Bands of Mourning Full Book Reactions [Bands Spoilers]

[Asperity]

I didn't know I was waiting three books for Wayne to pick up a gun and introduce somebody's face to a shotgun shell until it happened. Easily and by far my favorite part of the book; my favorite part of all three books. I really like Wayne as a character especially with how gritty and realistic he is written, compared to virtually any other character in the Cosmere.

 

Overall, I think BoM was an intriguing infodump and I'm sure I'll be lurking too many threads as usual over the next week or three to read about all of the speculation.

[ParadoxicalZen]

I didn't know I was waiting three books for Wayne to pick up a gun and introduce somebody's face to a shotgun shell until it happened. Easily and by far my favorite part of the book; my favorite part of all three books. I really like Wayne as a character especially with how gritty and realistic he is written, compared to virtually any other character in the Cosmere.

 

Overall, I think BoM was an intriguing infodump and I'm sure I'll be lurking too many threads as usual over the next week or three to read about all of the speculation.

I know right? I just hope he goes back to using canes again

[Andarist]

An absolutely excellent book.

 

I really really liked this book especially as it answered my objections from Shadows of Self.

 

I think this is the best we have seen from Brandon in terms of character growth. Steris was boring/irritating in Alloy of Law, interesting, but limited in Shadows of Self, and absolutely scintillating in Bands of Mourning. 

 

I love her honesty, how she deals with her issues and problems and doesn't let them bog her down, how she is relentlessly pragmatic and practical and how she quietly underestimates herself. I think Steris is my favourite Brandon character.

 

I also loved the way Wax responded to Steris, how he finally allowed himself to give in and be interested in the world she represented - that accounting scene on the train was lovely, and how he could eventually let himself love again. This is what I wanted and didn't get in Shadows of Self. I wanted Wax to respond to her in a way that acknowledged and respected her as a person and in this book that was exactly what I got. 

 

Marasi matured brilliantly as well. I loved the way she dealt with the situation after Wax had seemingly died. 

 

The hotel scene is probably the funniest Mistborn scene. Couldn't stop laughing.

 

Overall I find the situation quite dark. The Set have suffered a setback, but they have only been delayed. How the South reacts is yet to be seen. Harmony is hard pressed by Odium(?) I think.

 

My only objection? I don't want to wait so long to find out what happens next!

[Angsos]

No one does but we have Calamity, Dark Talent, an anthology, Oathbringer and who knows what else before the lost metal. Then we might have to wait for Elantris sequels before Era 2.

[Asperity]

I know right? I just hope he goes back to using canes again

Don't worry. He will since he hasn't forgiven himself yet.

[Andarist]

No one does but we have Calamity, Dark Talent, an anthology, Oathbringer and who knows what else before the lost metal. Then we might have to wait for Elantris sequels before Era 2.

I just wish he finished era 2 before he went back to all the other books. I really want to see how this story arc ends

[Oathbringer]

Sooooooooo Good!!!!

 

I love it! And so many more mysteries to solve--Hoid's still up to stuff, planetary annihilation, so many presents!

[StormingTexan]

I just wish he finished era 2 before he went back to all the other books. I really want to see how this story arc ends

 

This is funny to me because 6 month ago I would have called this crazy talk and now I completely agree. 

 

Btw I am about half way through the novela it is must read at this point after BoM. 

[Christin White]

Well, there were the Pits. And it's possible that Odium was there a while ago and when Sazed reformed the world he closed, moved, or changed it.

 

I doubt the pits are Odium's chasm and I think if he had been acting on Scadrial in the past I think he would have shattered Preservation, Preservation and Ruin or would have at least pushed the scales so far in favor of Ruin that the balance would never have recovered.I

 

If he is acting on Scadrial I think it's more recent, probably not since before AoL or shortly before.

 

I know, but why would Hoid give Wax that coppermind if he and Kelsier have such problems?

 

It wouldn't surprise me if Hoid actually likes Kelsier just fine but Kel hates Hoid. It's not as if Kel avoids taking strong feelings about people to extremes with or without reason (though we have seen him revise his opinion in regard to Elend).

 

I just wish he finished era 2 before he went back to all the other books. I really want to see how this story arc ends

 

I agree, I really wish The Lost Metal was next to be released but I'm also so invested in Stormlight Archive that I'm also glad he's working hard on that right now.

 

---

 

So here's a question, if Odium really is moving on Scadrial in a significant way does that mean he's been defeated and sent packing by the end of the first half of the Stormlight Archive or has he succeeded so completely that he has power to spare? Is he truly strong enough to wage war on both Roshar and Scadrial at the same time? Especially given that Odium is worried about Harmony.

 

In terms of raw power, do we know if each of the shards are equal or begin equal*? We know Odium has shattered Devotion and Dominion on Sel but was that on account of his ruthlessness or strength?

 

*Harmony obviously being an exception.

Edited February 2, 2016 by chrisWhite

[Aiel Heart]

I finished the book and my last thought was "O.O Kelsier?!?!!?"

 

I truly fell in love with Steris during the last scene of Shadow of Self. I have continued to love her in this book. She and Wax are wonderful together. Totally called that Marasi was going to end up with the "random male character" to suddenly show up when everyone else was paired off (not official yet but still...) 

 

Grah I need to do a reread now to try to figure out everything!

[Delightful]

OOOHHHHH MMYYYY GOOOODDDDD.

That is literally all I have to say right now. I'll deal with being coherent later.

[skaa]

I'm going to put this in spoiler tags because it also contains spoilers for Secret History.

 

Everyone here keeps questioning why the 'Sovereign' claimed he was a king, and justifying why Kelsier might have claimed he was, but I think there is a much simpler solution. No matter which way you spin it, in order to come back, even through a hemalurgic spike, Kelsier would need a living body. I don't think his old bones would suffice. We know from the end of 'Secret History' that Lestibournes is helping Kelsier to come back. My theory is that (eventually) Kelsier took over Spook's body. In a way, therefore, he was both king and god to the people of the north. This also means it would be a lot easier for Kelsier to become a full Allomancer/Feruchemist. Spook was already a Mistborn, so he would only need hemalurgy (or nicrosil) to grant the feruchemical powers.

That's what I thought at first, but the Sovereign arrived only ten years after the Catacendre/Ice Death, and Spook ruled Northern Scadrial for a hundred years. It can't be him.

[carlucill]

That's what I thought at first, but the Sovereign arrived only ten years after the Catacendre/Ice Death, and Spook ruled Northern Scadrial for a hundred years. It can't be him.

Kandra?

[Kaymyth]

Kandra?

 

Or a mistwraith without Blessings.  Kelsier might've found a way to stick his own cognitive shadow into that eyespike.  It's weird and convoluted, but it's my theory for now.

[natc]

Judging from the steelsight going on in that memory though, I would assume the spike itself is inherently supposed to have steel or iron allomancy . . . but somehow also binds Kelsier to physical form again.

Hemalurgy really is capable of achieving much more than we ever dreamed, isn't it?

[Voidus]

A reminder: Please don't post spoilers for Secret History outside of the subforum, if you want to talk about both do it in Secret History since we're assuming those who have read SH have read Bands.

A few more days til the policy is that you can hide them in spoiler tags but until then just keep it to the SH subforum.

[The Ninja Yodeler]

Or a mistwraith without Blessings. Kelsier might've found a way to stick his own cognitive shadow into that eyespike. It's weird and convoluted, but it's my theory for now.

That's what I theorized too. I wasn't sure if it was guano crazy, or had a chance lol. Good to know someone else had the exact same idea.

Edited February 6, 2016 by The Ninja Yodeler

[Tellingdwar]

It seems every Mistborn Era will culminate in every main character becoming Crystal Dragon Jesus in their own way. Seriously, EVERYONE has at least one moment where they become an unstoppable badass, and it's amazing. No idea how this will be topped in the next book, but hey, I had the same opinion of WoA, and then HoA came along and melted my face off.

I was a little irked with the reveal of where the Bands were actually "hidden" as well as the number of deaths bought-back, but it was all pretty well justified within the narrative, so ultimately Bands was a very satisfying read.

Edited February 6, 2016 by Tellingdwar

[Christin White]

My money would still be on Vin in HoA. 

[vineyarddawg]

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG

 

(takes breath)

 

Well, that was the best of any of the Era 2 Mistborn books so far, IMO. So much that I'd been hoping/waiting to see, and a little realmatic revelation thrown in, too!

 

My favorite storyline, by far, is the Wax/Steris relationship. I guess I felt a natural empathy with Steris from the very beginning, and I've been wanting her to grow into something more, and wanting Wax to grow into being someone that could appreciate her... uh, "more-ness." That was paid off in spades here, and I am about as thrilled as I've ever been with a storyline that wasn't related to the Stormlight Archive.  

 

To be honest, I'm kind of surprised that pretty much everyone didn't see Telsin turning on Wax from the very beginning.  It seemed natural to me that she would be part of the Set, just like Edwarn, though I was surprised that she actually outranked him and was the one that recruited him into the Set. (There's always another secret...)

 

And speaking of another secret... anybody else completely, totally unsurprised that Kelsier turns out to be the "southern Lord Ruler?" (Or, at least, clearly appears to be.)  I mean, I wasn't sure until the big reveal at the end of the book, but I figured that it was equally as likely to be Kelsier as it was to be Rashek.

 

As for the Set... like Argent and other have said, I'm trying to figure out what that means. It seems clear that the Set is being driven by Trell, but what does that mean for who Trell is? All of the Set's rankings/titles appear to be mathematical in nature (and, given that context, so is the very name "The Set"), but what shard would that most fit into?  Dominion? Devotion? Autonomy? Odium?  I don't have a strong answer, but I'm now leaning away from Odium, as I don't see a natural correlation between "God's own divine hatred" and a mathematical construct/analogy.  If anything, that might lend some credence to Dominion, since we know Dominion is somewhat geographically-based on Sel, so in order to have power in other places, there needs to be something tying dominion to that place.  And what's the universal constant/universal language? Mathematics!

 

So much else, too... Wayne/MeLaan, Wayne blowing somebody's face off with a shotgun, Scadrial Fabrials (we should be calling these ScadFabs, IMO), my cup overfloweth to the point where I can't fully process it all at the moment!

 

And for all the shippers who had put Marasi with a little green masked man from Mars SoScad... make sure you have your tickets ready to cash in soon.  

[Bejayds]

The bands of mourning was amazing, there was growth for every character in this book. It's awesome the idea of powering technology through allomancey. Also was it just me or when wax saw that memory in the coin was it comparing wax's hand to kesler/lordruler hand in the memory . Like maybe wax is a reincarnation of that person. I mean Harmony did say he would try to bring Vin and Elend back he just hadnt figured out how yet. I'd about it being kesler though because his soul would have departed the world before Harmony assended, but if the Lord ruler survived for a time after harmony assended he could have made a deal with harmony to make up for the evil done while being under Ruin's infuence

[natc]

I'm pretty sure he's just seeing the Sovereign's hands there.

[Dellexe]

Coming out of lurk mode in three... two... one...

 

WELL THIS BOOK SURE TICKLED ME COSMERE LOVIN' INNARDS.

 

Ahem, uh, OK. So firstly, someone was theorizing it could've been Marsh's memories in that final scene, but I personally doubt that a bit. I recall somewhere that hemalurgic wounds don't heal very well, and the memory involves seeing normally with one eye, so if Marsh ripped one spike out he'd still be only seeing with the Steel-Vision

 

I think the red haze could be the force opposed to Adonalsium. Very Cosmere aware, want to bring down civilizations to ensure they don't gain too much power, and they go after Harmony shortly after his creation. 

 

Survive

^Well I have a new Sanderscene that comes to mind whenever I think of iconic scenes in books. I really want to know what else is on that coppermind. 

 

Other random thought I just had, Sanderson has said in the past that interesting things could be done with Sazed's physical body, if someone could get their hands on it. Preservation's body dropped out of the mists before the catacendre, could someone have recovered that? Is that Kelsier's new body when he goes to the southern continent? I think this because prolonged use of that shard would have keyed that body towards Preservation, and Kelsier briefly held the powers of Preservation. Could Kelsier have used that to put himself into that body?

[KOOZ]

Definitely enjoyed the book. 

Character-wise, I was most impressed by the growth of Steris - even by the end of Shadows of Self I was not convinced that she could replace Lessie for Wax, yet she's grown on me in this book (although, this could very well be that she has become more Marassi like, and, in some ways, the reverse could be applied to Marassi a bit - shout out to Warbreaker?). 

Loved the Wayne and shotgun scene, although I wished his retribution was terminal, rather than temporary - as with Wax's return, it lessens, to a certain degree, the emotional depth of the scene (although I was almost convinced that Wax was moving on by the time he met Sazed). 

 

I see that quite a few people enjoyed the hotel arrival scene - am I the only one who imagined Mr Sanderson writing it in the middle of the night in a slight delirium because that scene just felt surreal and it almost winks at the reader?

 

About the Sovereign, for most of the book I thought it was Marsh, because I vaguely recollected a WoB about Marsh setting out to investigate "stuff in the South" after the conclusion of the original trilogy. And, to be honest, even when taking account the ending of the book and certain information from the Secret History, I am not convinced that things are as straightforward as they seem. (This is Sanderson, after all.) For some reason, Kelsier temporarily possessing Marsh seems like the most interesting possibility. One thing I would not be at all surprised about if the body "Keliser" inhabits turns out to be someone we recognize.

 

Finally, I feel like there are too many potential conflicts left to be resolved in just one book! I guess if they're all to be realized, then the last book will be very dense in terms of intertwined plots. In a way it's a bit of a shame we have to wait so long for the final installment, oh well! 

[vividox]

Just finished this one a few days ago. My biggest intrigue in this one was the stuff about Connection, Investiture, and Identity. Meeting the southern masked people was interesting, and the Spearhead of Mourning was interesting. I saw the twist with Wax's sister coming from a mile away, but that's fine.

 

I was sure after reading the first three chapters on tor.com that the wait between Bands of Mourning and The Lost Metal was going to be insufferable, but... I dunno. With the relic found and Suit dead, the final book feels like it's just going to be about hunting down and finishing Telsin. I'm sure Brandon will surprise me, but I'm back to wanting another Stormlight way more than Wax and Wayne #4.