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flora_arns's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
GREAT finale. No notes.
Also I TOTALLY CALLED the thing about Vin’s earring
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicide and Fire/Fire injury
diazona's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The Hero of Ages might be one of the most intense endings to an epic fantasy that I've ever read. I mean, they're always about saving the world in some form or another, but this is the first one I've seen where a planet was literally on the verge of falling apart. It makes for a very powerful reading experience, but it also makes the story kind of bleak on the way there.
Most of the book is about the struggles that Vin and Elend and their friends undergo in order to protect the people of the Final Empire from the evil (ish) deity (ish) that got released (ish) at the end of the previous book, while also dealing with the continual onset of the daytime mists. Humanity struggling against what is essentially a force of nature is always going to be a bit unsettling to read, and that's part of a good story, but there needs to be some hope, a vision of a path toward making everything okay at the end, and I felt like that was missing here. Given the events of the book and everything we learn about the powers of the destructive force they're up against, I wound up feeling like they really don't have a chance, and the only reason the book doesn't end with (spoiler alert?) the whole planet destroyed and everyone dead is a series of cosmic coincidences. I think the main issue is that, as much as the magic system has been very well fleshed out in terms of how it interacts with humans and the other creatures of the world, it's not well established how it works it comes to otherworldly beings and these abstract forces, and so all the interactions with Ruin feel like they're being made up as needed to drive the plot along. Much of the last part of the book, where these interactions take center stage, felt like it came out of nowhere, and (as with The Well of Ascension) I would have liked it better if there was more groundwork laid for that stuff earlier in the book so it didn't seem as arbitrary.
Despite my complaints, this was still definitely an enjoyable book to read. (Maybe I complain only because I find it worthy of complaining about - it lives up to my high expectations in so many other respects.) Like, even though the world is falling apart throughout the story, there are successes. The main characters have some good insights about Allomancy and the other metallurgical arts (i.e. magic), and there's a good amount of solid detective work, diplomacy, and military strategy that lays the groundwork for the final world-saving series of coincidences. And to be fair, some of these things that happen at the end are very much not arbitrary at all, like what gets revealed about the mists, and the history of the kandra - that was really well set up throughout the whole trilogy. The characters are well-written people with understandable motivations and personalities (except that I really don't understand Ruin's propensity for gloating), which made it easy to care about them and get emotionally invested in their quest, and in the end that's what I'm really looking for.
Despite my complaints, this was still definitely an enjoyable book to read. (Maybe I complain only because I find it worthy of complaining about - it lives up to my high expectations in so many other respects.) Like, even though the world is falling apart throughout the story, there are successes. The main characters have some good insights about Allomancy and the other metallurgical arts (i.e. magic), and there's a good amount of solid detective work, diplomacy, and military strategy that lays the groundwork for the final world-saving series of coincidences. And to be fair, some of these things that happen at the end are very much not arbitrary at all, like what gets revealed about the mists, and the history of the kandra - that was really well set up throughout the whole trilogy. The characters are well-written people with understandable motivations and personalities (except that I really don't understand Ruin's propensity for gloating), which made it easy to care about them and get emotionally invested in their quest, and in the end that's what I'm really looking for.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
augustrogue's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This series is... very much a mixed bag for me, which makes it somewhat challenging to rate. It should probably be more like 3.5 stars.
Mistborn's worldbuilding and magic system continued to be excellent and original. However, Sanderson has a nasty habit of overexplaining and not trusting the reader to remember what is going on. Yes, we do remember that Vin is "wearing her usual trousers and shirt and carrying vials of metal with her to replenish her powers." We are hundreds of pages into the third book of the series at this point. All the references to Pushing and Pulling got really tedious, too. You wouldn't describe walking like "he put one foot down and pushed himself forward, then put the other foot down and pushed himself forward again" - but that is what this book often felt like it was doing, when describing Allomantic actions.
As with Book 2, there was often some contradictory morality that felt colored by the author's Mormon faith - perhaps understandable, but sometimes frustrating as a non-religious reader. There are overarching themes of empire and divine right to rule that create some shaky moral high-ground that isn't really challenged, which felt uncomfortable at times. *Why* does Elend have the right to have power over everyone else? And then there are moments like when Vin, our protagonist we're supposed to root for, is fine with killing Yomen's innocent servants if it would have gotten her free.
And then there is Sazed's storyline of dismissing every religion in the world as false, one by one, because they all have internal contradictions - until the big moment that he just... decides to believe in his own people's religion, for no other reason than "he wants to" and "faith isn't about logic, you simply must believe in it." Hmm, okay.
At any rate, it was slow going to get into this book, but it did get more exciting near the end. TenSoon's parts were especially interesting - I find the kandra culture absolutely fascinating. I don't regret reading the Mistborn series by any means, it had a lot of interesting ideas, but overall I found the experience to be an uneven and often frustrating one.
Mistborn's worldbuilding and magic system continued to be excellent and original. However, Sanderson has a nasty habit of overexplaining and not trusting the reader to remember what is going on. Yes, we do remember that Vin is "wearing her usual trousers and shirt and carrying vials of metal with her to replenish her powers." We are hundreds of pages into the third book of the series at this point. All the references to Pushing and Pulling got really tedious, too. You wouldn't describe walking like "he put one foot down and pushed himself forward, then put the other foot down and pushed himself forward again" - but that is what this book often felt like it was doing, when describing Allomantic actions.
As with Book 2, there was often some contradictory morality that felt colored by the author's Mormon faith - perhaps understandable, but sometimes frustrating as a non-religious reader. There are overarching themes of empire and divine right to rule that create some shaky moral high-ground that isn't really challenged, which felt uncomfortable at times. *Why* does Elend have the right to have power over everyone else? And then there are moments like when Vin, our protagonist we're supposed to root for, is fine with killing Yomen's innocent servants if it would have gotten her free.
And then there is Sazed's storyline of dismissing every religion in the world as false, one by one, because they all have internal contradictions - until the big moment that he just... decides to believe in his own people's religion, for no other reason than "he wants to" and "faith isn't about logic, you simply must believe in it." Hmm, okay.
At any rate, it was slow going to get into this book, but it did get more exciting near the end. TenSoon's parts were especially interesting - I find the kandra culture absolutely fascinating. I don't regret reading the Mistborn series by any means, it had a lot of interesting ideas, but overall I found the experience to be an uneven and often frustrating one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Death of parent
redlikeroses's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and War
Moderate: Slavery and Colonisation
sassmistress's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
5.0
Five stars, could not have asked for a grander finale. Can't recommend it to most acquaintances because of the violence and/or LDS-inspired content, but this is an absolutely fantastic story. Only got better and better; stayed up until 1am because the crescendo just don't stop 😁
The magic system just keeps getting better. So flawlessly executed that some twists are predictable because they follow the well-defined rules of the magic system, but there are still plenty of surprises and a number of reveals that *should* have been predictable, if the reader is paying close enough attention!
EXCELLENT tie-backs to the rest of the series, as well as new reveals. One or two complete shock-and-awe moments, and so many plot points interconnected. I love it when everything is this cohesive ❤️
The magic system just keeps getting better. So flawlessly executed that some twists are predictable because they follow the well-defined rules of the magic system, but there are still plenty of surprises and a number of reveals that *should* have been predictable, if the reader is paying close enough attention!
EXCELLENT tie-backs to the rest of the series, as well as new reveals. One or two complete shock-and-awe moments, and so many plot points interconnected. I love it when everything is this cohesive ❤️
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, and War
Minor: Suicide
Did not take a lot of notes while reading this time, so don't have details, but be forewarned that this series is EXTREMELY violent. Expect more of the same from this third installment, with suicide and fire deaths also featuring this time.Religious content:
Um, a lot. This book feels like a de-/re-construction of the author's Mormon influence. Faith and its loss are a huge theme (as is "faith in what, exactly?"). This book spends a lot of time in Dualism and picking apart various (fictional) religions. It also explores the theme of mortals achieving god-hood and what happens with infinite power but limited knowledge. More obvious parallels are drawn between Christianity and the Church of the Survivor, with various explanations for Kelsier such as (? Adoptionism / Apollinism?). Also explores relationship with social structures and doctrinal orthodoxy.
acloudofnotions's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
dkamada's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt
3eggomelet's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
In the days it took me to read this book, I had nightmares and felt a general sense of uneasiness and dread. I thought the ending was weak, but there were lots of great points in the story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Violence, Murder, and War
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
shamaramill's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Infertility, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
turidt's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Slavery and Blood