The Great Mistborn Read-along of 2019/2020 *Bands of Mourning*

[Leira Galene]

Relevant https://firebolt-101.tumblr.com/post/187966825090/elend-oh-hey-youre-back-early-vin-mists

 

[Leala ni al'Dareis t'al'Caleum]

:rofl

 

[Leira Galene]

Spoiler: Up through end of Ch 30

Interesting foreshadowing of Kelsier asking Sazed about the Valla. Clearly he's thinking that for them a dead leader allowed them to persist long past a lot of the other religions and it's confirming his choice of martyrdom.

Damn, Vin's killing of Shan is BRUTAL. I actually feel bad for Shan. Vin is really reckless in this chapter, which seems to definitely be a growing trait with her and gets worse in later books if I remember correctly. She's really picking up a lot of things from Kelsier.

 

[Kassina Tendar]

My thoughts on this past week's readings:

• It's weird reading it as an anthology of all 3 books on my Kindle. I didn't realize we were nearing the end of the book until I read the chapter notes and Brandon was talking about how the book amps up from this point until the end.
• We learn a bit about Vin and Reen's past here. Interesting foreshadowing.
• I love Marsh. :joy
• Kelsier wants to help bind the army to him and so he chooses a man to make an example of... I'd forgotten that his original intention was to kill him. (even Brandon agrees that he thinks that would've been better and more in-line with Kelsier's personality) To pick someone somewhat at random from your own army and intentionally kill them? Wow, Kelsier....
• Vin is starting to have a more nuanced view of humanity, realizing that noble society can be cruel and brutal and individual nobles can basically be kind people. Both of those things can exist at once. Elend and others can be kind, good people, but they and others still need to step up and do something to fix the staggering inequalities in the Final Empire.
• Dockson is adamant that "Noblemen are different. They're horrible creatures." He completely sides with Kelsier and just wants them all dead. I'd forgotten how brutal some members of the crew are in this regard. Having finished the series and remembering the 'good guy' nobility, it's weird to think that some of the other 'good guys' (like Kelsier and Dockson) are so unable to see the humanity in the nobility. On the one hand, that makes sense given how horrible society is for the skaa and how noble society perpetuates it, but on the other hand, life isn't so black-and-white. It's not so simple as Dockson's proclamation that nobles "can't be redeemed". I love how realistic and varied all the different attitudes are. It's fascinating to see fantasy mirror so many aspects of our society and the different attitudes people have.
• Vin realizes how jaded the nobles have become that random killings are just normal to them. Vin's very smart and observant. It's horrible, but that ability for humans to get used to things and become jaded to horrific acts is part of the puzzle that Dockson is missing and is why he's wrong about them not being redeemable.
• Elend tells Vin that maybe 1/3 of the noblemen have sex with skaa women who are then murdered. I agree with Vin, that's both ridiculously high and reassuring that it's not the majority. As usual, the truth is somewhere in the grey areas.
• I always want to try to figure out grammatical rules for Spook's speech and it never works. I think it's a fun dialect, but I'm one of the people who finds it a bit annoying to read sometimes since I'm constantly analyzing the sentences trying to force a logic onto them.

I love reading the comments after each chapter. Thanks for posting the links to all of them, Stephen and Thaddius!

 

[Leira Galene]

Kelsier wants to help bind the army to him and so he chooses a man to make an example of... I'd forgotten that his original intention was to kill him. (even Brandon agrees that he thinks that would've been better and more in-line with Kelsier's personality) To pick someone somewhat at random from your own army and intentionally kill them? Wow, Kelsier....

Wait what

 

[Thaddius al'Guy]

Yo, I missed that before.

ALSO
For the week of 10/2 - 10/8:

Chapter 25 (Part 2), Part 3 Wrap-up, Chapter 26, Chapter 27 Chapter 28, Chapter 29, Chapter 30 (Part 2)

We're almost there, everyone!

 

[Kassina Tendar]

Wait what

Right?! Brandon even talks about it in the notes. He says the original version had Kelsier kill him, but alpha readers didn't like it, so he was forced to change it. But he still thinks Kelsier would want to kill him.

 

[Leira Galene]

Breeze right?

 

[Autumn Sapphira]

I believe she's talking about the soldier in the Army, not a member of The Crew™

 

[Kassina Tendar]

Demoux is the one he had fight him.

Edit: Yes, what Autumn said!

 

[Leira Galene]

Ohhhh RIGHT duh. Thank you.

 

[Kassina Tendar]

My thoughts from this week. (chapters 25-30)

• Kelsier really should have been more honest with the leadership, at least (i.e. Yeden) about his real abilities. Yeden went on a suicide mission because he didn't really realize that they were still fallible.
• I forgot that Yeden dies.
• It's sad, as Kelsier says, that the horrible defeat that Yeden's forces just had is considered the greatest victory of any skaa rebellion. It's sad, but it also does really make sense from the perspective of the regular skaa.
• Vin is pleased that Clubs's apprentices remembered to draw her a bath, not realizing how abnormal this would have felt to her just a little bit ago.
• Vin can feel the Lord Ruler's Soothing even while burning copper. When it first happened, I thought she was just imagining it (like Kelsier does), but huh, I forget why this is. Interesting how my first reaction (i.e. Vin's imagining it) is the same as Kelsier's.
• A 'small minority' of the nobles look horrified at the hours of executions of random skaa. I know that people can get used to anything, but.... wow. The fact that Vin considers it encouraging that a 'small minority' look horrified at what's happening.
• I like how Kelsier swears "to the Forgotten Gods".
• Vin blurts out to Elend about overthrowing the Final Empire. He, understandably, is shocked. It's so interesting how they have different perspectives due to their past experiences. Especially when your society believes that your ruler is literally a god, it makes sense that you'd just assume that OF COURSE he'll be ruling forever. All we can do is try to improve the system he's set up. But the skaa who have much less to lose a more willing to consider overthrowing him.
• Even the nobles (like Elend) aren't necessarily used to have Kandra around all the time. TenSoon makes Elend uncomfortable.
• Straff Venture: "Well, I hope I live to see you dead." Wow. I know Straff is an asshole, but what a thing to say to your son....
• Elend shows that he really is more than Kelsier and the others think he is. He and his friends are mostly just a conversation group, but he notices and feels bad about the fact that the philosophers he's reading are more bold and willing to risk for their beliefs. So he isn't just content with the way things are.
• Vin eats Sazed's earring... did anyone else think that sounds kinda gross? Sazed takes it out of his ear and Vin just eats it without thinking about cleaning it first.... (I mean, given Vin's past, it makes sense, but it sounds kinda gross)
• Elend's rejection of Vin was hard to read....
  Spoiler

  Even knowing that everything ends up fine between them later.
  The suddenness (from Vin's perspective) and hardness of it hit a little close to home for me..... :\
• Kliss asks Vin what she owes Elend after he just rejected her. The implication is that Vin would only care about saving his life if she owed him something. Noble society is harsh.
• Vin killing Shan was very satisfying. :joy

Things that might be spoilers for later books (sorry, I don't remember which book... it's been awhile since I read this series, but there are major spoilers in here):

Spoiler

• I'd forgotten that TenSoon was originally the Venture Kandra! Interesting!
• About Rashek: "Men like Rashek must be contained- he irrationally believes that all people outside of Terris have oppressed him. He is such a young man to be so angry." Interesting reading about Rashek now knowing who he is. Meanwhile, the 'hero' writing the journal is content to live in obscurity. He doesn't want to be remembered, but is willing to do his duty to save the world... Ironic that he gets the obscurity he wants after the Lord Ruler kills him
• I don't know if it's intentional or not, but Sazed talks about how one of his religions believed that "men would finally find peace and harmony" once everything was catalogued. I just noticed it given Sazed's future connection with 'Harmony'.
• Kelsier is seeking confirmation from Sazed that dead leaders can be really effective.

 

[Leira Galene]

Vin eats Sazed's earring... did anyone else think that sounds kinda gross? Sazed takes it out of his ear and Vin just eats it without thinking about cleaning it first.... (I mean, given Vin's past, it makes sense, but it sounds kinda gross)

I didn't even think of that, but you're so right. Mine get kind of gross and gunky because dead skin if I leave them in for a long time. So yeah now I'm thoroughly grossed out.

 

[Leira Galene]

This is why you should ALWAYS CLEAN YOUR EARS FOLKS :nono You never know who might need to swallow your earring.

 

[Ignis al'Caleum]

It could be that she's just unconcerned because she's probably swallowed worse and she doesn't really care about germs - it could be because if anyone is clean on this crew - it's definitely Sazed.

By the way - I'm not saying that consuming someone's earring is not gross

 

[Kassina Tendar]

Yeah, I figured for Vin it made sense and was in-character. But it made me cringe.

This is why you should ALWAYS CLEAN YOUR EARS FOLKS :nono You never know who might need to swallow your earring.

Exactly! Mistborn teaches us important life lessons.

 

[Thaddius al'Guy]

10/9 - 10/15:

Chapter 31, Chapter 32 Chapter 33 (Part 2), Chapter 34 (Part 2), Part 4 Wrap-up, Chapter 35 (Part 2) (61 pages)

We're almost there! I'm a few chapters behind and I should really catch up before the final week.

 

[Kassina Tendar]

Thoughts from ch. 31-35:

• Kelsier not being able to tell Vin that he won't leave her is painful...
• Kelsier acknowledges that he's probably unfair to the nobility, with his thinking that they're all irredeemably evil.
• Vin finally proves to Kelsier that she can pierce copperclouds. I'd forgotten that this was a real thing that has a real explanation at first. (though you don't find out the reason until way later) So many little things I've forgotten about this series...
• Elend doesn't realize that the attack was an assassination plot. He thinks they were just spying and that his fleeing was him being overly cautious.
• Elend's informant found Clubs's shop! :eek And I love Elend realizing that 'Valette' has to be skaa and what that means. :joy He's open-minded enough to understand that there's more to the story and so doesn't tell Felt to just raid the hideout. Elend is great. he's more amused than angry at Valette at the end of this scene. And he can't wait to ask her questions about the skaa.
• Elend is out-of-step with noble society. His father tells him that no random Mistborn would try to stop an innocent person from being murdered and Elend realizes that's not how noble society works, but he's thoughtful enough to realize that the world could operate like that.
• In the logbook, they discover they can escape the Deepness by getting high enough up. Our first real hint at what it is, I think.
• Kelsier yells at Vin for not understanding 'friendship' enough to want to jump in and save everyone from execution. As Brandon talks about in the notes, the reality is probably somewhere in between. Kelsier was stupidly reckless, but Vin was too cautious, too, and didn't even consider trying to help out.
• Elend running into the battle :rofl And I love Kelsier's arc where he does actually save a noble's life before he dies, after starting to realize (thanks to Vin) that they're not all evil.
• I always find it funny during battles (especially this one in the square) when all the Allomancers are Pushing and Pulling off of random soldiers in the area. At one point, Kelsier even uses a soldier to stand up. He doesn't even want to stand up on his own. He has to Push against some random soldier instead.
• We finally learn that Renoux is a kandra. It's been so long since I first read this series, I'd forgotten how freaked out everyone is by kandra, even the nobles who are used to dealing with them.
• Kelsier is ridiculously talented. Vin gets to see how awesome she can be with more practice, even better at the individual metals than some of the Mistings she knows.
• Kelsier has one moment of feeling like he doesn't have to die to accomplish his goals.
• Sazed going to tell the other Keepers about what he learned from the logbook. :joy
• Kelsier had originally planned to have Vin assassinate all the high noblemen in the city. It's interesting that he just assumed she'd be cool with that. But Vin doesn't share his strong opinions about the nobility. It's a good thing he changed her task. I'm not sure she would've been willing to do that if he hadn't.

 

[Ephrem Elpidius]

Thoughts from ch. 31-35:

• Kelsier yells at Vin for not understanding 'friendship' enough to want to jump in and save everyone from execution. As Brandon talks about in the notes, the reality is probably somewhere in between. Kelsier was stupidly reckless, but Vin was too cautious, too, and didn't even consider trying to help out.

What do you mean by as Brandon says in the notes? I am not a part of this read-along, but Mistborn is one of my favorite series and I have read all six books, but I don't recall there being any notes from the author. Please advise Kassina Sedai. :bow

 

[Thaddius al'Guy]

What do you mean by as Brandon says in the notes? I am not a part of this read-along, but Mistborn is one of my favorite series and I have read all six books, but I don't recall there being any notes from the author. Please advise Kassina Sedai. :bow

On the first post of this thread there is a link for each chapter to the annotations that Brandon did as he wrote the books. They are very insightful to the story.