Brandon Sanderson: Mistborn: Secret History

Brandon Sanderson: Mistborn: Secret History - Mistborn book 3.5

This review contains massive spoilers for the original trilogy as well as The Lost Metal. Read with caution!

I love Mistborn; it's one of my favorite Sanderson series. I bought this book as a standalone, but I think it appears in some of Brandon's novella collections as well, maybe Arcaneum Unbound (don't quote me on that).

Kelsier died at the hands of the Lord Ruler in a vain attempt to assassinate the god. Or did he? Secret History follows the story of Kelsier after he was stabbed by the Lord Ruler on that fateful day. Too stubborn to die, Kelsier instead lingers, finally convincing the shard of Perserverence that he should instead survive. The Shard binds him to Ruin's power as well, trapping Kelsier in Ruin's prison until the day that Vin released him. Can Kelsier help Vin? Can he become more than a spirit?

This book was amazing. I love Kelsier's story so much, and I always thought that Brandon killed him off too early. Turns out he didn't end up dying.

This would have been a helpful book to read before I read The Alloy of Law, but I didn't know of its existence. Then, because I didn't know what was in it, I waited until I finished The Lost Metal. I found that this book explained several things that end up being really important in the Wax and Wayne era. Sanderson explains many aspects of dieties in the Cosmere. He explains Ruin and Preservation and how they ended up on this planet. It also explains (obviously) how Kelsier survived his murder to show up in The Lost Metal, which I was not expecting at all. I wondered if Sanderson would explain how Kelsier was able to come back in The Lost Metal, as well as how he came to have friends from other planets in the Cosmere. That isn't explained in The Lost Metal because it was explained here instead. So again, if you're looking at reading them, I would read this one before Wax and Wayne.

In all, this book is probably best for a teen audience or above because of the plot and complexity. There's some violence, but that's about it. I gave this book ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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