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Fantasy. Fiction. HTML: Now with over 10 million copies sold, The Mistborn Series has the thrills of a heist story, the twistiness of political intrigue, and the epic scale of a landmark fantasy saga. Who is the Hero of Ages? To end the Final Empire and restore freedom, Vin killed the Lord Ruler. But as a result, the Deepnessâ??the lethal form of the ubiquitous mistsâ??is back, along with increasingly heavy ashfalls and ever more powerful earthquakes. Humanity appears to be doomed. Having escaped death at the climax of The Well of Ascension only by becoming a Mistborn himself, Emperor Elend Venture hopes to find clues left behind by the Lord Ruler that will allow him to save the world. Vin is consumed with guilt at having been tricked into releasing the mystic force known as Ruin from the Well. Ruin wants to end the world, and its near omniscience and ability to warp reality make stopping it seem impossible. She can't even discuss it with Elend lest Ruin learn their plans! Other Tor books by Brandon Sanderson The Cosmere The Stormlight Archive The Way of Kings Words of Radiance Edgedancer (Novella) Oathbringer The Mistborn trilogy Mistborn: The Final Empire The Well of Ascension The Hero of Ages Mistborn: The Wax and Wayne series Alloy of Law Shadows of Self Bands of Mourning Collection Arcanum Unbounded Other Cosmere novels Elantris Warbreaker The Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians series Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians The Scrivener's Bones The Knights of Crystallia The Shattered Lens The Dark Talent The Rithmatist series The Rithmatist Other books by Brandon Sanderson The Reckoners Steelheart Firefight Calamity At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied… (more)
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It has a complicated, weaving plot, that connects events happening in several different areas, but they work together to not only advance the plot, but develop the themes and ideas of the book. The ending was perhaps the most satisfying and complete one I have read in a trilogy. A lot of times there is so much going on in a series of this scope that there are plot threads never resolved, or questions left hanging, or just a stupid ending because the author couldn't figure out how to stop. The ending of this trilogy felt complete and whole in a way I haven't seen before.
Can you tell I liked this book? While I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who is not a fan of the genre, if you do like fantasy books at all, if you have read Lord of the Rings and didn't hate it, please read this one, it was incredible.
Just as with the beginning of the second book, I was impressed by how much the author allows character growth to advance offstage in the space between volumes. Characters we thought we knew, we find we need to become reacquainted with. Other than Spook's miraculous shaking off his street slang at the beginning of the second book, I found this worked very smoothly and didn't interrupt the pleasure of familiarity with the world. It's a bit daring on the author's part, and very well employed.
Brandon Sanderson is so determined to shut the door on every genre cliché in this trilogy, some readers may find (ironically) it opens a window for predictability by knowing that things can't possibly turn out the way they typically would. That still leaves a few possibilities for the author to choose from, however: will this be one of the fantasy genre's rare tragedies? Will there be a reality-behind-the-reality, ala The Matrix? Will it all be a bad dream? He's done with plot what George R.R. Martin does with characters: any sacrifice becomes possible.
The author claims in his blog that novels which transmit grand thematic ideas using story as a vehicle are pointless and he makes a point himself of avoiding it. But in the Mistborn trilogy we find preservation versus destruction, matters of religion and faith, and a study in trust. These themes are strong, and welcome. They aren't explored enough in the fantasy genre (oddly, since its abstract nature is especially conducive to the portrayal of non-concrete concepts).
Also on his blog, the author has implied this admirable trilogy was only a writing exercise in comparison to getting serious with his âWay of Kingsâ series. Having already elevated him to my âmust buyâ list, Iâm frankly in awe.
I enjoyed the entire series of books which featured both a strong plot and strong characters who developed in a reaslitic manner. I feel that Sanderson succeeded in the main in
I'm not sure what to say about this one. I'm left feeling I expected more or bigger or better and yet
Overall I really enjoyed the series and felt this was a satisfying end. Brandon came up with interesting magic systems, a believable culture and many, many sympathetic characters to go with on the journey. I highly recommend the series.
I have to say, this book was quite a struggle for me to read. The author doesn't hold much back and all the characters go through such trials, that I had to stop reading it for a couple of days. Sanderson has a way of making you care deeply for the characters. As with all his books, he has thrown in some special twists and turns to keep the reader on their toes. This book completes the mythos of the world he has created and fulfills the trilogy quite nicely.
I will eagerly await every single word that he
At the end of The Well of Ascension, the young
The conflict with Ruin, the associated backstory involving Ruin's counterpart Preservation, and the apocalyptic situation all give The Hero of Ages a much more mythological and cosmological atmosphere than The Final Empire and The Well of Ascension. The wide-ranging conflict, which scatters groups of characters to distant locations, also contrasts with the earlier books' focus on relatively few characters in a single city. Sanderson seems more comfortable writing stories with cozier settings, and the broader scope also weakens what character development he attempts, which focuses on Sazed and Spook. The story culminates in a conclusion that is far too "deus" for my tastes, and toes the line of what I can stand.
At the same time, The Hero of Ages also lacks the compelling hooks that help make the other Mistborn books more interesting than standard fantasy fare. The Final Empire has the "heist story" framework as well as the backstory of a world in which the Dark Lord had (apparently) defeated the hero of prophesy. The Well of Ascension considers what exactly happens after tyranny is overthrown and victory declared. In contrast, The Hero of Ages may be Sanderson's most conventional fantasy yet: the world is threatened by a powerful destructive force that the heroes must outwit and overcome.
Even Sanderson's elaborate magic system becomes problematic as the ever-expanding details of the tripartite allomancy-feruchemy-hemalurgy construction multiply to a somewhat unwieldy size. Many of the blurbs that introduce each chapter, which were used to great effect in the other volumes, now need to be omniscient explanations of just what exactly is going on.
The Hero of Ages is a decent conclusion to an excellent trilogy, which manages to tie together all three books, and even hints at yet "another secret" lurking beneath the surface. Unfortunately, it doesn't quite rise to the level of its predecessors, the level we've come to expect from Sanderson. I hope the chapter-by-chapter annotations that Sanderson is currently posting on his Web site will shed some light on the reasons why.
One of the things I like most about Brandon Sanderson's writing is how tight his plots are in terms of foreshadowing. It's evident that he planned out all three books in this series in advance, because there are seemingly insignificant events in books one and two that actually
I also enjoyed the new viewpoint characters, both in terms of new personalities and in terms of getting a new perspective on the conflict.
In the first book, the conflict looks to be fairly black and white. We know who the good guys are and we know who the bad guys are. (Or we think we do, at least.) By the third book, though, we've learned more about the motivations of the "bad guys" (they weren't as "bad" as we thought) as well as coming to see more clearly the weaknesses of the "good guys" (they had more faults than we wanted to see at the time). I appreciate the reminder that, even when we vehemently disagree with someone, they usually have motivations that we can come to understand and even sympathize with.
Things I didn't like:
The thing about epic fantasy is that, well, it's very epic in tone. And while Sanderson is good at writing epic stories, I actually prefer stories that have a more personal element to them. I think it's why I tend to like origin stories; they have to start out small and intimate, before the hero grows up to save the world. So while I appreciated the plotting of this book, I missed a lot of the low-key, personal moments of the earlier books, especially the Vin / Elend scenes from book one. It's a minor critique, though, and one that's more based on my personality than on any flaw on the part of the writer.
Elend and Vin have left the city of Luthadel to find the remaining hidden caches of the Lord Ruler in hopes that these caches will give some hints as to how to save
If you liked the first two books you will enjoy this one. Many of the small events that didn't quite make sense in the first books are all drawn together in this book. There is a lot of war, strategy, and explanation behind the origins of the metal based magics. We also get a lot of explanation into how the different races were created. The theme that seems to underlay this book is one of faith; faith in each other and in our beliefs.
There is significantly less characterization in this book and the reader is switched between four or five different points of view throughout the story. This doesn't detract from the story though, although the book does get a bit slow mid-way through it quickly picks up pace again. In the end this book features Spook and Sazed more than Vin and Elend, although Vin and Elend still play prominent roles throughout.
All in all it tied up the series nicely. The plot kept me guessing and took twists and turns that were unexpected, which was refreshing. The way everything tied together was masterful and intricate. Sanderson is an excellent writer and this book shows that. The ending was definitely bittersweet and may bring on a few tears and sniffles.
Overall another exceptional book by Sanderson. I look forward to reading more books from him in the future! I have The Way of Kings on my shelf waiting for me to pick it up.
Where do I even start? Itâs one of the greatest fantasy novels out there? Or you should totally read them? Oh yeah, definitely. Still, there is something moreâŠ
I think the time I first read the trilogy was about 3 years ago, when my English was still a big mess, and I
The funny part is, I didnât got a chance to go through book 3, which is the last book of the trilogy in my consideration (the rest features a different cast of characters), so I basically restarted the whole series not only with a different perspective and understand, but also ignorance of some sort to what will happen nextâŠ
THE. BOOKS. BLEW. MY. HEAD.
I cannot find a single word to describe how phenomenal this series is. Heck, I donât think âphenomenalâ can cover it all. The world-building, the anticipation, the characters⊠Those canât just simply be described as incredible. Also, Mr. Sanderson, you are now officially receive a high stand in my list of I-love-you-and-hate-is-a-part-of-it-itâs-complicate-I-know authors. Your books are basically tickles. And no matter how straightforward your warnings are, no matter how you tell us, âIâm about to tickle you,â IT WILL STILL TICKLE IN THE END!! (I know, itâs the worst kind of example ever, donât judge). I laughed a lot, cried some more, giggled to myself, and do all kind of stuff that I donât normally do (Iâm a hardcore fangirl, it says something) ALL BECAUSE OF YOUR BOOKS, dear Mr. Sanderson. And I regret none of that.
The most amazing part was that⊠Iâin a wayâexpected what will happen for the Mistbornâs ultimate ending. If you have read this amazing series, you would probably tell me, âWhat? How could you even have that weird, somewhat terrible thought in your mind?â I mean, yeah, nobody wants that to happen, Iâm sure. But I know before starting book 3 on the car only two days ago, I was actually telling myself, âWell, Sanderson is that author who would do that kind of things and I would love it to my death.â It happened. And let me tell you, I will love it till the day after my death.
Overall, reading this amazing trilogy was an incredible experience for me. Iâm still having difficulties getting over it, and the âdifficultiesâ will probably stay for quite awhile. But in the meantime, I will take my time with our dear new friends in [book:The Alloy of Law|10803121] and letâs see how that will turn out.
I find this book intriguing, but difficult to follow
The "Mistborn" trilogy comes to a close in "The Hero Of Ages". While Sanderson does tend to resolve his plots more than many series fantasy authors, there's still a lot of payoff here. It's well-planned payoff - it answers questions and points
Spook and Tensoon get a lot of welcome page time; they're good characters (particularly Tensoon) as well as good drivers for the plot, although Spook seems slightly superfluous in some ways. But the rest of the time the book's focus is on Elend, Vin, and Sazed again; with the amount of exploration these characters have already had, this isn't 100% a good thing. Vin has rather a lot to do, and Elend has an Empire to run. But we linger with Sazed a little more than his character, my favorite in the first book, supports. The challenges to his faith are understandable, but Sanderson drags them out too long.
Sanderson continues with his organized and systematic magic systems playing important roles. Hemalurgy - the magic of the Inquisitors - plays a key role in a number of respects, and is used in a nicely subtle manner at points. And there's a few surprises left in Allomancy, without feeling gratuitous.
The main thrust of the plot is the world slowly dying in the aftermath of the events of "Well of Ascension", where the malign force of Ruin was let loose. Vin and Elend chase the hints left behind by the Lord Ruler, securing buried storage caches. Spook is sent alone to spy on a city sitting on one of these caches, where rule-by-Skaa has descended into Soviet-style thuggery; it runs mostly as a side story, though it ties together in the end.
Indeed, though the book has some pacing problems the payoff is remarkably good in general. Sanderson is excellent as ever with his foreshadowing and reveals; things make perfect sense even if you don't see them coming. The ultimate fates of a couple key characters are oddly left out of the book, but apart from that Sanderson pulls it off. By the end, "The Hero of Ages" is a fitting capstone to the Mistborn trilogy.
I truly hope to see another book/story published in this world of allomancers.