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.

Book Review: Shadows of Self by Brandon Sanderson

Pros: complex mystery, great characters, more mythology

Cons: didn’t touch on one of the unresolved plot points from the first book

The past year has brought economic trouble to the city of Elendil.  When a creature from mythology starts a series of terrorist attacks, targeting the governor, whom Marasi believes to be corrupt, Waxillium and Marasi become more and more convinced that these problems are related.  

Wax and Wayne make for a fun team.  Wax is driven, with a strong moral compass while Wayne has a crude sense of humour and loose beliefs with regards to ownership.  Their different abilities complement each other, making them powerful. Wayne’s ease with accents, dialects, and costumes gets a good workout. 

I found myself liking Steris more in this book, and wishing she had more page time.  While her relationship with Wax isn’t a love match, I do think they’re a couple that could work, given how things progress.  

I also like how Marasi is developing as a character.  She faces different kinds of challenges in this book and acquits herself well.   

While you don’t technically have to read Alloy of Law to understand and enjoy the events of this book, it does help.  Certain events have more weight if you know what’s happened, and you’ll have a sense of missing information during a few conversations (I ended up skimming the first book half way through this one to remind myself of what’s happened).  There’s also a lot more mythology in this book, making me want to read the original Mistborn trilogy.

I love how Allomancy and Feruchemy work and the skills the powers allow the characters to use.  This book also uses a third type of metal magic, which was cool to learn about.

I was somewhat surprised that one of the major unresolved plot points from the first book wasn’t really touched on or dealt with in this one.  I’m assuming it will come back in the third book.

This is a fun book and while the ending isn’t a cliffhanger, it is designed to have you reaching for the next book, The Bands of Mourning, which luckily comes out in January. 

Film Rights Optioned for Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn Trilogy

Fans of Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy will be happy to learn that the books have been optioned for film by Paloppa Pictures.

Find out more and read the full press release on Sanderson's site:
http://www.brandonsanderson.com/blog/856/Mistborn-Movie-News

And get your Mistborn miniatures here.

Fantasy Novel Inspired

Back in the late 80s when I first started reading fantasy I never conceived of a time when it would be possible to interact with a fantasy writer through the computer in the form of email, blog comments or any other means. The fact that I can now go to the website of an author like Brandon Sanderson and read excepts from his novels that didn't make the final book, side stories he wrote in his worlds using the characters, about the book he's currently working on or posts about the writing life is still astonishing. So much so that I'm often overwhelmed by what's all out there.

Did you know that you can buy jewelry based on the Aon - the magic system he invented for his novel Elantris?

Or that there are fantasy miniatures for his Mistborn characters? You can buy them in finished pewter, hand painted or ready to be painted by you.

You can watch book trailers for novels (upcoming or otherwise). Like this one for Mistborn.

Interested in art? You can watch the artist for Sanderson's newest novel, Warbreaker, do an oil painting of the cover - sped up, of course.

Truly remarkable.