I took a break from posting to participate in NaNoWriMo and now it’s been so long, I’m not quite sure how to start these.
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| The Alloy of Law |
The Mistborn trilogy was the best piece of fantasy literature I’ve read in a long time. It was original, with fantastic characters and a terrific plot. When it ended, I was sad that it was over. But when I heard that there would be a new book set in the same world, I got excited to see what happened after the end of the trilogy. The Alloy of Law takes place about 300 years after the end of the last Mistborn book. Without the Lord Ruler and the force of Ruin suppressing innovation and life, progress has roared ahead. Just a couple of centuries later, the world is in the midst of a thriving industrial revolution. While the first three books were solidly fantasy stories, The Alloy of Law has elements of the Western and detective genres.
The book opens at the final stages of a man hunt. Wax Ladrian, the law in those there parts, is tracking down a gruesome serial killer. Things go horribly wrong, and Wax chooses to return to the capital city to help restore his family’s fortunes. Once there, Wax feels uncomfortable living with all the luxury his apparently spendthrift uncle left behind since he has spend the twenty years of his life bring order to the frontier. When a series of mysterious train robberies and kidnappings captures his attention, Wax has a very hard time not investigating them.
This novel really takes off when Wax gives in and starts to investigate after a very spectacular attempt on his life. After that, it’s a wild ride full of shoot outs, fights to the death, and dastardly deeds. It’s not like the original series at all, thought it shares the same world. And I really appreciate that. This is one of the things I really like about Sanderson, that he’s always trying something new and original. The book ends with a strong hint of another book featuring Wax, so I look forward to what he comes up with next for this character.
(I would write more, but it’s been a couple of weeks since I read the book.)