An engaging read

[Phillip]

How many of you guys have read the book yet? I thought it was great! Brandon Sanderson's books have a way of really drawing me in to the story (oftentimes at the expense of my sleep) and this was no exception. Luckily this book wasn't as long as The Way of Kings or Words of Radiance, so I didn't lose quite as much.
One thing that I think is interesting about Brandon Sanderson's YA novels (well, the ones we've read so far) is that the main characters haven't had superpowers while many people in their worlds do. It seems to go against the traditional, "boy finds out he has powers/a magical sword and goes on a quest to save the world" trope that many fantasy books have. The main characters have to develop other attributes to make up for their "lack".

[Cameron]

It was very good. The book is set in an alternate america-ish type place. I loved the idea of all of the states being islands in a massive archipelago. The novel also uses elements of steampunk fiction, with horses made of gears and such, the imagery was a great addition to the worldbuilding that I really enjoyed. The characters are likable. Joel is a great protagonist and I really came to like Pro. Fitch and Melody. The misdirection used by the author as to who the villain is was great, I won't spoil anything but I was surprised by the ending. I am excited for future books in this series to come out, though it seems as though it will take a year or three.

[Phillip]

Brandon Sanderson is the king of the last minute plot twists. It seems like his books have at least one at the end. You hit one plot twist and think "oh, that's clever" and get all comfortable thinking that the book is going to end, only to be blindsided by a second one that just leaves you kind of speechless. You never really know how the book is going to end until you get there.

[Troy]

So, I read the book with Mikey this time and enjoyed the story again. Because this is a Sanderson story, I'm going to propose a couple of theories. W

Spoiler Warning

1st - Joel isn't a Rithmatist but will becoming something more that one. I think the shadowblaze he say in the chamber of inception is on the same level as the Forgotten that possessed Harding, and that there is some other entity that is good that is on the same level as Nalizar. I think that will bond with Joel in the next book in some way to help him defeat the evil chalk related entities.

2nd - I'm Batman. Also I did like reading the book a second time because t was short enough to be able to see the things that linked and clicked together that I missed the first time.

[Sara]

I just finished reading, and knew there would be a plot twist from seeing comments on the book, but I didn't expect three! Holy cow! But what an awesome read! Loved the descriptions of everything.