The Wulver’s Library‘s Review of The Lost Metal by Brandon Sanderson
Imagine my joy when Gollancz sent myself an ARC of The Lost Metal by Brandon Sanderson, an author I’ve admired for quite some time. Mistborn is arguably my favourite series of all time and a return to Scadrial was just as thrilling as I needed it to be.
The Lost Metal takes place six years after the events of The Bands of Mourning. Our heroes are still dealing with the Set as the proceed to be the conflicting organisation in Elendel. The story itself takes place outside of this in a place called Bilming. Trell, a new god who has risen in power, is affecting Harmony’s power over Scadrial. Wax, along with Wayne, Marasi and Steris, must come together and put an end to the Set.
It’s hard to not mention spoilers but this is a very Cosmere-aware story. Readers of Sanderson will already tell you about the over-arching story, world hoppers and different planets. It’s part of the journey to sit and work out who is who and be surprised at the twists that Sanderson produces. However, you can still enjoy The Lost Metal without a wider understanding of the Cosmere and the fun of it is when you re-read, you’ll find many other Easter eggs that you can glamour over. The locations, names and magic systems are all familiar, but Sanderson pushes them that step further.
It can be hard to read about changes to an Age, but Sanderson has written these two Era’s familiarly different. The setting of Wax and Wayne was a fun environment and the connections to the original trilogy are a welcoming addition that doesn’t require prior knowledge to enjoy. The magic system is a robustly unique machine that felt evolved with the Age and the character growth is profound. I do wish we saw more of the different cultures that were introduced in Bands of Mourning but I have a feeling we haven’t seen the last of them.
What really surprised me is the emotion that was portrayed in this story. There were so many resonating quotes and actions that I really took heart to. I’m not going to spoil anything, obviously, but Sanderson has really taken things to different heights with the resolutions in this book and just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, it reeled me right back in.
Thank you to Gollancz for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. If we could just have the next era now. Please, and thank you.
