Mistborn: Secret History (Mistborn, #3.5) (Cosmere Universe)

by Brandon Sanderson

THE INTERNATIONAL PHENOMENON BEHIND THE COSMERE

A COMPANION STORY TO THE ORIGINAL MISTBORN TRILOGY

****

There's always another secret.

Mistborn: Secret History is a companion story to the original Mistborn trilogy.

As such, it contains HUGE SPOILERS for the books Mistborn (The Final Empire), The Well of Ascension, and The Hero of Ages. It also contains very minor spoilers for the book The Bands of Mourning.

Mistborn: Secret History builds upon the characterization, events, and worldbuilding of the original trilogy. Reading it without that background will be a confusing process at best.

In short, this isn't the place to start your journey into Mistborn (though if you have read the trilogy - but it has been a while - you should be just fine, so long as you remember the characters and the general plot of the books).

Saying anything more here risks revealing too much. Even knowledge of this story's existence is, in a way, a spoiler...

****

FANTASY DOESN'T GET BETTER THAN SANDERSON:

'Highly recommend to anyone hungry for a good read'
ROBIN HOBB

'Epic in every sense'
GUARDIAN

'Sanderson is the most immersive fantasy writer I've ever encountered'
BEN AARONOVITCH

'All the explosive action any adventure fan could want'
LOCUS

• ISBN10: 1473225043
• ISBN13: 9781473225046
• Publish Date: 10 January 2019 (first published 1 August 2016)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Gollancz
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 176
• Language: English

Reviews

[Mercy]

Gracias Sanderson por esta historia, de verdad. Ha sido muy emocionante y ese último 10% me hizo sufrir muchísimo al recordar los eventos pasados pero a la vez, fue justo lo que necesitaba leer después de El héroe de las eras, le ha dado una especie de "cierre" y me ha hecho tan feliz 💕. Además fue muy interesante conocer más sobre el Cosmere en general y me hizo entender un poco más el entramado de este vasto universo. Lo malo es que al final igual te deja deseando leer The lost metal a la de ya.

p.d. hagan caso de la introducción y no lo lean hasta después de Brazales de duelo porque les arruinará un giro muy importante del final. También me han dicho que puede ser incluso más 'mind-blowing' si se lee después de Palabras radiantes (El archivo de las tormentas 2), pero a menos que lean esos antes de Brazales, no creo que les funcione porque el final de Brazales te deja ansiando respuestas 😂.

[adamfortuna]

The Mistborn trilogy, and the following Wax & Wayne series, are one of the most elaborate and interesting magic worlds I've ever read about. As a hardcore fan of the world, Secret History shows an alternate take from the end of Book 1 up until the end of Book 3. I appreciate that Sanderson had a bit more in mind than we were able to see in those books, but I didn't feel like this added as much to the world as I was hoping for.

[Briana @ Pages Unbound]

As you can see from the official summary, saying basically anything specific about this book is considered a spoiler (I've seen bloggers agree), which makes it really hard to write a review. However, I'll try to be as vague as possible while still being helpful.

I'm torn on this book because on one hand I thought it was fascinating to read--not necessarily because of the secrets revealed but just because it has a really great plot. Sanderson knows how to write excitement, and he doesn't fall short in this novella. It's just a really good read.

On the other hand, I'm a little sad I read this because it really exemplifies Sanderson's need to try to explain everything about his fantasy worlds. I follow the school of Tolkien in thinking it adds something to a fantasy to have some things left unexplained, to believe there's also something more, wonderful and mysterious, just back another layer. Sanderson is all about stripping away mystique to prove to readers he has an explanation for everything, and I don't always want one. However, I'm a sucker for anything he writes, so he could publish something titled "How Exactly My Entire Cosmere Functions" and I would buy it.

I've seen other readers suggest reading this only about Mistborn #6, which is what I did. However, I think I personally would have been fine reading it after Mistborn #3 and perhaps would have preferred that. It's been a while since I read the original Mistborn trilogy, and I would have liked to remember more of the details from that in order to read this novella. That said, a general knowledge was sufficient, if not ideal.

[jnikkir]

The first rule of Mistborn: Secret History is: You do not talk about Mistborn: Secret History.

At least, not in any specific way. To reveal any specifics, even small ones, would be to MAJORLY spoil it. So I'm not gonna do that. But here are three important things to keep in mind:

1) Do not read this novella until you're totally caught up on the Mistborn series through The Bands of Mourning (I know the synopsis says there's just a "minor spoiler" for Bands in M:SH, but I disagree. Strongly). So, if you're not caught up, please—please—do yourself a favor and avoid this novella at all costs.

2) See #1.

3) See #2.

Other than that... prepare to have your mind blown. And have a box of tissues handy for the ending. ...Okay fine maybe that's just me, I'M A CRIER OKAY, leave me alone. ;)