The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson

May contain spoilers for people who haven’t read the first two books. But if you’re reading this review, you probably should read the first two books anyway.

Premise: The god Ruin has been released from the Well of Ascension and his antithesis Preservation is weakened to the point of disappearing from the land. As the final book in the Mistborn Trilogy, The Hero of Ages expands even further what you thought you knew about the Final Empire. The background behind the strange powers of Allomancy and Feruchemy are further explained, with new metals added to their knowledge, and we are introduced to the third part of the magic system: Hemalurgy. This new facet is where metal spikes are driven through one person and into another to grant powers to the the person receiving the spike.

The ashes are now falling continuously and they are piling up. People are now falling sick to the mists, some even dying. Elend is now a powerful Allomancer after being mortally wounded at the Well of Ascension and being saved by the last bead of a unique metal that created the first Allomancers. Vin and Elend go on separate quests to find the hidden caches that the Lord Ruler created to help the people during this time that he apparently knew would come. Elend is seeking the rumored stockpile of atium that he thinks will somehow help them, while Vin is searching for more information that leads her to believe that she is the prophesied Hero of Ages.

The shape-shifting kandra play a much larger role than just spying as they did in the first two books. The kandra TenSoon, who took the place of OreSeur to spy for Straff Venture, goes back to his people after the death of Zane to try to convince them to fulfill their agreement from the First Contract. We learn their part in the grand scheme and how they came to be through the use of Hemalurgy at the hands of the Lord Ruler. The Steel Inquisitors, led by Kelsier’s brother Marsh, are gaining more powers by going around and killing Allomancers and Feruchemists. We also learn more about how the Koloss were created and their role. We discover that Hemalurgy is actually a way for Ruin to control people depending on the size and amount of spikes in their bodies, which includes the Koloss, kandra, Steel Inquisitors, even Spook, and more.

Themes: Faith is a theme that has grown through the trilogy, culminating in The Hero of Ages. After the loss of Tindwyl, Sazed has lost his faith in all the religions he spent his life memorizing and storing in his Copperminds. He goes through them one by one discerning whether they are truth or lies as he seeks his long lost Terris religion. He grows more and more disappointed with the results as he disproves one after another until he comes learn of the Terris religion, which turns out to come full circle to their current situation with Preservation and Ruin. Spook’s faith in the Church of the Survivor is also tested when Kelsier appears to him and gives him instructions.

The recurring theme of trust comes to a head in this book, as well, as Vin and Elend learn to trust each other and themselves in making decisions for the good of the empire. The trust in their relationship with each other defines them. This theme is so prevalent that there is a section of the book entitled Trust. Spook even has to make some choices about trust as his words to Vin tell us something about the truth behind Hemalurgy:

“Don’t trust anyone pierced by metal. Even the smallest bit can taint a man.”

Pros: Another layer is added to the magic system, the character depth, and the overall plot. At the end of the second book I wasn’t sure how the release of Ruin from the Well of Ascension was going to tie into the story, but I was incredibly surprised at how it wrapped everything together while adding depth to the entire trilogy. The Hero of Ages turns out to not necessarily be who you think it is but loose ends are tied up. Plot points are brought back into the mix and everything makes so much more sense in the big picture of Preservation and Ruin that now I want to go back and read the series again.

Cons: There were a few things that I felt were over-explained, if not becoming a little tedious, such as Vin and Elend trying to secure the caches and Sazed reviewing the religions. I feel like all three books could have been cut another 5-10,000 words without any effect to the story.

Recommendations: This is a story of faith, trust, love, and hope, and Sanderson explores all of them expertly. The depth added to the trilogy from this book made me like the first two even more. Sanderson raised the bar for the fantasy genre with the Mistborn trilogy and my expectations for new fiction with his innovative world and masterful storytelling, and he did it with style. If you have to choose any new fantasy series to read, this should be it.

Recently released was The Allow of Law, which is a standalone book set in the same Mistborn universe but in more of a modern age.

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The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson

Premise: One year after the Lord Ruler is defeated and the Final Empire is broken, Elend and Vin are trying to bring the people together under a more representative government, with the skaa now playing a role along with the nobles and the merchants. It seems to be a good idea at first, but squabbles arise and they soon find themselves besieged by three armies, one of them belonging to Elend’s own father, Straff Venture. The other two armies are led by Cett, while the other is a koloss army led by one of Elend’s old friends from his days of talking politics at their noble parties.

We learn more about Allomancy, and that is expanded to Feruchemy, the magic that we were introduced to at the end of the first book, where instead of swallowing metals and burning them, the user wears the metals and stores abilities for later use. In The Well of Ascension, we get to see Feruchemy at work as Sazed taps into his stored speed, strength, health, and more from his different metals, along with his stored memories of all the long dead religions from before the Lord Ruler.

The Well of Ascension brings us another layer to an expansive world full of political intrigue, religious fervor, including that of the believers of the new Church of the Survivor, and what it means to be a leader. Elend is a victim of his own laws that he wrote when he is ousted as king, while Vin begins to be suspicious of the mists that she thought she could rely on. Straff’s Mistborn, Zane, plays a big part in that mistrust, especially when it is learned that he is Elend’s half brother. Vin’s powers are pushed beyond their previous limits, with the help of duralumin, and her battles with Zane make her question her loyalties and help hone her abilities. The search for the Well of Ascension, which is supposed to contain the power necessary to stop the ash and the mists that Vin believes could be The Deepness that the Lord Ruler defeated before, is a main objective for Vin as she seeks to use the power to repeat the task of the Lord Ruler of saving the world.

Themes: The ever-present theme of trust in continues in The Well of Ascension, with Vin and Elend learning to trust each other as they enter into new roles, but also with Elend attempting to lead his people to trust each other to make the new government work. Elend also must trust Tindwyl to advise him on being a leader worthy of respect. Vin’s trust is put to the test as she interacts with Zane and he attempts to sway her to join him.

Not only is love shown as a theme between Vin and Elend, but Sazed even gets to learn the value of love being a motivator for everything in life when the Terriswoman Tindwyl shows up, who is there to help shape Elend and Vin into the leaders they need to be. While she is there, Sazed and Tindwyl work together to discover more about their lost Terris religion and the location of the Well of Ascension. During their time studying together, a bond is formed and mutual respect is revealed from years ago that blossoms into a deep affection for each other.

Politics are all over this book, with alliances formed and broken, deals behind closed doors, bribery, spying, pitting one enemy against the other, with military powers and battlefield tactics also coming into play. We go from a complete dictatorship with the Lord Ruler, to a republic style democracy, to an emperor ruling over lesser kings.

Pros: The magic system is further explained with Allomancy and expanded in Feruchemy. I thought that Allomancy was enough, but the addition of Feruchemy just added so much more and was just plain cool. The major battle scene fighting the koloss with Sazed tapping into his years of stored abilities alone was worth reading this book. The extra layers of politics, religion, magic, and the well-formed back story take the Mistborn series from one good book to something more, showing us that Sanderson took a lot of care in building this world.

Cons: The political wrangling and backstabbing between the different factions and powers gave much depth to this book, but could be tiring at times. Think of how exciting it is to watch congresspeople bicker over pointless bills in real life and this is what you’ll get in a fictional book as well. While it gave it more of a sense of reality, it can be boring until you add in the spying and fighting and the threat of armies. With that working against the story, even that was done well enough that it didn’t take long to wade through those parts to get back on track with more exciting things.

Recommendations: This second book in the Mistborn Trilogy takes what you learned in the first book and builds on it, shattering some things you thought you learned and expanding the magic system to give it even more depth. We learn how people can change when forced into certain situations and that what we think about ourselves and our world morphs and grows with experience. With a story full of challenges to faith and trust, this trilogy is very recommended. If you are going to read any of the Mistborn books, you shouldn’t stop with the first book.

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Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

Premise: Mistborn is the story of Vin, a street urchin in the Final Empire ruled by a god known as the Lord Ruler. She is saved from a thieving crew by Kelsier, who has the powerful special ability of Allomancy. Allomancy is the magic system where users swallow certain metals and “burn” them to give the user special abilities, such as super strength, emotional influences over others, and pushing or pulling on metal sources indicated by invisible blue lines tracing from the metals to the Allomancer. Not only is Kelsier an Allomancer, he is a Mistborn who has the powerful ability to burn all the metals. He is also the Survivor of the Pits of Hathsin, a work camp for criminals to harvest the precious metal atium, used as currency by the nobles and burned by the most powerful of Mistborn.

Vin is taken in by a group of people plotting to overthrow the Lord Ruler, who has been in power for a thousand years. In this crew she discovers that she is also a Mistborn and is trained by Kelsier to explore her new-found powers. As part of their scheming she goes undercover as Valette Renoux, where she spies on the nobles, especially drawn to Elend Venture, the heir to the most powerful noble house in the Final Empire. Elend also happens to philosophize during these parties about changing the social structure to free the skaa (peasants) from the oppression of the nobles and the Lord Ruler.

Themes: Vin begins the book trusting no one, as taught by her brother, Reen, who deserted her, and her mother who killed her sister, since it only brings pain and disappointment. When she is brought into her new thieving crew she begins to discover that trust isn’t the horrible thing that has been her experience her entire life when the people you are around care about her. She opens up more and more to these people who are nothing like the others she has had in her life, including her brother and her insane mother.

There is a strong vein of basic human rights that is prevalent through the overthrowing of oppression of a dictator and god, who created a society of nobles and serfs after destroying the unknown Deepness to save the people. This ordered society places the powerful nobles and skaa in a class system that gives the skaa no rights and the nobles holding parties and vying for power with each other. Kelsier’s crew plots to overthrow the Lord Ruler with his charismatic leadership, even to the point of a face to face confrontation with the thousand year old god.

There are many thoughts on religion in Mistborn, from the religion founded by the Lord Ruler to keep order and control to the people, to the many dead religions memorized by Sazed the Terrisman, who is a eunuch steward and rebel amongst his own people. He uses the memorized religions to inspire and comfort others. A religion is also founded considering Kelsier, the Survivor of Hathsin, as its founder and savior from the oppression of the Lord Ruler. Kelsier takes on the mantle willingly and uses it to inspire the skaa all the way to be willing to die to give power to the religion.

Pros: The first book in the Mistborn Trilogy brings something fresh to the fantasy genre. The magic system is creative and has depth, and the imperfect characters, from street urchins to the god of the entire empire, seem to leap (or Steelpush) off the page. The magic is different enough in itself that I wanted to know more about how it worked even after I finished the book. The characters really make this book as each has their own motivations without becoming too much of a trope, from the philosophizing Thug muscle of Ham to the sleazy yet loyal seemingly self-serving emotion Soother Breeze.

Cons: I waited for the battle scenes to grow in intensity throughout the book, which they do, but moved to the brink of me getting lost a few times during the hectic flinging through the air and pushing and pulling descriptions of the Allomantic abilities. Even still, the magic system had the cool factor that kept me engaged. Also, some of the character motivations seemed confused, such as when Vin gains confidence a little too easily when playing as Vallette Renoux, even though she grew up on the streets getting beaten by Reen and her former thieving crew. Perhaps it is her newly discovered powers, but are sixteen years of engrained mistrust and fear changed so easily?

Recommendations: Mistborn brings something new to the table for those weary of the traditional sword and sorcery that has come to be known as the genre. If you are a fantasy fan and haven’t heard of Mistborn, you have probably been living under a rock for the past five years. If you are a fan of fantasy and you haven’t already read Mistborn, you should probably go out and get a copy of this book right now. This book kept me engaged to the end and wanting more. The book is long enough that it might deter those who aren’t fantasy or science fiction aficionados, but Mistborn is well worth the time put into it.

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