A review by jjwilbourne
The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson

adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

The spin-off is never as good as the original, right? That’s an immutable rule of entertainment. There is the rare exception, but when I dived into The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson, I anticipated that the rule to uphold. Sure, I expected the story to be solid, good even. But stand tall with the original trilogy? Unlikely.

Set 300 years after the events of The Hero of Ages, the world has changed. Allomancy has diminished but with the rise of the industrial era, the world has been built anew with trains, electricity, and gun powder. Away from all the shinny advancements, are the Roughs—the untamed outskirts of the modern world. And out in the Roughs, no one is a better lawman than Waxillium Ladrian. When he’s called home to the city to take on the mantle of a lord, Waxillium thinks he’s destined to hoister his guns for good until a string of elaborate robberies forces him to take on a private investigation with his old partner, Wayne, in order to save the life of his betrothed.

The first thing that struck me about this novel was how comparatively short it is compared to the first trilogy. On one hand, I was disappointed that I wouldn’t be getting the meaty novel I’ve come to expect from Sanderson, but on the other hand, I was excited to have a faster-paced novel to slot in with some of the other chunkers I planned to read. As it turns out, the Allomantic action sequences of the first three novels are even more fun when the pacing of the story is tighter, encouraging me to binge read the story like a 10-episode season of whatever new Disney+ Marvel story is dropping next.

Like most Cosmere novels, the plot’s twists and turns are intellectually engaging. I found myself trying to solve the puzzles of the novel as the clues were presented to me. Like a well-tuned detective novel, the story managed to fool me on more than one occasion!

Our primary cast is also a joy. Wax, Wayne, and Marasi were fun to watch together, and I’m hoping that the WMW crew reunite for the next installment. Each of the characters had a distinct personality, and their backstories were absolutely marvelous.

I couldn’t be happier to be back in the Mistborn world, and if you loved the first three novels, I’d definitely dive into this sequel series. While spin-offs are often complete misses, this one’s a hit.