In The Bands of Mourning,
best-selling author Brandon Sanderson returns to the world of
Mistborn with my favorite book in the series so far.
Succeeding Shadows of Shelf, The Bands of Mourning is
the second book in a trilogy featuring the adventures of Wax and
Wayne, whose charms would surely spellbound Mistborn veterans as well as newcomers to this series.
Synopsis:
Long ago, Lord Ruler forged the Bands
of Mourning, a legendary artifact that could grant its wearer
spectacular powers.
As centuries passed, the Bands of
Mourning was forgotten, its existence fading into fables and legends.
Until the day when a kandra researcher brought to the great city of
Elendel strange images. These images, showing depictions of an unknown
language, appeared to speak of the mythical Bands itself.
As these images saw the light of day,
Kandra council recruited Wax and Wayne on the mission to rediscover
the Bands. The mission took them to the southern city of New Seran,
where Wax would uncover a conspiracy plotted by his uncle Edwarn and
a mysterious organization called The Set.
My thoughts about this book:
After reading my synopsis you must be
thinking, so the story revolves around a group of heroes traveling
from one city to another, racing against an evil nemesis on a quest
to discover a powerful artifact. The Bands of Mourning sounds
like a typical fantasy story, right?
Not quite.
While the premise for The Bands of
Mourning may appear cliched on the surface, but there are several reasons why
this book departs from the fantasy conventions. In my no-spoiler review, I
shall endeavor to explain why The Bands of Mourning is among
the most interesting fantasy novels in existence.
First of all, The Bands of Mourning
is a genre-blending novel. In the space of 400 pages, this fast-paced
book brings together the best of two genres, fantasy and detective
fiction, into its storytelling. In other words, imagine this novel as
Sherlock Holmes with superhuman powers. At the centre of the story
lies a mystery, it drives the plot forward and along the way, our
heroes encounter crimes of murder and robbery. Solving these crimes
gradually brought the heroes to the truth.
This books' intrigues do not end at its
good story. The worldbuilding in this book deserves mentioning. Up to
date, Sanderson has written 6 Misborn novels. The original
Mistborn trilogy took place 300 years before the story of Wax
and Wayne. This means, The Bands of Mourning, as well as its
predecessor Shadows of Self, belong to the 2nd
trilogy (Wax and Wayne trilogy) in the Mistborn universe. In
Wax and Wayne trilogy, Sanderson did something revolutionary,
something that is rarely seen in fantasy literature; he incorporated
technological advancements into his fictional world. The world of Wax
and Wayne resembles the late 19th century, it is a world
where magic and technology co-exist, a place and time when people have just
discovered electricity, invented light bulbs, motor cars, firearms,
and telegram. Meanwhile, magic also exists in the fabric of ordinary
people's lives. To finish it off, Sanderson put a master stroke to
his fictional world with a touch of spaghetti Western.
So there you have it, The Bands of
Mourning (and its predecessor Shadows of Self) is a
detective fiction story set in a fantasy world, a place resembling
the late 19th century Industrial revolution, where budding
technology meets deeply rooted magic, and the story is
decked out in a distinctive tone of spaghetti Western. Seriously, if
you are a fan of fantasy fictions, how can you say no to this
intriguing series?
The
Bands of Mourning stands as the second book in Wax and
Wayne trilogy. Sadly, we will have to wait for 2018 to read the
concluding novel for this trilogy. Have no fear, however, for The
Bands of Mourning does not end in a cliffhanger. This book has
enough materials and a satisfying end, it can almost be treated
as a stand-alone novel.
As the second book in the trilogy, I
like The Bands of Mourning better than its predecessor,
Shadows of Self. In this book, from the characters' dialogues
to back stories, Sanderson explored the characters in great details. In comparison to Shadows of Self, Sanderson flashed out his characters with deeper developments in this book. This
does mean The Bands of Mourning moves at a slower pace than
its predecessor, but the slightly slower pace does not bother me at
all, because I like the character development in this book. Shadows
of Self introduced to me new characters such as Wax, Wayne,
Steris, Melaan and Marasi. But I didn't really get to know them. In
The Bands of Mourning, Sanderson's developed these characters
in great depth, adding qualities and vividness to their portrayals.
When I was reading this book, I felt as if I knew these characters. I
grew fond of them and cared for them. When this book ended, I wanted
to find out what fates await for them in the next installment. I
think this is a sign of a successful novel.
Until now, I was never a huge fan of
Mistborn series. I mean, I liked the original Mistborn
trilogy, but I didn't love it. The 2nd Mistborn
trilogy kicked off with Shadows of Self, while it deepened my
fondness for the Mistborn universe with its unique
worldbuilding and a genre-blending story, but I still didn't love the
series. Then The Bands of Mourning came along and kindled my
love for this series. What can I say? The Bands of Mourning is
a really good book. If you are interested in reading Mistborn
series, I recommend starting from the original trilogy, with a book titled
The Final Empire.
Until the next time, happy reading!
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