Shadows of Self

A year later, Wax works with the constables while preparing for his wedding to Steris. A string of murders hits clergy, nobles and criminals and threatens to tip Elendel into riots. Harmony speaks to Wax through his earring and asks him to find the killer: a kandra who has slipped out of his control. Wax visits the kandra Homeland and talks to TenSoon, then realizes it was a distraction. In the final showdown on a bridge, the kandra reveals she is Lessie, the wife Wax thought he lost years ago. Harmony had placed her at his side. Wax hits her with a bullet made from his own earring, and she dies. Furious with Harmony, Wax loses his faith and sinks into grief. Only Steris comforts him.

1. Behind the scenesWritten in pieces

   Sanderson wrote the first third in 2012, between drafts of A Memory of Light. When he came back to it in 2014, he got stuck. He wrote The Bands of Mourning first and only then finished this one.

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2. Behind the scenesA readers' award

   It won the Stabby Award for Best Novel of 2015, voted by Reddit's r/Fantasy community.

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3. Behind the scenesNYT top five

   It debuted at No. 5 on the New York Times combined print and e-book fiction list, up from The Alloy of Law's No. 9 debut.

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4. ReferenceAn old friend

   Wax travels to the kandra Homeland and meets TenSoon, the kandra who stood by Vin in Era 1.

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5. SetupA title with two meanings

   The title is about the many roles a person plays in a lifetime, and about a kandra. Keep it in mind with every new face.

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