Shadows of Self

2.50/5.00

The book has a good ending. I did enjoy some of the characters, with Wayne and MeLaan being my favorite. I also enjoyed the interaction between Harmony and Wax as well as the tension between. Buttttt, I was also a bit bored. I was like, is this book just another villian? Now Kandra ? The world building progresses a bit, and I do like how real the world of Scadriel feels. But that cannot be attributed to Era 2.

Overall a decent read.

Executive Summary: Another decent entry in the Mistborn series, though I didn't enjoy it as much as some of the others. 3.5 rounded up, because it's still one of my favorite series.Audio book: I switched from text to audio with [b:The Alloy of Law 10803121 The Alloy of Law (Mistborn, #4) Brandon Sanderson https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1442889632s/10803121.jpg 15035863], and so long as [a:Michael Kramer 690164 Michael Kramer https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] continues his excellent narration, I'll never switch back.Full ReviewThis is probably one of my most anticipated books of the year. Unfortunately for it, it follows close on the heels to one the others: [b:The Aeronaut's Windlass 24876258 The Aeronaut's Windlass (The Cinder Spires, #1) Jim Butcher https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1425415066s/24876258.jpg 24239884]. Both are books by my favorite authors that I expect to be a lot of fun. Both delivered. However, I felt that Aeronaut delivered better.This book has excellent characters, great world building, and easily one of my favorite magic systems. In fact the only magic system I like better is the one from Mr. Sanderson's Stormlight series. However, writing humor isn't one of Mr. Sanderson's strong points. I really wish he'd stop trying. It wasn't nearly as forced or as groan worthy as some of his other books, but it did leave me rolling my eyes more than it had me laughing.I have a hard time deciding exactly why I didn't like this as much as the past novels. I was always excited to pick it back up and listen, but I found my attention wandering at times. I think if I had to pick any one thing, it was all the religion stuff. Normally I find mythology fascinating. Mr. Sanderson rewards the long time and careful readers with references back to past events and characters from the original trilogy. While I find the evolution of fact into myth and religion itself quite interesting, the frequent talk of it wore on me a little.Overall though, this is a fun book with some great action that always shines when Mr. Sanderson uses the magic system he built in new and unique ways. I'm interested in seeing how its use continues to evolve as the technology does as well.This book seems to do a good job of setting up the trilogy without feeling like it just stops. I have many questions and theories about what might happen next and I can't wait to get the next book to see where things go next.

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.

Best of Era 2 so far....Part mystery, part magic, part Wayne trading for stuff.

This one feels much more a part of the Mistborn universe than the Alloy of Law. Alloy of Law had parts that reminded you, but this book felt more Mistborn--felt more connected to Era 1. I am not going to say anymore to avoid spoilers...and that ending was fantastic. I flew through this one.

4.75 STARS

This book was even better than the first. I really enjoyed this addition to the Mistborn universe.

This story follows Wayne, Wax, and Marasi as they try to find out who is causing all of the disruption in their city. We get so many callbacks to the previous era that make this story that much more interesting. The whole time, I was trying to search for Easter eggs. Some of my favorite characters from the first era make an appearance here.

The whodunit plot twist was a little predictable, but the ending for Wax was NOT predictable. I was so emotional by the end and wanted to give Wax a hug. I'm instantly starting the next one because I have to know how this conflict resolves.

Sanderson does it again with his superb characters, making you feel for this trio and their surrounding friends/colleagues. The addition of Milan to the group for part of the book is so fun, and she quickly became one of my favorite characters. The banter between this group is hilarious and makes me want to go get a beer with them.

Overall, I think this book was successful and interesting to read. I recommend to Sanderson fans that might have reservations about era 2 like I did. No need to be hesitant. These are great!

I read this pretty much within a day.
I enjoyed the storyline - the stakes have been increased significantly by the end of it.
One thing I wish was different is the length of these books. Sanderson is packing full stories in 350 pages and I think his character work and world building are suffering a bit because of that. I believe the books would've benefitted by a bit more bulk to get the reader more invested in those characters and get us more grounded in this world.
Regardless, I enjoyed it quite a lot and plan on picking up the next book in the series as soon as I'm done with this review.

8/10

Wax 9/10
Wayne 10/10
Marasi viewpoints 4/10

Thoroughly enjoyable most of the time. More character development than the first book which was great to see. The storyline feels deeper and more connected to the awesome world that was created in the first Mistborn era. However, I found myself putting the book down and doing something else way too many times when I flipped the page and realized that I had to read another “Marasi at the police station” chapter.

THAT ENDING!!

how is Sanderson still surprising me?? lmao. in retrospect i should've had a hunch that Bleeder was Lessie!

there's less “screen time” with Wax, Wayne and Marasi this time around, but i still liked getting to know MeLaan (who was very funny), Marasi's colleagues, and also Steris. it's refreshing that Steris hasn't been cast aside in some kind of Wax-Marasi-Steris love triangle; instead, Wax and Marasi are actually being proper, responsible adults and staying out of anything romantic.

i liked the cameo from TenSoon as well! it felt rewarding to have read the entire first trilogy haha.

the ending was so bittersweet. i love the picture of Steris doing her best to comfort her betrothed. poor Wax. :(

WHAT HAPPENS IN THE NEXT (and final) BOOK?!

Por algún motivo, solo había escuchado cosas negativas de este libro, y ciertamente me estaba pareciendo más flojo que el anterior hasta ese final.

Un libro entretenido, unos personajes que me siguen encantando, una trama que se enrevesa y un final que te rompe.

Mi valoración pre-final era de 3 estrellas y me veo obligado a cerrar el libro con 4.

So like, Sanderson is definitely one of those authors I can read. But the more I read him, the more I'm frustrated by certain obvious beliefs he holds. And this book read distressingly like copaganda, which after 2020 is a little hard to stomach. Sure this is in a fantasy world, but it's hard not to take the message at face value: that the law and law enforcers are on the people's side and not the rich.

As good as the last one but with that extra zing of Brandon Sanderson ultra-plotting leading to characters and events from the previous book being recontextualised in fun unexpected ways.

With literally any other writer you might think he's doing a ‘Luke and Leia are siblings actually' kind of thing, but since you know he's plotted out every story years ahead in obsessive detail you can feel safe it was all part of the plan.

Long story short, this book has another great Sando ending.

B. Sand.... my boo... we're so close I have a nickname for him... I love all of his books. Shadows of Self is no exception. There is the action/lore of the original Mistborn books, but this one has a lot of underlying political/religious unrest. At times I got a little bogged down because I didn't remember a lot of the religious aspects from the original series. But the ending of this one is amazing!!! I love Wax and his emotional but strong demeanor. He's my hero.

Guess it's time to spend some quality time with a little re-read of the OGs.

 I thought it had quite a lot more lulls in the story compared to the other entries, but it always pulled you back in. A lot of growth/potential growth for Wax & co. So many plot threads and stone left unturned heading into the next entry that it felt like a tunnel to the next entry rather than its own. Either way I still had a good time with this and look forward to reading the next. 

I was pretty disappointed in this book. I think that Brandon Sanderson is good at making interesting characters who feel 3-dimensional and realistic, but I just felt like all of these characters were cartoony. They just weren't believable and I couldn't make myself care about them. It also felt like he was trapped by wanting to make this a trilogy, because he has villains that he wants to use in the future, and he kept them around in this book only to remind you that they exist, even though they didn't move the plot along at all. Just kind of disappointing.

Age range: 15-18
This is the first book in a while that I'm putting an age cap on, but I just don't think this book would hold an adult's interest. I definitely won't read it again. Violence and such.