[WARNING: This novella (and the review covering it) effectively gives away most of the important plot points for Brandon Sanderson's first Mistborn trilogy, so it will be both confusing and a letdown if you read it without having read the trilogy. Seriously. Warning. Turn back, here there be monsters.] 
 (view spoiler)[Typically when a character dies, they... well, disappear. They might end up coming back to life, or returning as a ghost... but typically, they just vanish from the narrative. But such is not the case with Kelsier, a legendary figure from Brandon Sanderson's first Mistborn trilogy -- while this character dies, he refuses to just fade into the afterlife, and instead embarks on a strange otherworldly quest that centers on a pair of feuding gods. 
 As the story opens, Kelsier is killed by the Lord Ruler and finds himself in a misty otherworld between the mortal realm and the "Somewhere Else." He refuses to simply pass away -- and with the reluctant help of the god Preservation (whom he calls "Fuzz"), Kelsier manages to make it to the Well of Ascension. But while the Well renders him immortal and keeps him from fading into the afterlife... he also is trapped inside it. Indefinitely. So it's not much better than actual death. 
 But when Vin releases the Well's power... things actually get even worse. The god of Ruin is released from his prison, which will allow him to slowly unravel Preservation and subsequently destroy the entire world. There's no way of stopping Ruin, but a man stubborn enough to not die even when he's dead isn't going to give up. So Kelsier -- who has also been freed -- sets out on a quest to contact his still-living friends, and to find some power in the world to hold back the destruction of his entire world. 
 "Mistborn: Secret History" isn't so much a sequel as it is a sidequel -- it takes place at the same time as most of the Mistborn trilogy, and occasionally Kelsier's quest overlaps with the stuff that Vin, Elend and Sazed are doing. But though his goal is the same, most of his story branches out in another direction, especially when he learns of the true nature of the "gods" and that there are actually many worlds out there. Apparently nothing expands your mind like dying. 
 But even as he weaves in his multiverse mythology, Sanderson keeps "Mistborn: Secret History" closely tied to the original trilogy. Readers of that trilogy will know what ultimately happens, but he manages to throw in some surprising twists near the finale. In fact, it leaves you wondering if Kelsier will eventually pop up later on. 
 One of Sanderson's talents is that no matter how bleak the story, he writes robust, detailed prose that moves swiftly, with haunting descriptions ("fingers made of spirals of unwound, misty strings") and a light sprinkling of humor ("You tried to rescue a boatful of people from a fire by sinking the boat, then claiming, 'At least they didn't burn to death'"). But the darker stuff is skin-crawlingly eerie, especially when Kelsier first catches a glimpse of Ruin, and the terrible ruination that slowly unravels the entire world. 
 Few characters have earned their nickname like the Survivor -- even when Kelsier dies, he refuses to die. His stubborn determination proves to the strongest force in "Mistborn: Secret History," but his bittersweet love for his dead wife and his protectiveness of Vin give him vulnerability. Fuzz and Ruin are equally fascinating characters -- one is a slowly-dying deity whose crumbling mind can't even remember his past brilliant plans ("I was killed long ago, when I made the decision to break our promise"), and the other a cruel force of unswerving entropy. 
 "Mistborn: Secret History" is a must-read for anyone who has read and enjoyed Brandon Sanderson's first Mistborn trilogy -- a fast-paced, intricate novella that shows that for the Survivor, death is not the end. Here's to more of Kelsier's story. (hide spoiler)]