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An apocalyptic ending that seals Sanderson's reputation. All of the foreshadowing is resolved, unstoppable forces meet immovable objects and we actually get a result more nuanced than "goodies win, baddies lose", we get an actual synthesis of competing forces which alone makes this series stand out.

Given my current non-fiction reading, I found myself reading many of the character groupings as analogies for neurodiverse groups. Allomancers are a minority of the total population, have a spread of abilities that aren't revealed until they've suffered some sort of trauma, but that gives them access to advantages with the right support. Some have increased physical sensitivity, some are more emotionally sensitive, etc. They're even more frequently identified among the upper classes even though they are just as prevalent among society at large. Feruchemists have special interests they are deeply knowledgeable in, tend to be blunt and interested in the truth, but are forced to present a servile mask and hide their differences.

One sight disappointment is that Vin seems to be the only woman of interest in the planet, even the promising Allriane gets sidelined in this book. This seems to be something Sanderson is working on though as TWoK has more substantial women in it and this is still an issue for much of the genre at large. There's also some weird eugenics stuff in the lore that doesn't seem to amount to anything, and it's not clear if it's there as colour or critique but at least Vin didn't turn out to be Rashek's daughter all along.

If you want something poetic and flowery, this probably isn't for you, but if you want lore, intricate plotting and action sequences, well you've probably already read this by now

The missing manual many have probably been looking for, though like most manuals a bit out of date and it can't substitute for actual experience.
I've had the notion to find and read something like this for several years, primarily to understand friends, family and colleagues better, and I shouldn't have waited so long. Of course reading it is like starting in an abyssal mirror and it has as much you say about my own behaviour as everyone else's. It is exactly what it sells itself as, and so it can be a bit repetitive but that's probably to its merit.
It's big weakness is really a reflection on the state of autism diagnosis at large: DSM5 collapsed Asperger's and autism together into a broader Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis which better reflects the reality of current research, but the book keeps using the previous terminology as that transition had only just begun. At this point a lot of water has gone under the bridge and there is both a dated understanding of what autism is in the popular culture and an extremely nuanced and complex understanding among the autistic community, which this book is at best stuck in the middle of.
That said it is still a great resource, and perhaps there will be a successor that better reflects cutting edge research and sentiments in the future.

An attempt to confront the nature of colonialist adventure stories that pulls its punches in order to deliver a solid twist. There seems to be some kind of commentary on the golden age of comics through the quotes that are sprinkled through the book, but it's vague enough that I didn't get the point of that.
For much of the book it feels like King is on the brink of justifying war crimes in the name of the greater good, but once the twist is revealed it's more like they are just a distraction, they feel trivialised by the context of the story. There's a lot that is good about this story, especially compared to the disaster of The Omega Men, but in its focus on the personal, the big picture stuff is lost in the wash.
Art from both contributors is great, some beautiful landscapes and figures, vibrant colours, they've really done a fantastic job of telling this take as a collective.

Frustratingly well executed but somewhat irritating. Tchaikovsky weaves two tales together, one about a post-apocalyptic ark ship that outlives its expected lifetime and another about a civilization of spiders infected with a magic virus that makes them evolve quickly and be more empathetic. All of this is interesting, well structured, makes good use of contrast and variation on themes, is everything you could expect of modern sci-fi.
My complaints are a bunch of annoyances that take the shine off the whole thing. Chief among them is the main human PoV character who is a humanities professor surrounded by STEM and executive types who blunders his way from one catastrophe to another apparently knowing better than the rest of the cast but doing precious little with his wisdom over the course of Portal millennia. The human cast are a bunch of bad stereotypes and you could have cut half that half of the book and had something far less frustrating.
The spider's history is far more compelling but beyond a few analogies for (mostly Western European) history I didn't really feel like the cultural or political implications of the society he outlines were explored at any depth. I don't mind the conclusion but there is no real questioning of whether the use of the nanovirus could be immoral or misused. Reducing your crisis between two civilisations to a straw man philosophical model between two parties then resolving it with a macguffin seems like it cheapens your narrative and the philosophy you were shoe horning in there.
I can see why this is well regarded, there is a lot that's good in here, and if you like a more classical style of science fiction this may tickle your fancy, but I don't feel it's quite as clever as it wants to seem. It's also hard to avoid the takeaway being that maybe eugenics would be good.