448 pages
English language
Published Jan. 25, 2016 by Tor Books.
Three hundred years after the events of the Mistborn trilogy, Scadrial is now on the verge of modernity, with railroads to supplement the canals, electric lighting in the streets and the homes of the wealthy, and the first steel-framed skyscrapers racing for the clouds.
The Bands of Mourning are the mythical metal minds owned by the Lord Ruler, said to grant anyone who wears them the powers that the Lord Ruler had at his command. Hardly anyone thinks they really exist. A kandra researcher has returned to Elendel with images that seem to depict the Bands, as well as writings in a language that no one can read. Waxillium Ladrian is recruited to travel south to the city of New Seran to investigate. Along the way he discovers hints that point to the true goals of his uncle Edwarn and the shadowy organization known as The Set.
Unlike the previous book which just interested me, I really enjoyed reading this book. The story was much better and the ending very satisfying.
Time to read: 7 hours 43 minutes
Rating: 8/10
Feeling a Strong 7 to a light 8 on this one. My favorite Wax and Wayne book so far. Though thinking back on Shadows of Self that book also has some great character work for Wax and Wayne and the final twist is so emotionally great. It's good that this book then builds off of that twist and develops a character arc for Wax that emotionally comes together beautifully in the finale, bookending the book quite nicely as it opens up with Wax's... basically childhood rummaging as a future lawman, as well as setting up the choice Wax has to make at the ending of the novel.
Minor thing: The villains are kind of weak. Looking back on it, Lord Ruler kind of hard to top as a villain and Sanderson has never quite been able to match his presence as …
Time to read: 7 hours 43 minutes
Rating: 8/10
Feeling a Strong 7 to a light 8 on this one. My favorite Wax and Wayne book so far. Though thinking back on Shadows of Self that book also has some great character work for Wax and Wayne and the final twist is so emotionally great. It's good that this book then builds off of that twist and develops a character arc for Wax that emotionally comes together beautifully in the finale, bookending the book quite nicely as it opens up with Wax's... basically childhood rummaging as a future lawman, as well as setting up the choice Wax has to make at the ending of the novel.
Minor thing: The villains are kind of weak. Looking back on it, Lord Ruler kind of hard to top as a villain and Sanderson has never quite been able to match his presence as a character. Ruin is also great but they're more of an entity than a tangible person. Miles is the closest Sanderson has probably gotten to having a villain with presence like Lord Ruler did so far in Era 2.
Suit is cool for the times he does show up, but his screen time is underutilized for the type of character he is. I guess my main problem is that he's not fleshed out enough to care about his ideology, though it is cool to see his internal thoughts and how he says he's committed to the cause for ideological reasons but he does want to rule in his lifetime so there is that element of selfish desire for power in his actions. And now he's dead so no of him I guess lol. ONTO TRELL WHICH IS HYPE.
It's behind both Warbreaker and Final Empire for me pretty clearly (maybe that makes it more of a 7 IDK). But it's still solid. I really liked it. The ending was cool. More worldbuilding is always welcome. I love seeing that. The mistborn series world, seeing it and technology evolve with the power system along with my boy ~~Sazed~~ I mean Harmony, It's probably my favorite thing about Era 2. The characters are also great, but the worldbuilding and power system is my favorite thing, so seeing stuff like the machines made to use allomancy as literal power for machines is jsut great. Finally seeing humans/cultures outside of the "mistborn core city" is also exciting. I also fucking love the wider cosmere hints and teases and the whole "Trell"/other god attacking Harmony/the Planet. It's so great.
ALSO THAT FUCKING ENDING! HOLY FUCKING SHIT! IS KELSIER ALIVE?? WHAT???????
Not my favorite Brandy Sandy, but I loved Wayne and Steris.
I thought this was the last book in this series so you can imagine my confusion when the size of the world and the complexity of the mechanics within it all completely blew open towards the end.
If I'm being pedantic I'll say it's not as strong as the more focussed previous entry - unsurprising since the last book didn't have to shoulder the burden of trying to smoothly add about a thousand new plot points to the series - but still a great time.
The finale could be quite epic.
I love how this one starts to explore some of the more interesting ways the Scadrial magic systems can be utilized. Mistborn and the Cosmere at large work with hard rules that make the magic systems feel intuitive and understandable. It's opening the doors for some really interesting technology coming out of this world in the future.
This one was a bit disappointing, largely marking time and setting up greater mysteries for the conclusion of the series, but it did manage to make the introverted Steris my favorite character of this group, by a mile.
First, if you haven't read Sanderson before, this would be a very spoiler-y start to the Mistborn series. I enjoyed reading from the beginning, and I think you would too. At least go back to book 5 though.
Second, if you liked the original Mistborn series, I think you'll like this book. Previously shallow characters (or even just some of their traits) were filled out quite a bit. I found myself enjoying some of the characters even more than before, so that was good.
Finally, the book isn't as long as some of Sanderson's other writings. But the story didn't feel rushed and I feel like this is an excellent addition to the Mistborn series.
Más y mejor, aprovechando personajes para dar más profundidad y dejando pistas de lo que puede ir pasando en el resto de sagas, y que luego no servirá de nada porque en el cierre de esta trilogía lo cambiará todo.
PD. Gran personaje el de Steris.
Slightly predictable near the end, but still a good book. I just wish that the Wax & Wayne books were a little longer, since they end too soon. Looking forward to the sequel in a year or two.
This book was great, much better than some prior Sanderson novels I've read recently (namely, Calamity and Perfect State). Not that the others were bad, just that they didn't seem as well crafted as this one. While Sanderson writes good books, he is at his best when writing long, epic fantasies. The Bands of Mourning excels at presenting intriguing new aspects to the world of Scadrial and at developing already great characters. I look forward to seen how Scadrial continues to develop over time in Sanderson's planned future books.
For my full review, check out my blog: strakul.blogspot.com/2016/04/book-review-bands-of-mourning-by.html
If a sound could be made as I finished this book it would be:
SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
Holy cosmere batman, Sanderson's ability to slowly pull the threads together of this universe is growing tighter and tighter and I for one shiver in anticipation.
I'm glad Steris was given her due. She's bright, intelligent, and has come out of her shell in great glory and that made me smile.
Wayne, oh Wayne. I memorize some of your lines because they are so damn funny. I often think Wayne is the real center of the characters. It makes Wax seem like a child even more than he might really be. Lovable Wayne. Please don't die on me. ;) heheh.
Everyone else, has their pitch and timber reverberated well through the chorus of what is a very well done continuation of a series I really do adore. I hungrily look forward to the next Stormlight …
If a sound could be made as I finished this book it would be:
SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
Holy cosmere batman, Sanderson's ability to slowly pull the threads together of this universe is growing tighter and tighter and I for one shiver in anticipation.
I'm glad Steris was given her due. She's bright, intelligent, and has come out of her shell in great glory and that made me smile.
Wayne, oh Wayne. I memorize some of your lines because they are so damn funny. I often think Wayne is the real center of the characters. It makes Wax seem like a child even more than he might really be. Lovable Wayne. Please don't die on me. ;) heheh.
Everyone else, has their pitch and timber reverberated well through the chorus of what is a very well done continuation of a series I really do adore. I hungrily look forward to the next Stormlight series then back for Oathbringer. It's going to be a helluva wait, but well worth it--and beyond--wow--I have no idea, but Sanderson has yet to let me down.
Very entertaining, although I was disappointed that it still wasn't the conclusion of the second era. More yet to come.
In terms of character development it was quite expected, following a default narrative. I had no problem with that, it makes for easily digestible reading. Just the way Marasi suddenly got over Wax was a bit too convenient and it felt like lazy writing.
But I will definitely follow the next Mistborn novels. And I am at last intrigued enough to care about the Cosmere.
Very entertaining, although I was disappointed that it still wasn't the conclusion of the second era. More yet to come.
In terms of character development it was quite expected, following a default narrative. I had no problem with that, it makes for easily digestible reading. Just the way Marasi suddenly got over Wax was a bit too convenient and it felt like lazy writing.
But I will definitely follow the next Mistborn novels. And I am at last intrigued enough to care about the Cosmere.
I am having a hard time reviewing Sanderson's books. I am clearly prejudiced: I love his books, and have a hard time finding fault with his writing. Don't trust my opinion: just go read the book yourself :)
Just a few short notes on this one: I do not find the humor heavy-handed (read this in a comment somewhere). I love Wayne. He's my favorite character. His perspective is very unique and shows incredible attention to the details of his character. Wonderful. And Steris and her lists. "This one didn't even make the appendix." ... "it's on page seventeen of the list I gave you." She really comes into her own in this and just like Wax gets to know her better, so does the reader. I love the spontaneous wedding at the end just as much as the spoiled-by-Wayne waterlogged one at the beginning.
I really wasn't sure that …
I am having a hard time reviewing Sanderson's books. I am clearly prejudiced: I love his books, and have a hard time finding fault with his writing. Don't trust my opinion: just go read the book yourself :)
Just a few short notes on this one: I do not find the humor heavy-handed (read this in a comment somewhere). I love Wayne. He's my favorite character. His perspective is very unique and shows incredible attention to the details of his character. Wonderful. And Steris and her lists. "This one didn't even make the appendix." ... "it's on page seventeen of the list I gave you." She really comes into her own in this and just like Wax gets to know her better, so does the reader. I love the spontaneous wedding at the end just as much as the spoiled-by-Wayne waterlogged one at the beginning.
I really wasn't sure that Wax would survive. I didn't know there would be a fourth book. And there is precedent for Sanderson killing off major characters. But I am very glad he did. I did suspect his sister from the beginning but by the time she did finally start her back-stabbing I had completely forgotten about it.
So I predict, that if you enjoyed any of the Mistborn books, you'll enjoy this one as well. It's another worthy entry in the series, and I am looking for part #4 of this (I thought this was going to be the last, I was wrong) trilogy.
Highly enjoyable.
BoM is a strong second installment in the Wax and Wayne trilogy (not counting the bridge book of Alloy of Law). As usual, brandsand manages to have a satisfying self contained story while also tying into the overriding arc of the trilogy. Moreover, the density of Cosmere ties has been steadily increasing and it will be very interesting to see how the Mistborn books evolve together with the Stormlight series and push forward the greater Cosmere narrative.
BoM was also a great display of some of the character cast, specifically Wayne and Sterris. Wayne has really come into his own as a funny and consistently likeable character. Similarly, it's nice to see Sterris develop as a character and get some screen time to herself. Sanderson's developing of her and Wax's relationship has been well handled and very mature.
