Mistborn #7, Wax & Wayne #4
I made a mistake when I started reading The Lost Metal. I didn’t go back and re-read the previous Wax & Wayne. I binge-read the Cosmere in the Summer of 2021 and figured I could leap back into the series. While I was able to pick it up as the story moved along, I definitely would have enjoyed it more if I had been more familiar with all the backstories. I found myself forgetting many aspects of this particular world and time.
I loved seeing Wax succeed outside of being a lawman. The interactions between Wax, Steris, and their children were fantastic. As usual, Wayne is poignant, hilarious, and absurd. I don’t know if I’d enjoy this series as much without Wayne. The whole tone of the Wax and Wayne series is much lighter than other Sanderson novels.
Wax and Wayne together, though, are a dynamic duo. The fight scenes were brilliantly executed, with a lot of detail, but not so much that they became too technical. Again, I should have re-read the previous books because I kept confusing the timeline and mixing up Kelsier and Wax. Oops!
I found The Lost Metal lept from one tight and stressful situation to another, with escalating consequences. It didn’t seem like there was any downtime for the characters. It seems that way because the story only covers a few weeks, but it is so full of action that it feels much longer.
I cried at the end—not deep, gut-wrenching sorrow, but a slow, persistent ache that felt overwhelming. I kept hoping for events to change and for a miraculous recovery, but no. It wasn’t to be in this book.
I will be re-reading them all at some point, and I look forward to experiencing this novel in its full context. Sanderson does not disappoint. The Lost Metal is an excellent addition to the Cosmere.
