Book Review: The Lost Metal – Brandon Sanderson
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If I have one aim out of this review, it’s to convince you to pick up the Mistborn series. I read and adored the first trilogy as a teenager. Honestly, I didn’t think it could get any better, but I was really surprised by the Wax and Wayne dynamic of the second half— that, and how Sanderson isn’t afraid to improve on his established magic system! It’s a rare thing to see an author build upon and change their own world. Risky move, but it worked incredibly well!
If you want to catch up on my reviews of the series before diving into this final instalment, my reviews of the earlier Era 2 books can be found below: –
The Lost Metal – Brandon Sanderson
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 507
Audience: Adult
Publisher: Tor Books
Publication Date: 15 Nov 2022
Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
For years, frontier lawman turned big-city senator Waxillium Ladrian has hunted the shadowy organisation the Set— with his late uncle and his sister among their leaders— since they started kidnapping people with the power of Allomancy in their bloodlines. When Detective Marasi Colms and her partner, Wayne, find stockpiled weapons bound for the Outer City of Bilming, this opens a new lead. Conflict between the capital, Elendel, and the Outer Cities only favours the Set, and their tendrils now reach to the Elendel Senate— whose corruption Wax and his wife, Steris, have sought to expose— and Bilming is even more entangled.
After Wax discovers a new type of explosive that can unleash unprecedented destruction and realises that the Set must already have it, an immortal kandra serving Scadrial’s god, Harmony, reveals that Bilming has fallen under the influence of another god: Trell, worshipped by the Set. And Trell isn’t the only factor at play from the larger Cosmere— Marasi is recruited by offworlders with strange abilities who claim their goal is to protect Scadrial…at any cost.
Wax must choose whether to set aside his rocky relationship with God and once again become the Sword that Harmony has groomed him to be. If no one steps forward to be the hero Scadrial needs, the planet and its millions of people will come to a sudden and calamitous ruin.
My Thoughts
Plot
Events of the earlier books in the series come to an end. As the title of the book proclaims, a significant part of both Wax and Wayne’s aim in this book is to discover a new metal not previously known to their metallurgical talents. Not only that, but events come to a head in the action act and dramatic way he can only expect from Sanderson. Full of tension and unforeseen plot twists, it is hard to anticipate how the lost metal is going to end, and I confess, it had me devastated.
It was a satisfying book to read nonetheless. I love the scope of this book and the series as a whole. If there is one thing I really enjoy, it is an author who is willing to both build upon and in some ways destroy the world they have built in a way that feels plausible to the plot.
Whilst I can’t really comment on the ties this book has with the Cosmere in general, I believe there are some overlaps that perhaps I’m not ready to appreciate given the volume of unread Brandon Sanderson books on my list compared to those I have. However, I have it on good authority that for the eagle-eyed, there are some links to other books in his wider universe.
Characters
Wax and Wayne are some of my favourite chalk and cheese characters in this series. They are polar opposites; Wax is noble and values justice and fairness. Wayne, well, what’s petty crime when in the name of justice?! Wayne is a bit of a kleptomaniac, but somehow charming and entertaining all at the same time.
Ballsy. Clever. Intelligent. Witty. These are all easy descriptors for characters in The Lost Metal. Wax and Wayne are by far the stars of the show, but don’t sleep on Merasi. I love her character. She’s bright and desperate to prove herself. To a reader like me, she’s incredibly relatable.
I love the variety of characters we see in The Lost Metal, but especially loved seeing an old face reappear in this book. The dynamics between the characters are engaging and they really help lift an interesting and clever story up several layers!
Setting
The latter half of Sanderson’s Mistborn series is Western in vibe. Set both within and on the outskirts of Elendel’s major cities, Wax and Wayne are cowboy-style lawmakers. Guns aren’t their only weapons; I love the magic aspect of the book, and especially how The Last Metal builds on the earlier books of the series.
The world-building in this book and series is fantastic. Somehow, in every single book, Sanderson has managed to get better, make the story more engaging, and build on the magic we’ve grown with.
The concept of the magic behind the series is interesting – ingesting metals grants no specific powers. However, we build far more upon that as the books go on. We get more complex ideas, but it’s not complicated or written to confuse readers. The growth and expansion of the plot and magic is the biggest selling point for Mistborn.
Narrative Style
The Lost Metal, alongside pretty much every Sanderson book I’ve read to date, is easy to read and follow.
The book is made up of around 70 chapters across 500 pages. It makes the average chapter not too long, but also punchy enough to see plenty of action. The writing style matches the events of the book. Whilst it works really well, I don’t know what else to say here. It facilitates everything else I’ve talked about in this review. It would be a showstopper for me if it was difficult to read. However, it’s far from the biggest selling point.
Summary
With a series as epic as Mistborn, it’s hard to imagine how it could end in a way that lives up to the hype. Friends, it did! Sanderson lives up to his excellent reputation, and I already know The Lost Metal and the prior six books of the series will be on my TBR again soon!
If you want to get yourself a copy, you can get it via Amazon here. I’ll definitely be re-reading this one, so we’ll have a chance at a later date to compare notes!
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