Shadows of Self is the second book in the Wax and Wayne subseries of the Mistborn series. Finished reading this one yesterday.

Previously: The Allow of Law

I like this entry much more than the first one, mostly because it dives deeper into the overall series' history and mythology as Wax and Wayne run afoul of what used to be a creature of myth.

Another thing I enjoyed is it very much reminds me of an action-packed Batman story. A rich and privileged "lawman" with little regard for social niceties prowling through the night with the support of the city's own police force, trying to stop a crazed force of chaos from formenting the people's anger to make them rise up and embrace their freedoms - this very much sounds like it could have been set in Gotham City!

And really, the city of Elendel itself feels very much like it's own character here. While the first trilogy felt much more epic in scale, very "fate of the world" kind of stuff, the books so far in this subseries are centered on the city of Elendel and have the smaller scale of "the city is about to explode" kind of stakes. This allows for focus and development of a much smaller and tighter cast. I had to look up a number of references to the first trilogy, because I'd already forgotten many of the details because there were so many characters and places and happenings. This isn't necessarily better or worse, just a different style, and I can appreciate both approaches.

The smaller scale is reflected in it's length. While a bit longer than Alloy of Law, this book is still less than half the length of any of the original trilogy books. Combined with the constant action and quick pace of unfolding events, it's a quick yet excellent read.