A review by flyingfox02
The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson

adventurous mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I needed to step away from literary fiction for a moment, and this fast-paced plot-driven book is just what I was looking for.

The Alloy of Law is a Mistborn book set hundreds of years after the first trilogy. I'm not quite sure, but I think this book is not part of the next series, but rather an introduction to the main characters of the next series, Wax and Wayne.

Although it's a fantasy novel, it feels more like a detective novel. There is not much world-building at all, as we've read a lot about it in the first trilogy. Scadrial has now matured and grown, and has become more like our normal world during the Industrial era. There's guns, trains, and electricity. There's also people with Allomantic powers (like Wax and Wayne) but no one is a Mistborn anymore.

The story is fun and entertaining but not particularly gripping. The dynamic between Wax and Wayne is something we've seen many times before. Wax the mysterious man with a tragic history that haunts him, Wayne his sidekick and trusted friend that brings humour to everything.

There's also a third main character in Lady Marasi, who will probably also feature heavily in the next books. She is young and inexperienced in crime-fighting, but strong and determined. 

One thing I didn't like. Marasi feels like a protege of Wax's, so I didn't like the underlying romance dynamic between them. It felt forced and was unnecessary. Especially given the history that Wax's wife of a decade had just been murdered not a year before. I wasn't expecting them to be the new Kelsier and Vin, but I would've liked and I hope to see in the next books, of their relationship going in the direction of mentor-protege rather than lovers.

I didn't have high expectations for this book, but I'm hoping the next one will be a lot more fun.