Bands of Mourning Full Book Reactions [Bands Spoilers]

[vividox]

Oh yeah, forgot about Steris. I really liked her character growth in this one.

[Capnfury]

I'm still reading through this entire thread, I just finished the book last night, but wanted to mentioned how much I loved this book even though I found the end a bit of a let down. 

 

I was very disappointed once Wax got his hands on the BoM.  I was waiting for him to land in the middle of 100 soldiers and we could see him really unleash those powers, taking them all on before finishing of Set.

 

As it is, hit was anti climatic for me. Apparently it only took a handful of weak captives to take out dozens of soldiers.

 

Other than that I loved nearly every bit of this book.  I'd put this one above every Mistborn Except Final Empire and Hero of Ages.  

 

Where the last book felt like a detective story this one felt very much like an Indiana Jones adventure! 

[Capnfury]

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.

 

 The bizarro Kandra did mention to Suit that they were moving their plans forward.  Something big is coming. It won't just be a hunt for Telsin.

[vividox]

 The bizarro Kandra did mention to Suit that they were moving their plans forward.  Something big is coming. It won't just be a hunt for Telsin.

Yeah, after I wrote that I got to thinking about all the threads Brandon had to pull from... Telsin, the Set, bizarro Kandras, Trell, Sovereign, etc. It's not going to be boring, that's for sure. 

Edited February 9, 2016 by vividox

[navybrandt]

By far my favorite Wax & Wayne book so far. I felt like the first two were missing some of the "epicness" of the original trilogy (but still great). This one really stepped things us a notch. The many references to worldhoppers, the shard-holding gods, the mystery, the mind-blowing reveals, the character growth, much more! It was great!

 

I especially liked when Wayne tells Wax to "break things with style" when he first gets the Bands. I think it was a nod to Brandon's Alcatraz books which are bested only by Cosmere books. Can't wait for the final W&W book!

[Shardbearer]

Did anyone else notice a line in the prelude that parallels a line from TFE? Respond if you know what I'm talking about.

[Pestis the Spider]

I just want to warn people that I am not trying to offend anyone, I am not trying to start an argument and I am not trying to diss the book. I am sorry, if it looks this way. I just want to give an oppossite point of view. But it's all just my personal opinion, so you are welcome to disagree. 

 

So I did not like the book. I've never been a huge fan of Wax & Wayne series, but BoM is just the worst. To be honest I found it a total let down, and I think it was just plainly ridiculous at times. I'm sorry to say that. 

 

First thing: Steris. I love her, she is a wonderful character. She was my favourite ever since she was introduced in AoL and I shipped her and Wax all the time. So theoretically I should be happy that Wax ended up with Steris and not with Marasi. I thought I would be happy. But I'm not. I never liked the way Brandon writes all these happy romances in his book, so I thought that if Steris and Wax get married I'm going to see something different form the usual Brandon's style romances. But the way it went in this book... I just feel like I've already seen it 100 times= (chich is probably true). It's boring. 

 

And to be honest it also feels incredibly forced and not authentic. I mean look at this: Their wedding is destroyed, so that they have time  to happily fall in love during an adventure together (this trope is aso overused) and then marry for love. Why? Really, why? I would prefer it 1000x over if they would marry because of the contract they had and then slowly grow closer to each other, because they are both great people. Also it feels like Brandon had a rather sudden change of heart somewhere at the very end of writing SoS, and was like "Oh, let's go with Steris instead of Marasi as Wax's romance interest." This whole situation felt rushed and coming out of nowhere, just like most romance plots that Brandon writes. I just don't buy it. But that's possibly mostly my problem with understanding romance rather than Brandon's problem with writing romace. 

 

That's just my personal preference, obvioulsy. I just really feel dissapointed, because I shipped Wax and Steris together, and then Brandon managed to write their happy romance in a way I did not like. I did not expect that to happen. 

 

Second thing: The Info Dump. 

I don't dislike info dumps in books. I enjoy them actually. But they need to make sense, and they can't be totally random. And what we get in this book? Southern Scadrians (sorry, who?) that have super advanced technology (really?), because Kelsier (???) that wasn't dead (Oh c'mon) taught them. Not to mention that these Southern Scadrians (that we never heard about) had to be saved by technology from freezing, because God (!) just somehow forgot about them during remaking of the world (good job, God). Nope, nope, nope. It was way too random for me. I understand that Scadrial is much bigger than just Elendel and neighbouring cities, but I would love to get some warning before being suddeny introduced to some people that are able to survive in temperatures that boil oceans and that just happen to have awesome tech. For me it makes more or less as much sense as having aliens suddenly come to save the day, because that's basically what it is. Just these 'aliens' are from the South not from space. Slight difference. 

 

Third thing: The Deus ex machina marathon:

 

a) Wax is dead. He is so dead that the God in person tells him, he's dead. But look. This random aluminium thing in Marasi's bag is actually the BoM and it has a power to resurrect the dead! How convienient that she realised that just now. 

 

Ok, I guess we can assume that it was just clinical death. But still. 

 

b ) Telsin is shot in the face. But look, she's alive, because she just happens to have Bloodmaker powers that no one knew about. But Wayne just happened to guess her powers and let her live, but shot her either way just because apparently there was not enough (cliche) drama in the book. What and amazing plot twist. Yes, I'm sarcastic.

 

Ok, I'm going to finish here, because I'm getting annoyed. 

Edited February 10, 2016 by Pestis the Spider

[Kingsdaughter613]

Please don't take this the wrong way. These are just my opinions.

With regard to the Southern Scadrians, we have had plenty of warning. Brandon told us about them a while ago, and that they lacked the genetic modifications of the the North Scadrians, forcing them to adapt to the heat in other ways.

Kelsier's return has been foreshadowed for a while now. We've known he never moved on and, Kell being Kell, his return was less a question of if and more a when and how.

As for Saze accidentally freezing the South Scadrians, Rashek and Vin's ascensions made it clear that ascending does not make you omniscient. Rashek would not have altered the planet's orbit and Vin would not have caused massive tidal waves if it did. It applies to the original Vessels too; Ati would not have been tricked and imprisoned; Leras would not have been killed; Tanavast, Skai and Aona would not have been splintered; Rayse would not be imprisoned. Unsurprisingly, Sazed is not omniscient. We also know that within moments of taking up a Shard is when you have the most freedom. From that point on it becomes trickier, and Saze has to deal with two opposing wills. And messing with the climate has major consequences, as Mistborn made clear.

I did like Wax and Steris from the start as well. I always suspected that Marasi was a red herring in that regard. (Actually, WoB confirmed that in AoL's annotations.) I actually thought that Wax and Steris' relationship made sense. Wax has clearly already begun to love her by the time of their wedding. The extra time is not for the two to fall in love (they already have) but so that Wax can get over Lessie. But romance is like food; everyone has their own opinions and all are equally valid.

I agree with you about Telsin though. I wanted that traitor dead. Admittedly, if I could only have one power bloodbending would be my choice too... but still irritating.

Edited February 10, 2016 by Kingsdaughter613

[Capnfury]

Pestis

 

Just to touch on a couple of points you made. 

 

It's  clear from Brandon's books that the Shards are very much tied geographic location and are not omnipotent. It's likely Sazed couldn't predict or even maybe even completely aware of what was going on in the South.  

 

It's a mistake to think of Sazed as a god in our traditional ways.  We also know that another Shard is in play on this world.  Who knows what that Shard has been up to in the south.

 

Keep in mind, that we are learning things from the character's points of view.  There will be holes and mistaken assumptions.  We don't have the whole picture. For example, why would we know about Telsin's abilities?  She kept them hidden from all of our characters. That was her whole goal.

 

Or another example - why would we have heard of Southern Scadrials?  No one from the Basin has ventured that far south.  

 

There is still much going on we don't know about yet or don't have an explanation of yet. 

[Capnfury]

Personally, I liked the Steris/Wax romance.  It felt very genuine.  We saw, through Wax's eyes how his point of view began to change over the 3 books.  That definitely didn't feel rushed to me compared to how romances usually evolve in books and movies.

 

Personally, I don't think Wax IS in love yet.  I just think he really cares for her now and could see love happen.  

[Pestis the Spider]

With regard to the Southern Scadrians, we have had plenty of warning. Brandon told us about them a while ago, and that they lacked the genetic modifications of the the North Scadrians, forcing them to adapt to the heat in other ways.

Do you mean in the books or in WoB? Because as far as I remember they weren't mentioned in the books, but maybe I've missed something. 

 

But romance is like food; everyone has their own opinions and all are equally valid.

As I said, my opinion about romance in this book is strictly personal. 

 

It's  clear from Brandon's books that the Shards are very much tied geographic location and are not omnipotent. It's likely Sazed couldn't predict or even maybe even completely aware of what was going on in the South.  

 

It's a mistake to think of Sazed as a god in our traditional ways.  We also know that another Shard is in play on this world.  Who knows what that Shard has been up to in the south.

Ok, I get that he is not omnipotent etc. But he had the power to change planet's orbit, all the plants etc. but didn't notice that there are people living further south? Really?

 

 

Keep in mind, that we are learning things from the character's points of view.  There will be holes and mistaken assumptions.  We don't have the whole picture. For example, why would we know about Telsin's abilities?  She kept them hidden from all of our characters. That was her whole goal.

I want more foreshadowing. Basically I would like something that at least suggests that she might have some metalminds on her before she got shot. That moment was from Telsin's POV, so it could easily mention at least something about them before she got shot. I don't need a straightforward excalamation "I have metalminds, I can heal", just a little tiny bit of forshadowing. It would be better than having Wayne randomly explain the whole situation after it happened. Deus ex machina. 

 

Or another example - why would we have heard of Southern Scadrials?  No one from the Basin has ventured that far south.  

 

Allik never said that he was from the south. Marasi and Wax guessed that because apparently there were old books that said that oceans were boiling near the equator. I realise that the "boiling oceans" was probably a guess on behalf of the author of these "old books", but it still means that someone had to go south at least some distance. Also I am pretty sure that the Southern Scadrials were mentioned in these "old books" as well. I don't think Marasi and Wax could've guessed that easily that Allik is from the south and that's why says the world got frozen if they didn't at least read about Southern Scadrials once. That would be too big of a stretch. And therefore I think that some more foreshadowing was possible and would be nice. 

[Kingsdaughter613]

Sazed had mentioned the southern scadrians in the previous book. As for not knowing - Rashek didn't realize that moving the planet closer to the sun would make things too hot? Vin didn't realize that swiftly turning the planet would cause tidal waves? Saze only managed what he did because of the information in his copperminds. All actions were based on knowledge the Vessels already had. Saze would later discover life in the south, but only once he was actually looking. Or at least that's how ascending seems to work. You start with the most freedom and least amount of knowledge. You quickly gain knowledge but lose your ability to act in opposition to your shard. (Thus why Rashek began unable to realize what happens when you move a planet, and ended by genetically modifying half the population successfully.)

This is just my opinion, and not really written well due to being typed on an I phone between classes. Sorry if it sounds a bit brusque.

[KOOZ]

Do you mean in the books or in WoB? Because as far as I remember they weren't mentioned in the books, but maybe I've missed something. 

The books do not mention people from the South, but there has been several instances of WoB hinting that there is a civilization there. However, for anyone not fully immersed in the forums/actively searching for WoB it will be quite a surprise- I, for one, came across this info pretty much accidently.

 

 

Ok, I get that he is not omnipotent etc. But he had the power to change planet's orbit, all the plants etc. but didn't notice that there are people living further south? Really?

Honestly, I agree with this point - even if the S Scadrians were a big surprise, I cannot believe that Sazed would not have known about their existence. I am pretty sure there is a WoB that the Lord Ruler knew that people lived in the South, and he held way less power than Sazed. I can even rationalize Vin never thinking about the Southerners because she was so focussed on battling Ruin and preventing the end of the world. However, Sazed, as Harmony, has no excuse - he had years to explore his planet and become aware of things outside its surface (ultimately shown in the red haze illustration), including Adonalisum (at the end of book 3, era 1). Thus, I can only assume that the reason he plunged the southern civilization into chaos was because he was restoring the planet to the way it used to be before. From that, we can either assume that the southerners adapted from the freeze to the tropics back in the Lord Rulers time and that Sazed thought they'll be able to adapt back again or, which I think is more likely, he sent help afterwards. I believe I came across a WoB saying that after the Catacendre Marsh went South to investigate (or was it before?..) - this would make way more sense in that after restoring the planet to its original state he went on to try and save the people he endangered by sending help (likely, he was too focussed on saving the northerners and making them cosy). Alternatively, he could have done a "balancing act" and whilst preserving the civilization of the North, he ruined the civilization of the South (and then either by his direction, or on his own impulse, Kelsier or a Kelsier-like entity went to save them) - he makes extremely cosy conditions in the North, and compensates by not eradictaing apalling conditions in the South. Question is, since he brought people from all over the Final Emprie into the Basin, could he have not done it to the Southerners as well? Or maybe he was trying to avoid a potential conflict between the two (very surprised) peoples?

 

 

Uh, the post is tres long.

Final couple of points! Telsin, imho, should have stayed dead - that would have maintained the power of Wayne's choices (they kind of work in the end with Wax surviving as well, but not so much if he thought that Wax was actually dead - why on Scadrial would he want to leave her alive?!). Also, correct me if I am wrong, if there is a bullet to the head, does that not mean instant-death and healing is too late? I.e. shouldn't there be a mind of a Feruchemist that wills the health stored in a goldmind to restore the body? And only in extreme cases, like with the Lord Ruler / Miles Hundredlives, would them drawing on the health keep them alive and restore back from extreme injury?

Anyhow, I initially thought that was the reason Wayne went for the headshot (certainly aligns with the more serious tone of that particular section).

 

OK, really final point re romance - initially, I was not impressed with Steris, to the point where in Alloy of Law I was almost wondering whyever Wax would want to save her apart from his sense of duty. In Shadows of Self I tried deluding myself that it just might work with Lessie somehow or other and only in the final scene did I start seeing that there just might be this tiny chance of Steris simply being there for him to ensure that he will not break. Ultimately, Steris wins me over by changing (as I said before, becoming more Lessie/Marassi like) and what makes it great is that Sanderson makes it look like Steris simply discovering herself, rather than changing for the sake of readers' feelings - the whole "forced unhappy marriage" shebang.

[Pestis the Spider]

Sazed had mentioned the southern scadrians in the previous book. 

Could you maybe quote it? i can't find it, so I'd be grateful. 

 

The books do not mention people from the South, but there has been several instances of WoB hinting that there is a civilization there. However, for anyone not fully immersed in the forums/actively searching for WoB it will be quite a surprise- I, for one, came across this info pretty much accidently.

Well, if it was in WoB, then it doesn't count. I appreciate WoBs greatly and they are a great addition for the fans, but the book should be self-contained and the plot should make sense within itself without the need of further explanation. So the WoBs don't count.

 

 

Final couple of points! Telsin, imho, should have stayed dead - that would have maintained the power of Wayne's choices (they kind of work in the end with Wax surviving as well, but not so much if he thought that Wax was actually dead - why on Scadrial would he want to leave her alive?!

Maybe because Brandon didn't want to make the book to dark? Honestly, I don't know. 

 

Also, correct me if I am wrong, if there is a bullet to the head, does that not mean instant-death and healing is too late?

She was actually shot in the face, so I guess that wasn't too late.

[Kingsdaughter613]

The quote is from Shadows of Self: "You don’t explore, Harmony continued, ignoring Wax’s confusion. Why would you? You have everything you want here. You’ve barely progressed technologically from what I gave you in the books. Yet others, who were nearly destroyed..."

That last sentence is in reference to Southern Scadrial.

On another, related, topic; We have been inside the minds of three people as they ascended, Vin, Kell, and Saze. None of them noticed the peoples of Southern Scadrial at the time of the initial ascent. Vin and Kell were focused on Ruin, and Sazed was sublimating all the data in his metal minds and using it to recreate the world while preserving the people he knew about. By the time he realized that there were people in the South his hands were essentially tied.

While I doubt he helped Kelsier come back to life, once Kell had I believe Saze sent him South to help. But I think we should wait until the Lost Metal and see what he says. Or what WoB says, if that comes first.

[Inquisitor #5]

AHHHHH!!

 

The book was very, very gripping!

 

Agree with at least one other poster that Allik's tounge is Germanic-ish.

To me (a Swede) it sounded possitively Norwegian.

 

On that note; ettmetal, ett (one) + metal, probably alkali metal as has been said.

 

Holy! Did not think stored investiture was gonna work like that, quite pleased with it though. 

Compunding would essentially result in arbitraily high efficiency, no? (As in getting more power per unit of fuel for your Investiture.)

 

Kell, you never could keep your nose out of others' buisness...

 

As an Aspie I absolutely adore Steris' portrayal! She's a very well written High-functioning Autism-spectrum character. (At least that's my reading of her. I've read that there's a WoB on her being an Aspie, anyone have a link?)

 

Oh, and I connect the red eyes with Odium myself.

 

Now we only need to get to know the rest of all this...

 

¤_¤

[Shardmancer]

Great Story, Reading this and SH back to back brought me back to the forums for some trolling. I was slightly confused as to how anyone could use the LR bracers and wanted to clarify as well with the medallions.. (I assume the LR removed his identity using Fer and than filled the metal mind while having no identity - this would allow anyone to use it?) Also with the medallions a similar thing but allow Nicrosil so anyone can Burn/Tap that specific power.

 

I would appreciate clarification

 

But Great Stuff as always, cant wait for more !

[Landis963]

Great Story, Reading this and SH back to back brought me back to the forums for some trolling. I was slightly confused as to how anyone could use the LR bracers and wanted to clarify as well with the medallions.. (I assume the LR removed his identity using Fer and than filled the metal mind while having no identity - this would allow anyone to use it?) Also with the medallions a similar thing but allow Nicrosil so anyone can Burn/Tap that specific power.

 

I would appreciate clarification

 

But Great Stuff as always, cant wait for more !

 

That's basically right.  Except for one minor detail: that wasn't the Lord Ruler.  

[Kingsdaughter613]

Personally, I am looking forward to the giant mess that will inevitably ensue once the Survivorists learn the Sovreign's identity. Watching Kell's church try to figure out how his actions fit their doctrine will be interesting. On the other hand, the missionaries will take full advantage should they try to convert the Southerners. I find it very amusing that Kelsier can sow chaos without actually having to do anything... At least anything recent.

[Shardmancer]

That's basically right.  Except for one minor detail: that wasn't the Lord Ruler.  

Yes, lol - it was Kel which made me even more curious as to how he could remove his identity and create this that can be used in the physical realm.

[Capnfury]

 

 

Ok, I get that he is not omnipotent etc. But he had the power to change planet's orbit, all the plants etc. but didn't notice that there are people living further south? Really?

 

 

I want more foreshadowing. Basically I would like something that at least suggests that she might have some metalminds on her before she got shot. That moment was from Telsin's POV, so it could easily mention at least something about them before she got shot. I don't need a straightforward excalamation "I have metalminds, I can heal", just a little tiny bit of forshadowing. It would be better than having Wayne randomly explain the whole situation after it happened. Deus ex machina. 

 

 

I can understand why it might feel like Telsin's powers came out of nowhere.  I think some of beats are a little looser in these books since they aren't a "main" series. 

 

But, we did know that she had been given powers.  Wax mentions that she is a leecher once they are hit with the cube.  I also didn't see it as a surprise since we learned in the temple that the Sets top people, like Edvard, were spiked.  So it seemed obvious she was. At the end of the book either Wax or Wayne even states that it makes sense that one of the powers she chose was healing because who wouldn't.

 

As for Sazed not knowing what would happen to the southerners, between the Mistborn trilogy, these books and the Secret History of Mistborn we know that the Shards are limited in what they can foresee.  He was also doing all this in the first few moments of godhood. He didn't take time to explore every action and every consequence. 

 

And maybe he did know what would happen in the south but what was he supposed to do? Sazed just put the world back were it was before TFE.  Mucking around with the natural order caused huge problems in the first place.  Seemed like the safest, best choice.  

Edited February 13, 2016 by Capnfury

[Cheese Ninja]

Good stuff,

 

I partially expected that Telsin would turn out to working with their uncle at each stage of the story, from her being bait to lure Wax, from her botching of their rescue attempt, but was never 100% sure.  I feel like having the spearhead as the Bands was a bit sloppy from a hidden treasure point of view.  Sure, it's subterfuge, but it was also too easy to get to, probably took Wayne less than 30 seconds to grab.

 

Steris continues to be best girl.  I feel bad for those of you who didn't realize that from the first few spoiler chapters of Alloy of Law.

I really wanted someone to punch Wayne in the face for ruining the initial wedding, even if Wax wasn't quite ready to commit at that point.  I'm glad that Wax stopped him from talking rust about best girl near the end of the book.

 

The whole Lord Ruler thing didn't seem to quite match up with the facts from the first time we're told it.  Oddly enough, despite Kelsier being dead and never having Feruchemical powers, it still makes more sense to me that he took his place for the Southerners.  We had already been told that he was partially? holding Preservation after his death, and never moved on to the cosmere's version of afterlife.  Rashek on the other hand, seemed to go from being dead to just being more dead.

 

I actually didn't realize there was going to be another book with these characters after this one.

[natc]

Only real problem would be tracking down the spearhead again if stolen. Until they realize what it is the metalminds won't function.

Also, blunt spearhead that isn't aluminum. In the middle of nowhere. If anyone finds the temple at all they'd be here for the Bands. Perfect cover! Unfortunately Wayne was basically klepto.

In rereading I think the twist was actually alluded to. The mural photos showed a man wearing bracers and "in awe of what he held" . . . but the man was reaching for a glowing spear.

Edited February 18, 2016 by natc

[kacman07]

I just finished it and loved it. Wax and Wayne hasn't been my favorite of his series so far but this one seemed really good from the start. I loved Steris the whole time, and meeting the new civilization to the South was great. Now I just need to read Secret History and I'm finally all caught up!

[red032]

Well then. That was a thing. What in Harmony's name are you doing, Kelsier?

Survive, it seems. I was told that he is rather accomplished at this...

Edited February 26, 2016 by red032