The Lost Metal (Mistborn Era 2 Book 4) - Brandon Sanderson

⭐ 6.0/10

(Originally written by Tim)

It's been a long time since the previous Mistborn book, but I have not really loved any of this second era. For those who have read the original Mistborn trilogy, this is a 4 book sequel series that takes place a couple hundred years later. Think mistborn powers but with guns and evolving technology, a cool idea that never really landed for me.

I have a ton of negatives here, but I do love Brandon's worldbuilding still. The way technology effects the magical powers, and vice versa, especially as technology evolves, is a really cool idea and I like how scientific he gets with it. As much as Rhythm of War bored me, the deep dive into the magic of that world was satisfying and memorable to me. In this book the world is rapidly changing, and the politics of the first section were interesting to me.

Unfortunately it was downhill from there. Plot is the typical ""bad guy has nuclear bomb and wants to blow up the city to help humanity progress and we must stop them and prove our city has value", AKA The Dark Knight Rises. This book also features the single most annoying character of all time - Wayne. Wayne is the partner of Waxillium (Wax and Wayne, get it *eye roll*). All of Brandon's funny characters are juvenile and not funny at all. Brandon is clearly a dad with young boys, and while his humour has never been good he is completely off the rails here. Every single line is a quip, often with innuendo or some sort of gross-out factor, and it is so tiring. Think Lopen or Lift on steroids. But of course we also see the darker side, the depression he is feeling, and the glorious redemption. The arcs of his characters are all the same, which probably happens when you write three books a year.

So ya, Wayne is the worst and this book and mainly about him, so bad. The other main complaint here is the Cosmere tie-ins. I really like the world Brandon has built, and the easter eggs scattered everywhere. This book suffers because it is an unfulfilling finale to a series that is basically just a launch pad for the next era of Cosmere books. It is full of universe-building characters and plot points, so much that I was reminded of Marvel movies stuffing in Leo-pointing-at-screen memes instead of writing actual good stories. I am excited for the future of the Cosmere, but this was less a book and more a wikipedia page of Cosmere data points.

I love Sanderson, and it pains me that I haven't read anything I like from him in a couple years, despite the quantity of his works. Isn't there some saying about quality vs quantity? He is ambitious, and a genuine sweetheart who loves his fans and does so much for them. Maybe as his next gift he can actually take a normal amount of time to finish Book 5 of Stormlight and restore my faith in him.