Chapter 5
I only just now paid attention to the allomantic symbols heading the chapters, and it took me far too long to confirm that they are indeed just numeric. I recognize those symbols far less than I do the various glyphs and scripts of stormlight, and they are just too similar to one another for me to commit many to memory without more meaning ascribed to them than numerals. The “seal of the city” style border around them is a nice look, though. Or maybe it’s supposed to be a coin/medal of some sort? 

If I were to guess, I’d peg Kath the governess as a cameo of some sort, but I’ve been distanced from the fandom enough to not recognize the name as someone in particular, if she even is a name drawn from fans rather than personal friends (not to disparage those fans who have become personal friends).

Max is playing with a Soonie Pup, which makes me wonder how MeLaan and others react to that cultural phenomenon not only among the general populace but also the friends and family they are close to.

A personal delivery from Harmony, containing a god-communing earring? You’ve got someone’s eye on you, Wax. The ominous part for me is the need for a second earring in addition to this one. How many piercings does Harmony intend for him to have? Does this newly delivered earring replace his usual one or supplement it? And that’s not getting into the question of what metal is on its way. Presumably ettmetal since that was mentioned previously in this book and is the only one (aside from the unavailable Atium and Lerasium) that the people of Elendel wouldn’t have ready access to. However, that’s not getting into the necessity for spikes to be hemalurgically charged, so the metal’s composition and history must both be taken into account. These things are not easily fungible, especially not special ones intended for a protagonist/champion.

Huh. I just realized how weird it must be for people in the know to look at the Survivorist faith, in light of what Kel is up to. Although, I don’t think we have a good sense for how long the society he leads has been active in the cosmere, so it’s distantly possible that things are still ramping up at this stage. I admit I’m not super clear on the precise timeline between this book and Stormlight. I have in mind that it’s only a handful of years between whatever happens in Lost Metal and the beginning of Way of Kings, but I don’t actually know that for sure.

Yes, the amount of baggage that accumulates when you travel with young children is a whole thing. That at least is common between Earth and Scadrial.

“They’re not all slag for voting against you.”
I like the use of slag as a derogatory term. Nice cultural color for a place with highly prominent metalworking and mining.

Nice to know that Wayne has been helping to raise Max with the appropriate accents and outlook on life. At least they don’t let him babysit unsupervised.

Huh. Has Hoid been hanging around Wax for two years now? That seems like a higher level of commitment than we generally see from him. Although, that’s not necessarily true, given his various appearances in different character’s backstories on Roshar. He presumably interacted with them for months to years at a time in a consistent role. Frequtent. carriage driver for Harmony’s chosen isn’t that big a stretch.

Flying piggy back rides trump the regular kind any day of the week!

Does Wax carry spent bullet casings just to stay on brand when he leaps away dramatically? Most people don’t just carry those around, and he has other bits of metal he could doubtless use instead. It’s got to be part of his “Senator of the Roughs” bit. What a ham.
 

Chapter 3

Quote

“Thank goodness she had trousers on. If she was going to slip and break her skull, she could at least do it with dignity.”

Ah, yes. The primary benefit of trousers. 

I like how Marasi’s daydream about the Survivor’s Cradle is cut short with an “oh yeah, Wax has been there.” It’s got to be a disjointed experience to live alongside the larger than life figures that are cosmere protagonists, even taking into account her own impressive accomplishments in these adventures.

Wayne hasn’t even noticed the footprints? He appears to be genuine here, and not building up to a joke. I’m not super surprised, I guess, but he’s usually quite observant of details.

Huh, neat development of the Malwish mask culture. “Moving the mask is like … emphasis to the Malwish. It’s not wrong to let people see under the mask, though they pretend it’s taboo.” Not gonna lie, this sounds like something Allik might have made up for his own benefit in pursuing Marasi. If there weren’t other Malwish around for the past few years to confirm this I’d have been very suspicious.

Wayne: you get a lucky hat, as long as you promise to take it off before something unlucky happens. 
I like the logic!

Quote

“...a cavern full of men and women boxing goods…”

See, when your established currency is called a boxing, sentences like this can trip you up. Took me three tries to remember the standard (non-pugilist) meaning of the word.

All this sneaking seems a bit ill-conceived. Maybe I’m jumping the gun here, but wouldn’t any self-respecting criminal enterprise employ a Tineye or two to listen for intruders?

Quote

“By Harmony’s True Name”

– this not being a Stormlight novel, I won’t really be collecting a comprehensive list of swears, but I’m still in the habit of noting them down. Here’s a good one.

Oh, wait if this is Set-affiliated, they’ll have all sorts of off-world devices or powers that will be harder to anticipate than a simple Tineye. Marasi is gonna be in trouble. 

Ah, nope. They just surprised a mundane guard. I guess this gang is more patsies / cat’s paws than actual Set manpower, so they don’t get any of the good stuff.

On that topic, we learn a bit about Set hierarchy: Cycle<Suit<???
Hopefully there’s more info soon.

Chapter 4
I like seeing that Marasi and Wayne have good teamwork in this fight scene. It’s a development that makes their partnership feel like it’s actually been meaningful and substantive in the intervening time between books.

The allomantic grenades really are a game changer in many ways, but especially so for Marasi’s cadmium. I can’t wait to see what game changers accompany the next Era’s developments!

Interesting that Wayne’s affinity for bendalloy, i.e. his progression toward savant-hood, is noticeable to an outside perspective, as Marasi notes his charge time is decreasing. Presumably there are other effects as well. Hopefully the side effects are not of the tragic variety. Bendalloy and Wayne both seem to fall in the “live fast, die young” category, though.

The magnitude of time speeding/slowing from bendalloy and cadmium always feels a bit excessive to me. The other allomantic abilities are powerful as well so from a balance perspective it makes sense that they would be high-end, but time powers are super useful, even without them being strong enough to reach bullet time. I’m not complaining or criticizing, just pointing out that it throws me almost every time this happens in an action scene because I expect the time dilation to be less extreme.

Quote

“Aren’t most of these boxes full of stuff what goes boom?” 

Ah, there’s the callback to Wayne’s earlier comment about being the guy who sometimes gets blown up. Fireworks on the way!

Oh, he just dropped a flash-bang grenade inside a box of explosives. That’s a bit less accidental than I was anticipating. 

BROADSHEET part 1
I’d forgotten how frustrating it was to get the broadsheet split into quadrants like this. For the moment I’ll read and comment on them individually as they appear, but it’s tempting to just wait and do the whole thing at once when it’s available.

Title:
The Two What?? Going by the subtitle/quote thing it’s Seasons, which I suppose means that Elendel is equatorial? I don’t really remember the geography, but Scadrial is supposed to be very Earth-analog, so it’s got to do with latitude or with coastal climate to explain the difference. I do want to know who that quote is attributed to, but I won’t until we get the next piece of the broadsheet.

Unity or Division:
I like the photo/portrait to show off the appearance (including fashion!) of Governor Varlance and Vice Gov. Adawathwyn. But that immediately makes me wonder: what’s the status of photography in current-day Elendel? I don’t remember it being mentioned in the prior books, but that could just be a failure of my recollection rather than an actual absence from the shown worldbuilding. Early photographic technology relied heavily on colloidal solutions of metals, which would make it thematically a likely candidate for early development on Scadrial. Until we see evidence either way, I’m going to headcanon that photography is advancing quickly.  
In a separate note, the use of “cronies” to describe the Governor’s political allies feels very period-appropriate and reveals the nature of the Two Seasons’ journalistic bent.

Editorials and ads: 
What the heck is a noseball? Drug delivery system to compare with smoking? That’s my best guess, but I’m going to have to wait on the next piece of broadsheet to learn more.
Soonie Pups! I forgot those were a thing in-world. And apparently controversial enough for a scandalized letter to the editor! I love it.

Nicki Savage:
Gotta admit, “hellguns” is a sweet name for a weapon used by a “Haunted Man”. That’s top tier theming right there. Good job, Nicki’s publisher!
That is immediately forgotten, though, when we get to the meat of the episode. What devilry is this?! Dinosaur-analog fossils? Made out of aluminum? Worn by not one but two faceless who merge Voltron-style into a single dino-mount for Nicki to ride across a chasm? Allomancer Jak can’t possibly compete with this. I would tune in every single week to find out what happens next!
 

This ornisaur does send my mind into wondering about fossils on Scadrial. We had artificially-shifted continents and mountain raising events at least twice, meaning that reconstructing the history of the planet geologically is going to be an endeavor, but also that certain things might have been exposed differently than one might expect from our experience on earth. We also had several millennia of ashfall and high volcanic activity, likely resulting in well-preserved remains from prior to Rashek’s ascension as Lord Ruler. Certainly not permineralized or anything yet, but more along the lines of mummification or the incredible preservation of Pompeii.
 

And now I want to see the natural history museum of Era 3 Mistborn.

Chapter 2
Steris is getting him ready using a prepared list, which matches my expectations. But from the way he’s stowing evidence for probable dramatic reveal, I get the sense he’s preparing for a courtroom, which very much does not match my expectations. He’s always been a lawman, but I didn’t think he’d ever be that sort of lawman.

Oh, maybe not. He’s in “his senator’s chamber in the House of Proceedings.” Which makes him yet another type of lawman, though this one is a bit more believable development than Attorney Ladrian.
I still don’t really approve of the name Maxillium. Wax should have known better than to saddle a kid with that. I like that he’s got a sister named Tindwyl, though.

Wax “looming” as he’s about to address the assembly is a nice image. He comes by them naturally, but he’s also clearly taken to cultivating his presence and reputation (probably thanks to Steris’ advice).

Interesting how the demographics of the cabinet or the campaign ticket play out here, with Terris administrators being trusted/fashionable. A clear parallel to how our own campaign decisions often get made, but in unique Scadrian style.

I appreciate Wax’s characteristic bluntness, but it is slightly odd to me that he’s comfortable being so blunt in front of the Malwish ambassador. It makes sense, if she’s privy to all of these meetings anyway, but it still smacks of not only exposing weakness to an outsider but specifically pointing it out.

I can’t help thinking that either Wax is underestimating Varlance, or Adawathyn has a lot more going on than “clever power behind the throne.” Maybe both. They seem a little too much like stereotypical set pieces to be played straight in a Sanderson novel. Then again, we may not see much of the legislative maneuvering, since Wax has to fail here for a tightly paced inciting incident.

And yes, Wax’s exposure of vote-selling works, but not well enough to secure or delay the vote. War on the way, unless Wax saves the day! Sounds like we’ve got ourselves a plot, and plenty of factions to keep it interesting both before and after hostilities break out.
 

Chapter 1
Yay Marasi! I’ve missed these people. And wow, that’s a good opening description because I can absolutely feel the rush of adrenaline as you almost fall–even if the consequences are only horrible and not deadly.

Walking alone through the sewer with a map in one hand…is she auditioning to be Nazh’s understudy? I feel like he could use a kindred spirit (or a grad student to delegate to).

Oh, wait. She’s not alone, she’s got Wayne to “help”. Poor Marasi. Except that she’s giving as good as she gets. Oh, how she’s grown. Love the spider taunting.

Wait, Wax has been retired for six years? How on Scadrial did Steris get that to stick? I love their relationship, but I would not have expected her to keep him out of trouble for that long. Although, I suppose we don’t have any indication that he hasn’t been pursuing investigations as a hobby, just that he’s not doing so officially.

Ah, confirmation that the rail lines are indeed expanding compared to the previous book, so the map difference is real. They seem to be going straight for subways, which is impressive. There’s a lot of engineering that goes into getting those right.

Oh no! MeLaan is breaking up with Wayne? Sad day. I can see why he’d be in the dumps (metaphorically speaking, not a reference to his current location).

I sometimes wonder if it’s a disadvantage to be engaged in the cosmere and have advance insight from past questions Brandon answered about  things like Trell and the Set, rather than seeing the entire thing as a mystery. I am positive that I’ll be surprised many times still, but when I see the first mention in this book and think “Oh, yeah. Autonomy” it feels like the characters are playing catchup in their investigation, which isn’t a super fun feeling. (Not complaining, of course. I love the between-book theorizing and everything that goes with it.)
 

Prologue
Well, that’s the Tinweight mystery solved. Baby Wayne grew up there. 

I was going to say that young Wayne sounds too much like adult Wayne, but after a paragraph or two, I can see the difference. He’s a bit more carefree here in his narration, or perhaps candid. At least, that’s my initial impression.

“One-window home” is a clever descriptor. It gets the message across, and also hints at both the time period and the society.

Quote

“Terris always do what they’re told. So what’s wrong with me?”

Ouch. That is doubly painful, and I’m not sure whether the cultural blindness or the adolescent anxiety digs harder. They feed into each other so well, and this could easily be the start of a feel-good coming of age story if it were a TV show aimed at teens. 

“Don’t swear like that!” →Okay, I’ll change my accent and pronunciation, but none of the words. I love it.
 

Quote

“One more year and I can drink at the tavern.” 
“What? Who told you that!”
“Dug.”
“Dug is nine.”

Okay, that one got me laughing out loud. Wayne’s mom better not die in this prologue, because I’m not on board with that kind of sadfeels to kick things off.

Roll around in dirt in order to think like the ground. Only Wayne. …actually, I can see Shallan saying something like that. I’m not sure if I would enjoy a scene of Wayne and Shallan trying to outdo each other, but it sure would be something. I think I’d definitely enjoy young Wayne and young Lift arguing about the thievery vs. trading, though.

I have to admire a name like Blatant Barm. That’s a name to own, for sure. Not bad for villain of the week in an Allomancer Jak story.

Bahaha. Bastards vs “regular old turds” is hilarious to me. Dug is teaching Wayne all kinds of great stuff.

Human got a river named after him? That’s very sweet. I wonder if anyone remembers who he was? A little bit on the nose that his river separates human land from koloss land, though.

Okay, I can’t spend the whole page just repeating Wayne’s jokes, but he got me again with the “shoot a fly” thing. I don’t always love Wayne’s humor, but this sequence is working for me.

Quote

“Jak can fly, and talk to birds, and eat rocks.”

Um, really? That’s your superpower? Please tell me you’re obfuscating to hide your true abilities, because that’s… you know what? Fine. Color me impressed. For what it’s worth though, I’m not interested in getting that ability spiked into me.

I know it’s not, but the way this story is going with the names and such, I feel like the whole thing is just Ma building up to some elaborate pun. I know she’s a better mom than that, but I would crack up if she turned out to be a jokester in a twist ending here.

Well, kinda. She went for “Jak won by being a big damn pain in the ass” ending, which was almost a joke in the way she told it, but also a great teaching approach for channeling Wayne’s exuberance. I do love the back and forth of their storytelling technique, too. 

And yup, she’s gone. Leastways it happened offscreen at the mine instead of right in the middle of the domestic scene.
 

MAPS! We have maps, people. 

I don’t remember the maps super well from the previous books, but it looks like the map of the Elendel Basin hasn’t changed. The rail lines might be longer? And I don’t recognize the name Tinweight Settlement, so it and a few other locations may be newly noted. Then again, I could just be failing to recall the last version.

The map of the City of Elendel definitely has new notations. I recognize that handwriting! How are you doing, Nazh? Still put-upon, I see. Khriss is driving you really hard, isn’t she? 
I expect we’ll learn more about these locations soon, but it does seem to me that the rail lines are more extensive than before. I’ll have to pull up the old versions to check at some point.

The third map, though. Whoo-wee! We’ve got a view past the Basin, including the southern continent and beyond! Yay!
…Although, is it just me? Was anyone else expecting there to be an actual ocean between the continents? It feels a little silly that everything is so connected by supposedly navigable coastline, even if those mountains and the intervening roughs appear to block easy foot travel. It’s hard to believe that nice climate and available resources is enough to preclude all exploration outside the Elendel Basin area. If the SoScads (Malwish consortium, apparently) have had time to develop airships, surely some intrepid soul would have at least sailed a boat around? 
Gasp! Allomancer Jack? You volunteer? Good luck, sir, and I look forward to reading of your exploits in the broadsheets

I’m particularly intrigued by the presence of a landmass beyond the Malwish, here denoted only as “The Maskless.” That little detail suggests that there are a lot more populated regions of Scadrial than had been expected. Elendel may have Harmony’s blessing and attention in a lot of ways, but it’s hard not to consider them provincial when looking at this map and remembering that Scadrial is the closest thing to an Earth analog. There’s got to be a lot of room for the population to have expanded since the Catacendre, from Harmony only knows how many hidden pockets of survivors. 

I do wonder if the southern landmass where the Maskless live is similarly frigid to the Malwish’s tundra-like home. There are no latitude indicators on the map, and I wouldn’t know what units to use anyway. The map grid is extremely regular, with no attempt to compensate for planetary curvature. That could be an artifact of the chosen projection, or it could be an indication that these “continents” are not as large as that term would lead us to believe. The apparent size of the Elendel Basin suggests the latter to me.
 

I’ve previously liveblogged The Rhythm of War here on 17S, and my reactions to both Oathbringer and Starsight are also available in Google Doc format.

As with Rhythm of War, I’ve kept myself spoiler free for this book, so I’ll be going in with a lot less knowledge than some…especially since I ran out of time and haven’t re-read any of Era 2 like I had planned, so a lot of details are likely to have eroded from my mind. Hopefully the same isn’t true of major plot points, but no promises. Expect me to be hilariously wrong about things at least some of the time. 

I haven’t determined a format for this yet. I don’t expect to have as much to analyze as we do in Stormlight books, so I doubt I’ll need to do a chapter per post, but we’ll have to see.

Presumably there will be a decent quota of crossover characters and magic in this book, since we’re closing out Era 2 and paving the way for the next phase of Cosmere interactions. I’ve read every published Cosmere work except for Dawnshard so far, so expect spoilers for everything when it comes to theories and connections.

If I prevaricate much longer, I’m never going to get started on this book, though, so let’s jump into it. On to the good stuff!