Shadows of Self Mistborn #5 Mistborn Era 2 #2 The Cosmere *

2016-06-25

Shadows of Self takes place in the same timeline and with mostly the same characters as Alloy of Law. From what I’ve heard, this is supposed to be the actual first book of the second trilogy, with Alloy of Law being essentially a happy accident.

Wax and Wayne are back, in all their awesome glory. I still greatly enjoy what Sanderson did both with their Allomantic/Feruchemic abilities (they’re more interesting / real feeling that the full Mistborn of the original trilogy) along with their great personalities. Wayne is the best sort of crazy and Wax is just as driven as ever. Marasi also gets a chance to shine as well, becoming a constable in her own right and putting her sharp mind, passion, and years of schooling to good use.

Ancillary Mercy Imperial Radch #3

2016-06-21

Ancillary Mercy does a good job blending the larger overarching story and style of Ancillary Justice and the much closer to home sequel Ancillary Sword. The universe is still relatively limited to a pair of star systems plus the planet and station of Athoek.

For the most part, it’s a good mix and a much better sequel to Ancillary Justice than Ancillary Sword was. On the other hand, we still don’t get to really deal with any of the overarching story telling that we got at first. We meet a few new ancillaries, but they never really act as ancillaries. One of Anaander Mianaai shows up, but she’s almost comically out classed. There’s no real threat there. We meet a new Presger translator who is delightfully odd… to an extent that pushes past surreal all the way to unbelievable.

The Alloy of Law Mistborn #4 Mistborn Era 2 #1 The Cosmere *

2016-06-11

In Alloy of Law, Sanderson demonstrates not one, but two things that he’s done which I’ve never seen another author pull off.

For one, he has a massive shared universe in the Cosmere. Each world has its own unique magic system (Sanderson’s strength) with just enough relation to the others to hint that they might just be part of a bigger universe.

The Hero of Ages Mistborn #3 Mistborn Era 1 #3 The Cosmere *

2016-06-05

Ever since the Lord Ruler was killed in the first Mistborn book, things have been getting worse. It all comes to a head in The Hero of Ages. The world is quite literally ending.

Sanderson’s strength continues to be his world building. We get a lot more details this time around. We learn of a few more Allomantic metals. We learn all about the third metallic art (only previously hinted at): Hemalurgy. On top of that, we expand on what exactly the Koloss and Kandra are, what abilities they have, and how they came to be. It’s crazy awesome how it all fits together and would be well worth the read just got that.

Ancillary Sword Imperial Radch #2

2016-06-03

This book was a bit odd so far as sequels go, shrinking the scope of the story significantly from the first book.

In the first, we have several different points of view, timelines, and locations. In the second, we’re almost completely following the former Justice of Toren in a single timeline immediately following the events of the first book in a single system.

Ancillary Justice Imperial Radch #1

2016-05-22

High concept: In the future, starships are run by AIs which also control dozens or more previously human bodies known as ancillaries. Occasionally, the ancillaries get … detached. Ancillary Justice follows the story of one such.

It’s a really neat concept and does a good job of carrying the story on its own. It does make it a bit confusing at times to figure out who exactly is talking; a situation that is compounded by the fact that the story line jumps between a few different timelines and characters (or at least versions of the same character). Ever few chapters I found myself taking a moment to figure out what’s going on.

The Well of Ascension Mistborn #2 Mistborn Era 1 #2 The Cosmere *

2016-05-16

Since last I read this book, I’d forgotten just how much happens in this book.

Since the Lord Ruler was killed in The Final Empire, some things have gotten better… some have gotten much much worse.

Warbreaker Warbreaker #1 The Cosmere *

2016-05-08

I wish it hadn’t taken quite so long to get to Warbreaker. It’s really quite a good book, right up there with pretty much all of the rest of Sanderson’s works.

There’s a neat magic system (as there always is)–although this time around it felt a bit less detailed than Sanderson usually is. Usually even when as a reader doesn’t know all of the rules, you get the idea that there are rules. This time, it just felt a bit more vague. I’m still unsure what exactly the color has to do with it, although the idea of magical automatons powered by souls (Breaths, whatever) is neat, if not quite as original as Sanderson often is. (It doesn’t help that I’m also reading Mistborn at the moment.)

Apex Nexus #3

2016-05-06

A solid conclusion to the Nexus trilogy. Some things go exactly as I expected them to, but there are still a fair few surprises thrown in for good measure. For the most part, a lot of loose ends are tied up, making it a good way to end a series.

The stakes go up with most of the world in turmoil, the US and China in particular. The Chinese part was interesting (particularly since I’ve spent some time studying how the Chinese censorship systems work in the modern day), but felt tonally rather different from the previous books. It vaguely fits, but it felt almost like half a sequel and half something entirely new.

The Final Empire Mistborn #1 Mistborn Era 1 #1 The Cosmere *

2016-05-01

The Final Empire is a great read.

I love the worldbuilding. It’s a weird world, with strange nightly mists and a near constant fall of ash that gets on everything. Even stranger, it’s hinted that the world was once much more like our own. On top of that, you have a quasi-Feudal society ruled by a powerful, potentially immortal being. All of which leads to some pretty obvious seeds for some crazy stuff to go on.