REVIEW + DISCUSSION: hero of ages, by brandon sanderson

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The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson
Series: Mistborn,
on October 7th 2014
Pages: 768
Format: Paperback
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Tricked into releasing the evil spirit Ruin while attempting to close the Well of Ascension, new emperor Elend Venture and his wife, the assassin Vin, are now hard-pressed to save the world.This adventure brings the Mistborn epic fantasy trilogy to a dramatic and surprising climax as Sanderson's saga offers complex characters and a compelling plot, asking hard questions about loyalty, faith and responsibility.

i began HERO OF AGES on my plane ride to new york. i finished THE WELL OF ASCENSION, the previous book in the MISTBORN trilogy, waaayyy back in march and the only reason why i didn’t immediately pick up HERO OF AGES is because it. is. so. big. staring at it was intimidating, especially since 1/ it’s the final installment of the series, meaning scary things will likely happen to my favorite characters, 2/ lots of pages means lots of opportunities for said scary things to happen. my biggest complaint about this series is that the books are gigantic, but in a way, it’s necessary.

“Sometimes, you have to destroy something in order to build something better.”

– pg. 167

since i didn’t have a lot of time to read while i was reading this, it took me AGES to finish. as in, three months. sure, i read a book in between, but still three months. i felt like the beginning was quite slow. it took me a really long time to get into the book, which is probably why it took so long in the first place. i was close to DNF-ing the book, but i made my way through in the end because 1/ i knew the ending was probably insanely epic (IT WAS), 2/ i made it this far in the series; i might as well finish it, 3/ i wanted to know what happened!

“There was a power in words.”

– pg. 169

for a concluding novel, it was okay. i’m not saying i didn’t like this book, but it could’ve been more engaging and more fast-paced. things didn’t start getting i-can’t-put-this-book-down until about 400 pages in. when things did start picking up, it was really interesting and brandon sanderson did not hold back. there were lots of plot twists and other shocking events. my mind was just constantly being blown and i couldn’t comprehend ANYTHING; i was in an eternal state of shock. in the end, it concluded really well and everything wrapped up together like a burrito. (random analogy. now i’m craving chipotle.) the extremities were so strong; the first half was slowly slowly slowly building up and once things REALLY got to it, it was non-stop.

“There has to be a balance, Vin” he said. “Somehow, we’ll find it. The balance between who we wish to be and who we need to be.” he sighed. “But for now,” he said, nodding to the side, “We simply have to be satisfied with who we are.”

– pg. 205

that’s all i can really say without spoiling you! i feel like i would appreciate it more if… 1/ i read it later on (aka when i’m older) because the concepts and everything are a bit complex, or 2/ i reread it to find all the foreshadowing and clues sanderson left in the previous novels, though that’s probably unlikely to happen due to the size. i really did enjoy this series and once i finished it, i was glad to have read it despite it being SO BIG and slow at times. if you haven’t read the first two novels, MISTBORN: THE FINAL EMPIRE and THE WELL OF ASCENSION, i’d recommend picking those up! don’t let the size intimidate you 😉 warning: your feelings will go EVERYWHERE and your mind will be BLOWN TO BITS.

my feelings at the end:

[rating-report]

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spoiler-filled discussion beginning! do not read unless you’ve FINISHED the books!! (note: this is more of a sob-fest with lots of CAPS than it is a discussion.)

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the beginning was really hopeless, which is why i think it was slow. everyone and everything began slowly deteriorating. they didn’t know how to fight it. things were just going down and down and down. sazed was suffering from his depression; elend was having internal turmoil about become the next “lord ruler”; marsh was being controlled by ruin; vin didn’t know who to trust or what to think; people were still mourning the deaths in the previous books; the mist was killing/hurting people. things were not looking great for our crew.

there reaaaally isn’t much to talk about except for when the story starts building up aka the climax. i think it all started when vin found out preservation was the mist. OR it was that moment when she felt ruin fear her for one second. everything was a snowball effect after that. OR it was when we find out atium is ruin’s body. i can’t remember which came first. after those moments, it was one shocking event after another after another after ANOTHER and i just –

let’s recap what happened at the end:

• vin goes to kedrick shaw and literally SLAYS thirteen inquisitors and is fighting MARSH
• then, marsh rips off her earring and i was so confused
• all the mists come and help vin defeat everything
• she literally becomes the human version of an atomic bomb and creates a crater in the earth
• everything clicks into place and suddenly VIN BECOMES PRESERVATION. SHE BECOMES MIST.
• things also happen with the kandra and more secrets are revealed
• like WHERE ALL THE ATIUM WENT
• and there’s an epic battle with the kandra and they all basically commit suicide to become mistwraiths
• AND WE FIND OUT THAT 16% OF THE PEOPLE WHO WERE HURT BY THE MIST WERE ACTUALLY SNAPPING. *heavy breathing*
• i need a moment
• and the soldier turned out to be ATIUM MISTING SOLDIERS
• and elend uses ALL THE ATIUM so ruin can’t have it !!!!
• and when vin gives elend more powers to then watch him die *LOTS OF HEAVY SOBBING BEGINS*
• and vin finally FINALLY figures out the only way to destroy ruin was to destroy herself (as preservation). ALL THE TEARS.
• THEN, we find out the hero was actually SAZED!!!
• he becomes basically god and the grass is green and there are flowers that are being WATERED BY MY TEARS.

i really like how we got to know more about spook. his character development in this book was uncanny. spook went from a little kid with a strange accent to (basically) A NEW VERSION OF KELSIER. it made me quite sad to see him being so dependent on the metals and changing into a completely different person. however, he also got a lot more mature. it was also nice to see him with a love interest because those two were adorable.

i loved tensoon SO MUCH in this installment. i’d already liked him in the previous book, but even more so in this one. the kandra actually rebelled against his people for vin! it was so great to see him looking up to vin as queen and *squeals*. however, when the ‘seconds’ came and basically destroyed EVERYTHING, i wanted to punch something.

ALSO, i feel like laughter lines by bastille is a PERFECT song for this book. or at least the ending of this book. LISTEN TO IT:

so this novel basically killed me. that’s right. i’m writing from the dead. i’m a ghost. i’m done.

what were your thoughts on the novel? the series? favorite parts? anything??? let me know in the comments!!

xxx xandra