The Mistborn Trilogy has become a firm favourite with fantasy fans the world over. The imagination that Sanderson brought to the series, his skill at marshalling epic storylines and dramatic action, and his ability to create vivid characters made him a natural choice to complete Robert Jordan’s epic Wheel of Time sequence. But with Mistborn, his standalone fantasies and his new series, The Stormlight Archive, Sanderson has shown his bountiful talents in his own fiction. Now he returns to the series that made his name with a new story set years after the events of Hero of Ages. Sanderson has the knack of giving the epic fantasy reader exactly what they want. This ability has thrown him to the forefront of the genre and the dramatic story within The Alloy of Law shows off this skill to its very best. In a world recovering only slowly from evil, a world where allomancers wield immense power through their ability to unleash the magic bound up in common metals. To a time when someone who can burn metals that no-one has burned before can tip the balance.
A few months ago, it came across Twitter and Facebook that Brandon Sanderson’s new book was coming out in November, and if you acted quickly enough, you could even get him to sign one for you. This was something that I could not pass up with both my husband and I being fans of the Mistborn series. I ordered it and having that securely done so, completely forgot about it. Then, on November 8th, a package arrived in the mail that was book sized, and after fighting with the wrapping on it (three layers, plus tape!) I was able to reveal which book I had ordered.
While it was for the both of us, I was able to read it before my husband and I have to say, Brandon Sanderson did not disappoint me. The story has the same allomantic properties and theories as the first three Mistborn books, but this one takes place 300 years later. One of the great things Brandon Sanderson did was include technology advances. In the story, automobiles are brand new and people are just receiving electrical lights within their homes to replace candles. There are trains coming and going as normal transportation. The world has changed and the reactions of the people living within that time period, echo that of people in our world when these same changes happened.
Within the book there are also sections of newspapers which express what is happening within the main city. While some pieces of information are conveyed through the telling of the story, these pieces also hold short little stories or ads, which add small details to the world Brandon Sanderson has created and grown. There is even some stories which, unless you read, you will not understand parts in the main story itself.
The plot itself is very classic and easy to follow. The allomantic powers are similar and yet different from the original trilogy and also show some slight metamorphosing from the original metals. There are also a couple of metals which are used in this stand alone, which were not used in the original trilogy.
All in all a wonderful read and great addition to the Mistborn books. The ending leaves the opportunity for Mr. Sanderson to write another book, but as of now, it appears to be a stand-alone.
If you have not seen Fantasy-Faction’s interview with Brandon Sanderson, please take a moment and check it out here.
Julia Kitvaria Sarene
T. O. Munro