The Alloy of Law

I finally moved on to the second Mistborn trilogy and was the first book ever fun!

The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Content: Clean


Taking place centuries after the first Mistborn trilogy, The Alloy of Law is set in a time period similar to the old west with guns and trains. I'm not a fan of straight up westerns, but add in a fantasy twist and it works for me, just like Firefly worked for me as a space opera western. I used to watch the TV show The Wild Wild West, well I watched the reruns anyway, and in some ways this book reminded me of that show. It was just a whole lot of fun with the right amount of humor thrown in. Wax and Wayne were great as buddies. I loved that they always had each other's backs, and I liked them almost as much as the great Riyria duo Royce and Hadrian.

Wax is a refreshingly older character in his 40s who has been a lawman out in the Roughs. After a tragic death that he blames himself for, he decides that part of his life is over, and when some robberies and kidnappings start taking place he repeatedly tells himself he is not going to get involved. Wax has reluctantly come home to the city to finally take over his family estate after the death of his uncle but the estate is left almost penniless so Wax decides to marry into a family with money.

In comes Steris, who has plenty of money but needs social standing so she agrees to marry Wax and produces a contract that is absolutely ridiculous and funny at the same time. Hopefully Steris will learn to relax as she is incredibly uptight. There isn't a lot of her in this book, but enough that I'm interested in reading more about her in later installments.

Then there is her "cousin" Marasi. I loved Marasi. She is smart, resourceful, and is an excellent shot with a rifle. She honestly would be the perfect match for Wax, I'm kind of shipping these two at this point even though Wax intends to marry Steris. I can't wait to see what develops with these relationships in the next two books.

Wayne is laugh out loud funny at times. He worked out in the Roughs with Wax. He is a master of disguise and he can imitate any accent. He also has this funny habit of "trading" things. Instead of outright stealing from people, he will take something and leave something else in its place, and I couldn't help but laugh at some of the trades. He also is obsessed with hats, one in particular in this book.

Sanderson has created a world and characters in this second era Mistborn trilogy that I like even better than the first. Although I loved The Final Empire, and loved a lot of things about The Well of Ascension, the first trilogy bored me at times and I felt some of the characters became a little stale, especially in the third book which I only rated 3 stars. This book is very different in tone, with the first trilogy being on the epic scale and feel, and this one being lighter and more fun. That makes it actually kind of hard to compare the two. Although I know a lot of people will disagree with me, I personally prefer Sanderson when he is lighter and more fun.

I enjoyed the references to the old characters from the first trilogy and I found the religions that have cropped up interesting. There were a couple of surprises thrown in this book that I didn't see coming. That was one of the best epilogues I've read in a while and it has left me really eager to read more.
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