Editing Shadows of Self

|released=October 6, 2015{{bws ref|shadows-of-self-is-out|''Shadows of Self'' Release Announcement|date=2015-10-06}}

|ISBN=978-0-7653-7855-2

|page-count=383

|word-count=[[/Statistical_analysis|110,019]]

'''''Shadows of Self''''' is the second book set in [[Mistborn Era 2]]. It was released on October 6 2015.{{bws ref|shadows-of-self-is-out|''Shadows of Self'' Release Announcement|date=2015-10-06}}

== Synopsis ==

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== Summary ==

Wax is an inexperienced and naïve bounty hunter determined to make a difference in the [[Roughs]]. He is hunting [[Granite Joe]], with a teenage [[Wayne]] tagging along as his assistant. Wax runs into a woman named [[Lessie]] who is also trying for Granite Joe, and the two agree to team up and split the bounty. They find Granite Joe in the basement of a saloon and a fight occurs. It looks like Lessie is about to betray Wax, but she shoots Joe instead. They quickly hit it off and leave together.

A year after the capture and execution of [[Miles Dagouter|Miles Hundredlives]], Wax and Steris plan for their wedding. Wax works as a special constable. Wayne barges in and reports that an infamous thief has been spotted, and they give chase with [[Marasi]], who is also working in the constabulary, now as an assistant to Constable-General [[Claude Aradel|Aradel]]. The criminal is known as the [[Marksman]] and has styled himself as a Robin Hood figure. They chase the Marksman into the slums and Wayne uses some clever disguises to hunt him down. The Marksman is captured but almost immediately killed by an assassin before the group can bring him in.

[[Elendel]] is in a state of unrest. Food prices and unemployment are high, the people are tired of the corruption in the noble-controlled government, working conditions for those who are employed are poor and unsafe, and an assassination attempt is made on the governor. [[Harmony]] talks directly to Wax through Wax's earring and asks for his help in finding [[Paalm]], a [[kandra]] who calls herself Bleeder and who is causing havoc in the city.

Wax and the others go to [[Lady ZoBell's party]] to try to find her. He starts hearing her voice in his head while he wears his earring. Paalm wants to "free" the people of the city from Harmony. He chases a man playing the part of a server, but loses him in the mists. He instead walks into an ambush of [[Set]] operatives, but he gets some help from [[MeLaan]], a kandra who has been sent from Harmony to help him.

As the evening progresses, more events stoke the unrest, threatening to throw the city into complete chaos. Paalm dresses as a [[Pathism|Pathian]] priest and brutally murders a [[Church of the Survivor|Survivorist]] priest to sow religious discord. She makes an attempt on the governor’s life again, but Wax gives chase, and she escapes. He finds evidence that she’s been in the [[kandra Homeland]], so he goes there and meets [[TenSoon]]. They are both attacked by savage beasts—people transformed into an unknown [[Hemalurgy|hemalurgic]] construct. Wax figures that this was all a distraction and hurries back to try to protect the governor.

The governor is preparing to speak to the mob gathered around the mansion, and Wax realizes that the governor is really Bleeder. Wayne had already figured that out, but had gotten captured. Bleeder flees the scene and Wax catches up to her on a bridge. She removes her mask and reveals the face of Lessie. Wax shoots her with a special bullet – a bullet forged from his earring – allowing Harmony to gain control over Paalm again. She chooses to die instead and reveals that she was Lessie all along. She had been sent by Harmony to watch over Wax. Wax is furious at Harmony for making him kill her a second time, and loses what little faith he had in religion.

Meanwhile, at the mansion, MeLaan’s attempt to impersonate the governor doesn’t go well, but Aradel arrests “the governor” for corruption, promising the crowd that more arrests of nobles will be made to clean up the corruption. The city is preserved and Aradel becomes interim governor.

Following completion of ''[[The Alloy of Law]]'' Brandon plotted out three more books following the same characters to finish the story, the first of which is ''Shadows of Self''. Brandon wrote the first third or so of ''Shadows of Self'' in 2012 between drafts of ''[[A Memory of Light]]'' to keep from being burned out. The book was then shelved until the later half of 2014. He however had difficulty re-acquainting himself with the characters and story, which is a common problem for him when he stops work on a story part-way through. To remedy this he jumped ahead and wrote the sequel, ''[[The Bands of Mourning]]'', before going back finishing ''Shadows of Self''.{{wob ref|9171}}

Brandon has explained that the title "Shadows of Self" refers to the multiple roles a person occupies over the course of their life, as well as to the inclusion of a [[kandra]] character.{{wob ref|4368}}{{wob ref|3069}}

== Awards ==

== Cover Gallery ==

{{for|/Covers|the cover gallery for Shadows of Self}}

== Interior Art ==

{{for|/Interior art|a gallery of the book's interior art}}

''Shadows of Self'' consists of twenty-six chapters, one prologue, and one epilogue, reaching a total 110,019 word count. There are five different unique point-of-view characters in a total of 70 POVs.

{|class="wikitable"

|-

! Word Count

| style="text-align:center" | 110,019

|

|-

! Page Count

| style="text-align:center" | 383

| Tor hardback

|-

! Chapter Count

| style="text-align:center" | 26

| Including prologue and epilogue.

|-

! PoV Characters

| style="text-align:center" | 5

|

|-

! PoV Count

| style="text-align:center" | 70

|

|}

{{tor ref|date=2015-02-23|name=cover|brandon-sanderson-shadows-of-self-cover-reveal|Cover Reveal for Brandon Sanderson's Shadows of Self}}

{{reddit ref|date=2016-01-09|name=stabby|fantasy|4053co|text=2015 Stabby Awards Results Announcement}}

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