The Alloy of Law

The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson
(Mistborn: Era 2 #1)

Technically speaking, The Alloy of Law would be considered the fourth book in Sanderson's Mistborn Trilogy - but that's incorrect by definition. Also, according to Sanderson, the first trilogy (Mistborn, The Well of Ascension, & The Hero of Ages) was just the beginning of a much larger series. Sanderson says that he plans to write two more trilogies, each taking place centuries after the events of the preceding one. Would that ultimately make the series a "novology?" In addition, The Alloy of Law isn't a part of any of the three trilogies slated. It's just a little extra something, like the peanuts offered at Five Guys - just there to add to the total level of my enjoyment. So I don't know what to call the series, a "decology"?

I read the first three books before I started this blog, so let me just quickly mention that they're excellent. Those books put Sanderson near the top of my list of favorite authors. They're very imaginative and a blast to read.

The Alloy of Law takes place about three hundred years after the events of The Hero of Ages. The world has moved on to an era consisting of locomotives and the introduction of electricity.  But the different magical systems such as Allomancy and Feruchemy are still present. A small minority of the population possesses the ability to ingest small amounts of various metals and burn them internally, giving them temporary supernatural abilities - Allomancers. Some have the ability to make themselves temporarily lighter or heavier at will - Feruchemists. Waxillium Ladrian can do both.

Wax is a sort of frontier lawman who has had to return to the city of Elendel to set his family's household back in order. He's saved from the prospect of the lifestyle he shunned years ago when he gets involved in the investigation of a string of train robberies that have been taking place. 

Like the first Mistborn trilogy, this book was a lot of fun to read. The battle sequences involving the two magical systems are unlike anything I've read anywhere else and I'm looking forward to the other books to come.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆