(Amy) And at long last I get around to reading the conclusion of the Mistborn trilogy, in which we all learn that no assumption is safe. Reveal after reveal cause the reader to reevaluate things learned in earlier books without making it feel like retconning, but rather as if the deeper meaning were there all along and the characters themselves had drawn incorrect conclusions about their world - which is the case, I'm pretty sure. But even if it's not, and Sanderson himself changed his mind about The Way Things Work, he did it with such a deft touch that I can find no fault in it

Detailed analysis would be spoiler-ridden at least for the first two books, even if I managed to steer around spoilers for this book, so I shall refrain. I'll content myself with this: Before I read Hero of Ages, I thought Sanderson was one of the best fantasy authors I'd encountered in several years, and was looking forward with mild interest to reading his Wheel of Time conclusion. Well, mild interest has become active anticipation, because while it's possible that no one can manage to re-gather all the scattered threads of that story, I'm now firmly convinced this is the best candidate for the job.
( http://weblog.siliconcerebrate.com/ze... ) ( )

I got this through the Early Reviewers program, and it took me longer than I would have liked to finish. Sanderson is an good writer, but I feel as though his books have the same problem; too much of the book is spent building tension and plot. One big action scene in the first couple of chapters, then a ton of exposition and mounds of dialogue and discussion until the last few chapters. It's not that I don't appreciate those aspects of a book, but I prefer a balance. Dialogue and exposition, then have something happen. But I feel like I listen to Sanderson's characters discuss the same topics over and over until I just have to put the book down and move on to something else for a while.

All in all, this has been a decent series; once the story is over, I can appreciate the overall plot much more than when I'm actually involved in reading the books. ( )

Better than the other two, still not a favorite (3 and 3/4 stars!). A lot more action and less politics in this one - even when Elend is (trying to) manipulate the obligator, it's more straightforward than we've seen in the previous books. And since it's the conclusion, a heck of a lot gets explained. The secrets of the kandra, the koloss, the Inquisitors, the Lord Ruler...Sazed, Spook, Vin, Elend... 'there's always another secret'. It was a good payoff for all the twistiness, but I'm still not going to reread the series. I will try other Brandon Sandersons - we'll see if this is always his style or just sometimes. And Warbreaker is supposed to be very different from his usual - again, we'll see. ( )

I got this book via the Early Reviewer LT program, and have been holding off reading it until I can get (and read) the first two of the series. Unfortunately, this is cutting in to my chances to get more ER books, so I started reading it anyway.

I find this book intriguing, but difficult to follow having come in on the third of the series. I felt the author didn't do much explaining at all, and pretty much expected the reader to know what the history was. This is not unreasonable, as it is the third book. Plus, I often find a lengthy, drawn-out review of the past boring in a new book. Unfortunately, it wasn't easy to get through, as I had little investment in the characters or story, and strongly recommend reading the first one and deciding whether you want to continue based on its merits, and not judging based on just the third book.

Little long and boring in spots with a ton of exposition and not enough action to keep the reader's attention. The writing itself was good, the characters were good, but the exposition slowed the pull of the story too much. Ending was very satisfying, however. ( )

In this third book of the Mistborn trilogy, Sanderson continues to follow the struggles of Vin and Elend as they attempt to create a perfect empire after the fall of the Lord Ruler. While I found Sanderson's Mistborn (book 1) thoroughly enjoyable and The Well of Ascension (book 2) tolerable, Hero of Ages was unable to captivate me. After multiple attempts this book has fallen into my "to be read later" pile. ( )

Although I hadn't read the first two books in the Mistborn trilogy I was impressed enough with the thoroughness of the synopsis in Hero of Ages to start off reading, but I couldn't get into the story at all. The pace was plodding and the story long-winded and I failed to find anything in the first couple of hundred pages that grabbed me. I ended up putting the book down half way through after realising that Sanderson's moralising on religion and faith wasn't going to get any easier to stomach.

The Hero of Ages is the conclusion to Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy, following The Final Empire and The Well of Ascension. Of the three volumes, The Hero of Ages is the weakest, though it serves as a decent conclusion to an excellent trilogy.

At the end of The Well of Ascension, the young Mistborn Vin was tricked into freeing the malevolent godlike being known as Ruin. True to its name, Ruin has been busy spreading death, destruction and despair with gleeful abandon in the year since, while Vin and her husband, Emperor Elend Venture, desperately seek some way to stop it. They are following a series of clues and secret supply caches built by the old Lord Ruler, who was killed by Vin in The Final Empire. The Lord Ruler had struggled with Ruin for a thousand years, and hid these resources for his followers to use in the event of his death. Other surviving members of Kelsier's crew have split up to confront the most powerful remaining warlords, hoping to convince them to join with Elend and try to deal with the ever-present mists and choking rains of ash that Ruin is using to destroy the world.

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. ( )

Great series, I really enjoyed reading. I would recommend this to any fantasy genre fan. Easy to enjoy characters, and you can actually get to know them. ( )

I really hated for this series to end. Over 3 months and 2000 pages, I dipped in and out of the world of Mistborn. Sanderson is a masterful writer and I look forward to reading even more of his books. ( )

Loved it. This was the kind of end to a trilogy that makes you feel like the author had an awesomely detailed plan for characters, plot, and climax all along, down to the tiniest of details. I will miss the characters, and will enjoy re-reading the series now that I know what is going to happen (hopefully my own copies this time). I think I'm going to enjoy reading other books by Sanderson as well. ( )

I don't find myself rubbing my eyes in wonder as if awaking from an amazing dream, like the ARC's back cover hyperbole promises, but I did really (really!) enjoy this book and the trilogy as a whole. It's among the better fantasy trilogies I've read, and I'm going to widely recommend it. My only criticism is the note upon which he leaves the story: it is almost too neat and the series comes off slightly mechanical, like we have witnessed a puzzle’s final solution, with not enough lingering mystery. But anyone who rolls their eyes at typically pretentious, mystical endings may find that briskly refreshing.

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 “Way of Kings” series. Having already elevated him to my ‘must buy’ list, I’m frankly in awe. ( )

What an amazing read. The intricate the Sanderson has woven into this book are astounding. I went back and reread the trilogy after finishing this book just to relive the story at once and try to notice some of the details I missed the first time, including the ending I was not expecting at all (which is a good thing), and extremely glad to see how his characters found their places in this amazing world he has created.

I truly hope to see another book/story published in this world of allomancers. ( )

Simply Amazing. I couldn't stop reading, staying up late into the nights even though i should be asleep. I'm prob one of the very few that think this trilogy is about 100 times better than LOTR. ( )

I haven't read this yet. I didn't realize it was part of a trilogy when I asked for it. I am reading the first book and so far, it has been great. Well written and fast paced. ( )

The unexpected twist at the end was absolutely brilliant. ( )

a brilliant conclusion to an even greater trilogy!! Sanderson has more turns than a mountain road, but he doesn't go over the edge except for one time when I think one of the characters could/should have been killed earlier but was left in for a nice plot twist. ( )

The Hero of Ages is the third book and the conclusion of the Mistborn series, by Brandon Sanderson.

This is an old-style fantasy series - the books tell a single long story and you must complete the trilogy to get any sense of closure. The initial Mistborn book was of a standard length but the second book was almost twice as long, which surprised me in a publishing culture focused on keeping books "a reasonable length". Sanderson commented on his blog: "When I'd turned in Mistborn 2 (revised and already trimmed) at 250k, production and marketing had nearly had a fit, complaining that the book would cost more to print than it would make." Personally, I was thrilled to see that the books told one long interwoven story (although Sanderson did repeat key elements in order to refresh the readers' memories) rather than a half-hearted attempt to make the novels stand alone.

As I was reading the second book, I wondered if the series could be shortened - subplots dropped out and the story streamlined. I'm pleased to say that when I reached the end of the trilogy, the Hero of Ages, I was not disappointed.

It is important to me that a fantasy world hangs together and there is no inexplicable magic without an explanation and basis. I will accept the most fantastical of elements but they must have a logic and once rules of the world are established, those rules need to hold true. Sanderson uses this to his advantages. Rules are broken and his fantasy physics act erratically but in every instance the characters are more shocked than the reader is, and there is a strong focus on finding out why the world isn't acting as it should. Never was anything dismissed with a wave of the hand and thus the author kept me reassured that he wasn't going to forget his own world-building for the sake of plot.

The magic system within the book is clever and incredibly detailed. My 14-year-old son (who has enjoyed the first two books of the series and is waiting for me to relinquish the third to him) was completely intrigued by the "science" of the magic and we enjoyed long discussions about the properties and effects of different metals and possibilities for taking advantage of them.

The ending to the story is surprising but Sanderson has been building up to his conclusion steadily throughout the series. The slow progression of separating the truth from the Lord Ruler's lies is skillfully shown and as reader, we learn to distinguish between witnessed information (what we've actually seen through the characters' eyes) and 3rd-party information (told to the characters without direct experience). Sanderson shows real talent by retaining our trust: the author remains completely reliable through-out a story filled with half-truths and misinformation. I shared in the frustration of the characters but at no point did I feel the rug was pulled out from under me.

More importantly, at the climax of the story, everything mattered. Perhaps there were threads that could, under duress, have been left out but at the end of the story, the strands came together and I think I must have said "Ohhhh..." out loud as the final pieces of the mystery of the Hero of Ages clicked into place. I think every major question that I had was answered. I can't help but suspect that Sanderson wrote twice as much as we have seen in order to bring these books so perfectly to a climax.

My only complaint is that I didn't feel the strong emotional connection to the characters as I had in the first book. I would go so far as to say that the promise of the first book, with its incredible heist driven by the exuberant personality of Kelsier, is not fulfilled by the rest of the trilogy. But by the time I realised that we were drifting away from the initial adventure, I was already so entranced by the world and its magic, I was willing to be led into a new direction. Unravelling the secrets of the Hero of Ages ending up being a mythic tale than a fantastical romp but I felt content and sated at the finale. Still, the only character I could imagine taking out for a beer was the one done away with at the end of the first book.

Brandon Sanderson has done detailed chapter annotations for Book 1 and 2 on his Mistborn Trilogy Portal which makes for a fascinating read of the story in progress as well as shed light onto Sanderson's thinking process.

I had previously read Firstborn, a novella by Sanderson which is available to read or download on Tor.com. I had glanced at the web page, planning to print out the story if it looked to be any good, and found myself riveted to the screen. I bought the initial Mistborn book as a result of this experience and went into it with high hopes. Having finally completed the trilogy, I can say that Brandon Sanderson did not disappoint. ( )

Like Well of Ascension, I liked this book very much up until the end. It was well plotted with believable characters that I cared about, in situations that made sense within the plot and the universe. I have really liked the unique magic system from the beginning of the trilogy. But the end fell flat and the final resolution really just wasn't interesting. ( )

Overall, this series was excellent, but the first two books were much better than the third. ( )

Brandon Sanderson has done it again. His Mistborn trilogy is nothing short of amazing. The Hero of Ages is a spellbinding end to the trilogy. Sanderson keeps you guessing all through the book. He weaves together the various plot threads into a fascinating story. The characters are strong and the world Sanderson creates is captivating. I recommend this series, along with Brandon Sanderson’s other works, to all book lovers. ( )

The Hero of Ages is the third part of the Mistborn series and a suitable conclusion to the trilogy in my opinion.
I enjoyed the entire series of books which featured both a strong plot and strong characters who developed in a realistic manner. I feel that Sanderson succeeded in the main in explaining the various plot threads that made up the series while also bringing it to a satisfactory conclusion. Also the conclusion of the story had enough twists to satisfy without being totally from left field. . Like the other books in the series the part of the novel that compelled me to keep reading just one more chapter were the "extracts" from another book/diary that started each chapter - a powerful concept that revealed more of the back story of the world and events than would have been possible within the chapters themselves without changing the way the books focused on the main protagonists. Overall I was very impressed and will eagerly await the authors next publication ( )

From this first line, The Hero of Ages grabs the reader's attention. Early in the book, the mysterious narrator declares, "Unfortunately, I am the Hero of Ages." Only at the end of the book is the narrator's identity revealed, though savvy readers can pick up hints through the book. Even without the plot twists and revelations regarding the identity of the Hero of Ages, though, this book contains a great deal to recommend itself: characters that readers have grown to love or loathe over the course of the first two books in the series are explored more fully, the intricate and fascinating system of magic interacts with the world that Sanderson has created, and the action of the story will have readers staying up late to see what happens next. Fans of the Mistborn series will find this a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy, while wishing it didn't have to end. ( )

Sanderson started with two very good books. With this third book, he knocks it out of the park. I found myself unable to put Hero of Ages down, and he kept me guessing at every turn. By the end, everything was woven together in a beautiful pattern that fit perfectly, but was completely unexpected. A perfect example of the "Sanderson avalanche." ( )

Sanderson, B. (2008). The Hero of Ages. New York: Tor Books.

0765316897

I first discovered Sanderson’s work through his children’s series, Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians. In those books, Sanderson describes himself as an author of thick fantasy tomes. I was excited to get my hands on one such heavy tome of thickness and heaviness.

As with Sanderson’s other books, the conclusion to the Mistborn series includes fast action, quirky lines and strong characters, particularly strong female characters. With so many characters and complicated plot actions, the story may at times be hard to follow. But any reader who is used to this type of book or has read the first two books in the trilogy should be able to handle it and can always refer to the quick reference at the back of the book for help.

Favorite Quotes:

“Marsh struggled to kill himself.” (p. 15).

“It wasn’t odd for him to have ended up a politician. He’d always been interested in political theory, and while he’d been more a scholar than a true statesman, he’d known that someday he’d rule this house” (p. 32).

“What a beautiful world, Marsh thought, looking up into the falling ash, feeling the light, comforting flakes upon his skin” (p. 63).

“That is my name. Human. You call me Human” (p. 71).

“That isn’t greatness. That’s just foolishness” (p. 149).