Author: Brandon Sanderson
Genre: Steampunk Fantasy
Published: 2011
Content Rating: R for action violence
Three hundred years after the events of the Mistborn trilogy, the world has been reborn and is in the midst of an industrial revolution, with trains and guns, skyscrapers and electricity -- and outlaws and the lawmen who bring them to justice.
Wax Ladrian is one such lawman, retired after his last job ended in the death of the girl he loved. He's just getting used to the noble life he had abandoned long ago, when his fiancee is kidnapped by a notorious band of criminals, led by a man whose Allomantic powers render him nigh immortal. As Wax gets more involved in the investigation, he learns that the city can be even more dangerous than the outskirts he used to protect.
You may recall I loved the original trilogy, and I love this. It's not as epic; Sanderson admits that he wrote it for fun, basically, and it totally is. It's a classic Western story wrapped up in a world where the kind of metal you wear (or eat) determines whether you launch yourself into the air, heal yourself, or stop time.
I have to admit the occasional character or plot event felt too . . . straightforward to me. But I love the mystery and detective work. I love the way Allomancy (and Feruchemy, which we didn't see as much of in the trilogy) interact with this new industrialized world. And I LOVED the banter between Wax and his deputy Wayne (who reminded me an awful lot of a certain pilot of a Firefly-class vessel).
Wax and Wayne. Heh, I just got that.
I often confuse him with Brandon Mull, but I'm not sure why, because I haven't read either of them.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a very fun book! I'm going to have to add it to my list and look for it. I like Western/ detective stories!
ReplyDeleteHa! I just barely got Wax and Wayne when you said it! There was a LOT about this book I loved. Huge yes on the banter. Yes on the fun. Yes on the western, allomancy, feruchemy, and the world. It's just that Brandon is so much better when he can make a book with a LOT more words than that. ;) There's a reason why fantasy books are so dang thick. Still, though, it was fun to get a Mistborn book inbetween this long wait between Mistborn series'!
ReplyDeleteSo one should start with the first Mistborn book?
ReplyDeleteLOL! I really need to read Mistborn.
ReplyDelete