Successes of Lost Metal

[Returned he/him]

I posted in the "problems with Lost Metal" thread, but I don't want my only posts on the forums to be criticisms of it! So I thought this thread would be a good complement, to talk about things we especially liked about the book that might not need a whole thread.

• I thought the character work was really good. I thought that everyone's motivations were consistent with previous books, Lost Metal gave great contexts for them to do and show what they needed, and their narrative arcs were very satisfying to me. Steris is a particular favorite of mine, and I really appreciated her rising to her challenges and finding acceptance through embracing her compulsions and responses to them. Her superlative abilities just needed to be in the right place to obviously show their worth, just like Wax needed to be in the Roughs for a while.
• I loved what we saw of Autonomy. Any time a Shard is on screen is significant, but seeing Autonomy in action sharpened a lot of previous thinking and suggested tons of new details. Especially exciting to me is that, just like Odium's nature means that it can't help but promote conflict even against itself, Autonomy can't help promoting self-determination even from Autonomy itself. And as her campaign of domination continues she's going to increasingly become the main force to oppose. Her greatest champion is also going to be her most dedicated opponent. Awesome. I cannot wait to read those stories as they develop. And her preference for avatars seems like more than just the Shard's nature (more self-determining instances of the power) but also a way to deal with conflict like that, which I find fascinating.
• The new details about the Cosmere were incredibly intriguing. The implications of a general Stamp are stunning, given how Forgery was previously shown as so limited to specific objects in specific places at specific times. Shai being able to Forge an Elantrian identity is similarly huge. It closes the loop on a lot of previous theorycrafting, and along with the reveal of raw Investiture to drive it we have a lot of new details to use when thinking about crossing magic systems. As there is more travel around the Cosmere and more power-mixing, Forgery is going to become easier to do, much more expansive in what it can do, and much more powerful. I'm also fascinated by the Aethers and their home system.
• I thought that the dual-conflict narrative was well done. Autonomy was going to invade and conquer, unless the Set conquered it in her name first. They had to save Scadrial, which required them to conquer Scadrial now, which meant blowing up a big part of it. It was a great motivation for a group with a doomsday device not just to have developed one in the first place, but also a compelling reason to actually try to use it. It was also a great way to separate out two antagonists at once, where they were on the same side but not quite the same side, and not really working together.
• The arc for Sazed, as Harmony, as increasingly unable to act  (even indirectly) is moving to me, even if I haven't totally loved the pacing. He has virtually infinite divine power, strong moral beliefs, and worthy goals. But he can't bring all of those together. He must be tortured to be so helpless, even as a god, like reliving his struggle in Hero of Ages again but worse and on a larger scale. I don't know how becoming Discord will interact with that but I really want to see more.

There was a lot more to like about the book but I'd rather hear what positive things especially stood out for other people.

Edited December 3, 2022 by Returned
Fixed formatting

[Frustration]

I liked how Cosmere aware this book was. I know that in the beginning it was necessary to keep the worlds apart, but we passed that point years ago and I'm looking foward to how this progresses. 

[RedBlue]

• The banter was really well done. Wayne is hilarious, and while his crassness pushes the limits of good taste in places, I never felt that it was overdone.
• Marasi is fantastic and I really enjoyed the way she played against the Ghostbloods. I like that she’s a character who stands for rule of law, using social science and the power of bureaucracy for good. I hope we have someone continuing her legacy in Era 3, to push back against Kelsier’s anti-government tendencies.
• Autonomy is really interesting. I like the conflict between promoting individuality and forcing said individuality to conform to a template. Having this be reflected in Bilming and its physical structures is really neat - corporate ‘uniqueness’ is super unsettling.
• Whatever is going on with Harmony is intriguing. I love that, with all this power, all this knowledge, and all these good intentions, Harmony is still very worrying and untrustworthy. And I want to meet his evil twin.
• The actual plot was good too!

[Elegy he/him]

I thought the finale as a whole was very satisfying. Wayne's arc was predictable but very well executed, and his last scene with Harmony was one of those larger-than-life Cosmere moments that I've loved since Hero of Ages. The character writing in general was very well-done. In that regard, it's up there with Brandon's best, although in general, I see this book more in the middle-range of his work.

[Frustration]

TLM finally delivered in text proof that aluminum isn't Adonalsium's shardmetal.

[StormingTexan he/him]

So I am a huge Wayne fan. I know he comes across as comedic relief similar to Lift and Lopen which may be annoying to some but I have always liked him. He is the "Sad Clown". I thought his arc in this was masterfully done. I cannot say I was completely surprised by his sacrifice but just the way it was all handled was amazing. His conversation with Wayne before storming the tower actually brought tears to my eyes. 

I liked the arcs for all of the rest of the main characters as well. Hoping we get to see some of the future implications in Era 3 of these characters growth and contributions especially Marasi.

Although I think I would have liked to see it in a different book like maybe MB Secret History 2 because it did feel a little wedged in I really liked all the Ghostbloood stuff. It completely changed my opinion of Kelsier. I loved seeing Shai again and the advancements in Forgery. It was awesome to see Aethers on screen and I really Liked TwinSoul as a character.