (I love how they portray Spook in Era 2 😂) and even a couple of cameos, however, to earn a solid 4 stars.
Any Thoughts?
About The Author:
Earlier this year he released Calamity, the finale of the #1 New York Times bestselling Reckoners trilogy that began with Steelheart .
Brandon Sanderson was born in 1975 in Lincoln, Nebraska. As a child Brandon enjoyed reading, but he lost interest in the types of titles often suggested to him, and by junior high he never cracked a book if he could help it. This changed when an eighth grade teacher gave him Dragonsbane by Barbara Hambly.
Brandon was working on his thirteenth novel when Moshe Feder at Tor Books bought the sixth he had written. Tor has published Elantris, the Mistborn trilogy and its followup The Alloy of Law, Warbreaker, and The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance, the first two in the planned ten-volume series The Stormlight Archive. He was chosen to complete Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series; 2009’s The Gathering Storm and 2010’s Towers of Midnight were followed by the final book in the series, A Memory of Light, in January 2013. Four books in his middle-grade Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians series have been released in new editions by Starscape, and his novella Infinity Blade Awakening was an ebook bestseller for Epic Games accompanying their acclaimed Infinity Blade iOS video game series. Two more novellas, Legion and The Emperor’s Soul, were released by Subterranean Press and Tachyon Publications in 2012, and 2013 brought two young adult novels, The Rithmatist from Tor and Steelheart from Delacorte.
The only author to make the short list for the David Gemmell Legend Award six times in four years, Brandon won that award in 2011 for The Way of Kings. The Emperor’s Soul won the 2013 Hugo Award for Best Novella. He has appeared on the New York Times Best-Seller List multiple times, with five novels hitting the #1 spot.
Currently living in Utah with his wife and children, Brandon teaches creative writing at Brigham Young University.
