Rating: 5/5 stars
We've been waiting six years for The Lost Metal, and I can safely say that the wait was well worth it. The Lost Metal is the best book in the second era of Mistborn books. I loved it.
This book starts six years after the end of The Bands of Mourning, and our characters are in new places in their lives. Wax is largely retired, marking Wayne as Marasi's crime-fighting partner. But then a new explosive discovery pulls Wax back into the swing of things, and our trusted trio, with the help of some new companions as well, must do whatever they can to save Elendel.
I love the character work in this book. My favorite was probably Steris and how she is finally being acknowledged and appreciated for her idiosyncrasies and emergency preparedness skills. Also Wayne was incredible. He delivers his usual quips and his banter with Wax is absolutely hilarious, but his overall growth and understanding of himself are so great to see.
There were a lot of action and fight scenes in this book, which usually I don't prefer to read, but Brandon writes those scenes so well that I didn't even mind reading them and I flew right through them.
The most impressive part of The Lost Metal, however, was the immense amount of cosmere crossover. Brandon did say that this would be the most cosmere-aware novel to date, and I can absolutely see that. I've read every cosmere book so far except for Rhythm of War, and The Lost Metal blows all of them out of the water with how many references to other worlds and other magic systems that it has. I was losing my mind as I was reading and picking up on all the subtle references sprinkled throughout the book. As far as I can tell, there are even references to unpublished cosmere worlds. It all makes me extremely excited to read the third era of Mistborn and the second arc of Stormlight because I’m sure the crossovers will be even more plentiful as the cosmere progresses further into the future.
Overall, The Lost Metal was an extremely satisfying conclusion to the Wax and Wayne era of Mistborn and has lots of setup for future Mistborn books to come. It was funny, fast-paced, and tied up some loose plot points set in motion from a few books earlier. Absolutely read this series.
*MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD*
Here is a list of references to the greater cosmere I found in The Lost Metal:
This is not a definitive list as this is just what I personally noticed, and I made the list largely after I finished reading, so I’m sure I missed a few things. Contains spoilers for the entire cosmere.
EARLIER MISTBORN
—Marsh appears in the flesh.
—Kelsier returns.
—Wax has a vision of the battle of Luthadel.
—Wayne becomes a Mistborn for three seconds.
—There were obviously many more references, but these were the big ones.
ELANTRIS / THE EMPEROR’S SOUL
—Moonlight can soulstamp and is actually Shai from The Emperor’s Soul.
—Codenames is actually Kaise, a relative of Sarene from Elantris.
—Seons appear. Codenames has one.
—The use of Aeons.
THE STORMLIGHT ARCHIVE
—Roshar is mentioned by name many times.
—The Ghostbloods are mentioned, first by their symbol (three triangles interlocked) which is actually a stylized marewill flower, and then by name. Members are present on Scadriel, and it turns out the organization originated on Scadriel as Kelsier is their leader. Their motives (protect Scadriel at all costs) and many of their members are revealed.
—Shadesmar / the Cognitive Realm is referenced a few times, and MeLaan travels there at the end.
—MeLaan is going to help a bunch of redheads at the end. Could it be the horneaters? Not sure, but maybe.
—Wayne eats some chouta!
—Dlavil, a Ghostbloods member on Scadriel, is siblings with Iyatil, a Ghostbloods member on Roshar.
—Potential references to Skybreakers, though not by name, when Steris receives help from a group of people to sink the ships. They fly into the air, which Steris interprets as Allomancy. One of them had a red tattoo on the back of his hand.
WARBREAKER
—Mentions of items being Awakened.
OTHER COSMERE / UNKNOWN
—The word “cosmere” itself appears many times.
—Hoid is mentioned by name throughout the book.
—TwinSoul can use aether magic, a possible reference to Aether of Night, an unpublished cosmere novel.
—The Dor, purified Investiture, is mentioned and seen on-page.
—References to Shards, Splinters, Investiture, Connection, and Perpendicularities.
—Shards named in this book: Preservation, Ruin, Autonomy/Trell, Odium, Whimsy.
—Mentions of the planet Silverlight. Also the note from Harmony to MeLaan that was stamped “Silverlight Mercantile.”
—References to Bjendal and Mythos, potentially related to cosmere worlds we haven’t seen yet but that will come in the future.
—I remember seeing references to White Sand as well, but I can’t remember exactly what they were.
—Ominous references to Discord.
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