Brandon Sanderson is ridiculous. He’s all, here’s a surprise novella, and no big deal, the entire thing is made up of such game-changing ridiculous nonsense, you won’t even think it’s real as you’re reading it! You know, just been writing it since 2004 and stuff. It only gives you the most information on the Cosmere that has been released yet. It only changes a shit ton of stuff we assumed about the original trilogy and the Wax and Wayne books. NBD.
Make no mistake here. You should absolutely not read this book unless you have read all the Mistborn books. He just reveals a whole bunch of shit up in here that he’s been keeping an unbelievably tight lid on for years, and it will ruin the intended flow of the story if you read it before you finish Bands of Mourning.
I don’t think this book will appeal to everyone, even those who’ve read all the Mistborn books. First of all, it’s way more piecemeal than anything else Sanderson has written, which he’s aware of, per the author’s notes at the end. So it’s not quite a novel both in terms of length (it’s not really a novella, too long, but not contemporary novel-length, either) and in terms of content. This story absolutely cannot stand on its own in any way–it’s a companion piece. Characters, events, ideas, are all dependent on you knowing and remembering details from his past books (including non-Mistborn Cosmere books like Elantris and his short Cosmere novellas like “Shadows For Silence in the Forests of Hell”).
With that said, how cool is this shit? I thought we would have to wait a lot longer to see Sanderson dive into the Cosmere of it all, but he’s actually starting to weave all the connections more and more into his books.
No spoilers here, but, certain people will be VERY pleased with what transpires at the very end of Bands of Mourning, and continued in this novella. Like I said: game-changer.
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