A review by seanml
The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

I did it. I finished Mistborn. And in the end, it's a mixed bag that highlights the best and worst parts of the series. The last one-hundred pages are cool, but before that? I found it a real slog - 600 pages of it. Things just take a long time to pick up because we spend a LOT of time with the main characters (What if I told you that one of them is imprisoned for 2/3rds of the book and we're waiting for them to break out the whole time?). And that wouldn't at all be a problem, except that there are just bits of tonal shifts in each new book. During each entry in the series, it seems like Sanderson thought 'I feel like putting a lot of narrative focus on this character' even though we didn't get much of them before. In particular I had a problem with the two main characters, one smart and one strong: one of them gets a sort of 'powerup', to the point where now they're both strong, somewhat casting away the dynamic of them looking at situations differently. So a lot of little instances of those sudden character shifts make the book feel disjointed and unplanned. And yet, the series definitely has many through lines; but I think perhaps that Sanderson started out with a big outline, and decided where he wanted to start and end. So oftentimes there are character arcs that appear or shift radically to help us get from point A to B. However, if you've been enjoying the series for the first two books, I can guarantee that the resolution will leave you fully satisfied. 7/10.
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