Lost Metal Full Book Reactions (Cosmere Edition)

[Yomisma]

On 17/11/2022 at 9:11 PM, robardin said:

I think they ARE supposed to be Skybreakers...

Spren cannot leave Rochar. Without spren/investiture abilities should not work.

Shallan can`t live his planet cose on the connection. Don´t think Skybreakers could even join to Ghostbloods.

 

[ftl]

5 minutes ago, Yomisma said:

Spren cannot leave Rochar. Without spren/investiture abilities should not work.

Shallan can`t live his planet cose on the connection. Don´t think Skybreakers could even join to Ghostbloods.

 

Those things were true during RoW, but Mraize and others were actively working to find ways around them. Maybe they succeeded.

[Yomisma]

5 minutes ago, ftl said:

Those things were true during RoW, but Mraize and others were actively working to find ways around them. Maybe they succeeded.

Too short story to end an entire era. Too many inconsistencies. O secrets?

[Yomisma]

Something is missing at the end. Where's the Spook? He ruled for 100 years, if he had died, at least his mausoleum would have been in the center of Elendel. And is he childfree?

Marsh said that there are only 3 of them left from the team. I`m not sure about.

Strange things with Wax. No way.

And Hoid even more inexplicable. Where is his spren? did he break his bonds? Wax didn't ask him a single question at all?

 

[thorongil]

Okay, so that was an interesting experience. It has been a (RoW-)long time since I've read new Cosmere stuff and I've never read as many other books which were really out of my normal ballpark in between Sanderson-books. I really had to get used to Brandon's style again. And for the first time I noticed, that Brandon's writing can be really blunt and on the nose (especially compared to ultra-convoluted and obscure writers like Gene Wolfe). I didn't really much like it for the first couple of hundred pages, but once I got used to the style again I really felt back at home and the second half of the book was - once again - a blur as well as a blast for me.

I really love Wayne's character arc. It does so much justice to the character I always suspected him to be and it is superbly written. Same goes for Marasi. Even though I couldn't understand her decision not to join the Ghostbloods I find it sensible and solid in hindsight.

The Cosmere implications are very nice. I like that this book is really dense in terms of Cosmere.

Overall, I also really like the nostalgic feeling of a prolonged goodbye to our Era 2-characters which ran throughout this book for me.

Random observations:

• Kelsier being shafted by female protagonists he's trying to recruit seems to be a recurring theme.
• There were a couple of scenes which were extremely reminiscent of other works of fiction to me, most notably:
  • The Community had very strong Fallout (the computer games) vibes to me.
  • The Ghostblood-safehouse in Bilming gave me the feeling of being in Harry Potter (Order of Phoenix safehouse) again.
• I had trouble recognizing Shai. I thought of her as soon as Moonlight began talking about art, but somehow she seemed not as capable as I would have expected Shai to have grown since The Emperor's Soul.
• The aether-guy(s) was really nice, especially his gigaknight-mode was great.
• Some of Wayne's viewpoints had a strong vibe of Brandon trying to pander towards all the Wayne-criticism throughout the last years (although I have no idea how informed Brandon would be on this discussion).

[Isilel]

21 hours ago, Yomisma said:

Something is missing at the end. Where's the Spook? He ruled for 100 years, if he had died, at least his mausoleum would have been in the center of Elendel.

He is most probably dead. He either died on Scadrial at some point after stepping down, or he went into cosmere for Kelsier and died there. Honestly, if the old heroes hang around forever, they'd either stifle the new ones unless great care is taken, or just feel completely redundant. The way Kelsier and Marsh were sidelined in TLM, so that the 2 Era protagonists wouldn't be overshadowed by them already felt very contrived and artificial, IMHO. If Spook too was available to help with the crisis and just sat on his posterior for reasons, it would be ridiculous.

And if he is alive somewhere out in the cosmere, why is the very important Rosharan operation run and screwed up by Iyatil? 

 

21 hours ago, Yomisma said:

And is he childfree?

No, he had lots of kids - but it has been 3 centuries or so. The 4 kidnapped noblewomen in AoL, as well as Steris and Marasi are all among his descendants.

 

21 hours ago, Yomisma said:

Marsh said that there are only 3 of them left from the team.

He meant himself, Kelsier and Sazed. 

21 hours ago, Yomisma said:

And Hoid even more inexplicable. Where is his spren? did he break his bonds? Wax didn't ask him a single question at all?

Well, if anybody can figure out how to get a spren off Roshar, it is Hoid. He'd keep her hidden, of course. And very likely he wasn't around to be questioned by Wax, after fishing him out of the sea.

[Yomisma]

2 hours ago, Isilel said:

he had lots of kids - but it has been 3 centuries or so

That was in a sarcastic way, because Spook disappeared with just a square with his name and that's it. When you have a family member that important, I believe it is mentioned more than that, most like Vin and Elend.

 

 

[Uncreation]

Just finished the audiobook yesterday. I agree with others who have echoed this sentiment that the book was a bit of a disappointment. From a big picture perspective whether its this book or the last Stormlight book, it just seems than Brandon spreads himself too thin and does not put the planning and effort into his books that he used to. I know he likes Beta readers but his books also seem at this point impossible to edit. With the insane timeline he holds himself to. In my mind that is the root cause. Brandon just does not put the time into his Cosmere books that he used to. Another poster wrote it much more eloquently but I agree that the Cosmere interconnections, while a great payoff do some degree, is becoming a drag on the books. 

I know there was a "A" story and a "B" story here. But in general the entire book felt linear and never felt like you had great stakes. I know that is contrary because you have an atom bomb aimed at a city. But it just never got to that Sanderlanche climax like so many other books have. Perhaps I expect to much due to Brandons high standard. 

That being said. I am a big Wayne fan. So I like that he was featured in this book so prominently. I am also a Steris fan (she basically IS my wife) so I like that she got some payoff here. The screen time with Wax flying in a baby Bjorn, yea that was pretty awesome. Still plenty of awesome in the book. And like every Cosmere book, I listen to it first, then go to the internet and read about it for like a week, then listen again. Often I am much happier with the book on second listen.

Was it me or did Brandon kind of do a soft reboot on what the Ghostbloods are? Certainly does not match up with what Shallan has experienced. 

Finally - Elantris is the only Cosmere book/media I didnt finish. Its just too damn slow and boring. But he keeps calling back to it though so I guess I have no choice but to read it. 

[What's a Seawolf?]

I absolutely loved it!

The biggest strength of the book is the characters.  The main four all had moments to shine, and they did it wonderfully.  I was really hoping Wayne would somehow become a kandra worldhopper and chill with MeLaan, but his sendoff is one of the best I've read.  Loved the family/father moments with Wax, and I like the thought that these characters got to live semi-normal lives for a good chunk of time.

My favorite chapter might actually be Wayne's chapter with his accountants

Oddly, one thing I liked in this book and loathed in Rhythm of War was all the crossovers.  I need to do a reread of each, but for RoW I wanted my Stormlight to stay Stormlight focused.  Here, I was enjoying all the 'non-Mistborn' happenings.  Maybe it has to do with the setting, Scadrial is a developing world obtaining new technology almost daily, so the new powers did not feel so out of place?  Whatever the reason, I enjoyed that part as well.  Either way, Brandon needed to make a choice, keep all the cosmere stuff in the background or go all-in on crossovers, straddling the fence was not going to work, and it looks like he's made his decision.  What this means for Stormlight 5 only time will tell, but I'm more hopeful for that book than I was after RoW.  (Though it is getting hard to recommend these books to others without them first doing their homework.  The original Mistbron trilogy can be picked up and loved by anyone, I feel for TLM to be truly enjoyed you need cosmere knowledge.)

Really curious to see what's going on with Sazed.  I like the idea that he's becoming Discord because of the nature of his Shards, and don't know if he was being honest the entire book about being blinded etc.  Definitely setting up some kind of Kelsier/Sazed conflict which could be really interesting.  I did want to hear more about what Marsh has been up to, as he is theoretically one of Sazed's most valuable pieces.  Also, Kelsier is one of my favorite characters in literature, so I was hoping to see more of him, he was mostly sidelined this story, but I feel like he's going to be a major player in Era 3.

Was MeLaan on Roshar at the end?  And have we encountered/heard of Sho Del before?

I was initially feeling trepidation about the gap between SA5 and SA6, but now I'm really looking forward to the new Mistborn trilogy and whatever other cosmere works Brandon produces during that timeframe.

[+Child of Hodor]

3 hours ago, Uncreation said:

 

Was it me or did Brandon kind of do a soft reboot on what the Ghostbloods are? Certainly does not match up with what Shallan has experienced. 

With Ghostbloods it’s more Kelsier can reign in his subordinates on Scadrial but can’t physically leave the planet to supervise the others. He basically recruited a bunch of people like him and they are running a amok  off world.

 I agree on the Brandon’s recent Cosmere entries being disappointing. I’m not 100% sure it’s the crossover stuff or him not spending enough time one them. He wrote Way of Kings and Words of Radiance during the period where he was writing three massive wheel of time books and alloy of law. His attention has been divided for a long time. 

Both RoW and LM were disappointing to me, I still liked RoW just not as much as the other SA books. 

RoW is a setup for book 5 and that hurt it a bit. Era 2 was never supposed to be a thing he wrote Allow of Law for fun then kept going  which is why it’s not as well planned out. He’s saving the big stuff with Autonomy and Discord for era 3 which is why we get “Ill get you next, Harmony!” 

[Yomisma]

Ok, I'm flipping through some of the chapters again. From the second time the book looks better. And it is perceived not as the end of the Era2, but as a transitional connecting moment between the entire cycle of Cosmere. But Kelsier and company still look skimpy, like Vasher in RoW.

I'm a little mad at myself for expecting more and more with every book.

 

[Ati16]

The malwish and Elendel are starting cold war, Autonomy seems far from finished with her invasion of Scadrial...

Can't wait to read era 3.

[Shacharma]

I liked this book as its own story, but join others here in terms of satisfaction with the bigger picture.

Random thoughts:

1. The map?? The continents are connected?!

2. Hoid - how could wax not question him after showing up with he boat? And dud he really just go from stormlight position and battle to six years of being a cabby? What else has he been up to? And where is design? (Will we find out in secret history 2?)

3. Several people on this thread implied kelsier can't use metals - how does that jive with his comment on jumping off if the airship?

In general it was nice seeing him put back into human size with limitations rather then his projected power image.

4. I'm wondering if a harmony/discord split is forhowed by the southern view of the gods? The one who makes things move his sister who makes things stop? This never matched well with ruin and preservation...

I also think a true combo of ruin and preservation would be closer to cultivation, but that's already taken... Harmony just seems like an unbalanced-preservaton-focused interpretation...

5. I hated that all of Wayne's money went to alliandre. I wanted her to get a fortune and liked that seen, but would have preferred more of that money get scattered to interesting projects building his legacy - allriande might just spend it all to erase his name...

6. Moonlights voice did not feel like Shai to me. But becoming kelsiers top agent totally seems like a Shai thing to do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Necessary Eagle]

On 11/20/2022 at 8:48 PM, JPGU said:

@Philomath were can i see that reading of SA5?

I've been checking the Arcanum almost every day, looking for that reading, and it's finally up.

[MysteriousWorldhopper]

I loved this book,

Words cannot describe how good it was.

I can't wait for Era 3.

Here are some random thoughts:

• Wayne's sacrifice almost brought me to tears,and I loved the ending.In addition,Waynes character was hilarious throughout the book and it was nice to see him develop and grow as character until the end.
• Hoid showing up at the right time because he followed'the explosions'was hilarious
• I would love to see more of this dynamic between Elendel,the outer cities and the sourthern continent
• One thing I will say I was a bit underwhlemed by Trell(Autonomy),lack of involvement in the plot.

   

[AquaRegia]

I'm a huge MB Era 2 fan, absolutely LOVED the first 3 novels.  Found plenty to enjoy in TLM, but overall I was disappointed.  Others have made many of these points, and as others have said, maybe my expectations were too high... but rust it, I've SEEN what Brandon can do, and I just don't feel like this novel measures up.  Overall, it seems like the level of complexity, instead of reaching a new high, has reverted to "adolescent fiction" level.  Here are, in good Scadrian form, sixteen very specific things I found disappointing:

1. Bloody Tan: “Somebody moves us”.  The very first mystery of Era 2, from the first scene of AoL.  Given multiple callbacks in SoS (and one in TLM), seemed to be building to an important reveal… and we get nothing.  No explanation of what Bloody Tan knew, how he knew it, or what it meant.  Was this the first instance of Autonomy’s “freedom” vs Harmony’s “control”?  Maybe, I guess, but except for a brief last-minute "apology" from Sazed, we get zilch.

2. Lessie/Bleeder/Paalm.  Hoping for more about when, why and how Paalm got a Trellium spike?  Tough.  Nothing.

3. The Men of Gold and Red.  Foreshadowed in every book as a dire and ominous threat; never actually show up.

4. The “Faceless Immortals” of Trell.  Shown onscreen at the end of BoM, likely some kind of cognitive entity able to possess human hosts, terrific potential to be powerful foes.  Never seen or mentioned again.

5. Avatar of Trell.  In BoM, Edwarn and Telsin are horrifying protagonists: overpowered, intelligent, several steps ahead of our heroes at every turn, and barely bested by the intervention of Harmony and the godlike power of the Bands of Mourning.  Now, Telsin has gone even further, she’s an actual Avatar of a Shard.  Result?  She spends all her screen time STALLING, trying to confuse and distract Wax instead of just killing him, which she should easily be able to do.  We see zero evidence of her awesome powers, and when Wax finally figures out the right answer to the bomb shell game, she literally lies down and dies.

6. The Set.  Built up over 3 novels as a well-organized, deep pocketed, cosmere-aware hierarchy with all kinds of deep evil plans, backed by an invading Shard.  What we see in TLM is a handful of spiked metalborn (see below), hundreds of level one targets for our heroes to steamroll, and Telsin (see above).

7. Gertruda and Dumad.  AKA Not-Wayne and Not-Wax, in case you missed their names (I had to look them up).  Fun idea, made for some cool dialogue.  I kept thinking “there better be a good explanation for how this came about.”  Not really.

8. The kidnapping victims/“The Community”.  The payoff of one of the Set’s disturbing plots, I can at least understand what Brandon was going for here… but I don’t feel like he pulled it off.  It felt too simple, too easy, not something actual real people would try to pull off, let alone fall for.

9. The Bands of Mourning.  Hoping for some more insight regarding how this wonderful artifact works?  How it was made?  Maybe see someone use it again?  Tough.  Nothing.

10. Malwish medallions.  See 9.

11. Kelsier as the Sovereign.  The stored memory Wax sees at the end of BoM (given to him by Hoid) was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever read.  I get goosebumps just recalling it to this day.  I couldn’t wait to see more about that time in Kelsier’s journey.  How did he regain a body?  How did he save the Southern Scadrians?  How did he make the Bands of Mourning?  What did I get?  Nothing.

12. Kelsier as Thaidakar.  Glad he finally got some screen time… but brooding impotence is not a good look for him.  Where is the eternal optimism?  Where is the joy of being part of a crew?  The goal is “save Scadrial”, but what’s the plan?

13. The Ghostbloods.  Happy to see Shai again, and happy she’s part of a team.  TwinSoul is cool.  But we get nothing new about how their actions are furthering their goals.

14. The Explosion.  It’s almost like Brandon was planning on something cool happening, then changed his mind.    Why so much foreshadowing for nothing?  Does Wax have new powers or not?  It was so exciting… and we ultimately get nothing.

15. One-dimensional Mayors.  Brandon has always impressed me with his ability to make all his characters, whether protagonist, antagonist, or none of the above, real-feeling fully fleshed PEOPLE with believable motivations and behavior.  Neither Entrone nor Varlance felt like real people to me; both read like cardboard cutouts.

16. The Lost Metal.  I assume it’s Lerasium… but why am I not SURE what the rusting title of the rusting novel refers to?

OK, now that I've got it off my chest, hopefully I can let it go, and look forward to 4 more novels next year!

Edited December 3, 2022 by AquaRegia
made it an even 16

[MGershone]

I loved this book overall, thought the character decisions and writing was great, there were a ton of very fun plot points, Wayne's arc and sacrifice were great, as was the tribute to him at the end.

BUT

When I was reading the scene in the lab at the beginning of the book, I noticed something very cool that I don't think I've ever seen an epic fantasy book do before. Wax says that the reaction between the ettmetal and trellium caused some of the matter to transform to pure energy and release outward with extreme force. Here on Earth, we call that nuclear fission.

So basically this book was the Set planning to nuke Elendel. Isn't that awesome? I thought it was super cool, and it fit in really well with Era 2's whole theme of "epic fantasy but industrial revolution"

Edited December 4, 2022 by MGershone
typo

[teknopathetic]

On 11/22/2022 at 0:52 PM, Yomisma said:

Something is missing at the end. Where's the Spook? He ruled for 100 years, if he had died, at least his mausoleum would have been in the center of Elendel. And is he childfree?

Marsh said that there are only 3 of them left from the team. I`m not sure about.

Strange things with Wax. No way.

And Hoid even more inexplicable. Where is his spren? did he break his bonds? Wax didn't ask him a single question at all?

 

We just heard in a new WOB that the man named “16” who was in Lasting Integrity was from Scadrial. So now people are thinking 16 might be Spook. I think this is also connected to the wob that Brandon thought he had confirmed a sliver character in RoW. So to me, I think Spook became a Sliver and is hiding in Lasting Integrity. 

Edited December 9, 2022 by teknopathetic

[Yomisma]

15 hours ago, teknopathetic said:

We just heard in a new WOB that the man named “16” who was in Lasting Integrity was from Scadrial. So now people are thinking 16 might be Spook. 

THAT would be really cool. Now I will have to reread everything again with more attention.

 

[Starganderfish]

On 12/4/2022 at 9:18 AM, Ookla of axi said:

I'm a huge MB Era 2 fan, absolutely LOVED the first 3 novels.  Found plenty to enjoy in TLM, but overall I was disappointed.  Others have made many of these points, and as others have said, maybe my expectations were too high... but rust it, I've SEEN what Brandon can do, and I just don't feel like this novel measures up.  Overall, it seems like the level of complexity, instead of reaching a new high, has reverted to "adolescent fiction" level.  Here are, in good Scadrian form, sixteen very specific things I found disappointing:

1. Bloody Tan: “Somebody moves us”.  The very first mystery of Era 2, from the first scene of AoL.  Given multiple callbacks in SoS (and one in TLM), seemed to be building to an important reveal… and we get nothing.  No explanation of what Bloody Tan knew, how he knew it, or what it meant.  Was this the first instance of Autonomy’s “freedom” vs Harmony’s “control”?  Maybe, I guess, but except for a brief last-minute "apology" from Sazed, we get zilch.

2. Lessie/Bleeder/Paalm.  Hoping for more about when, why and how Paalm got a Trellium spike?  Tough.  Nothing.

3. The Men of Gold and Red.  Foreshadowed in every book as a dire and ominous threat; never actually show up.

4. The “Faceless Immortals” of Trell.  Shown onscreen at the end of BoM, likely some kind of cognitive entity able to possess human hosts, terrific potential to be powerful foes.  Never seen or mentioned again.

5. Avatar of Trell.  In BoM, Edwarn and Telsin are horrifying protagonists: overpowered, intelligent, several steps ahead of our heroes at every turn, and barely bested by the intervention of Harmony and the godlike power of the Bands of Mourning.  Now, Telsin has gone even further, she’s an actual Avatar of a Shard.  Result?  She spends all her screen time STALLING, trying to confuse and distract Wax instead of just killing him, which she should easily be able to do.  We see zero evidence of her awesome powers, and when Wax finally figures out the right answer to the bomb shell game, she literally lies down and dies.

6. The Set.  Built up over 3 novels as a well-organized, deep pocketed, cosmere-aware hierarchy with all kinds of deep evil plans, backed by an invading Shard.  What we see in TLM is a handful of spiked metalborn (see below), hundreds of level one targets for our heroes to steamroll, and Telsin (see above).

7. Gertruda and Dumad.  AKA Not-Wayne and Not-Wax, in case you missed their names (I had to look them up).  Fun idea, made for some cool dialogue.  I kept thinking “there better be a good explanation for how this came about.”  Not really.

8. The kidnapping victims/“The Community”.  The payoff of one of the Set’s disturbing plots, I can at least understand what Brandon was going for here… but I don’t feel like he pulled it off.  It felt too simple, too easy, not something actual real people would try to pull off, let alone fall for.

9. The Bands of Mourning.  Hoping for some more insight regarding how this wonderful artifact works?  How it was made?  Maybe see someone use it again?  Tough.  Nothing.

10. Malwish medallions.  See 9.

11. Kelsier as the Sovereign.  The stored memory Wax sees at the end of BoM (given to him by Hoid) was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever read.  I get goosebumps just recalling it to this day.  I couldn’t wait to see more about that time in Kelsier’s journey.  How did he regain a body?  How did he save the Southern Scadrians?  How did he make the Bands of Mourning?  What did I get?  Nothing.

12. Kelsier as Thaidakar.  Glad he finally got some screen time… but brooding impotence is not a good look for him.  Where is the eternal optimism?  Where is the joy of being part of a crew?  The goal is “save Scadrial”, but what’s the plan?

13. The Ghostbloods.  Happy to see Shai again, and happy she’s part of a team.  TwinSoul is cool.  But we get nothing new about how their actions are furthering their goals.

14. The Explosion.  It’s almost like Brandon was planning on something cool happening, then changed his mind.    Why so much foreshadowing for nothing?  Does Wax have new powers or not?  It was so exciting… and we ultimately get nothing.

15. One-dimensional Mayors.  Brandon has always impressed me with his ability to make all his characters, whether protagonist, antagonist, or none of the above, real-feeling fully fleshed PEOPLE with believable motivations and behavior.  Neither Entrone nor Varlance felt like real people to me; both read like cardboard cutouts.

16. The Lost Metal.  I assume it’s Lerasium… but why am I not SURE what the rusting title of the rusting novel refers to?

OK, now that I've got it off my chest, hopefully I can let it go, and look forward to 4 more novels next year!

I think you summed it up perfectly for me. There's a distinct stylistic difference between Brandon's YA writing and his full adult stuff.

Stormlight is firmly adult fiction - complex plots, a vast array of characters, intricate double blinds, and second-guessing.
Reckoners, Skyward - these are Young Adult books. A smaller array of characters, simpler themes, easier to-follow storylines. 
Neither is better, but they are distinct.

Mistborn has always been pretty well placed as "grown-up fiction." But this felt like it was veering too far back into YA territory.

That, and the entire idea of Era 2 being a "happy accident" that didn't really fit into the over-arching plan, was really evident. 
It really felt like Brandon kept wanting to do something big and cool with this story but kept having to pull himself up and "save it for Era 3". Instead we got a lot of Cosmere fan service (which I'll admit I really enjoyed) and roughly half a plot. I kind of feel like the entire Era 2 series could have been a much tighter trilogy of books.

I did really enjoy the insight into Wayne's character from his POV sections - it kind of makes you re-assess his earlier appearances in Era 2, and puts a new spin on the character. I liked Wax taking a bit more of a back seat. I still don't particularly enjoy Marasi as a character or her storylines - she really only shined here as a foil and support character for Wayne. Steris is always fun and nice to see her come into her own. 

I particularly enjoy seeing Sazed embracing his darker side a little with the lies and manipulation. I kind of feel like he's learning to not get pulled between Ruin and Preservation. After All Ruin and Preservation don't really exist anymore, they've been merged and should be viewed in a different light. Feel's like he's re-interpreting the dual-shardic intent to be Harmony/Discord now., which might be easier to balance.

[AquaRegia]

13 hours ago, Starganderfish said:

a lot of Cosmere fan service and roughly half a plot

I hate to agree so hard but this is spot on.  This should be the top testimonial on the book jacket LOL

On 11/27/2022 at 11:24 AM, Shacharma said:

Moonlights voice did not feel like Shai to me.

A number of people have said this.  I just finished rereading The Emperor's Soul, then skimmed over Moonlight's big scenes, and I think Moonlight is very much Shai - intelligent, sneaky, self-confident, quite a smartass, cool and in control even facing death.  The big differences are 1) she's older and more experienced now, 2) we spent the entirety of tES inside Shai's head, and so were privy to her thoughts and feelings, which is not the case at any point in tLM, and 3) due to the major differences in writing style, Moonlight does read like a sort of YA version of Shai.

Sadly, I think, any time a character we've had a very close and intimate look at previously makes a reappearance as a cameo in someone else's story, they will inevitably seem to be only a pale shadow of themselves to some degree.

[Yomisma]

On 12/12/2022 at 5:41 AM, Starganderfish said:

kind of feel like the entire Era 2 series could have been a much tighter trilogy of books

I still think One More Book from Era 2 would make sense to me. A too open ending doesn't add up. I want more %)

[GeoMantrix]

On re-read, the foreshadowing of Wayne's death is sooo heartbreaking.  Like when you realize Marasi's about to see him for the last time, and we take a Chapter just for that.  

I was stoked to see Shai show up, which I hoped as soon as I heard her say "nights!"  But I'm a weirdo.  I'm kind of cool toward White Sands and Hell, so the world hopper stuff was kind of not super engaging to me, except for wondering where things were going to link Harmony's Sword to Stormlight 5.  My pet theory is that the sword is secretly

Spoiler

Marasi, since she had also held the power of the bands at one point.  But nothing in TLM really advanced that.  I kind of wonder if Max will cross over to Roshar, since he falls into the age band with the Rosharan littles, but I'm not sure how that would happen.  I also wonder if besides the Lerasium, Wax got changed by the bands so that Max might be a little more invested than could be expected.

One thing that finally clicked for me was stopping feeling like Marasi should have wound up with Wax.  I was with Wayne on that one.  Should have got her murderin' on.  

[GeoMantrix]

I've also thought a lot about who the kandra on Roshar is, and thought it would be funny if Melaan were filling in for Hoid over there.  We know her aluminum true body is tall for a man.  But I don't think too hard about it.  It was just a funny idea, Jasnah with Melaan.  

Gah, nevermind, I just became acquainted with the big timeframe SA 5 occurs before any of Mistborn Era 2.  Now I'm super confused.

Edited December 25, 2022 by GeoMantrix

[GeoMantrix]

On the topic of pulling the Cosmere stops, I have to say it was a lot better than how cryptic the interludes and chapter headers were in the first 3 Stormlight books.  My husband hates that stuff, and not knowing what will matter to have paid attention to later.  (Everything, right?  What about the binary number one?)  Though I guess reading about Kaladin's depression is what has always been hardest for me.