I basically just want to jump right into books two and three immediately but I will wait. Lowering this half a star this time around in acknowledgement that the next two take what’s good here and make it even better. I obviously hadn’t read those yet when I read this the first time! And I don’t want to subtract a whole star from this, because I just love this world and characters so much.
In retrospect, I can’t imagine this series not going any further, though this book was originally meant to be a standalone before Sanderson went into his 80s inspired fantasy another couple hundred years down the road. These characters just pop into existence in my mind, and there’s still something indefinably intriguing for me about the worldbuilding he does in this era, and the types of stories he’s playing with while in it.
The best part of this re-read is seeing all his red herrings, mostly in regards to Marasi and Steris but also in regards to a certain someone SPOILERS not being dead and actually being a kandra END SPOILERS. He left himself so many openings and created such a cool environment, it’s like he couldn’t help but write another trilogy set in this world with these specific characters. And I’m so glad he did, because I think I honestly might like these more than the original trilogy.
[4.5 stars]
