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He built a nice tight, consistent story where everything that happens makes sense. After reading the Mistborn trilogy, all I can say is "Wow." He keeps his characters true to themselves, and to his assertions of their nature. He gives us several wondrous payoffs. I disliked a lot of things about Elantris (Sanderson's previous work); mostly having to do with some of the characterizations and writing techniques of the author. But I liked enough about it to give him a second try, in hopes that his storytelling ability would steady up and flesh out to match his amazing imagination.
The characterization was spread throughout more characters in this book than in the previous entries, and Sanderson still manages to handle this aspect sufficiently to keep the characters from being too stagnate.The book isn't a quick read, but then again, it still goes too fast. Sanderson manages to weave action and politics together in a good balance. I did not find the pacing of the book to be an issue.
As a whole, the series is very unique. I found the beginning of each chapter, where another book of sorts is quoted in italics, disrupted the pace of the reading. The Hero of the Ages gives a very satisfying conclusion to the Mistborn Trilogy.
The explanations of certain things like hemalurgy were illuminating, but the plot was made somewhat transparent by it as well. The ending, however, is deeply satisfying and will keep you processing the conclusion for many days afterward. What is most interesting to me is how Sanderson managed to continue the story even after the "evil" of the first book is done away with.
The book isn't flawless, however.
It's not a bad read at all. Worse still, the characters are complete slaves to the plot more or less, which means events were all too easy to predict. Even while stranded in that mysterious realm between flat and round, they managed in the first Mistborn. In fact, if you're looking for a way to kill some time and enjoy yourself while at it, dig right in.But if you're a hardcore fantasy fan, and you are looking for something serious, I'd suggest to steer away from books 2 and 3. it all becomes difficult to believe. While I thoroughly enjoyed Mistborn: The Final Empire despite its flaws (weak characterization, mediocre dialogue), I'm afraid to say that both of Mistborn's sequels don't quite stand up to the first.
His writing and his storytelling did not quite keep up with the sheer splendor of his ideas.Which is most unfortunate, because the potential was awesome, maybe even realized, but most definitely never reached.The characters just don't stand up under the weight and pressure of fate-of-the-world, clash-of-good-and-evil epic. Of course, throughout all of this one is still entranced by the creativity and originality of Sanderson's ideas, which is why I did finish the book, and did still give it 3 stars. In fact, I wish I hadn't read them.The extension to a trilogy transformed the flaws of the work into fatal flaws that began to dampen the power of Sanderson's strengths. Worse, it becomes difficult to care what happens to any one of the characters. They'll only frustrate you and disappoint as your fantasy-genre-attuned imagination senses all the Mistborn Trilogy could have been but ultimately wasn't. His big mistake was turning the story into an epic fantasy of Edding's-sized proportions.
But now, alas, with the world falling apart, dangerous powers on the loose, wars everywhere.
The religious perspective of the opposing forces between Ruin and Preservation blends great with Sazed's life studies. It thrills me finding a crafty storyteller who creates careful plots, twists character perceptions throughout, and successfully connects the entire series.The ghastly spikes creating the extraordinary Inquisitors, involving the other magic form of Hemalurgy, is rather gruesome. The author could develop another series after displaying great talent with the finale.The summaries of previous books are at the end, it better serves a reader placing them at the beginning.Check out the author's web page at http://www.brandonsanderson.com/ for excellent inside information and deleted scenes (he provides warnings before any spoilers).I highly recommend this series to any fan of the fantasy genre.Thank you. The "Mistborn" saga concludes one year later with "The Hero of Ages" as the Vin and the remaining crew attempt to rescue the world from the deadly ash and mists. While Elend Venture and Vin are the focal characters, Sazed, Marsh, and even Spook and TenSoon the kandra have distinct opportunities.
The Mistborn series has a lot of twists and turns with an incredibly well thought out plot. Wow what a good choice. If you like the character development and intricate plot of Robert Jordan, you will love this series by Brandon Sanderson. Hero of Ages is the conclusion of one of the best fantasy trilogies in recent memory. I picked up Mistborn when I heard Brandon Sanderson was going to finish the Robert Jordan Wheel of Time series.
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