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adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, War
Moderate: Blood, Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Genocide
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, War
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The writing in this book is beautiful and I believe everyone should read this series. The ending was beautiful and hit me hard. I had never cried so much over a book in my life. One of the best books I’ve ever read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, War
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, Alcohol
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Genocide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Suicide attempt, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Murder
Moderate: Suicide
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Excellent story and a great way to wrap up the trilogy. Looking forward to rereading in a few years to spot all the clues I missed the first time around, and maybe take more time rather than racing through it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Torture, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
a highly regarded finish to the well-loved first trilogy in the mistborn series, the hero of ages closes off the desperate fight for survival between our heroes and the godly power of ruin. in true sanderson style we get most all our questions answered, twist after twist, while the spectacular world-building unfurls all of its secrets in this final installment. well, almost all, seeing as the series continues and sanderson is obviously too smart of a writer to give away all of his secrets just yet. well played!
i must say, this third book started with the fastest pacing out of all 3 in the trilogy. there is a smartly placed time skip and we instantly jump into battle on elend's side. the narrative quickly establishes the status and goals of each groups that are fighting on our side, and even though parts of the crew are split with their own mission, we obviously feel that they're all moving according to an established plan. i loved this because i felt like we spent most of book2 aimlessly on the defensive, so at the beginning here i greatly enjoyed that we were getting down to business from the get go. compared to the previous book this one feels a lot tighter and captivating. well, until we hit the siege of fadrex city.
not gonna lie, with the crew split i had some subplots that i was really invested in - like spook's growing character arc in urteau, or the politics of the kandra homeland - but then again this book couldn't avoid some of the more slow paced bits either. in particular, i found myself more and more frustrated with the situation at fadrex city and how much time we wasted there (even though i do understand that was the intention of the lord ruler to begin with ) or sazed's kind of repetitive meandering thoughts on losing his way with his religions. i got his depression and loss, but his newfound need for airtight logic, reason and assurance that religions were true became kind of nonsensical at one point seeing as it's pretty obvious that religions are built on faith and belief in something mere humans have no solid proof for. him being the scholar of religions but mindlessly avoiding to face this truth for over 500 pages had grown a bit tiring to say the least.
meanwhile spook had the best arc in the whole book. i really enjoyed seeing the start and finish points of this character and i'm the happiest with his ending. elend and vin had finally grown into their secure places, while some of the other members of the crew like breeze and especially ham sort of just vanished from plot relevancy, which was kind of sad and a waste? i don't know i just expected everyone in the og crew to play bigger parts and i also missed seeing their bonds and friendship on page.
the well-crafter mythology behind the whole history of this trilogy finally uncovers itself and we realize that our heroes have been fighting a pre-destined apocalyptic event. slowly but surely, and then in the last 150 pages all at once, we get all our well-earned reveals about creation, our magic system, the plans, moves and mistakes different characters had made that led to this point. what's most breathtaking about sanderson's craft is the way he clearly thought through a reason for everything and ties all his plot strands with a confident pen game. it's why his plot-twists actually flip your expectations - all the building blocks are right there before your eyes, and yet he surely will surprise you with at least 5 separate twists that you didn't see coming. he's one of those surefire writers you can entrust yourself to as far as world-building and plot planning goes, he definitely won't let you down.
personally, i do have some gripes with his story telling style as far as pacing and romance writing goes. the romance writing is a smaller issue - he is an epic fantasy writer and i didn't really come here with high expectations for romantic plots, but he makes several attempts with different pairings still. these attempts aren't terrible, but each time i found them either distracting, lacking or unnecessary. he eventually won me over with vin and elend, but the rest felt very surface level and at one occasion (breeze and alrianne) even pointless and something i wished didn't happen.
meanwhile my issue with pacing - i am a patient reader, especially with genres i do know take a lot of groundwork and gradual progression to work through. but my issue isn't even that sanderson takes his sweet time in the first 500 pages, but that the switch in the last 200ish is just way too jarring. suddenly characters are jumping between cities, epic fights are going down, the main mythology is raining all the answers onto you, rebellion springs up in one chapter and gets resolved right after, etc. i honestly think everything that happens in the last 200 pages is beyond a clean 5 star story wise, but the fact it happens all so sudden after 500 pages of slow shifts and ponderings is hard to ignore. the epilogue itself has revelations that are hard to digest within the 1-2 lines they get in text. so i'm left with these mixed feelings of great satisfaction and dizziness with the suddenness of it all.
admittedly, the last twistabout sazed being the real hero of ages and how all the prophecies fit his person perfectly blew my mind. i had different theories around it and i love how it never crossed my mind that it's him, but once it's revealed it makes perfect sense. i also adored the writing around vin's chosen one role, how it wasn't just so for unexplainable mysticism but it actually had well laid out reasons within the established magic system and all we've been previously told about her. i remain sad that most all of the interesting key characters die at the end, especially because they fought so hard and for so long for peace, but overall i'm satisfied with the knowledge how they saved the world.
overall, my highest rated and favorite book remains the first one, but this third book was a greatly satisfying conclusion regardless of my smaller criticism. in general, i have higher standards for this series seeing as it's been one of the most hyped and universally recommended series to me ever since i entered the book community. because of that the hype builds in your head in ways that are hard to match. the hero of ages and this first mistborn series in general matched most of my expectations and i can see why it's so beloved by all lovers of fantasy. i close this one off on a 4.25 star rating with good feelings and plans to continue with the series in the near future. cheers!
p.s.: shout-out to vin's epic fight scene against the 13 inquisitors. the most exciting and creative fight in the whole series. i could visualize the whole thing in my head like an epic cinematic movie showdown and i loved every second of it!
i must say, this third book started with the fastest pacing out of all 3 in the trilogy. there is a smartly placed time skip and we instantly jump into battle on elend's side. the narrative quickly establishes the status and goals of each groups that are fighting on our side, and even though parts of the crew are split with their own mission, we obviously feel that they're all moving according to an established plan. i loved this because i felt like we spent most of book2 aimlessly on the defensive, so at the beginning here i greatly enjoyed that we were getting down to business from the get go. compared to the previous book this one feels a lot tighter and captivating. well, until we hit the siege of fadrex city.
not gonna lie, with the crew split i had some subplots that i was really invested in - like spook's growing character arc in urteau, or the politics of the kandra homeland - but then again this book couldn't avoid some of the more slow paced bits either. in particular, i found myself more and more frustrated with the situation at fadrex city and how much time we wasted there (
meanwhile spook had the best arc in the whole book. i really enjoyed seeing the start and finish points of this character and i'm the happiest with his ending. elend and vin had finally grown into their secure places, while some of the other members of the crew like breeze and especially ham sort of just vanished from plot relevancy, which was kind of sad and a waste? i don't know i just expected everyone in the og crew to play bigger parts and i also missed seeing their bonds and friendship on page.
the well-crafter mythology behind the whole history of this trilogy finally uncovers itself and we realize that our heroes have been fighting a pre-destined apocalyptic event. slowly but surely, and then in the last 150 pages all at once, we get all our well-earned reveals about creation, our magic system, the plans, moves and mistakes different characters had made that led to this point. what's most breathtaking about sanderson's craft is the way he clearly thought through a reason for everything and ties all his plot strands with a confident pen game. it's why his plot-twists actually flip your expectations - all the building blocks are right there before your eyes, and yet he surely will surprise you with at least 5 separate twists that you didn't see coming. he's one of those surefire writers you can entrust yourself to as far as world-building and plot planning goes, he definitely won't let you down.
personally, i do have some gripes with his story telling style as far as pacing and romance writing goes. the romance writing is a smaller issue - he is an epic fantasy writer and i didn't really come here with high expectations for romantic plots, but he makes several attempts with different pairings still. these attempts aren't terrible, but each time i found them either distracting, lacking or unnecessary. he eventually won me over with vin and elend, but the rest felt very surface level and at one occasion (breeze and alrianne) even pointless and something i wished didn't happen.
meanwhile my issue with pacing - i am a patient reader, especially with genres i do know take a lot of groundwork and gradual progression to work through. but my issue isn't even that sanderson takes his sweet time in the first 500 pages, but that the switch in the last 200ish is just way too jarring. suddenly characters are jumping between cities, epic fights are going down, the main mythology is raining all the answers onto you, rebellion springs up in one chapter and gets resolved right after, etc. i honestly think everything that happens in the last 200 pages is beyond a clean 5 star story wise, but the fact it happens all so sudden after 500 pages of slow shifts and ponderings is hard to ignore. the epilogue itself has revelations that are hard to digest within the 1-2 lines they get in text. so i'm left with these mixed feelings of great satisfaction and dizziness with the suddenness of it all.
admittedly, the last twist
overall, my highest rated and favorite book remains the first one, but this third book was a greatly satisfying conclusion regardless of my smaller criticism. in general, i have higher standards for this series seeing as it's been one of the most hyped and universally recommended series to me ever since i entered the book community. because of that the hype builds in your head in ways that are hard to match. the hero of ages and this first mistborn series in general matched most of my expectations and i can see why it's so beloved by all lovers of fantasy. i close this one off on a 4.25 star rating with good feelings and plans to continue with the series in the near future. cheers!
p.s.: shout-out to vin's epic fight scene against the 13 inquisitors. the most exciting and creative fight in the whole series. i could visualize the whole thing in my head like an epic cinematic movie showdown and i loved every second of it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, War
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Animal death, Drug use, Pregnancy, Alcohol
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
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:
Complicated
What a book! I didn’t expect to feel happy at the end of this book—especially after that last 80 pages or so—but somehow Sanderson made it work. The numerous deaths felt purposeful and fitting, part of a much bigger picture. The payoff to all the worldbuilding was incredible, and Sazed’s arc completely surprised me in the best way. I really didnt see that been immersed in all the vuew points. Tragic, yes—but also hopeful, and deeply satisfying book. A brilliant end to the trilogy.
Now to start the Wax and Wayne series 🙌🏾
Now to start the Wax and Wayne series 🙌🏾
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, Grief, War
Minor: Ableism
adventurous
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Violence, War