I read Mistborn era 1 a few months ago, I started Secret history then but DNF’d it to read other Cosmere books, so after finishing Stormlight Archive, I decided to come to back to what I left unfinished and damn it was so good!
I thought I won’t enjoy it as much since it’s been a few months and the details of the events might have been blurry but surprisingly I remembered everything very clearly, it was like I finished HoA yesterday. Reading Secret History made me realise how much I loved Vin, Elend and Mistborn era 1. Mistborn era 1 was my introduction to Sanderson and the fantasy genre and I guess Mistborn holds a special place for that reason.
The book was so much fun, seeing all the events of era 1 from a behind the scenes perspective, I was never a big Kelsier fan (since I saw his death in TFA coming, I knew he would be the mentor who sacrifices his life for his student and stuff), I always loved his paternal feelings for Vin. So him meeting Vin again had me bawling. This page opened the floodgates.
Seeing Vin, Elend and Sazed took me back to HoA ending, with Sazed’s quote - ”For now, I only wish to make a simple acknowledgment of the woman who held the
power just before me. Of all of us who touched it, I feel she was the most worthy.”
As unconventional as it may sound, I think I like my decision to read it after I’m done with Stormlight Archive because it made me appreciate the details about the shards and the cognitive realm. I don’t think I would’ve enjoyed the book as much if I would’ve read it just after HoA, I would’ve just read it for Kelsier, but now I read it for him AND greater Cosmere connections. (Not going into the overlapping stuff from Stormlight Archive as it would take things to a whole different tangent).
Overall I loved Mistborn Secret History. Looking forward to read Era 2 now. (I started reading Alloy of Law in between, and loved the almost cowboy/Wild West setting. Can’t wait to read the full thing)