The Bands of Mourning (1 of 2) [Dramatized Adaptation]

Mistborn [Dramatized Adaptation] #6, part 1

by Brandon Sanderson, Terence Aselford (Narrator), Chris Genebach (Narrator)

With The Alloy of Law and Shadows of Self, Brandon Sanderson surprised readers with a New York Times bestselling spinoff of his Mistborn books, set after the action of the trilogy, in a period corresponding to late 19th-century America.

Now, with The Bands of Mourning, Sanderson continues the story. The Bands of Mourning are the mythical metalminds owned by the Lord Ruler, said to grant anyone who wears them the powers that the Lord Ruler had at his command. Hardly anyone thinks they really exist. A kandra researcher has returned to Elendel with images that seem to depict the Bands, as well as writings in a language that no one can read. Waxillium Ladrian is recruited to travel south to the city of New Seran to investigate. Along the way he discovers hints that point to the true goals of his uncle Edwarn and the shadowy organization known as The Set.

Genres: Fantasy, Audiobook, Fiction

Audio CD

First published November 8, 2011

About the author

I’m Brandon Sanderson, and I write stories of the fantastic: fantasy, science fiction, and thrillers.

The release of Wind and Truth in December 2024—the fifth and final book in the first arc of the #1 New York Times bestselling Stormlight Archive series—marks a significant milestone for me. This series is my love letter to the epic fantasy genre, and it’s the type of story I always dreamed epic fantasy could be. Now is a great time to get into the Stormlight Archive since the first arc, which begins with Way of Kings, is complete.

During our crowdfunding campaign for the leatherbound edition of Words of Radiance, I announced a fifth Secret Project called Isles of the Emberdark, which came out in the summer of 2025. Coming December 2025 is Tailored Realities, my non-Cosmere short story collection featuring the new novella Moment Zero.

Defiant, the fourth and final volume of the series that started with Skyward in 2018, came out in November 2023, capping an already book-filled year that saw the releases of all four Secret Projects: Tress of the Emerald Sea, The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England, Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, and The Sunlit Man. These four books were all initially offered to backers of the #1 Kickstarter campaign of all time.

November 2022 saw the release of The Lost Metal, the seventh volume in the Mistborn saga, and the final volume of the Mistborn Era Two featuring Wax & Wayne. Now that the first arc of the Stormlight Archive is wrapped up, I’ve started writing the third era of Mistborn in 2025.

Most readers have noticed that my adult fantasy novels are in a connected universe called the Cosmere. This includes The Stormlight Archive, both Mistborn series, Elantris, Warbreaker, four of the five Secret Projects, and various novellas, including The Emperor’s Soul, which won a Hugo Award in 2013. In November 2016 all of the existing Cosmere short fiction was released in one volume called Arcanum Unbounded. If you’ve read all of my adult fantasy novels and want to see some behind-the-scenes information, that collection is a must-read.

I also have three YA series: The Rithmatist (currently at one book), The Reckoners (a trilogy beginning with Steelheart), and Skyward. For young readers I also have my humorous series Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians, which had its final book, Bastille vs. the Evil Librarians, released in 2022. Many of my adult readers enjoy all of those books as well, and many of my YA readers enjoy my adult books, usually starting with Mistborn.

Additionally, I have a few other novellas that are more on the thriller/sci-fi side. These include the three stories in Legion: The Many Lives of Stephen Leeds, as well as Perfect State and Snapshot. These two novellas are also featured in 2025’s Tailored Realities. There’s a lot of material to go around!

Good starting places are Mistborn (a.k.a. The Final Empire), Skyward, Steelheart, The Emperor’s Soul, Tress of the Emerald Sea, and Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians. If you’re already a fan of big fat fantasies, you can jump right into The Way of Kings.

I was also honored to be able to complete the final three volumes of The Wheel of Time, beginning with The Gathering Storm, using Robert Jordan’s notes.

Sample chapters from all of my books are available at brandonsanderson.com—and check out the rest of my site for chapter-by-chapter annotations, deleted scenes, and more.

Reviews

[Romaric · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I said before, this is the best Era 2 novel. It just elevates the whole mistborn(and cosmere overall) universe. The implications of what happens in this book are so far-reaching that I cannot help to look forward to Era 3.

Other than what it build the mistborn universe into what makes even better this book is the characters and their evolution. Steris and Wayne are just phenomenal, hands down my favorite characters,MeeLan I must admit is also up there. The voice actress used to portray her was just amazing, it elevated her character so much more that I was honestly surprised at how much I enjoyed her scenes.

Overall a perfect book that Graphic Audio just elevates further and makes this a must read.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the best audiobook I’ve ever listened to. Graphic Audio literally brings the story life! With different character voices, a narrator, music and sound background.

This is another amazing and brilliant way to immerse yourself into the brilliant world that Sanderson has created. 5 stars! 100%

[Evelin · Rating 5 out of 5]

An extraordinary expirience! In principle the book is outstanding, however with the GraphicAudio it's just on another level.

[RexusprimeIX · Rating 5 out of 5]

No point in reviewing each Graphic Audio separately so this is a review for the entirety of Mistborn Era 2 (Books 4, 5, 6, and 7)

Once again, nothing more I can add that I hadn't already said in the Elantris Dramatisation. The Voice Acting, Music, and Sound Design enhance the story to a new level. It's as close as you can get to a movie adaptation without losing any source material.

This is so good in fact, that; there is a point in one of the books where a character is trying to imitate Wayne—one of the protagonists. In the books Wayne says that the imitator's accent sounds forced... AND YOU CAN ACTUALLY TELL THAT NOW! Wayne has an Irish accent in this adaptation—bless the producers!—and you can actually tell that the imitator's accent sounds fake like they're trying to sound Irish, but it's obviously an imitation. Also whoever plays Wayne was a fantastic actor. If you have not read the books, Wayne is a master of disguise and will often put on convincing accents to go along with his disguises. The Actor for Wayne nailed his character! I mean they all were great, but Wayne is just such a difficult character to get right, I believe.

Highly recommend this... I mean I highly recommend ALL the Graphic Audios.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

(This review is for both parts of The Bands of Mourning)

This book feels like a big step towards the Cosmere in a general sense. It's still all very mysterious, but starting to build a picture of how the "magic" works fundamentally.

I really enjoyed the journey of the characters in this book, literally as well as personality-wise.

There were some events / information that seem to have pretty large ramifications on the history and lore of Mistborn. I'm not quite sure how I feel about these, yet. I'll have to see how the next book handles it.

[Audio Athena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having not read the book description, I assumed "bands of mourning" referred to Wax droning on about his dead wife for another book. I was happily surprised when this book's plot actually moves the greater story along and relates it back to Mistborn 1 thru 3 more so than book 4 or 5 managed to do. It introduced more complexity to the magic system and a whole civilization of people that were previously unknown. It sets the stage for a promising conclusion to the story in book 7.

[Szymon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably my favourite Mistborn part.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't get enough of these full-cast adaptations.