A review by ailsaod
The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson

adventurous dark hopeful sad 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? Yes

4.0

 OK, this book was an experience! I really enjoyed most of the book but the ending had me asking what the point of it all was. I think part of this was not the book's fault though - the series up until now has had high stakes but the consequences of failure were of a level of 'if we loose the baddies will take over and everyone will be sad!' which is how things usually are in fantasy. I didn't quite manage to make the tonal shift in this book from regular fantasy stakes to the world is literally ending in fire and darkness stakes so the ending took me by surprise. Since reading this book I have read another book where there was an unexpected shift to a the world is ending plot and it appears I just don't handle this kind of thing well when it isn't made explicitly clear from the beginning.

I think this book was quite similar in some ways to 'Assassin's Quest' in that the majority of the lore only is revealed right at the end in a big lump. I am beginning to learn that if the book has only twenty or so pages left and there is no clear end in sight to be worried! I did think the worldbuilding revealed in this book was very cool though! Many aspects of the world before seemed very discrete and while there are still things Sanderson has kept unexplained in this book everything was linked together. Another thing that I enjoyed was how cinematic parts of the book felt. For a setting full of volcanoes and falling ash most of the trilogy has been so focused on the plot that the 'visual' aspect of the setting has kind of been glossed over but certain scenes in this book were something I can definitely imagine seeing in a film and I love volcanoes so this was great!

Before things kicked off a major portion of the book was focused on the character's final developments. Vin and Elend actually get less of the focus than the previous books and instead we spend a lot of time with Sazed and Spook. I wasn't a massive fan of the Spook sections but I think their inclusion was warranted because of one of the later twists. I really really enjoyed the parts about Ten Soon and the Kandra and I am sad that
they will not be present in future books.


While I was quite upset by the ending I plan to continue with the mistborn books - it does help that 'the alloy of law' is itty bitty in comparison to the first trilogy!
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