Book Review: The Bands of Mourning by Brandon Sanderson

Pros: variety of action, new settings, character development 

Cons: Wayne started to grate on my nerves, some predictable events

Waxilliam Ladrian and Steris Harms’ wedding day has finally arrived, but things don’t go as planned.  Against his desires, he’s roped into helping the kandra recover one of their fellows’ missing spikes.  He’s also given the whereabouts of his kidnapped sister. 

This book changes location several times, and the plot shifts from one connected goal to another, so while my synopsis may not sound that interesting, the book itself has quite a good number of twists and turns.

I loved the growing relationship between Wax and Steris, which again felt realistic.  I also liked how several characters developed, questioning themselves and coming to know themselves better.

Wayne started to grate on my nerves, especially at the beginning of the book.  His dislike of Steris annoyed me, both because I like her as a character and because he disregarded the growing attraction between Steris and Wax.  Towards the end he felt more like the loveable rogue from the previous books.

There are some plot twists that I found predictable, but others that changed the direction of the book in unexpected ways.  But even the predictable moments were fun, as they didn’t stay predictable for long.

From what I’ve been reading there’s an upcoming 4th book, which is good, because the ending wasn’t as neatly tied as I was expecting.  

This is a great series with a unique magic system and interesting characters that are so much fun to read about.  Can’t wait to see what comes next.