/lit/ - Literature

>>21259539
The Lost Metal, Wax & Wayne #4 / Mistborn #7 - Brandon Sanderson (2022)

The Lost Metal takes place and has been published roughly six years after The Bands of Mourning. This one is an investigation and counteroperation. It reminds me somewhat of a spy thriller. What it's really about though is references, references, and more references. If you've only read the Mistborn series, or somehow only this Era, it's possible that you may feel overwhelmed and not understand the significance of what's happening. Characters from nearly every system have a role and almost everything Cosmere-related that's been written is referenced in some way. New named systems, which may be related to the secret projects are mentioned. There are hints about what is to come in the various series.

I don't have any interest in the fandom, but the wider Cosmere is a primary draw for me. I know there are those who become unreasonablely irate at anything outside of a particular series being mentioned. That's silly because this has been the plan from the very beginning. It's been almost eighteen years since both the publication of Elantris and my reading of it. Longer still has it been since Sanderson decided upon this plan. For me, it's quite nice to see that plan in its first stages of being realized now that sufficient material has been published. Sanderson has confirmed that these crossovers will be both the norm and his legacy. His The Lost Metal Release Day video goes into detail about the specifics.

Character and plot developments have taken their course, so this book is mostly resolution. An exception is Marasi, who takes a leading role and confronts who she is and what she wants out of life. There are several characters introduced that have their own development, some continuing from previous works and others making their debut. These characters give quite a different feel for the chapters featuring them. The world has a different feel to me as well. It's only been six years but it seems so much more modern than it did in previous books. Considering their rate of advancement, I'd be surprised if Era 3 takes place more than a 100 years after Era 2, though Era 2 took place 300 years after Era 1. The glimpse at how Era 4 technology may work, which may have already been shown in Sixth of Dusk, was neat.

After the final chapter there are seven epilogues, which is very Sanderson. Era 2 has concluded in better fashion than Era 1 as far as I'm concerned. I'll read Era 3 when they eventually come out and the other Cosmere books as well. They serve as easy and fun reading and I do appreciate their interconnectedness, though I'd like the Stormlight Archive ones to be much shorter. In my teenage years I was mostly reading shared world settings, but they had surprisingly little to do with each other, which was disappointng. As with the Marvel movies I enjoy Sanderson less now, but it's more likely than not that I'll read to the Cosmere's conclusion.

Rating: 3.5/5