The Hero of Ages

The Hero of Ages is a satisfying conclusion to the first Mistborn trilogy. I was a little disappointed with the arc several of the characters took, but not enough to spoil my enjoyment of the series. I've heard that Brandon Sanderson carefully outlines his books, considering himself an architect in his craft, and it shows. As someone who appreciates an author's efforts to tie up loose ends and reward readers who pay attention to the little details, Sanderson does not disappoint in the slightest.

I'll give Sanderson this: his ideas of “hard fantasy”, meaning magic has to have rules and limitations and be entirely consistent works for some very nice world building. But I've just never been big on epic fantasy. I think my feelings on the whole trilogy were summer up by Sanderson's introduction in which he reported that he was so proud of the epic story he was able to tell in “only” three 700+ page books that would have taken someone else 10. And I just thought of all of the amazing stories I've read that have been single novels or 300-500 page book trilogies and had richer worlds, characters and settings. Sanderson needs to edit. He needs to realize that not every single perspective needs air time and tighter stories are better stories. Also, a world in which every city ruled by a non-noble degenerates into a Communist Russia stereotype and “all religions have a martyr figure and a good/bad duality” was a little much. I'm not big on the Christian manifest destiny, and I couldn't ignore it.

I cried so hard at the end of this book.

It was masterfully written, crafted with precision and artistry. I don't know if I've ever loved a book as much as I've loved this one.

Following Spook and TenSoon in addition to the regular group really elevated this book for me.

The portrayal of Sazed's depression was so well written, and so hard to read.

Vin and Elend's relationship was beautifully realistic and well portrayed.

Trying to write a review for this after just finishing it is impossible, as I have no words to describe how powerfully perfect this book was. I am happy and sad, but mostly just filled with a feeling of luck to be alive at a time when I could read this story. I loved every page, thank you for writing this Brandon.

A great finale to a great fantasy series. The philosophical underpinnings of the role of God/religion/faith in any world and what makes a successful political system wonderfully compliment an action-packed, gripping plot line that tactfully weaves together all the loose ends in smart and unpredictable ways. The ending was satisfying and I left the book ready to delve into more of Sanderson's works, because he is clearly a Fantasy genius. Would recommend the series to anyone who enjoys the genre. Also - Vin is THE BOMB. So good to see a strong female protagonist in a fantasy genre #motherfuckinggirlpower

I have really enjoyed this series of books. This is a brilliant close to the story. It chronicles the end of the final empire, but it also gives a good ending to the main character's journey that has been developing in the first two books. Really enjoyed it. Ps. There were no spoilers, so if you are reading this set of books for the first time I will not spoil the end for you.

It felt like going on a long, arduous journey when I read this book. It was a slow book occasionally with big actions and unexpected twists. But all that leading up to the most unpredicted yet fitting ending. A bittersweet one.

It was such a wonderful read. The suffering each characters had to bear... thinking about it clenched my heart.

A weak and unconvincing conclusion to what started as a very promising trilogy. I liked the characters and the setting as well as the story in the first entry (The Final Empire), followed Vin's character development avidly in the second (Well Of Ascension), but found little to enjoy in the senseless re-animation of Elend and the thoroughly unimaginative battle against “Ruin”, who came across as a cartoon villain from a children's story. The narrative ran out of steam, the characters became flat and did not develop, and the good work of the first two volumes was undone by this very disappointing third volume.

This series is absolutely incredible. Every piece of lore about the world fits so perfectly, Sanderson is such an incredible worldbuilder. His characters are fantastic, the growth of Vin and Elend and Sazed and Spook and many more were all so touching. I can tell there's so much content that will amaze me even more on a second reading, and I'm itching at the chance to begin this journey again.

The Mistborn Trilogy is by far the most intricate, well planned, and just plain cool plots I've ever read in a fantasy book. Every little detail in all three books plays its part, and every plot line was eventually concluded beautifully while still somehow serving the greater narrative.

Like the other two, this book spends about 2/3s of it's length setting up the ending. It's a slower read, but it always had my attention and it always left me wanting to see what happens next. Oh, and that ending... wow. Sanderson pulls no punches here.

I'm really not sure how to rate this book. I don't think it was written as well as the previous two, however I'm also at a loss for words on how well it's wraps up the story told by the trilogy as a whole. I don't want to spoil anything, so I'll just say this: read these books!

Contrairement aux deux premiers tomes qui m'avaient tout de suite embarqué, celui-ci m'a semblé un peu long à démarrer. Par contre, une fois qu'il est lancé, le récit devient épique, digne de ce qu'on attend du dernier volume d'une trilogie de fantasy.

Comme pour chacun des deux premiers tomes, Brandon Sanderson utilise des clichés de la fantasy pour les détourner et nous induire en erreur. Evidemment, comme c'est le troisième roman de la trilogie, j'ai été un peu plus méfiant et attentif au détail, ce qui fait que je n'ai été qu'à moitié surpris par la révélation finale, mais cela n'enlève rien au résultat : captivant et terriblement épique.

Dans l'ensemble, nous avons affaire ici à une très bonne trilogie de fantasy, qui a réussi à me réconcilier avec un genre dont je m'étais lassé. Je sais que l'auteur a écrit d'autres romans dans le même univers, mais se déroulant plusieurs siècles plus tard : je les lirai sans doute dans quelque temps, en espérant y prendre autant de plaisir qu'avec cette excellente trilogie.