The Lost Metal by Brandon Sanderson

A very Cosmere heavy book, but a good conclusion to this series.

A few years have passed since the events of the previous book. Wax is now in politics and Maresi and Wayne are both still working for the police. The threat of civil war is getting bigger, along with potential conflict with the southern countries. Into this pot of trouble, the Set’s plans are coming into play with potentially devastating consequences for Elendil.

Well we’ve been waiting a while for this one. I was expecting answers and we definitely got them. It was both bigger and smaller than I imagined, events definitely ramped up but not quite as much as I thought.

As mentioned above this is an incredibly Cosmere heavy book. I have read most of Sanderson’s work but most of it only once, some twice, and there is so much of it now that unless you are constantly re-reading it, or have a much better memory than me, then quite a lot of the connections go over my head. Yeah some of the stuff reminded me of Elantris but most of it I hadn’t a clue. I still don’t think you need to know everything to enjoy it but at this stage you definitely need to know of the existence of the Cosmere and how most of his books are related. I find myself spending too much time wondering if I should really know what they are talking about or whether I’ve met this character before etc.

I also found all the talk of the different realms, how they interact etc is hard to follow for the more casual Cosmere fan. It is cool to be honest and if I were still in my teens, early twenties I would be all over it but it’s hard to find the time now for basic reading, let alone deep dives into how all the magic systems are related etc. It takes just a little shine away from a very good book. Sanderson even made me care about Wayne in this one, which I didn’t think would happen!

Though it is an end, it really is the start of something else as there is so much going on, and looks like so much more that is coming, it feels more like a joining series than an outright self-contained series. I enjoyed it a lot, the author’s imagination cannot be doubted and I am constantly amazed at how well thought out the ‘magic’ systems are in his books. It’s a very different series than the original, and it grew on me more than I expected. Now the wait begins for Mistborn Era III.

4 stars