BOOK REVIEW: The Hero of the Ages
Title: The Hero of the Ages
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Series: Mistborn (Book 3)
This review has pretty big spoilers for previous books in the Mistborn series. There are no real spoilers for The Hero of the Ages.
Vin thought she was doing the right thing in releasing the power in the Well of Ascension, unaware that what she actually released was Ruin, a being with the ability to bring about the end of the world. Two years have passed. Vin and Elend, now a Mistborn himself, have traveled throughout the known world, protecting the skaa from the Koloss and gathering clues left behind by the Lord Ruler on how to defeat Ruin. Vin and Elend are determined to succeed but how do you fight against a near omnipotent force that can turn the earth itself against you?
The Hero of the Ages is the third book in the Mistborn Trilogy (now a series, although this is the last book about Vin and her companions). It is also a great example of an epic fantasy book that really puts the emphasis on epic. The already high stakes established in the first two volumes have been raised again as Vin and Elend must defeat a being with the power of a god. Giant battle sequences fill the pages, beloved characters die, and in the end the world is greatly changed for it. What I liked the most about this book is not only is it satisfying on an epic scale, but it continues to succeed on a character level as well. Amid all of these earth shattering events we have the very personal story of Sazed. After the death of the love of his life, he is experiencing crisis of faith, asking questions that I think all believers ask themselves at some point in their lives, making his storyline very relatable.
Another thing I feel that The Hero of the Ages does very well is tie together the lose ends that the author has been scattering throughout the first two books. Even aspects that I more or less have written of as inconsequential anomalies are addressed in a satisfying way. This gives The Hero of the Ages a real sense of finality, even if there are clearly things left to discover in this world, which I found very satisfying. I also liked the fact that characters that have been shoved off to the side until now are given a larger role to play. The biggest example of this is with Spook, who hasn't been a character that I have cared all that deeply about until this point in the series. Another aspect I enjoyed is, with all of the information we have learned over the three books, how your opinions continue to develop, even with the characters who have died. This is most obvious with the Lord Ruler. In the first book, he was presented as a truly evil villain. By the time you get to The Hero of the Ages, you realized that things are a lot more complicated than that.
Final Thoughts: Hero of the Ages really ends the Mistborn trilogy on a high note. This is mostly due to the fact that it handles both the large scale events as well as the character based ones equally well. I also think that Sanderson handles the trilogy format exceptionally well. Yes, all three books deal with different challenges and storylines, but they are ultimately all tied together in the end, presenting the reader with three clearly separate books that are undeniably one single whole. The Mistborn series is one that I would highly recommend to all of my fantasy loving friends. Five Stars
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Series: Mistborn (Book 3)
This review has pretty big spoilers for previous books in the Mistborn series. There are no real spoilers for The Hero of the Ages.
Vin thought she was doing the right thing in releasing the power in the Well of Ascension, unaware that what she actually released was Ruin, a being with the ability to bring about the end of the world. Two years have passed. Vin and Elend, now a Mistborn himself, have traveled throughout the known world, protecting the skaa from the Koloss and gathering clues left behind by the Lord Ruler on how to defeat Ruin. Vin and Elend are determined to succeed but how do you fight against a near omnipotent force that can turn the earth itself against you?
The Hero of the Ages is the third book in the Mistborn Trilogy (now a series, although this is the last book about Vin and her companions). It is also a great example of an epic fantasy book that really puts the emphasis on epic. The already high stakes established in the first two volumes have been raised again as Vin and Elend must defeat a being with the power of a god. Giant battle sequences fill the pages, beloved characters die, and in the end the world is greatly changed for it. What I liked the most about this book is not only is it satisfying on an epic scale, but it continues to succeed on a character level as well. Amid all of these earth shattering events we have the very personal story of Sazed. After the death of the love of his life, he is experiencing crisis of faith, asking questions that I think all believers ask themselves at some point in their lives, making his storyline very relatable.
Another thing I feel that The Hero of the Ages does very well is tie together the lose ends that the author has been scattering throughout the first two books. Even aspects that I more or less have written of as inconsequential anomalies are addressed in a satisfying way. This gives The Hero of the Ages a real sense of finality, even if there are clearly things left to discover in this world, which I found very satisfying. I also liked the fact that characters that have been shoved off to the side until now are given a larger role to play. The biggest example of this is with Spook, who hasn't been a character that I have cared all that deeply about until this point in the series. Another aspect I enjoyed is, with all of the information we have learned over the three books, how your opinions continue to develop, even with the characters who have died. This is most obvious with the Lord Ruler. In the first book, he was presented as a truly evil villain. By the time you get to The Hero of the Ages, you realized that things are a lot more complicated than that.
Final Thoughts: Hero of the Ages really ends the Mistborn trilogy on a high note. This is mostly due to the fact that it handles both the large scale events as well as the character based ones equally well. I also think that Sanderson handles the trilogy format exceptionally well. Yes, all three books deal with different challenges and storylines, but they are ultimately all tied together in the end, presenting the reader with three clearly separate books that are undeniably one single whole. The Mistborn series is one that I would highly recommend to all of my fantasy loving friends. Five Stars