Captain Coffee

Warbreaker is my favorite Brandon book. Oathbringer is his best written book. Mistborn Era 2 is way better than era 1. Wax is the second best Character in the Cosmere. And, I didn't realize this might be unpopular until reading this thread, complaining about Brandon's output when we get at least a book every year (even if it isn't the one we want) feels pretty entitled. Outside of romance novels, no fandom gets books as regularly as we do.

My 11 year old is reading Mistborn for the first time. We recently listened to the chapter where Vin meets Elend in the car. When it was over, she paused and asked, "Do people ship those two together?" I let her know they do, but I didn't know the ship name. We landed on Elvin. That's all. I just had to share. I read Mistborn for the first time as an adult, and watching a kid read and process it for the first time is so much fun.

If we have enough information, I'm assuming they are awakened constructs from Nalthis made of a golden metal. Or, maybe Awakened constructs made of gold that use hemalurgy to heal? That is horrifying. The red eyes are due to the corruption of the investiture that comes from Autonomy using someone else's magic.

It could mean lots of things, but I think the horneaters are either refugees from the war on Roshar or a group of exiles. The way I see it, Rock is either exiled to Shadesmar or made king of the horneaters against his will. Either way, I bet he's in that group, which means we are going to get a Rock Melaan team up!

Wax and Kaladin are my favorite characters in the Cosmere, so that might have colored my thoughts on this. But, I think that Wax didn't really have a character arc in this book (except maybe learning to let Wayne be the hero, but I think he was there already). In this book, I think Wax operated more like James Bond. He wasn't fun to watch because he had a relatable arc, he was fun to watch because watching a person who is great at a thing be great at the thing is fun sometimes. I loved that we got to see him at the height of his powers for almost a whole book and to watch the friends he had made along the way grow into fully realized heroes themselves. Also, the fact that Wax had grown over the past 3 books is what let him beat Telsin. I really enjoyed the moment he realized that he had grown, she hadn't, and made that knowledge the core of his plan.

I think both RoW and TLM dealt with this correctly, and in the same way. Outside magic is only explained if the person who knows the magic explains it. In RoW it seems very much like Vasher to not explain himself to Kaladin. Why would he. Messing with Kaladin is one of the few joys in his life. In TLM Kelsier specifically told his people to help Marasi, and, like in any good heist novel or superhero story, she needed to know her team's capabilities, so they told her. It seems to me that he is explaining the magic when it is in character for people to explain it and leaving it unexplained when the characters would leave it unexplained.

So, Siri is going to sing some version of Hair in the Warbreaker musical. Or, possibly The Hills are Alive right at the beginning. If she does the hills are alive, we need to add a reprise where Sussebron literally awakens some hills.

That tracks. Especially the part where Marsh does something good and Kelsier gets credit.

I love it. I know some people are concerned for people who only read Stormlight or Mistborn, but I'm not. My wife reads Mistborn quickly, but struggles with Stormlight. I have been dodging spoiling the Thaidakar reveal from RoW since I finished the book. She asked if this book spoiled RoW, but I don't think it does. I think there are two places you can first encounter that Kel is Thaidakar, and whichever way you find out will color the other book. But, finding out in Lost Metal doesn't ruin the reveal in RoW, it adds tension because you know stuff the characters don't.

I have loved Era 2 from beginning to end. Bands of Mourning is my second favorite Sanderson book (Warbreaker is #1). Wax is my favorite characters in the Cosmere. As far as I'm concerned, Brandon completed the assignment (as much as he said he had stopped trying to do that in his speech). Wayne saving the day was one of the things that should have been obvious given the way Era 1 ended. We all assumed (or at least I did) that Vin was the Hero of Ages, and when it turned out to be Sazed, I was confused, but also everything else made more sense. Part of me thought this book would end up with either Wayne or Steris taking up one or both shards. Wax was our main hero for most of the series, but at the end of the day one of his friends was the hero we actually needed. That is what Mistborn is. I loved watching Wax bring his detective skills to his political role. I feel like he has really learned to be a whole person. His embrace of being Harmony's Sword and representing Ruin was terrifying and awesome. I was so happy that his response to Wayne saving him was not to be angry (much). He has learned that he does not have to be the hero of every story. Steris was amazing, as usual. But, watching her learn to accept praise from people and grow some confidence in her abilities was so good! But, Marasi had the moment I loved most in this book. I hate the love triangle in Well of Ascension so much. Vin takes a huge step back in her relationship just to build it back to basically where it started. I loved how Marasi reacted when moonlight tried to entice her to join the Ghostbloods by saying she would know things that Wax and Wayne didn't. Then Moonlight tried to imply that Wax kept important secrets from Marasi. I was so frustrated when that conversation started that I almost put the book down for a while. But, I'm glad I didn't. In so many stories that tension would have become part of the plot and torn the team apart. But, not our crew. Marasi was like, "Wax shares what matters, and I don't keep secrets from my team. That's it. End of story" (Paraphrased, obviously). I was so happy that she was secure enough in her team, her self worth, and her mission that she cut the whole "mistrust within the team" plot off before it could even take root. I think Marasi made the right call for herself at the end. Despite the Ghostbloods doing good work on Scadrial (probably) Marasi's strength was shown to be leading a community. You can't do that from the shadows, or at least you shouldn't. The only downside is that I feel Marasi would have made a good mentor for Moonlight. The Ghostblood super team was super cool. I want to see so much more of that kind of thing. I've seen lots of people saying they wish more of the larger plots had more of a concrete conclusion, but I was satisfied. This story was not, in my mind, about the larger world so much as it was about how these four people live in that world. This book was everything I wanted it to be (Except I wanted a Wax Dalinar fight in SA 5, and I don't think I'm getting it).

I loved how Marasi reacted when moonlight tried to entice her to join the Ghostbloods by saying she would know things that Wax and Wayne didn't. Then Moonlight tried to imply that Wax kept important secrets from Marasi. I was so frustrated when that conversation started that I almost put the book down for a while. But, I'm glad I didn't. In so many stories that tension would have become part of the plot and torn the team apart. But, not our crew. Marasi was like, "Wax shares what matters, and I don't keep secrets from my team. That's it. End of story" (Paraphrased, obviously). I was so happy that she was secure enough in her team, her self worth, and her mission that she cut the whole "mistrust within the team" plot off before it could even take root. I think Marasi made the right call for herself at the end. Despite the Ghostbloods doing good work on Scadrial (probably) Marasi's strength was shown to be leading a community. You can't do that from the shadows, or at least you shouldn't. The only downside is that I feel Marasi would have made a good mentor for Moonlight.

That's right. Wax gained possible and very slight versions of the full mistborn powers, I think. But, if that is part of his spirit web now, he would pass it on to any future children. So, we might see very weak full mistborn in the future.

I think something like this is the most likely option. Brandon has been trying to convince us for a long time in interviews and answers to questions that Kelsier would be a villain in some upcoming Cosmere project, whether Stormlight, Mistborn, or something else. But, seeing the Ghostbloods on Scadrial, I think Mraize is operating way outside Kelsier's preferred methods. I mean, I can't see Kelsier trying to hurt Lift. I think the twist is going to be that something happens to Sazed between now and the end of Era 3 book 1, and Kelsier has to get a crew together to either stop Sazed or return him to himself. Maybe even helping Sazed grow into something like Creation (which is another possible combination of preservation and Ruin).

I thought it said somewhere that the god metals are the bodies of the people who take up the Shard. Am I remembering wrong, or was that poetic language?

So, I was just thinking about the god metals. Since Kelsier held Preservation, did his body turn into Kelsierium? Or, does that not work because he wasn't using his body at the time? Either way, there should be some Vinium somewhere, right?