The Alloy of Law
A Mistborn Novel

By Brandon Sanderson

A review by Eric Allen

I have to admit that after reading the overly long and generally pointless pile of crap that Patrick Rothfuss served us with Wise Man’s Fear and the literary abortion Terry Goodkind tried to pass off as The Omen Machine I was suffering from a near fatal case of lowered expectations coming around to the next book of the year that I was eagerly awaiting. My faith in the ability of writers to tell a good story, nay, in humanity itself, was slowly dying an agonizing death. I have to say, however, that I should not have worried about good old Brandon Sanderson, who is fast becoming one of my favorite writers these days. Unlike other writers—I’M LOOKING AT YOU, GOODKIND!!!—he gets better with every book that he publishes. Every single one of his books is so much better than the last that he must sit down after finishing one and root through it to find what he did well and what not so well, and work out how to improve upon both before starting his next book.

The Alloy of Law takes place three hundred years after Sanderson’s Mistborn Trilogy, and has the feel of a good, old-fashioned detective story with a bit of magic, a bit of mythology built upon previous books in the series, and a bit of the old west for spice. I am lucky in that I live relatively close to where he does, and he frequently does book signings in my area, giving me many chances to stop by and have a chat with him. He’s divulged to me in conversation that Mistborn is a trilogy of trilogies, or at least it was meant to be when he first started, the addition of this book threw it off just a tad into the realm of being numerically challenged. This book feels quite a bit like a great prologue to the next Mistborn Trilogy, and is quite a bit of fun to read as well.

From blog posts I gather that after the final charge to complete both a Wheel of Time novel and the hefty Way of Kings in the same year, Sanderson wrote this book as a bit of a break to recuperate from the ordeal. It is much shorter than his typical works, focusing on a handful of very entertaining characters in a simple but very fun and well assembled plot, rather than many characters in many different, intertwining story lines. It is, basically, everything that The Omen Machine should have been, and was not.

Normally, in my book reviews, I will give a detailed synopsis of the book. However, because of the nature of this story, and how much of the suspense and the plot are driven by who done it, and how, and why, that will not be possible without spoiling the experience for you, but I will give a brief summary. Also, please excuse any misspelled names, as I was unable to find a print copy of this book due to several stores being sold out of it. I had to settle for the audiobook, instead, and several of the spellings of names are not exactly apparent by how they are read.

Before I begin, I have a confession to make. I am a closet Western fan. Of course, there are good westerns, and there are boring as sin westerns, but as a genre, I generally enjoy them. With The Alloy of Law, I really liked how it was blended in with Sanderson's typical epic fantasy, and with the detective theme which was much larger in the story than either the fantasy or the western. Most fantasy writers would have us believe that there are no technological advancements at all in their world over hundreds and even thousands of years. Sanderson seems to understand very well that that is generally a crap idea, and that industry and technology will eventually find their way in as time passes. This gives The Alloy of Law a bit of a unique feel, because it is something that is so seldom done in a work of fantasy. This book also allows us to ease into some of the genre blending that it looks like he will be doing in the next Mistborn Trilogy so that it doesn't hit us all at once. Whether that was his intention when he first started writing it or not, I think that writing this book was a very good move on his part so as not to alienate some of his Mistborn fans.

Waxilliam is the heir to a noble family, and after a disastrous encounter as a lawman out in the Roughs that resulted in the death of a loved one, has returned to the city of Elendel to assume control of his family’s estates. But his lawman’s curiosities and drive will not let him ignore a slew of recent robberies and kidnappings by a gang led by a former colleague with a very dangerous twinning of Allomantic and Feruchemical powers that makes him virtually immortal. Joined by his old partner Wayne, in from the Roughs to prod his friend into action, and the young noblewoman Meracie, who is their biggest fan, they track down the robbers through good old fashioned detective work. Everything leads toward a final explosive confrontation that is probably one of the most awesome blendings of the western and fantasy genres that has ever been put into print.

The Good? The characters are the absolute best part of this book. They are all extremely entertaining in their own ways, and their interactions with one another had me literally laughing out loud half of the time. Brandon Sanderson has a great sense of humor, and in a light-hearted adventure like this one it really shines through. The methodically minded Wax with his dry humor, the exuberant fangirl hidden behind feigned timidity that is Meracie, and the wise cracking Wayne are all excellently crafted characters who play off each other to make some truly entertaining banter as they go about trying to solve the robberies and kidnappings. Miles makes an excellent good guy gone bad, and his unkillability adds an edge of danger and tired insanity to his actions.

The story was perfectly paced, and the tone was consistant throughout the novel. Sanderson keeps you guessing with the whos and the whys and the hows, throwing you clues, and half of the fun comes from trying to figure things out before the characters do, ending in a final plot twist that I am certain the majority of people will not see coming. The length was perfect, it was neither too long, nor was it too short, and Sanderson did not resort to pointless padding to make a longer book out of a story that didn’t need to be any longer than it already was. I’M LOOKING AT YOU, GOODKIND!!!

The action is highly exciting and well thought out. He obviously put a great deal of effort into blending Allomancy and Feruchemy with such things as guns and trains. You might think a gunfight between people with different magical powers seems a little silly and out of place in a book of fantasy, but it really is spectacularly done. The characters accept it as normal, and they are so well written that you find yourself able to suspend disbelief quite easily, and sit back to enjoy the story and the action for what it is.

The Bad? The only complaint that I could possibly give about this book was that it left a few loose ends that will obviously lead into the next Mistborn Trilogy, and with the Stormlight Archive, and the end of the Wheel of Time on his plate, it could be quite a while before Brandon Sanderson gets around to writing the next Mistborn novel. But, if it is even close to as good as this one was, it will be worth the wait.

I loved this book. In a year that should have been full of great books, but instead yielded nothing but lackluster and underwhelming crap, this book is an unexpected gem. Though short in length, it will not fail to entertain, and is a worthy addition to any home library. I’ve heard some apprehensive talk from people wary about the bit of old west added into a series of epic fantasy, but those people have nothing to fear. A great and well written story is a great and well written story, no matter the setting. I, for one, highly enjoyed the mix, and wish that more writers could do as well at blending different genres as Brandon Sanderson has here. I really can’t give this book enough praise.

Five stars all the way, my friend. You’ve earned them. I hope to be thoroughly entertained by your work for years to come.

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