Book Review: Shadows of Self

Shadows of Self by Brandon Sanderson

Mistborn series book 5 (Book 2 in the Wax and Wayne Arc, Book 1 in the Wax and Wayne Trilogy)

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Shadows of Self continues the story of Waxillium Ladrian,(Just love that name :)) and his sidekick Wayne. 
This Flintlock Fantasy is a continuation in the Mistborn world, and answers that age old fantasy lovers question of what would a world with magic be like during an Industrial Revolution

Sanderson mixes up the boundaries of genres with this, I would label it Flintlock Fantasy, part fantasy, part western, part mystery and part detective story. 

Taking place 300 years after our heroes saved the world the first time around, readers get to see the evolution of Scadrial.  I loved the story, and the characters, with this second book,  Wayne though still a sidekick, developed more as a character, and is starting to move from sidekick status to equal hero on his own.  
Like any Sanderson book, there are twists and turns and surprises! Cosmere hints and a few throwbacks to the first three Mistborn books, will delight fans of Sanderson and the Mistborn world.

Mistborn unlike many epic fantasy's was lacking in an elaborate legends and myths, but with Shadows of Self, we get to see how the initial trilogy is the basis for the Myth, legends, and religions of the world, it will be interesting to see where this goes as the Mistborn world moves from Industrial Revolution, to the planned additional series, of Urban Fantasy, and Sci-Fi. 

 I suggest new readers start with The Alloy of Law, before reading this book. It does add to the experience if you have also read the the 3 book Epic Fantasy Series Mistborn,  but this series can easily be read without that as a standalone series. 

Details:
Series: Mistborn, book 5.  Book 2 in the Wax and Wayne Story Arc, Book 1 in the Wax and Wayne TrilogyPublished October 6th 2015 by Tor Books
Brandon Sanderson’s Shadows of Self debuts at number 5. on the New York Times Best Sellers Combined Print and E-Book Fiction List for  Oct 18, 2015 - Nov 1, 2015, and number 8 on the Hardcover Fiction list.

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Book Review: Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson

Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Words of Radiance  by Brandon Sanderson is the second book in the Stormlight Archive series, where The Way of Kings built a great world, and a fantastic story, Words of Radiance (WoR) soared to new heights and depths in fantasy, and genre fiction.

Words of Radiance is NOT a stand alone, this is one where you do have to read the first book.

Read my review of the physical book and artwork: The Words of Radiance: A Work of Art.

Synopsis review of The Way of Kings Book one in The Stormlight Archive:

The Way of Kings (TWoK) is a brilliant start to a proposed ten book epic fantasy series. It has all the epic essentials and archtypes; a young boy, and a young girl, a Hero's Journey, and a Heroines Quest, A Fallen Hero, Good vs. Evil and the expected fantasy huge cast of characters.

But Sanderson doesn’t stop there like any fantasy there is detailed world-building. Sanderson's world is vibrant and teeming with; diverse flora and fauna, fantastical beasts, unique cultures, court intrigue and politics, history, mythology. Oh and he manages to expertly add in foreshadowing, red-herrings, Chekov's guns, plot twists (Well, more like twists, turns, twirls and flips).

What is missing from TWoK is much of the epic fantasy pitfalls. The story, characters and world have depth and are full, without tedious exposition. There is a lack of info-dumps, long descriptive 'journey' chapters, and no characters feel flat or there just for plot effect.

TWoK was full, it took all the tropes of epic fantasy and turned them upside down, pushed them to new levels, it was epic it was amazing.
Words of Radiance (WoR) is the second book in The Stormlight Archive where The Way of Kings (TWoK) built a great world, and a fantastic story, Words of Radiance soared to new heights and depths in fantasy, and genre fiction.

On to a No Spoilers Review of Words of Radiance:

WoR has everything mentioned above in the TWoK review synopsis, and then more times 10. WoR is an intense read. Sanderson has delivered with Words of Radiance. WoR goes above and beyond expectations, this is an action packed fast paced book(All 1088 pages of it!) with intensity and depth.

Where TWok was a book that hooks a reader to the story and the world, WoR is a character book. In the first book we are introduced too and learn to really like one, all or many of the characters. WoR immerses the reader in an emotional tension filled relationship with the main characters, and many of the non-POV characters. Sanderson takes the reader beyond the interest and standard fan-squeee for the story of his heroes and heroines, to the point where as the reader you are emotionally invested in their lives, struggles and successes.

I could write paragraphs on each of the different characters and how awesome and brilliantly they are written. It would probably take a research paper to describe all of the literary and fantasy tropes, that Sanderson has used brilliantly while completely changing them and making them new and exciting.

In addition to pushing epic fantasy into new and exciting directions,(including genre publishing) Sanderson has broken long held canon on fantasy character portrayals and world building. This is no orphan goes on a journey and saves the world fantasy, it is oh, so much more. The Stormlight Archive is an obvious must read for any epic fantasy fans, but I would recommend this book to anyone that likes an in-depth story with great characters.

Read Brandon's article,  Words of Radiance and the Art of Creating Epic Fantasy

"Whether you've been hyped for Words of Radiance or not, you are not prepared for how fantastic it is."  - Rob Bricken
Read more of this fantastic review over at io9.com: Words of Radiance puts the "epic" back in epic fantasy

Links:

Stormlight Archive on Tor.com 

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Book Review: The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson

The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson


My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Though the The Emperor's Soul is set in the same world as Elantris, it is a stand alone story, and requires no knowledge of his worlds.
This short Novella is brilliantly done, and an example of how versatile Sanderson's writing is, and how he continues to push the boundaries and will continue to be one of the authors that takes fantasy to new levels.

Having read all of his other books, in some ways it felt odd to have such a small book, without the in-depth world building, but Sanderson still manages to fill his world with a fascinating and unique magic system, interesting characters, and a unique world.

Picking up a book for a new author can be risky and daunting when many of Sanderson's books run between 500 and 1000 pages. The Emperor's Soul is a fantastic book to introduce any new readers to Sanderson's worlds and writing.

The main character Shai, is not heroic in the same vein as many fantasies, but this unique take on creativity and art as an heroic trait is brilliant and has such a great new feel to it.

Though the story is fully complex and complete, I did wish, not for more of this story but for the more all-encompassing look into this creativity concept, that a 1000 page book would have had. The length of the book also limited this to a single point of view, which worked well for this book, but in some ways is a tease, since the other characters were still so interesting you want to know them better.


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