''Mistborn: The Lost Metal'' is a

steampunk Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and aesthetics inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery. Steampunk works are often set in an alternative history of the Victorian era or ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

novel written by American author

Brandon Sanderson Brandon Winn Sanderson (born December 19, 1975) is an American author of high fantasy and science fiction. He is best known for the Cosmere fictional universe, in which most of his fantasy novels, most notably the ''Mistborn'' series and ''The ...

. It was published on November 15, 2022, by

Tor Books Tor Books is the primary imprint of Tor Publishing Group (previously Tom Doherty Associates), a publishing company based in New York City. It primarily publishes science fiction and fantasy titles, and is the largest publisher of Chinese scien ...

and is the fourth and final book in the ''Wax and Wayne'' series and seventh in the ''Mistborn'' series. It is preceded by ''

The Bands of Mourning ''Mistborn: The Bands of Mourning'' is a steampunk fantasy novel written by American author Brandon Sanderson. It was published on January 26, 2016, by Tor Books and is the third book in the ''Wax and Wayne'' series and sixth in the ''Mistborn' ...

'' in 2016 and is scheduled to be followed by an untitled eighth book in 2025.

Premise

Waxillium Ladrian, now a senator, is pushed into a conflict between Elendel and the Outer Cities. If he cannot set aside his rocky relationship with Harmony and become his sword, a calamity of unprecedented proportion may be unleashed on Scadrial.

Publication

In 2014, Sanderson revealed the tentative title of the fourth and final book of the ''Wax and Wayne'' series as ''The Lost Metal''. It was initially planned to be released in 2018, but was subsequently moved to Fall 2019. Later, due to the release of the previously unplanned ''

Skyward Skyward is a software company specializing in K–12 school management and municipality management technologies, including student management, human resources, and financial management. Skyward is partnered with more than 1,900 school district ...

'' series, the publication date was further postponed to 2022. The first printing of the novel consists of 500,000 copies.

Reception

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

'' called the novel a "fast-paced and entirely satisfying conclusion to Mistborn’s second era," praising it as an "action-packed adventure" while dropping hints torwards the future of the ''Mistborn'' saga. Lyndsey Luther and Ross Newberry of ''

Tor.com ''Tor.com'' is an online science fiction and fantasy magazine published by Tor Books, a division of Macmillan Publishers. The magazine publishes articles, reviews, original short fiction, re-reads and commentary on speculative fiction. From 20 ...

'' wrote a review as in-character as Wax and Wayne. They called the story a "romp-roarin’, steel-pushin’, emotion-wrenchin’ rail-car ride full a’ surprises, laughs and tears" and said that "Sanderson bloke’s right good at spinnin’ a tale." They also praised the character growth and connections to other series. Eric Lake of ''17th Shard'' called it a "pretty good ending" and a "fun read" stating that it "does wrap up the things it needs to do to be a satisfying conclusion." He added that it had "extremely cool moments, fantastic character work, and some really killer Cosmere stuff." However, he criticized the plot and questioned how self-contained it was in regard to crossovers with other Cosmere series.

References

{{Brandon Sanderson Mistborn novels Novels set on fictional planets Tor Books books