Phew this was a lot. This builds heavily on the first two books and I think the series keeps getting better. This is the history of the future world, which would look like paradise if we saw it, on the brink of war. How does a hyper interconnected world that has forgotten war, start a war?

I don't know what I can say without giving plot away. If you hated the previous ones, you'll hate this. If you enjoyed them, this one is that but better.

Definite pick. Read this right after Too Like The Lightning. They really should've been one book, many quirks and issues I had with book 1 get resolved by book 2, as they're two halves of one narrative. I'm looking forward to seeing where the series goes from here.

Okay, this follow up to the first book is so so needed. So many pieces in Too Like The Lightning get resolved here. Pieces that had no pay off in book 1 are getting their payoff. I'd highly recommend reading the two back to back.

I'm torn on pick vs pan. The parts I liked, I quite liked! But then the narration veers heavily into WTF am I reading right now? Then back to story and plot and intrigue and mystery and world building. It's a very confusing book. The first section had me wondering if I was just too dumb to understand, but got better from there, but then ends more like part 1 than book 1. Despite that, it's very interesting and different, so I'm moving on to #2.

About a sixth through this and... It's weird. Interesting. Futuristic. Some bits are maybe problematic, though I think there's potential world building which explains it away.

For the first 5-10% though, the narrative is awkward. Might be better read vs listened (I'm listening and have wanted to reference stuff 5-10 mins earlier). It seems to be getting better though so I'll stick with it at least a bit longer.

This was a lot of fun. Very different from most of Sanderson's work. Not in the cosmere at all, not connected to anything else in fact. MC starts with amnesia and we learn about them as they learn about themselves. This was the funniest Sanderson book I've read. Multiple laugh out loud moments for me.

4.5 stars. Good writing, nice character growth, left room for a sequel, not enough talking bananas.

This had an interesting premise, covers multi tier caste of mages, in a magical steam punk period. And I couldn't really get into it. I think the last 25% was the best part of it, but it didn't engage me enough to want book two.

Wow this was dark. This was a really interesting take on a post apocalyptic world. If all that remains of humanity is in one giant fallout shelter, how do you keep going? What rules are in place? What happens when something goes wrong?

Interesting, thought provoking, and Oh So Dark & Depressing. I need something light after this.

This was adorable! Two narratives converge to save a very small slice of the world. Nina, a girl growing up in Texas with family stories of animal people, and Ali, a cottonmouth snake animal person growing up in the reflecting world, a parallel world to earth. Really charming, wonderful world building around animal people and leaves me wanting more.

A+, would recommend, this is a happy little story about an adventurer who retires, opens a coffee shop, makes friends and has a good life. There's a little bit of mystery, there's coffee, friendships, a jerk or two, a bunch of good happy people, and a big cat. As it was winding up I teared up (which I also did at the end of my neighbor Totoro. This is kinda in that same emotional space).

Appropriately, I finished over morning coffee. ☕

That wired article had some amusing points. Sanderson is a nerd who likes to geek out about his interests! But they're not interesting beyond him! Relatable! He writes so much because he has a strong need and is an insomniac. Makes sense and unsurprising. The rest of it though.... Phew.

Just started this and so far it's really cute! About 1/4 in and it's a low stress new business owner branching out from old adventuring life and making friends. There are hints of future trouble so far but the stakes are happily low. People learn about the wonder beverage that is... Coffee. 😃

Hmm, on sale on Kindle for $2. The author describes it as their "Indo-Persian cyberpunk novel with a progression magic system" This wasn't on my backlog but I guess it is now ?

This was a ton of fun! Fantastic world building, djinn and other magical entities roam the world, having been released / brought to our world by an Egyptian mystic in the 1800s. Steampunk + magic + lead roles are women + light romance + djinn + period piece dealing with colonialism and the lead up to WW1? If that sounds like a lot, it is, and it came together great.

This was my first entry into fiction based on Mexican folklore and it was really good! It felt like a really nice modern take on the heroes journey and did a great job explaining how the old gods could wane, how different pantheons could exist in different places, how worship is needed for the gods to have power, especially sacrifices. None of the lore dump or explanations felt forced, and you could relate to everyone, even dislikable characters.

This was a lot of fun! Coming of age story for a girl who doesn't quite fit in where she is, discovers she has some magic in her, finds a new home aaaand it has its own problems. I loved the world building, the characters, and the ending leaves it in a state where I want more (hello book 2).

Amusingly, this is the second book in a row that has referenced drinking kas (for varying spellings). I'll have to have some to celebrate!

This was a really nice take on folk tales come real. The book tackles old ways vs new, old gods and christian missionaries, in the frozen north of Russia, with some political intrigue and superstition of witches. I really liked this take. Same vein as spinning silver but with a darker narrative.

This was a lot of fun! A story narrated by Hoid covering new ground in the cosmere and overlapping with bits. We learn some stuff about Hoid! Some stuff about other world hoppers. The story itself was great, I

Dovetails really well with the themes in Nomad Century. Cities are mutable and survive based on their infrastructure and political will. There's sort of a boom/bust cycle and deurbanism is an evolution that comes out of a need, or cities becoming too expensive. A key point is that cities are rarely actually lost, more that they evolve over time. Interesting insights and links, this has more food for thought than a "this will/must happen" bent.

This was the best of the Era 2 novels, I think. Best of the character development, still action packed and the most world building we've seen. At this point, Mistborn is solidifying connections to the rest of the Cosmere and making clear that it's a core world. You may want to refresh on Emperor's Soul, Elantris, and Secret History before getting into this one.

Just started on this and already getting vibes overlapping with Nomad Century & An edible history of humanity. I'm hoping for some interesting take aways w.r.t. modern cities!

Finished! Now on to The Lost Metal!

Some stories were better than others (as all anthologies), but Emperor's Soul, Secret History, and Edgedancer we're my faves. Everything added to the overall cosmere, and the in between notes were really really interesting to see.

Optional cosmere read but rounds out other stories. Would recommend if the background & science of the magic appeals to you.

I'm not crying. You're crying.

This book has a different take on purgatory than I've seen. Very grounded. If you take away the trappings of the world, can you be a better person? Can you grow? Imagine if scrooge died and the ghosts only visited him afterwards. It's kind of like that, with lovable characters all around. In a way, it's also a lot like the house in the cerulean sea, only it's more emotional. At least it was for me.

At its core, this is a book about a mother trying to save her son against a system that wants them dead and gone. She happens to be a book eater, a being who eats books, internalizes the words and gains the knowledge inside. That is sustenance, normal food doesn't do it for them.

The core story is interesting, jumping between periods of Devin's life. I wish we had more details about book eaters, where they came from, and an epilogue.

Finished both Sixth of the Dusk & Shadows for Silence in the forest of hell. Both interesting! Very different cosmere stories! At the moment they're pretty stand alone, though Sixth of the Dusk highlights the interesting "chickens" shown in Rhythm of War. I don't think there are other connections (yet) and I have a strong guess as to who the sky people are. Interesting stories but not central to the cosmere yet.

Just finished secret history and I hope there's a sequel!

Gave a view into the afterlife and shadesmar from a different planet (Scadriel). If you finished Bands of Mourning and the epilogue had you wondering, wait what? Read Secret History (it's in arcanum unbound, but also elsewhere). Required reading if you wanna get the full picture of the cosmere.

A series of heists! A charming leader and crew! Little orphan boys! It's got what I would expect to like and yet somehow didn't do it for me. It wasn't bad, as much as it felt like a lot of book for less than I would've expected. There are interesting hints of rich world that we only get snippets of. Same with character building and backstory. I would've liked it far more if it was half the size.

Going through this to get the Mistborn stories and just finished The Emperor's Soul. It's a nice, tight short story that really leaves me wanting more about Shai. Set in the world of Elantris, you can really see how much Sanderson's writing has improved since Elantris.

Continuing the reread leading up to the Lost Metal!

Reading these all back to back, there's great action, but everything moves too fast. Everything in this book happened in the span of a couple days which really felt rushed. Coming into the reread I thought I forgot the story because events were disconnected in my mind, but no. I remembered, there were just some dramatic scene shifts. Finally Sterris gets the development and growth she was due.

Continuing my reread before getting to the Lost Metal. This had more substance than Alloy of Law. I think everyone *but* Wax got reasonable character development, while Wax was a force of nature. I didn't notice as much the first time I read it, but I really like Marisi and Wayne's perspectives and how their characters were filled in more.

Steris got shortchanged again but if I remember right she gets more love next book. Looking forward to it.

Enjoyed this one a lot even if I don't know how to describe it! This follows a long mission of the wayfarer, a ship made to build new wormholes, going to a small angry planet to do their job. But that's just the framing. The book is about the journey and how people bond, or not, when stuck with each other for so long among folks of completely different species and cultures. Found family is a repeated theme.

Going through a reread of the Wax and Wayne Mistborn books before reading The Lost Metal and reminded of what I loved about them. Wayne's trades and accents and eccentricities really are amazing, I keep grinning everytime Wayne has a scene. Lower stakes than most of Sanderson's cosmere, it's a fun, quick read.

I don't know how I didn't read this when I read Rhythm of War, but here we are. Not much to say here: if you like Sanderson normally, this is more of the same and adds some color to a couple things in RoW. This one gives us some insight into larger cosmere happenings through the viewpoint of interlude characters.

As always,

This was fun, but really for fans of the series. We get a series of short stories which were cut from the series. Most weren't as good as what we had in the books, which makes sense for why they were cut. We got some nice background, alternate view points to scenes that did make it in, and a different potential ending that was sweet.

Not a stand alone by any means, only read after Empire of Gold. Lots of spoilers otherwise.

I liked this but... I think it won't be for everyone. The narrative in this took a while to come together and even after it did I'm not sure all the story lines ended up having a satisfying conclusion. If they did, I didn't entirely understand them. I read this after the night circus and this has a much weirder narrative.

Still enjoyed it, I liked Zach and Dorian and Mirabel and the nested stories woven throughout.

I'm about 1/4 through this and it is narratively WAY more confusing than the night circus was. I'm enjoying it but I also have no idea what's going on 😂.

Sibling Dex and Mosscap are back! Can people have stress and existential crises in a world that satisfies their needs without the crippling weight of capitalism and overindulgence? Yes! Mosscap's question of what do you need is simple yet deep, and invites the reader to ask themselves.

If you've watched My Neighbor Totoro and thought it needed to be about grown ups thinking about their lives, well, this may be the book series for you.

This book has everything. Lovers! Twins! A contortionist, jerky mentors, a contest of wits will and power! Spooooky ghosts! Late night dinners! World travel! Points of view which while interesting, make no sense until the end when things come together!

I enjoyed this quite a lot, would recommend.

Just finished this for the second time, so I guess I like it 😂.

The narrative is not the most straight forward, bouncing between the narrator's timelines, and the narrator's differing perspectives (same narrator, more than one point of view). Interesting world building and raises neat questions about what is self. Looking forward to rereading the later books in the series.

This was a nice quick read that retells sleeping beauty from a fresh (and meta) perspective. Not super deep or involved, filled with contemporary references I don't think references in it will hold up 20 years later... But it's really fun now.

This was a delightful look at prejudice, personal growth, good intentions that don't look at the larger picture, and what family really means.

The people who are othered are magical beings, giving a clear focus for othering (they have scary magic powers!) and yet that's still very clearly not a valid reason. This illustrates the difficulty in making local changes, vs systematic changes. And all the kids are SO CUTE.

This was an interesting vignette into how people would react in an emergency. The book as a whole is commentary on society, how people see themselves, see others, react in a crisis when it feels like the end of the world was triggered. We never know what disaster befalls the world, only getting slightly more details about it beyond what the characters know. It inspires you to think how you would react to this situation. I'm still not sure.

How can a third book feel like a bridge book?

Golden Enclaves picks up moments after The Last Graduate and brings much of the same interesting world building that the previous two did, some characters you know and love fine back, but the much like the Temeraire series, I felt like El was pulled along with few choices to make it surprise us with. El's growth comes from outside revelations and direction, not internal wrangling. Still loved it!

A sneak peak of the coming century of change and likely turmoil, due to climate change. The core is mass migration around the world will need to happen to prevent mass death. I'm convinced by the author of the need and feasibility of the work needed to prepare, I just don't share the optimism that we can muster the political courage to do it outside of small pockets. Great coverage of the challenges & solutions, far too much to summarize here.

This was a really sweet interlude after the massive book 3. After all that happened before this, the characters really need to decompress, get back to living, and settle in. The world has changed, characters have gone through a lot and they need time to process. It's the Christmas special of the series, where you get to see the characters doing low stakes tasks (and also hints of future problems to solve).

Murderbot is back! If you liked murderbot inner musings, desire to get back to watching media, and general saving the day, pick this up.

If none of that made sense, start with All Systems Red. The series is about a SecUnit (heavily armed cyborg construct?) named Murderbot that has gone rogue and is ungovernable... And they just want to watch TV. Unfortunately work + wanting to do a good job gets in the way. They're all fun & quick reads.

Book 3 is all over the place - in a good way! It picks up soon after the end of #2.

My complaint is the timeline is too fast. Books 2&3 take less than a year. In that time she gets combat skills, figures out high level magic, masters political maneuvering, and handles the trauma thrown at her. Too much too fast, yet it's all a ton of fun. I love the characters, the maneuvering, the world building. Just suspend a little disbelief on timelines. 🙂

If book one was a reimagining of beauty and the beast, book two took what was new and unique about this interpretation and built a wonderful story of family and overcoming trauma. Definitely a case of book two being better than book one, my only complaint is the timeline was short, particularly for unraveling trauma. All set amid fantasy romance between immortals.

Oh, and be prepared for the author to be horney. Some.of the scenes. Phew.

Gender differences are often framed as nature vs nurture, boys will be boys etc, with testosterone bearing much of the nature side. Cordelia Fine debunks much of this with science, highlighting that there are few universal truths, and everything is more complicated than popsci makes it out to be. And yet, simpler. Culture >> biological differences. Well worth reading, and it was especially good to read in parallel with The Power.

Sometimes the best way to highlight something in society is to reframe it in a way that radically shifts the perspective. In this book, women gain electrical abilities, able to taze with a touch and a thought. Abused women stop putting up with it. Women who have to smile and nod and step to the side, no longer have to. The risks women consider going to a car in the dark? Now it's men with the risk. Well written and thought provoking.