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adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Sanderson's world is very straight and very patriarchal. It's pretty obvious what his views are on gender, gender roles, and sexuality. Every one in his world is cis, straight, and women exist to support the male characters. I'd say in the end of the day, I can easily overlook the very straight nature of some series, but the lack of good writing in female characters and the misogynistic portrayals throughout this whole book really brings the quality down for me. I've heard that he gets better over time in writing women in other series, so I'm hopeful. When he tries, he can write really nuance and interesting characters. I do enjoyed part of his exploration with religion, but the conclusion to its exploration felt a bit preachy. I don't like the part where it concluded Sazed is neither man or woman because he didn't have balls. He's still a man! It could have been a great nonbinary representation if he was one, but no he's just a disabled man.
Just like the Well of Ascension, I didn't give a fuck about the politics. Nothing really happens until the very end when reveals started to happen. I was a bit bored but TenSoon's chapters intrigued me enough to push through.
This final book confirmed to me that I don't like Elend that much, and his POV are always a slog for me to read. It definitely stifled my enjoyment everytime he's in the chapter. I still don't understand how he became the king in the first place from book two, I only liked him when he was only this book nerd love interest back in book one. He's a privileged kid who reads a couple of books then had the audacity to take over the throne? Even when he "grew" as an king and emperor, he just became more and more insufferable. Vin tells him anything and he just pats her on the head and tells her that everything will be okay and that she's just being paranoid.I didn't give a shit when Elend died. he's pretty much a Gary-Sue. He's perfect, everybody loves him, he can do nothing wrong. For me Vin's characterisation is also dampened whenever she shows up with Elend, she shines the best when she's with other characters. And yes, Elend now suddenly gains the Mistborn status and of course he has to be more powerful than Vin, can't have the wife outshines the husband!
Vin is the only prominent female character in the series with the "not like the other girls" trope, and she's always held back as the submissive backdrop that is of Elend Venture. Elend always doubts her and gaslights her into thinking her opinions don't matter, and by the time Elend finally put faith in her we get the wholeRuined can hear your plan so don't speak part where they never have a true equal-footing discussion. Vin blindly puts all her faith in Elend, often trusting that he will solve every problem and she has no agency of stepping up until the very end. She's always described as Elend's wife, and she's his knife, and that she follows his commands like the good little submissive woman she is. Even when she finally fought Ruin, she only did so because oh no her husband died !
All the other women in the story are merely love interests, they follow behind their powerful men and dutifully supports them. Tindwyl was a refreshing introduction in book two, then she got killed after we as the reader barely knew her for that long, then her character merely existed as a motivation and trigger for Sazed's character arc. Beldre and Allrianne etc., are reduced to "pretty-things" for our male characters to gawk at and protect. They are just tools to enhance their male love interests, none of them have relationship with each other too, the only interaction I've ever seen between the women are antagonistic to each other.Spook also stalked the girl for a few months and somehow we're supposed to find that romantic.
I also felt unconfortable on the "redemption" of Lord Ruler, claiming that "he's actually a good man" after 1,000 years of slavery, everyone on the page seems to forgive him immediately after knowing that he tried his best to stop Ruin, forgetting why they fought him in the first place back in book one. Yomen the former obligator who kept the noblility and slavery structure in place because the "skaa asked for it" is somehow also a good man and we're supposed to like him. Whereas Quellion, the other leader who wants to free skaa is written as a maniac who doesn't see reason, thenturns out he's borderline insane anyway so he was easily controlled by Ruin .
The repeated reminders of how allomancy and other power system works in the pages also began to grind my gear. This is the final book of the trilogy, yet Sanderson doesn't trust the reader to be smart enough to remember how his magic system works? We don't need the constant reminder, and I feel if he had cut all those repeating section, the book can be reduced by so many pages. The plot with characters running around circles and going "oh we should attack but oh we shouldn't" was so meandering and felt so unnecessary, nothing really happens! No wonder why the book is so long.
On the other hand, I love the inclusion of more POV in this final book, my favourite character were always Sazed then also TenSoon, I'm glad to see that they played a more major role in this final book. Sazed was depressed yes and I appreciated he went through a whole religious existential crisis. But that's literally what he did for the entirely of the book until the twist at the end...Yeah I didn't enjoy him as much this time.
The ending was satisfying, though.I was worried that the book was going to end on a happy note that all the main characters survives, Vin and Elend has a happy ever after kind of tone, but I'm so glad that the ending was much more grand and bitter-sweet. I love bitter-sweet endings. I enjoyed the theme of perservation, destruction, and creation. In which perservation and destruction cannot exist on its own, they need creation for themselves to make sense, and only by uniting both force you can have creation. It reminds me greatly of the ending for Slain the Princess, another story that pretty much talks on this theme.
Just like the Well of Ascension, I didn't give a fuck about the politics. Nothing really happens until the very end when reveals started to happen. I was a bit bored but TenSoon's chapters intrigued me enough to push through.
This final book confirmed to me that I don't like Elend that much, and his POV are always a slog for me to read. It definitely stifled my enjoyment everytime he's in the chapter. I still don't understand how he became the king in the first place from book two, I only liked him when he was only this book nerd love interest back in book one. He's a privileged kid who reads a couple of books then had the audacity to take over the throne? Even when he "grew" as an king and emperor, he just became more and more insufferable. Vin tells him anything and he just pats her on the head and tells her that everything will be okay and that she's just being paranoid.
Vin is the only prominent female character in the series with the "not like the other girls" trope, and she's always held back as the submissive backdrop that is of Elend Venture. Elend always doubts her and gaslights her into thinking her opinions don't matter, and by the time Elend finally put faith in her we get the whole
All the other women in the story are merely love interests, they follow behind their powerful men and dutifully supports them. Tindwyl was a refreshing introduction in book two, then she got killed after we as the reader barely knew her for that long, then her character merely existed as a motivation and trigger for Sazed's character arc. Beldre and Allrianne etc., are reduced to "pretty-things" for our male characters to gawk at and protect. They are just tools to enhance their male love interests, none of them have relationship with each other too, the only interaction I've ever seen between the women are antagonistic to each other.Spook also stalked the girl for a few months and somehow we're supposed to find that romantic.
I also felt unconfortable on the "redemption" of Lord Ruler, claiming that "he's actually a good man" after 1,000 years of slavery, everyone on the page seems to forgive him immediately after knowing that he tried his best to stop Ruin, forgetting why they fought him in the first place back in book one. Yomen the former obligator who kept the noblility and slavery structure in place because the "skaa asked for it" is somehow also a good man and we're supposed to like him. Whereas Quellion, the other leader who wants to free skaa is written as a maniac who doesn't see reason, then
The repeated reminders of how allomancy and other power system works in the pages also began to grind my gear. This is the final book of the trilogy, yet Sanderson doesn't trust the reader to be smart enough to remember how his magic system works? We don't need the constant reminder, and I feel if he had cut all those repeating section, the book can be reduced by so many pages. The plot with characters running around circles and going "oh we should attack but oh we shouldn't" was so meandering and felt so unnecessary, nothing really happens! No wonder why the book is so long.
On the other hand, I love the inclusion of more POV in this final book, my favourite character were always Sazed then also TenSoon, I'm glad to see that they played a more major role in this final book. Sazed was depressed yes and I appreciated he went through a whole religious existential crisis. But that's literally what he did for the entirely of the book until the twist at the end...Yeah I didn't enjoy him as much this time.
The ending was satisfying, though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Murder, War
Moderate: Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Ableism, Slavery
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I'm going to just be real - this was my first Sanderson trilogy and the third book felt like a masterclass in crafting a meaningful ending to an epic journey.
The more that I think about this trilogy, the more impressed I am with what Sanderson was able to build here. Yes, Sanderson does impressive world building where you're treated to complex plots and excellent suspense, but he is able to do so much with this trilogy. It is not simply three books full of magic and war. I truly cannot choose my favorite part of these books, but I love that Sanderson grapples with really interesting moral and philosophical questions about how to build an equitable, moral, and just society. He forces his characters to make difficult choices in service of the greater good, grapple with the makings of a rebellion and how to sustain it in the face of adversity, and what qualities and characteristics are essential for a good leader.
In this novel, it's no longer just about kingdoms, diplomacy, and warfare so much as it is about the impending collapse of their entire world that forces all our characters to reckon with their collective fate. Unlikely alliances must be forged and impossible decisions must be made - all with negative repercussions for those they rule. In this novel specifically, the role of religion and faith really comes into play, which gets a bit heavy handed (as a non-religious person) towards the end but makes sense in the context of the characters.
Our main characters in this book are split up as they are all working on different pieces of the same puzzle, so the plot bounces back and forth between their respective stories. I didn't mind this (I think it actually can keep the plot moving forward in many ways), but was occasionally frustrating when I was in the thick of tension and then was forced to jump to another plot in a different part of the kingdom. I think this is solidly one of those "great problems to have" sort of things though - it just goes to show how engrossed you can get in on of Sanderson's characters and how you don't want to leave!
At the end of the day, I just loved every character and every chapter of this novel. It was a masterful conclusion that shredded my heart (in the best possible way). Sanderson did a great job at dropping some important clues along the way for how this story would end, so it was satisfying to see some of my guesses come to fruition. It was a fast paced ending to this incredibly written trilogy and I'm so glad I read it. I'm definitely a Sanderson fan after reading this series!
The more that I think about this trilogy, the more impressed I am with what Sanderson was able to build here. Yes, Sanderson does impressive world building where you're treated to complex plots and excellent suspense, but he is able to do so much with this trilogy. It is not simply three books full of magic and war. I truly cannot choose my favorite part of these books, but I love that Sanderson grapples with really interesting moral and philosophical questions about how to build an equitable, moral, and just society. He forces his characters to make difficult choices in service of the greater good, grapple with the makings of a rebellion and how to sustain it in the face of adversity, and what qualities and characteristics are essential for a good leader.
In this novel, it's no longer just about kingdoms, diplomacy, and warfare so much as it is about the impending collapse of their entire world that forces all our characters to reckon with their collective fate. Unlikely alliances must be forged and impossible decisions must be made - all with negative repercussions for those they rule. In this novel specifically, the role of religion and faith really comes into play, which gets a bit heavy handed (as a non-religious person) towards the end but makes sense in the context of the characters.
Our main characters in this book are split up as they are all working on different pieces of the same puzzle, so the plot bounces back and forth between their respective stories. I didn't mind this (I think it actually can keep the plot moving forward in many ways), but was occasionally frustrating when I was in the thick of tension and then was forced to jump to another plot in a different part of the kingdom. I think this is solidly one of those "great problems to have" sort of things though - it just goes to show how engrossed you can get in on of Sanderson's characters and how you don't want to leave!
At the end of the day, I just loved every character and every chapter of this novel. It was a masterful conclusion that shredded my heart (in the best possible way). Sanderson did a great job at dropping some important clues along the way for how this story would end, so it was satisfying to see some of my guesses come to fruition. It was a fast paced ending to this incredibly written trilogy and I'm so glad I read it. I'm definitely a Sanderson fan after reading this series!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I'm not going to lie I don't really know what to write here. I finished this book last night, and I'm still processing to be honest. This book was just so good. A perfect conclusion to this series, if I might say so. In this book the world is facing the consequences of the past two book, and the end might just be very near. Therefore this book is quite exestential, and it is incredibly well done. I thought the discussions around religion, faith, and even idealism within these characters was incredibly interesting and well executed. It isn't the main focus of this book but it does play a central part in it, but considering this book is about the world potentially ending that makes total sense.
Over these 3 books I have become incredibly attached to this cast of characters, and this book really showcased their growth throughout this series. Their journeys throughout this book was also incredible. They have all really found their strenghts and really came into their own.
The storyline in this book was also just really strong, and interesting. As mentioned before we are dealing with the potential end of the world as well as the consequences of the events of book one and two. It was just really interesting to see the different parts of the world reacting differently to these things. I just didn't want to put this book down because even though no massive things were happening for quite some time it was still really well crafted. I was completely sucked into it. The last part of this book though had my heart racing. It was twist after twist, some I saw coming and therefore felt smart about it just for the bigger reveal I could have never seen coming to come peeping around the corner a few pages later. It was all just so incredibly well crafted. I immediately wanted to pick book 1 back up after finishing this to just experience it all again but now with all the information I have of this world now. I don't know. My brain is just broken a little bit but this was phenomenal. That's all that matters.
Over these 3 books I have become incredibly attached to this cast of characters, and this book really showcased their growth throughout this series. Their journeys throughout this book was also incredible. They have all really found their strenghts and really came into their own.
The storyline in this book was also just really strong, and interesting. As mentioned before we are dealing with the potential end of the world as well as the consequences of the events of book one and two. It was just really interesting to see the different parts of the world reacting differently to these things. I just didn't want to put this book down because even though no massive things were happening for quite some time it was still really well crafted. I was completely sucked into it. The last part of this book though had my heart racing. It was twist after twist, some I saw coming and therefore felt smart about it just for the bigger reveal I could have never seen coming to come peeping around the corner a few pages later. It was all just so incredibly well crafted. I immediately wanted to pick book 1 back up after finishing this to just experience it all again but now with all the information I have of this world now. I don't know. My brain is just broken a little bit but this was phenomenal. That's all that matters.
Content Warnings
Minor: Slavery, Suicidal thoughts
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This series is... very much a mixed bag for me, which makes it somewhat challenging to rate. It should probably be more like 3.5 stars.
Mistborn's worldbuilding and magic system continued to be excellent and original. However, Sanderson has a nasty habit of overexplaining and not trusting the reader to remember what is going on. Yes, we do remember that Vin is "wearing her usual trousers and shirt and carrying vials of metal with her to replenish her powers." We are hundreds of pages into the third book of the series at this point. All the references to Pushing and Pulling got really tedious, too. You wouldn't describe walking like "he put one foot down and pushed himself forward, then put the other foot down and pushed himself forward again" - but that is what this book often felt like it was doing, when describing Allomantic actions.
As with Book 2, there was often some contradictory morality that felt colored by the author's Mormon faith - perhaps understandable, but sometimes frustrating as a non-religious reader. There are overarching themes of empire and divine right to rule that create some shaky moral high-ground that isn't really challenged, which felt uncomfortable at times. *Why* does Elend have the right to have power over everyone else? And then there are moments like when Vin, our protagonist we're supposed to root for, is fine with killing Yomen's innocent servants if it would have gotten her free.
And then there is Sazed's storyline of dismissing every religion in the world as false, one by one, because they all have internal contradictions - until the big moment that he just... decides to believe in his own people's religion, for no other reason than "he wants to" and "faith isn't about logic, you simply must believe in it." Hmm, okay.
At any rate, it was slow going to get into this book, but it did get more exciting near the end. TenSoon's parts were especially interesting - I find the kandra culture absolutely fascinating. I don't regret reading the Mistborn series by any means, it had a lot of interesting ideas, but overall I found the experience to be an uneven and often frustrating one.
Mistborn's worldbuilding and magic system continued to be excellent and original. However, Sanderson has a nasty habit of overexplaining and not trusting the reader to remember what is going on. Yes, we do remember that Vin is "wearing her usual trousers and shirt and carrying vials of metal with her to replenish her powers." We are hundreds of pages into the third book of the series at this point. All the references to Pushing and Pulling got really tedious, too. You wouldn't describe walking like "he put one foot down and pushed himself forward, then put the other foot down and pushed himself forward again" - but that is what this book often felt like it was doing, when describing Allomantic actions.
As with Book 2, there was often some contradictory morality that felt colored by the author's Mormon faith - perhaps understandable, but sometimes frustrating as a non-religious reader. There are overarching themes of empire and divine right to rule that create some shaky moral high-ground that isn't really challenged, which felt uncomfortable at times. *Why* does Elend have the right to have power over everyone else? And then there are moments like when Vin, our protagonist we're supposed to root for, is fine with killing Yomen's innocent servants if it would have gotten her free.
And then there is Sazed's storyline of dismissing every religion in the world as false, one by one, because they all have internal contradictions - until the big moment that he just... decides to believe in his own people's religion, for no other reason than "he wants to" and "faith isn't about logic, you simply must believe in it." Hmm, okay.
At any rate, it was slow going to get into this book, but it did get more exciting near the end. TenSoon's parts were especially interesting - I find the kandra culture absolutely fascinating. I don't regret reading the Mistborn series by any means, it had a lot of interesting ideas, but overall I found the experience to be an uneven and often frustrating one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Death of parent
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Fire/Fire injury, War
Moderate: Slavery, Colonisation
adventurous
dark
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Physical abuse, Slavery, Violence, Murder, War
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I- alright then. That sure as hell happened.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood
Moderate: Addiction, Slavery
Minor: Animal death, Suicide, Alcohol
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Infertility, Pregnancy, Alcohol
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Child death, Death, Genocide, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Pandemic/Epidemic