The Lost Metal picks up many years after the third last book in the series. Wax and Steris have children and he has mostly retired from dangerous investigative work to be a congressman. Marasi and Wayne are partners at the police station and have done great work investigating crimes together. It’s a wholly different version of the characters that is a fresh way to show their growth at the end of the series. We also get glimpses into Wayne’s childhood sparsed throughout the novel, giving more foundation as to how he came to be how he is. Wayne is almost always a star in these books and getting more information about his background only serves to reinforce that fact. We also get a bit of a parallel journey for Marasi, while the story goes back to a more familiar pairing of Wax and Wayne. Steris doesn’t get to do much here, nor does Allik, but the structure of the story is completely different from what we’re used to despite some recognizable aspects. Let me explain.

Mistborn Era 2, Wax and Wayne book 4, is the book that connects the land of Scadrial to the Cosmere directly. With some interventions of Harmony and his followers, as well as the avatar of another Shard of Adonalsium attempting to rule over the planet. This involves the organization known as the Ghostbloods coming to the forefront, approaching Marasi based on her actions thus far. With the enemy deploying artificial Allomancers that also wield Feruchemical powers to further their aims, Marasi accepts their help. The direct connection of this era of Mistborn into the Cosmere feels a bit off-putting given how the series has mostly done its own thing. Given the first series’ ending and how long ago it was, I figured this setting was going to stay separate. This isn’t to say that I’m not excited for these characters to appear in other Sanderson novels in the future. I think that this choice was bold, and while some may not like the direction it’s going, I appreciate that the characters are going to come back, even though the main story in their homeland has come to an end.

This does feel like the end of an era (specifically era 2). The plots of each novel in this series have usually been resolved within their own story, making each feel disconnected from one another in direction. It’s like an episodic tv show in that way. However, the throughline is the changes the characters go through as their perspectives broaden and their understanding increases. Wax’s initial hate for politics and impatience with inaction is a characteristic no longer present here. This is due to how he has come to understand Steris as her calculated planning and graceful navigation of conversation inspired him to change. Their marriage, initially one of convenience, became a true pairing of love once they came to understand one another. Marasi built up her personal confidence level in a realistic way in that she still struggles with it sometimes. It’s not something that you can just get rid of, but compared to where she was at first, it’s a drastic improvement. It’s her unflinching sense of justice that is truly inspiring. Now Wayne’s growth is more under the surface, but his employment as a constable is one of the more blatant signs of his transformation. Much of his history is intertwined with Wax’s as he helped him get out of the Roughs. He doesn’t show much of a change on the surface, but that’s just how he is. You gotta love Wayne.

So, if you’re a big Sanderson fan and have read some of his other Cosmere novels, you’ll get a lot more out of this than if you haven’t. If you’re just a Mistborn reader, you’ll still like this one, but you may find the deeper Cosmere lore to be overbearing. It takes the relatively contained stories of Mistborn and dunks it into the sea of lore that is the Cosmere. Given how the first series ended and the greater intervention of the divine as the series has continued, this was to be expected. For me, it landed pretty well. I look forward to seeing these characters make an even greater impact on the universe going forward.