Review: Shadows of Self

Author: Brandon Sanderson
Pages: 383
Star Rating: ✪✪✪✪

Synopsis for book one

Three hundred years after the events of the Mistborn trilogy, Scadrial is now on the verge of modernity, with railroads to supplement the canals, electric lighting in the streets and the homes of the wealthy, and the first steel-framed skyscrapers racing for the clouds.

Kelsier, Vin, Elend, Sazed, Spook, and the rest are now part of history—or religion. Yet even as science and technology are reaching new heights, the old magics of Allomancy and Feruchemy continue to play a role in this reborn world. Out in the frontier lands known as the Roughs, they are crucial tools for the brave men and women attempting to establish order and justice.

One such is Waxillium Ladrian, a rare Twinborn who can Push on metals with his Allomancy and use Feruchemy to become lighter or heavier at will.

After twenty years in the Roughs, Wax has been forced by family tragedy to return to the metropolis of Elendel. Now he must reluctantly put away his guns and assume the duties and dignity incumbent upon the head of a noble house. Or so he thinks, until he learns the hard way that the mansions and elegant tree-lined streets of the city can be even more dangerous than the dusty plains of the Roughs.

My thoughts

I felt like I enjoyed this book a little more than the first book now I know what the characters are like and how different they are against the first trilogy. I found a few of the characters were starting to develop a little more and I started to understand them better.

One of the things I really liked were the fact we get more of the back stories of Wax and Wayne. I love Wayne as a character, he is extremely funny and this helps when the tensions are getting to high.

The plot in this book picked up a lot more compared to the first book in the series, and you see more of how the first series is linked with this trilogy. The middle was a little slow, in my opinion but the last part of the book picked up and grabbed my attention. I will be picking up the last book soon to complete the series and I am looking forward to it.

have you read this book? what did you think, let me know in the comments below

-Happy reading
xoxo

Book Review – The Alloy of Law

Author: Brandon Sanderson
Pages: 325
Star Rating: ✪✪✪✪

Synopsis

Three hundred years after the events of the Mistborn trilogy, Scadrial is now on the verge of modernity, with railroads to supplement the canals, electric lighting in the streets and the homes of the wealthy, and the first steel-framed skyscrapers racing for the clouds.

Kelsier, Vin, Elend, Sazed, Spook, and the rest are now part of history—or religion. Yet even as science and technology are reaching new heights, the old magics of Allomancy and Feruchemy continue to play a role in this reborn world. Out in the frontier lands known as the Roughs, they are crucial tools for the brave men and women attempting to establish order and justice.

One such is Waxillium Ladrian, a rare Twinborn who can Push on metals with his Allomancy and use Feruchemy to become lighter or heavier at will.

After twenty years in the Roughs, Wax has been forced by family tragedy to return to the metropolis of Elendel. Now he must reluctantly put away his guns and assume the duties and dignity incumbent upon the head of a noble house. Or so he thinks, until he learns the hard way that the mansions and elegant tree-lined streets of the city can be even more dangerous than the dusty plains of the Roughs.

My thoughts

This book didn’t grip me as the original trilogy did, the beginning was a little slow, but it did pick up towards the middle and the end of the book. Don’t get me wrong I still enjoyed myself when reading this book and I enjoyed getting to know the characters of this new series.

Waxillium – Is an honourable character who has been through some things in his past. I really enjoyed this character.

Wayne – He is a very witty and loyal to Waxillium. He brings the humour to the story and compliments Wax amazingly. I love the dynamic between the two characters

Marasi – She is a strong character who takes what she wants into her own hands and doesn’t let Wax tell her she can’t do something. I really want to see how this character develops throughout the story.

I will continue on with the series, I love the way Brandon Sanderson tells writes the stories he is telling.

Review: The Hero of Ages

Author: Brandon Sanderson
Pages: 848
Star Rating: ✪✪✪✪✪

| Synopsis for the first book in the series |

A thousand years ago evil came to the land and has ruled with an iron hand ever since. The sun shines fitfully under clouds of ash that float down endlessly from the constant eruption of volcanoes. A dark lord rules through the aristocratic families and ordinary folk are condemned to lives in servitude, sold as goods, labouring in the ash fields.

But now a troublemaker has arrived and there is rumour of revolt. A revolt that depends on criminal that no-one can trust and a young girl who must master Allomancy – the magic that lies in all metals.

| My Thoughts |

This was an amazing ending for the series. I don’t want to spoil anything for the series, but it was such a satisfying way to end. The characters all continued to grow and the world continued to develop and all the plots came to end.

Again this was another book that pulled on my emotions and I am a little upset this has now ended. There is another trilogy linked to this series so I can not wait to continue with this shortly. I am reading all Brandon Sanderson’s books in order so Warbreaker is my next read.

| Reviews so far |

Elantris
The Hope for Elantris
The Emporer’s Soul
The Final Empire
The Well of Ascension
Skyward

If you have read anything by Brandon Sanderson, let me know what you thought of it in the comments below.

Happy Reading
xox

Review: Skyward

Author: Brandon Sanderson
Pages: 510
Star Rating: ✪✪✪✪✪

Synopsis:

Spensa’s world has been under attack for hundreds of years. An alien race called the Krell leads onslaught after onslaught from the sky in a never-ending campaign to destroy humankind. Humanity’s only defence is to take to their ships and fight the enemy in the skies. Pilots have become the heroes of what’s left of the human race.

Spensa has always dreamed of being one of them; of soaring above Earth and proving her bravery. But her fate is intertwined with her father’s – a pilot who was killed years ago when he abruptly deserted his team, placing Spensa’s chances of attending flight school somewhere between slim and none.

No one will let Spensa forget what her father did, but she is still determined to fly. And the Krell just made that a possibility. They’ve doubled their fleet, making Spensa’s world twice as dangerous . . . but their desperation to survive might just take her skyward . . .

My Thoughts:

I really like the main character Spensa, she is a very determined girl and she doesn’t let anything stop her. The plot is really intriguing and kept me turning the pages throughout. 

The hints towards the story behind her father turning into a deserter are really interesting and when everything came to light, it really tied everything together, it helped me to understand why everyone was acting like they were towards Spensa. #

The commander is my least favourable character throughout, we do learn a little more about her as the story progresses but it isn’t enough as yet to make me warm up towards her.

I loved the writing in this book as I always do with Brandon Sanderson’s books I have read. He puts so much detail into the little characters that are in any plot or subplot, every character he writes has so much about them that he made one of my favourite characters in this book be the spaceship. Brandon Sanderson made me get emotional over a spaceship.

I can’t wait to get the next book in the series, I hope I like it as much as I like this one.

Review: The Well of Ascension

Author: Brandon Sanderson
Pages: 763
Star Rating: ✪✪✪✪✪

Synopsis

Vin, the street urchin who has grown into the most powerful Mistborn in the land, and Elend Venture, the idealistic young nobleman who loves her, must build a healthy new society in the ashes of an empire. Three separate armies attack. As the siege tightens, an ancient legend seems to offer a glimmer of hope. But even if it really exists, no one knows where to find the Well of Ascension or what manner of power it bestows.

My Thoughts

You can check out my review for The Final Empire here and my review for Elantris here. I thought this book was very politically driven. The beginning of this book was very slow to get into but once it picked up like I always find with Brandon Sanderson, it picked up really quickly. The strong relationships are still there between characters and I really enjoyed the fact that with Vin and Eland the relationship was tested, I like the way Brandon Sanderson dealt with this. 

I really enjoy Brandon Sanderson’s writing and I have enjoyed all the books/short stories I have read by him. I am going to continue on with these books throughout this year.

Let me know if you have read this book/series and what did you think about it?