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adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
adventurous medium-paced

What happens when you jump 300 years into the same world you read and loved and the world has actually evolved into some new monstrosity?

The best way to describe this is: "wizard cowboys hit the block," which is completely different from the original trilogy of "Sauron won, now what?" I like how Sanderson isn't afraid to evolve this world to be virtually unrecognizable. This would be like if the Legacy or Old Republic Eras of Star Wars were actually different from mainstream Star Wars (don't tell me we still have the exact same technology 3000 years apart!). We don't often see this in secondary worlds and I love it. That being said, the magic system is the exact same as in the original Mistborn trilogy, which stays phenomenal. In fact, the evolution of technology to the industrial age makes it even MORE interesting. Those steelpushers are having a heyday with guns and all this metal. I like how both Wax and Wayne use their specific powers to solve problems and do some cool stuff, particularly when working together to combine powers.

Speaking of characters, you can tell this is just supposed to be a fun story. Wayne is hilarious and given so many mannerisms and quirks, he steals virtually every scene he is in. Two highlights are him infiltrating the constables to interrogate some criminals and him using three different disguises to trick the same guy three times in a single sequence. Sure, he has other layers to him (hats and stealing literature), but the shear fun of him is what makes him a standout. You can tell the writer had fun with him and I did too.

The villain of this book, Miles Hundredlives, was also great. How do you fight someone that cannot be killed and has indomitable will? More interestingly, he is a direct foil to Wax. Both were lawmen. Both are disillusioned with rampant corruption. Both are trying to fix the broken system, one from within and the other from without. Both refuse to give up. Both see themselves in their enemy and are thus both respectful and terrified of their opponent, yet... are also allured by the challenge. Loved the dynamic and was happy with all that the book was able to do with them only interacting twice in the entire novel.

I also enjoyed the romantic (?) parts of the story. Wax is in an arranged marriage and neither him nor his fiancé are interested in anything other than preserving their families' legacies. Thus a contract is made. I enjoyed this new take on having a romance without any romance (thus far), but still genuine care for the other individual. Granted, there was another contender for Wax's heart, but his casual and deliberate dismal-being fully aware of the age gap-was awesome.

Finally, the action was topnotch as is to be expected from a Sanderson novel.

In short, a fun trip through a unique fantasy environment and setting. Very much the opposite of its predecessor, this fun ride takes the world in a whole new direction.

2.5. I enjoyed it but felt underwhelmed at the same time. This book feels like a collection of tropes. Another reviewer mentioned the book feels inspired by Discworld and I agree. Unfortunately I wasn't a huge fan of Discworld either (it was ok). There's a lot of fun dialog but also cheesy dialog.
adventurous mysterious relaxing fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This was intriguing with all the twists and turns I read Sanderson for. I particularly enjoyed Marisai and Renault(sp?) and look forward to seeing more of them in future books- I hope. However, there were a few aspects that I found problematic.

Firstly, the portrayal of female characters was bleak. The way the acting was often cringe, and I didn't like that throughout the novel it felt like a 40 year old man was getting to choose between two 20 year old girls.

Secondly, the excessive praise and idolization of Wax by other characters became tiresome.

Lastly, I have internal conflict regarding Wayne's backstory given he's in the role of a main hero and the comic relief.

3 stars

A medida que voy leyendo más del autor se me van acabando los buenos calificativos para describir lo muchísimo que me gustan, me atrapan y me apasionan sus novelas. "Alloy of Law" no ha sido diferente.

Sí que es verdad que no me ha parecido tan buena y compleja como la trilogía principal. En Alloy of Law ya tenemos tanta información de la primera trilogía, que se centra más en la acción y menos a darnos nuevos datos, que sí, también los hay, pero en muchísima menos cantidad. Para muchas personas a las que les han llegado a parecer densos en ocasiones los anteriores libros esto es una buena noticia, porque hace que el libro sea muy rápido y ágil, lleno de giros y escenas de acción. En ocasiones me ha llegado a parecer un poco "peliculero", en el buen sentido de la palabra.
Y hablando de los giros... Cuando crees que Sanderson no te puede sorprender más, va y te saca un "plot twist" que te deja seco en el sitio. Y por eso, y a pesar de que soy muy fan de esos tochos llenos de información... Este libro es TAN DIVERTIDO sin dejar atrás esa complejidad del mundo, que me ha conquistado.

Los personajes me han gustado todos. Y cuando digo todos, es todos. Y de nuevo me ha hecho empatizar muchísimo con el "villano", Miles me ha parecido un personaje brutal y su lucha bastante comprensible.

Lo que más me ha gustado de esta novela ha sido la capacidad que ha tenido Sanderson de evolucionar su mundo en lugar de dejarlo estático en una eterna "Edad Media fantástica" como hacen muchos otros autores. Tampoco es que lo segundo sea malo, pero yo personalmente nunca he visto algo así, y me ha sorprendido ver que ese paso hacia adelante no ha hecho que la saga pierda su magia, sino que le ha dado muchos otros puntos de interés. El sistema de magia se adapta perfectamente a los nuevos tiempos y encuentra nuevas maneras de ser útil.

Voy a dejar de hacerle la pelota al señor Sanderson y a decir que... ¡Estoy deseando leer el siguiente!
librukie's profile picture

librukie's review

5.0

4.5

RELECTURA


Si algo bueno tiene mi memoria nefasta es que muchas veces disfruto las relecturas de ciertos libros como si fuese la primera vez que los leo. Algo así me ha pasado con "Aleación de ley", cuarto libro en la serie de "Mistborn" y primero de la Segunda Era, trescientos años después de la Primera.

Un libro muy cortito para lo que Sanderson nos tiene acostumbrados y quizá algo introductorio precisamente por su misión: servirnos de puente entre la primera trilogía de Mistborn y la segunda, que finalizará este mismo año.
Ha sido un gustazo volver a este Scadrial industrializado, donde se empiezan a sembrar las semillas del progreso y la acción adquiere un tinte nuevo al meter en la ecuación armas de fuego y algunos cambios en los poderes alománticos.

Si bien tiene un tono y ritmo bastante diferentes a la primera Era, su ambientación y sus personajes no se quedan atrás en absoluto. Con una narrativa que va más al grano y con algún que otro tinte más humorístico, puede ser la historia perfecta para aquellos a los que la primera se les haya hecho un poquito densa en algunos puntos.
Son historias muy diferentes, pero creo que ambas comparten esencia y calidad, y a mi personalmente me gustan por igual. Si bien creo (y siempre digo) que "El imperio final" siempre va a tener un lugar especial en mi corazón por ser el primero... No creo que esta Segunda Era tenga demasiado que envidiarle.

Seguiré dándole caña a los siguientes para llegar a tiempo a "El metal perdido" con todo bien fresquito.
adventurous dark funny mysterious fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
adventurous fast-paced