The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I have been a fan of Brandon Sanderson ever since I read his first novel Elantris when it came out. Sanderson consistently delivers on fantastically imaginative worldbuilding, detailed and logically consistent magic systems and careful plotting. He has his faults as a writer, his characters can be a little flat and his writing style is generally more workmanlike than ostentatious. But every book he writes (and he writes so many) he grows as an author.
Alloy of Law is the first book in a series that follows three hundred years after his excellent Mistborn trilogy with a new cast of characters. In this novel Sanderson works his worldbuilding magic to develop the world of Scadriel from its oppressed Dark-ages ashen hellscape it was in the earlier books to a technological level reminiscent of Victorian England. We have trains and guns and industrialization and we see the ways that the metal-powered magic systems of the world of Mistborn have developed. Part of the joy of the story is seeing this development pay off, so it is better to have read the original Mistborn novels before this one, but it is not necessary and if you had trouble getting in to the earlier novels I would still suggest giving this one a try.
This story is an adventure story in a lighter and less serious tone than the earlier Mistborn novels, we have more playfulness and smaller scale stakes. The main characters Wax and Wayne play off of each other in a delightful and exciting way and I found their introductions and characterization throughout to be fun and well-executed. Wayne is a manifestation of the wild west lawman archtype with a side of Sherlock Holmes problem solving and a handful of magical powers, while Wayne is a surprising foil to Wayne’s Holmes with his lower class humor, impersonation skills and his own magic powers.
The plotting is tight and the pacing is fast, the story progresses quickly and everything comes together in the conclusion in a cascade of plot twists and revelations at the end that pays everything off and suggests mysteries to be revealed in the following stories.
Comments
Well … it sounds like I will have to give Sanderson another chance. I read Elantris and was very disappointed. He is SUCH a good world-builder, but the writing and characterization was hard for me to get past. I’ve never seen fans of his acknowledge that before, so … I am more inclined to trust your opinion than anyone else’s. 😉
(And so excited to see a post from you! Yay!)
Author
I’ve been writing reviews on Goodreads this year, I figured I should probably dust the blog off and post some of them here. I’ve been doing some cleaning up and redesign on the website.
I’m glad you are happy to see me post even if I did use the word delightful 5 times in one paragraph and that you are willing to give Brandon Sanderson another chance, he’s done some of the best contemporary fantasy novels I’ve read. He’s phenomenal from a world building and plotting perspective. I have come to realize that I have a high tolerance for bland characterization and writing in the context of a good world and story.
Ack … see, to me, I can admire a world built beautifully, but it is not a STORY without characters. I felt he came *so close*, that it was almost an injustice to him and his story to publish Elantris as it was. It could have been GREAT. As it was, I would have given him a B in a writing class. If I was his personal writing friend I would’ve kicked his rear in gear before submitting that thing.
That is my little rant about Sanderson.
Author
I do believe that Sanderson has been improving at characterization. Elantris was definitely his weakest book. And I can see that there are similar problems in Warbreaker and to a degree the first Mistborn trilogy. I think that Way of Kings and the Alloy of Law series in particular show definite improvement (though I can still find some fault, I just hope it’s enough improvement that you can enjoy it.)