The Alloy of Law

by Brandon Sanderson

Published Nov. 1, 2011 by Gollancz.

ISBN:: 978-0-575-10582-9

(181 reviews)

Three hundred years after the events of the Mistborn trilogy, Scadrial is 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.

Kelsier, Vin, Elend, Sazed, Spook, and the rest are now part of history or religion. Yet even as science and technology are reaching new heights, the old magics of Allomancy and Feruchemy continue to play a role in this reborn world. Out in the frontier lands known as the Roughs, they are crucial tools for the brave men and women attempting to establish order and justice.

One such is Waxillium Ladrian, a rare Twinborn who can Push on metals with his Allomancy and use Feruchemy to become lighter or heavier at will. After twenty years in the Roughs, Wax has been forced by family tragedy to return to the metropolis of Elendel. Now he must reluctantly put away his guns and assume the duties and dignity incumbent upon the head of a noble house. Or so he thinks, until he learns the hard way that the mansions and elegant tree-lined streets of the city can be even more dangerous than the dusty plains of the Roughs.

20 editions

joka reviewed The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson

Mistborn Without the Magic

2 stars

I can't really put my finger on it, but this new Mistborn era feels like it lost all of its charm.

The original world was really interesting even without the magic system. Now, we are left with an unimaginative, run-of-the-mill, early industrialization setting.

One of the strongest points of the original series, I thought, was the focus on the characters and their development. They were quite quirky, but with a good amount of depth and room for growth. In contrast, now we have characters that are set in their ways, with little insight into their personal conflicts. They feel like puppets that only exist for the occasional quip and to move the story forward.

Finally, the story is advertised as a "detective story", but I found the criminal case at hand to be pretty boring and found myself completely disinterested in the main plot.

NewCountry reviewed The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn, #4)

Review of 'The Alloy of Law' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Time to read: 5 hours 14 min

Solid 7/10, fun read. I like the main characters, Wax, Wayne, and Marasi and their banter is fun. Main villain is kind of a weak and really one note villain that feels like more setup for the villain of future books. The callbacks to era 1 are fun and seeing the world evolve from era 1 and the hints at what changed like talk of "the founding" and the different religions based on era 1 stuff is so satisfying. The new power system stuff is awesome. Allomancy and mistborn's magic system in general is probably my favorite magic system ever. Surge binding being a close second.

In comparison to other 4/5 cosmere books, I probably enjoyed warbreaker more because it had more interesting/developed characters and themes. I definitely enjoyed final empire more.

georgewhatup reviewed The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn, #4)

Review of 'The Alloy of Law' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Cowboys and magic, you ain't sure if it's gonna work and then 12 seconds in you realise Sanderson has god damn done it again and made it look easy to boot.

It's a lighter read - not quite the epic complexity of his longer works - but still a ripping yarn with great action and fun characters. Can't ask for more than that.

AHemlocksLie reviewed The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn, #4)

Ever wanted western fantasy?

5 stars

The original Mistborn trilogy has a traditional fantasy setting, maybe as late as Victorian, but this one is a bit more modern than that. Alloy of Law is set a couple hundred years later when they've discovered things like electricity and trains. Sort of a western vibe, though most of the story takes place in the city. This was actually only supposed to be a one-off story to showcase how things have progressed on Scadrial, the Mistborn planet, but people loved reading it, and Sanderson loved writing it, so this accidentally became the first in a series of four books.

& reviewed Sissoylu by Brandon Sanderson

Review of 'Sissoylu' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

cosmere en sevdiğim evrenlerden biri ve bu seriye ikinci kez başlama fikrimin yerinde olduğundan eminim.

Michael P reviewed The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn, #4)

Review of 'The Alloy of Law' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

I love Allomancy! The different uses and mystery behind the superhuman abilities of allomancy makes this fantasy world come alive for me. Combine this love with a love of westerns and you have 'The Alloy of Law'.

This book was a joy to read.

urban_doormat reviewed The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson

Review of 'The Alloy of Law' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

7/7

Kibrika reviewed The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn, #4)

Review of 'The Alloy of Law' on 'Goodreads'

No rating

I found it more fun than the first three, but there were instances where I went "did the author of this one even read the first threee Mistborn books? That's not how the magic works!" Still, the adventure-movie like style the author seems to be striving for works better in this setting than the one in the first three books.

RxBrad reviewed The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn, #4)

Review of 'The Alloy of Law' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Mistborn in the old West. Kind of reminded me of Sherlock Holmes a little, also. I like it.

Can't really say much without spoiling the plot of books 1-3.

Looking forward to book five.

B. Zelkovich reviewed The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn, #4)

Review of 'The Alloy of Law' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

This reading I was able to slow down and appreciate the details. Absorption was key, as I prepare for my second read through of the sequel. Small details and subtle hints to be expanded on in later novels is a specialty of Sanderson, so I've gotta pay attention.

Sean Gursky reviewed The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn, #4)

Review of 'The Alloy of Law' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

2022 Re-read:
For my third re-read I remembered very little about this book! I agree with my 4/5 star rating and once the Second Era has been completed I may appreciate this book more, but I will save that for my fourth read through.

The measure of a person is not how much they have lived. It is not how easily they jump at a noise or how quick they are to show emotion. It's in how they make use of what life has shown them.

A nice continuation of what life has been like after the first Mistborn trilogy. Times have changed, metallic powers have evolved, but the story and characters did not feel as refined as the previous books. If I hadn't read the first trilogy I don't know if this book would have been as enjoyable, but because of Sanderson's ability to craft the world in …

cannotbechanged reviewed The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson

Review of 'The Alloy of Law' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

It's not a bad book. It's "short" compared with other Sanderson books. After I finished I found out that this was originally a writing exercise that got turned into a one-off book. I enjoyed the book well enough, and I am looking forward to the next trilogy. It was fun and action-packed.

state_electrician reviewed The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn, #4)

Review of 'The Alloy of Law' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Entertaining. I'm looking forward to the sequels.

matt reviewed The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn, #4)

Review of 'The Alloy of Law' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Despite the (very) hammy dialogue, this is exactly the cowboy mistborn book I didn't know I needed.

The pacing is much better than Hero of Ages, but the book is so short! And there are so many new mysteries in the epilogue. Dammit Sanderson, why?! The best way I could see improving AoL would be making it twice as long.

Balise reviewed The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn, #4)

Review of 'The Alloy of Law' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

This happens some 300 hundred years after the Mistborn trilogy - mix together the universe of Mistborn and the one of Back to the Future III, and you get the one of Alloy of Law. You get your city, Elendel, and far-west, sorry, the Roughs, outside. Waxillium "Wax" Landrian was born of a good family of Elendel, went to be a sheriff in the Roughs for some time, but is now back to settle down and get married. Obviously, it's not that simple: goods convoys get stolen, his fiancee gets kidnapped, and Wax end up, with his sidekick Wayne and his fiancee's cousin Marasi, in the middle of all this. It's funny, the characters are very cool, and I'm wondering a posteriori why I didn't put 5 stars on this. A sequel seems in the works for later this year, sounds like a good idea.