Mistborn: Secret History, by Brandon Sanderson

Not more than five minutes ago, I finished the Secret History and I have no words incredible enough to describe how I feel right now. I'm attempting to get my awe, my sadness, and my mind-blown emotions down on paper before they fade and realize I'm not able to do so. The words simply don't exist.

So Secret History is not a novella you can just pick up and start reading. This is a companion novella to the whole Mistborn series, specifically for the original trilogy, although it contains minor spoilers through the second trilogy up to the Bands of Mourning. The novella covers a unique perspective through the original Mistborn timeline that gave us the answers to some lingering mysteries, and brought back ALL the emotions I experienced during that one late night/early morning obsessive reading session that left me sobbing in a fetal position gasping for breath.

These books are good, people. I can't stress that enough. I absolutely love Sanderson's work, and I feel a deep connection to his characters. I didn't start reading his works until last year, so that is such a short time to become such a dedicated fangirl, but it's happened.

And now there's a void inside me I'm struggling to fill.

I need another book to devour... STAT!!!

Bands of Mourning, By Brandon Sanderson

Happy Wednesday morning, everyone! I've got a new review for yet another Sanderson novel. I promise I'm not obsessed. I'm only looking to get through his cosmere novels so I can move on to something else. I have already finished Secret History, so that review will be next. I have two other cosmere novellas, and then I think I'm done. See? Not obsessed. Right? I don't know. If I am, I don't care. I just love these books!

Bands of Mourning is the third novel in the Wax and Wayne Mistborn series, so you wouldn't be able to just pick up this book and start reading. You need to start from the beginning, and by that, I mean the VERY beginning, with the original Mistborn series. I oo'd and aw'd over these books too, and if you need a refresher, the review is here.

This is the follow-up book to Shadows of Self that was released late last year. I did a bit of reading on Sanderson's website and found that he started writing Shadows of Self while he was mired in the depths of finishing up the Wheel of Time series. He didn't actually finish Shadows of Self then, and when he turned back to the manuscript, Sanderson said he found it difficult getting back into it. In order to get back into the Mistborn flow, he churned out Bands of Morning first, THEN turned back to Shadows of Self.

Interesting. I know that doesn't really have anything to do with the book review, but I find it fascinating that Sanderson is able to do that. After reading both books, it also makes sense considering the tone Bands of Mourning started off with. Shadows of Self ended dark, though I absolutely love SOS and it might be one of my favorite Mistborn books altogether, Bands of Mourning was a lighter, refreshing change of pace.

BOM introduced a new, lovable character, has some great character development for a couple of established characters, and of course it had Wayne. Wayne is spectacular. There is a scene in this book that had me laughing out loud. Sanderson has a way of crafting words that you could really visualize what was going on, and it was very memorable. Probably one of the best scenes I've ever read from Sanderson that wasn't an epic battle scene.

One last thing about the Bands of Mourning audiobook. Once again, the novel is narrated by Michael Kramer, who always does an excellent, excellent job. I think Sanderson and Kramer make an excellent team, just like RA Salvatore and Victor Bevine. Kramer is well aware of Sanderson's world and has a great connection with all the characters. His enthusiasm for the series makes his performance absolutely brilliant. I think, even if you don't love fantasy, listening to Michael Kramer narrate these books is an experience worth it in its own. The man does a good job.

There is one more Wax and Wayne novel to follow this up, so it was a good segue from Shadows of Self to the new book. I am not sure if it has a release date, or even if Sanderson has even started writing it yet, so I might be waiting a while. Knowing that comes with its own sort of depression. I've turned to Robin Hobb and the Farseer Trilogy to fill the void, and if I'm looking for not being depressed I may have made a mistake. Oh well. I hear those books are good.

Now that that's out of the way, I am continuing to work on The Walk manuscript. This thing is out of control, but I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. I have basically finished 50k words a month for the past four months straight.

I'm dying here, people.

But, if I want to be a writer this is what I have to do, right? I'll keep at it, and will definitely have the book finished in March. Originally, I thought I would have The Walk finished within three months, but that's not going to happen. I didn't know there was so much story to tell. My plan was to edit it and work on publication before April, but it's obviously not enough time. Once I finish the manuscript for The Walk, I'm going to jump straight into Dreamland so I can make sure to get it on the shelves by late summer or early fall. Dreamland - Part Two isn't going to be anywhere near as big as the monster I'm working on now, so I should have the first draft fully written within a couple months.

So, time to get back at it. Next review will be for Secret History. Thank you all for dropping by, and happy reading!