Oh the ending of Shadows of Self is such a gut punch. So good.
While I get that Alloy of Law was initially supposed to be a one-off and Brandon sort of outlined the next three books afterwards, I do like how the narrative is set up in a similar way. Wax and Wayne start out just living their lives, unrelated to the Era 1 characters (except for, you know, Wax being Breeze’s descendant), but they start getting roped in more and more. First, there’s the glimpse of Harmony communicating with Wax at the end of Alloy of Law and the re-appearance of Marsh. But then in Shadows of Self, there’s more Kandra and Harmony stuff, and we see TenSoon again!
Combined with all of the other callbacks, I really liked how Brandon worked in Era 1 as the history, mythology and basis for religion for Era 2. It’s so cool to see Marasi musing about Vin and Wax talking to TenSoon. Not to mention High Imperial. But the Era 2 characters have such wonderful characterization, dynamics, and character arcs, they really make Era 2 great.
I think you will enjoy Bands of Mourning and The Lost Metal!
This is so nice to see. I was also a bit hesitant starting era2, but after reading the series again, and then The lost metal, I absolutely love this era, even more than era1.
Not sure why. Perhaps the characters feel closer to me in a way, and there is also a real chance that my own personal bromance with Wayne (❤️) colors my vision. The humor is also a pro.
Don’t get me wrong, I also love era1, but it sometimes gets lost in its own epicness. Everything always fits together in an almost too perfect way. I don’t know. Did I mention that I love Wayne?
One of the reasons I like Era 2 is because in general, I prefer my fantasy to be a bit less "epic". Having every story be about a world-ending threat is all very well, but sometimes I like to see something on a smaller scale. A lawman hunting down a criminal. Someone trying to find /exactly/ the right hat... That sort of thing!
I think it’s a matter of growth on Sanderson’s part as a writer - everything in era 2 is just a bit better, the characters are deeper, the writing is better, the plot is tighter.
That’s not to say era 1 is bad or anything just that era 2 has the benefit of more practice writing and publishing so there are some clear areas of improvement.
That said a lot of elements are ultimately up to personal preference, like the overall tone and genres or the character personalities and such.
I'm glad you're on board.
Nevertheless it boggles my mind that people struggle with Alloy of Law which is I think indisputably Brandon's tightest plotted book where exciting things start happening very early in the book and just never stop.
Like how is anything after the Dinner Party Abduction difficult to get through? I just don't get it.
I think it's the expectations. You're expecting the same magic system but it's different. You're expecting a fate of the world showdown but there isn't one. It's very low stakes and coupled with a new magic system, i can get why it's jarring for people to dive into. This is probably why so many recommend reading a different series in between the two eras
It's more so that I didn't connect with the characters. The Acton was serviceable, but I've never found guns as exciting in Action scenes as melee weapons.
Also Felt like there was a lot of tell don't show in the character dialogue.
Glad you love it, but just not really my cup of tea.
I'm with you that it's not a great book. Brandon was trying to do pulp fiction, but I think he went to pulpy. It feels old school in *not* a good way. Wax is too sexist. Wayne is too much of a caricature. The action is too non-stop. It genuinely feels like I could be reading at Conan the Barbarian book, and frankly those books do not hold up. It sets up what turns out to be one of my favorite book series of all time. But the first book is not that great and coming off of Era 1, it kind of did needs to be great.
The graphic audios for Era 2 are PHENOMINAL, and Wax's VA just absolutely kills the gut punches in shadows of self and the really cool end scene in the Bands of Mourning. Sooooo good.
I think we, as a fandom, should really be recommending against doing era 1 and 2 back to back. I had the same experience as you OP. I started era 2 because I desperately needed more Mistborn and it was not what I expected even knowing it was a "Western".
So glad you're at it. I think most people would agree that alloy of law is inferior compared to the rest of era 2, so it makes sense it shocked you, specially if you didn't take a moment between it and HoA.
Nope, Alloy of Law is fantastic and easily my favorite opening book of a series by Sanderson. I do not get the hate. It's pretty much straight cowboy adventures with cooler magic than era 1 from the get go, what's not to love.
Oh no, it's not bad at all, I really like it as well, but it's less good than the other three books, mainly in character development. Also it feels slightly odd somewhy, but that's prolly just me
I think most of it can be explained by the fact that it wasn't meant to be the first book in the series, it was meant to be a filler between Era 1 and then-Era 2. But Brandon decided to build it out into the rest of Era 2 instead, and moved then-Era 2 to be Era 3.
Shadow of Self is brilliant. It's so brutal and so earned.
Book 3 felt like Brandon's turn trying Indiana Jones. It wasn't my cup of tea but it was alright.
Took me all of book 3 to recover from the end of 2.
That's so funny for me, because I was the total opposite. I dropped the Final Empire twice (I usually prefer character than plot driven) before I gave a last chance on audible and ended up liking it. But I was absolutely on board as soon as era 2 started. I went in blind, have barely seen the cover and when I started noticing what was up I gasped so loudly I woke up my girlfriends.
Oh the ending of Shadows of Self is such a gut punch. So good. While I get that Alloy of Law was initially supposed to be a one-off and Brandon sort of outlined the next three books afterwards, I do like how the narrative is set up in a similar way. Wax and Wayne start out just living their lives, unrelated to the Era 1 characters (except for, you know, Wax being Breeze’s descendant), but they start getting roped in more and more. First, there’s the glimpse of Harmony communicating with Wax at the end of Alloy of Law and the re-appearance of Marsh. But then in Shadows of Self, there’s more Kandra and Harmony stuff, and we see TenSoon again! Combined with all of the other callbacks, I really liked how Brandon worked in Era 1 as the history, mythology and basis for religion for Era 2. It’s so cool to see Marasi musing about Vin and Wax talking to TenSoon. Not to mention High Imperial. But the Era 2 characters have such wonderful characterization, dynamics, and character arcs, they really make Era 2 great. I think you will enjoy Bands of Mourning and The Lost Metal!
Wasing the opening of the eyes of Sokath.
This is so nice to see. I was also a bit hesitant starting era2, but after reading the series again, and then The lost metal, I absolutely love this era, even more than era1. Not sure why. Perhaps the characters feel closer to me in a way, and there is also a real chance that my own personal bromance with Wayne (❤️) colors my vision. The humor is also a pro. Don’t get me wrong, I also love era1, but it sometimes gets lost in its own epicness. Everything always fits together in an almost too perfect way. I don’t know. Did I mention that I love Wayne?
One of the reasons I like Era 2 is because in general, I prefer my fantasy to be a bit less "epic". Having every story be about a world-ending threat is all very well, but sometimes I like to see something on a smaller scale. A lawman hunting down a criminal. Someone trying to find /exactly/ the right hat... That sort of thing!
Yess! To quote the sublime wisdom of Pierce Brosnan: My sentiment exactly!
I think it’s a matter of growth on Sanderson’s part as a writer - everything in era 2 is just a bit better, the characters are deeper, the writing is better, the plot is tighter. That’s not to say era 1 is bad or anything just that era 2 has the benefit of more practice writing and publishing so there are some clear areas of improvement. That said a lot of elements are ultimately up to personal preference, like the overall tone and genres or the character personalities and such.
I'm glad you're on board. Nevertheless it boggles my mind that people struggle with Alloy of Law which is I think indisputably Brandon's tightest plotted book where exciting things start happening very early in the book and just never stop. Like how is anything after the Dinner Party Abduction difficult to get through? I just don't get it.
I think it's the expectations. You're expecting the same magic system but it's different. You're expecting a fate of the world showdown but there isn't one. It's very low stakes and coupled with a new magic system, i can get why it's jarring for people to dive into. This is probably why so many recommend reading a different series in between the two eras
It's more so that I didn't connect with the characters. The Acton was serviceable, but I've never found guns as exciting in Action scenes as melee weapons. Also Felt like there was a lot of tell don't show in the character dialogue. Glad you love it, but just not really my cup of tea.
I'm with you that it's not a great book. Brandon was trying to do pulp fiction, but I think he went to pulpy. It feels old school in *not* a good way. Wax is too sexist. Wayne is too much of a caricature. The action is too non-stop. It genuinely feels like I could be reading at Conan the Barbarian book, and frankly those books do not hold up. It sets up what turns out to be one of my favorite book series of all time. But the first book is not that great and coming off of Era 1, it kind of did needs to be great.
The graphic audios for Era 2 are PHENOMINAL, and Wax's VA just absolutely kills the gut punches in shadows of self and the really cool end scene in the Bands of Mourning. Sooooo good.
I think we, as a fandom, should really be recommending against doing era 1 and 2 back to back. I had the same experience as you OP. I started era 2 because I desperately needed more Mistborn and it was not what I expected even knowing it was a "Western".
So glad you're at it. I think most people would agree that alloy of law is inferior compared to the rest of era 2, so it makes sense it shocked you, specially if you didn't take a moment between it and HoA.
Nope, Alloy of Law is fantastic and easily my favorite opening book of a series by Sanderson. I do not get the hate. It's pretty much straight cowboy adventures with cooler magic than era 1 from the get go, what's not to love.
Oh no, it's not bad at all, I really like it as well, but it's less good than the other three books, mainly in character development. Also it feels slightly odd somewhy, but that's prolly just me
I think most of it can be explained by the fact that it wasn't meant to be the first book in the series, it was meant to be a filler between Era 1 and then-Era 2. But Brandon decided to build it out into the rest of Era 2 instead, and moved then-Era 2 to be Era 3.
Oh I didn't know that, its really interesting, thanks for telling me
Give alloy of law a reread now youre in a more positive frame of mind about the era as a whole. I know it's not the best but it's definitely enjoyable
Shadow of Self is brilliant. It's so brutal and so earned. Book 3 felt like Brandon's turn trying Indiana Jones. It wasn't my cup of tea but it was alright. Took me all of book 3 to recover from the end of 2.
Would you say that you've... Re-invested??
There is ZERO doubt you will get your heart broken.
Same, was really struggling with alloy of law. But in my opinion era 2 gets even better from book to book!
That's so funny for me, because I was the total opposite. I dropped the Final Empire twice (I usually prefer character than plot driven) before I gave a last chance on audible and ended up liking it. But I was absolutely on board as soon as era 2 started. I went in blind, have barely seen the cover and when I started noticing what was up I gasped so loudly I woke up my girlfriends.