This book is not only the third book in a trilogy, but it’s Act Three of the the three-act structure for the Mistborn Trilogy—it’s the part of the story where the heroes have discovered that what they thought was the problem all along was not the true danger, and now they’re fighting for not only their own survival but that of the world they live in. The mists are killing people and staying out much longer than they should. The Ashmounts are spewing more and more choking ash into the sky, burying the crops that everyone needs to eat to live. And Ruin, the creature Vin was tricked into freeing from its prison of a millennium, is loose to wreak havoc upon the land. Life under the Lord Ruler is starting to look like paradise in comparison.
While the first book in the trilogy turned the standard fantasy story on …
This book is not only the third book in a trilogy, but it’s Act Three of the the three-act structure for the Mistborn Trilogy—it’s the part of the story where the heroes have discovered that what they thought was the problem all along was not the true danger, and now they’re fighting for not only their own survival but that of the world they live in. The mists are killing people and staying out much longer than they should. The Ashmounts are spewing more and more choking ash into the sky, burying the crops that everyone needs to eat to live. And Ruin, the creature Vin was tricked into freeing from its prison of a millennium, is loose to wreak havoc upon the land. Life under the Lord Ruler is starting to look like paradise in comparison.
While the first book in the trilogy turned the standard fantasy story on its head, this volume (perhaps inevitably?) returns in a way to the tropes the first volume was a reaction against. Yet in this case the enemy is not a human or humanlike Dark Lord, but something more like a force of nature—entropy itself given a will and a guiding personality in the form of Ruin.
Ultimately, the book is about how the characters we have grown to love from the previous volumes—Vin, Elend, Sazed, TenSoon, Spook, Marsh, and others—find the courage and faith to fight on in the face of overwhelming odds, just as Kelsier taught them when he plotted the downfall of the Final Empire.
The prose still feels a bit clunky, but the ending is pretty spectacular and elevates the whole series from just enjoyable to genuinely memorable.
I've read Hero of Ages at least four times and every time is a thrill. I was already on board with the previous two Mistborn novels, but this was the one that solidified my love for Brandon Sanderson's work. No spoilers but the ending of this book is anime as hell and I am hooked on it. This isn't a grounded fantasy epic, it is a shonen anime as the written word.
Very satisfying conclusion to the trilogy.
Amaiera ederra trilogia honi. Liburu honek benetan harrapatu nau, erritmo ederra, eta lehenengo liburuan sortutako galdera gehienak ixten ditu elegantziaz. Hitzik gabe nago.
An apocalyptic ending that seals Sanderson's reputation. All of the foreshadowing is resolved, unstoppable forces meet immovable objects and we actually get a result more nuanced than "goodies win, baddies lose", we get an actual synthesis of competing forces which alone makes this series stand out.
Given my current non-fiction reading, I found myself reading many of the character groupings as analogies for neurodiverse groups. Allomancers are a minority of the total population, have a spread of abilities that aren't revealed until they've suffered some sort of trauma, but that gives them access to advantages with the right support. Some have increased physical sensitivity, some are more emotionally sensitive, etc. They're even more frequently identified among the upper classes even though they are just as prevalent among society at large. Feruchemists have special interests they are deeply knowledgeable in, tend to be blunt and interested in the truth, but are …
An apocalyptic ending that seals Sanderson's reputation. All of the foreshadowing is resolved, unstoppable forces meet immovable objects and we actually get a result more nuanced than "goodies win, baddies lose", we get an actual synthesis of competing forces which alone makes this series stand out.
Given my current non-fiction reading, I found myself reading many of the character groupings as analogies for neurodiverse groups. Allomancers are a minority of the total population, have a spread of abilities that aren't revealed until they've suffered some sort of trauma, but that gives them access to advantages with the right support. Some have increased physical sensitivity, some are more emotionally sensitive, etc. They're even more frequently identified among the upper classes even though they are just as prevalent among society at large. Feruchemists have special interests they are deeply knowledgeable in, tend to be blunt and interested in the truth, but are forced to present a servile mask and hide their differences.
One sight disappointment is that Vin seems to be the only woman of interest in the planet, even the promising Allriane gets sidelined in this book. This seems to be something Sanderson is working on though as TWoK has more substantial women in it and this is still an issue for much of the genre at large. There's also some weird eugenics stuff in the lore that doesn't seem to amount to anything, and it's not clear if it's there as colour or critique but at least Vin didn't turn out to be Rashek's daughter all along.
If you want something poetic and flowery, this probably isn't for you, but if you want lore, intricate plotting and action sequences, well you've probably already read this by now
Holy shit holy shit holy shit holy shit. What an ending. What a freaking ending man. I loved it so much I low teared up during the climax on two different occasions and the final words of the climax were just jaw dropping, everything wrapped up perfectly. It was so hype, so cool, so emotionally resonate, so powerful. I LOVE IT ALL.
The times I low teared up were Elend and Vin's deaths and "They weren't all true, but they all had truth"
God. The climax was just so good all around. From Vin becoming a god by consuming all the mists, to Elend's suicide charge to defeat ruin (reminds me of a certain other gigachad leader), to Vin's resolve "Did Ruin think she would let their sacrifices be for nothing?" to Sazed absolutely perfect character conclusion, seeing him become a God, fulfilling the prophecies. GOD it was so fucking …
Holy shit holy shit holy shit holy shit. What an ending. What a freaking ending man. I loved it so much I low teared up during the climax on two different occasions and the final words of the climax were just jaw dropping, everything wrapped up perfectly. It was so hype, so cool, so emotionally resonate, so powerful. I LOVE IT ALL.
The times I low teared up were Elend and Vin's deaths and "They weren't all true, but they all had truth"
God. The climax was just so good all around. From Vin becoming a god by consuming all the mists, to Elend's suicide charge to defeat ruin (reminds me of a certain other gigachad leader), to Vin's resolve "Did Ruin think she would let their sacrifices be for nothing?" to Sazed absolutely perfect character conclusion, seeing him become a God, fulfilling the prophecies. GOD it was so fucking powerful.
AND I'M JUST TALKING ABOUT THE CLIMAX HERE! THE REST OF THE BOOK IS GREAT AS WELL. Seeing Elend struggle with him becoming Lord Ruler, his hypocrisy, seeing the obligator struggle with his faith now that his god is dead, seeing Spook's conflict with his cowardice and his failed then successful attempt to make up for that, seeing Vin come to accept herself, the theme of balance, And seeing the theme of "trust" and "faith" wrap up the whole thing. It's fucking marvelous. I love it so fucking much.
The only potential nitpick I could have is that Ruin is literally just an evil god, but even then, the way he presents himself makes him engaging enough to not feel like a generic big bad (looking at all for one). He spouts philosophizing BS to justify his desire and it feels like apart of the setting and he is a great antagonist. Sure, he's not getting on any best villains of all time list, but he doesn't need to.
Easy 5/5. Potentially even a masterpiece. We'll see how I feel once I've calmed down.
Quotes I fucking love from this novel:
“There has to be a balance, Vin," Elend said. "Somehow, we'll find it. The balance between whom we wish to be and whom we need to be." He sighed. "But for now," he said, nodding to the side, "we simply have to be satisfied with who we are.”
“I'm an amalgamation of what I've needed to be. Part scholar, part rebel, part nobleman, part Mistborn, and part soldier. Sometimes I don't even know myself. I had a devil of a time getting all those pieces to work together. And, just when I'm starting to get it figured out, the world up and ends on me.”
“That's what trust is, Sazed thought. It's about giving someone else power over you. Power to hurt you.”
"The religions in my portfolio weren’t useless after all, he thought, the power flowing from him and remaking the world. None of them were. They weren’t all true.
But they all had truth."
"Ruin and Preservation were dead, and their powers had been joined together. In fact, they belonged together. How had they been split? Someday, perhaps, he would discover the answer to that question.
Somebody would need to watch over the world, care for it, now that its gods were gone. It wasn’t until that moment that Sazed understood the term Hero of Ages. Not a Hero that came once in the ages.
But a Hero who would span the ages. A Hero who would preserve mankind throughout all its lives and times. Neither Preservation nor Ruin, but both.
God."
Time to Read: 9 Hours 59 minutes.
Absolutely amazing series!
It's high fantasy so didn't completely expect Vin (nor Elend) to die at the end. A riveting read nonetheless.
Some unexpected twists and turns (Sazed being the hero of ages) and late reveals (nature and appearance of the Preservation power/ god) but also things that are kind of expected (once you know piercing somebody with a metal spike binds them to the Ruin power/ god you know Vin's earring is doing exactly that - although it's "revealed" only later).
An ending to a trilogy with the precision of a Swiss watch.
What a delight to watch an author improve in front of your eyes over a trilogy. This is Sanderson in his present form, for good and for ill.
If you love him in anything written after this book, you'll love him here.
все на купу, але фінал, як це характерно для сандерсона, потужно драматичний. слухабельне :-)
This trilogy really came together so perfectly. So often I will find that I don't particularly like one book or another but in this case, Sanderson delivered three books that each felt unique and complete in themselves but also contributed to a cohesive narrative. Really looking forward to the next trilogy in the series.
What an exciting end to an enjoyable series! This was emotional, intriguing, tense, exhilarating, and reflective. There was a lot to tie up in this book, and I found it surprising that Sanderson did it so well while also introducing new storylines and tying those up as well! It really speaks to his command of writing and storytelling.
As I generally say with Sanderson books, many of my past criticisms hold true. I felt that is was pointlessly long, and the excessive exposition was particularly noticeable in this book compared to the others. The pacing was fairly touch and go, though I commend Sanderson for getting to the action slightly sooner than the final 80 pages of a 400+ page book cough cough Stormlight cough and also the first two Mistborn books too.... The world building was great as expected, and I really liked how most of the characters …
What an exciting end to an enjoyable series! This was emotional, intriguing, tense, exhilarating, and reflective. There was a lot to tie up in this book, and I found it surprising that Sanderson did it so well while also introducing new storylines and tying those up as well! It really speaks to his command of writing and storytelling.
As I generally say with Sanderson books, many of my past criticisms hold true. I felt that is was pointlessly long, and the excessive exposition was particularly noticeable in this book compared to the others. The pacing was fairly touch and go, though I commend Sanderson for getting to the action slightly sooner than the final 80 pages of a 400+ page book cough cough Stormlight cough and also the first two Mistborn books too.... The world building was great as expected, and I really liked how most of the characters (new and old) completed their character arcs.
All in all, this was a fun trilogy to read! I definitely think this was my favorite one of the three, which is saying a lot considering the monumental task of wrapping up such a large story, but he did it again! Onto the next one. Now if only I could read his books as fast as he writes them...
I will just say: this is the most amazing fantasy series I've read in forever. And there is a plot twist that came from another galaxy and completely blew my mind, for real.
Just read it. You won't be disappointed.
I'll give Sanderson this: his ideas of "hard fantasy", meaning magic has to have rules and limitations and be entirely consistent works for some very nice world building. But I've just never been big on epic fantasy. I think my feelings on the whole trilogy were summer up by Sanderson's introduction in which he reported that he was so proud of the epic story he was able to tell in "only" three 700+ page books that would have taken someone else 10. And I just thought of all of the amazing stories I've read that have been single novels or 300-500 page book trilogies and had richer worlds, characters and settings. Sanderson needs to edit. He needs to realize that not every single perspective needs air time and tighter stories are better stories. Also, a world in which every city ruled by a non-noble degenerates into a Communist Russia stereotype …
I'll give Sanderson this: his ideas of "hard fantasy", meaning magic has to have rules and limitations and be entirely consistent works for some very nice world building. But I've just never been big on epic fantasy. I think my feelings on the whole trilogy were summer up by Sanderson's introduction in which he reported that he was so proud of the epic story he was able to tell in "only" three 700+ page books that would have taken someone else 10. And I just thought of all of the amazing stories I've read that have been single novels or 300-500 page book trilogies and had richer worlds, characters and settings. Sanderson needs to edit. He needs to realize that not every single perspective needs air time and tighter stories are better stories. Also, a world in which every city ruled by a non-noble degenerates into a Communist Russia stereotype and "all religions have a martyr figure and a good/bad duality" was a little much. I'm not big on the Christian manifest destiny, and I couldn't ignore it.
Contrairement aux deux premiers tomes qui m'avaient tout de suite embarqué, celui-ci m'a semblé un peu long à démarrer. Par contre, une fois qu'il est lancé, le récit devient épique, digne de ce qu'on attend du dernier volume d'une trilogie de fantasy.
Comme pour chacun des deux premiers tomes, Brandon Sanderson utilise des clichés de la fantasy pour les détourner et nous induire en erreur. Evidemment, comme c'est le troisième roman de la trilogie, j'ai été un peu plus méfiant et attentif au détail, ce qui fait que je n'ai été qu'à moitié surpris par la révélation finale, mais cela n'enlève rien au résultat : captivant et terriblement épique.
Dans l'ensemble, nous avons affaire ici à une très bonne trilogie de fantasy, qui a réussi à me réconcilier avec un genre dont je m'étais lassé. Je sais que l'auteur a écrit d'autres romans dans le même univers, mais se déroulant …
Contrairement aux deux premiers tomes qui m'avaient tout de suite embarqué, celui-ci m'a semblé un peu long à démarrer. Par contre, une fois qu'il est lancé, le récit devient épique, digne de ce qu'on attend du dernier volume d'une trilogie de fantasy.
Comme pour chacun des deux premiers tomes, Brandon Sanderson utilise des clichés de la fantasy pour les détourner et nous induire en erreur. Evidemment, comme c'est le troisième roman de la trilogie, j'ai été un peu plus méfiant et attentif au détail, ce qui fait que je n'ai été qu'à moitié surpris par la révélation finale, mais cela n'enlève rien au résultat : captivant et terriblement épique.
Dans l'ensemble, nous avons affaire ici à une très bonne trilogie de fantasy, qui a réussi à me réconcilier avec un genre dont je m'étais lassé. Je sais que l'auteur a écrit d'autres romans dans le même univers, mais se déroulant plusieurs siècles plus tard : je les lirai sans doute dans quelque temps, en espérant y prendre autant de plaisir qu'avec cette excellente trilogie.
