A Review of Sorts for The Hero of Ages: Book Three of Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson

This is going to be more a “how I felt about the book,” than a real review, not because there isn't much to talk about or I didn't like it much (I thought it was great and want to buy the trilogy) but because I just don't think I can write much, if anything, about the plot without giving away major spoilers for the first two books.

If you've read my review of the first two books or read the books themselves, you know a major theme is trust. In the third book this theme continues, with Vin and Elend having to learn to trust each other even further in their relationship and how they respond to situations around them. It also deals with the flip-side, how some can develop a sense of trust only to use it for their own goals benefit.

In my last review I'm not sure how much I discussed that there is also a theme of self-sacrifice, especially putting the needs of your followers/people ahead of your own.

The third book develops the theme of sacrifice tenfold. Elend continually questions whether he is being too ruthless, that he is requiring his citizens to give up too much for “the greater good” but he gives up just as much in his own life. He is compelled to use force to relocate citizens to where they will be safer, asks his soldiers to expose themselves to a potentially deadly enemy they cannot fight (but allows those who wish to go the freedom to do so), and fears he is becoming like his ruthless father or even the emperor he helped to overthrow.

There is also a strong theme of servant leadership, with Vin, Elend, and Sazed (and other characters as well) putting aside the selves they are most comfortable being, what perhaps they even view as their “true selves,” to be instead the people those they serve need them to be because of their potential and the abilities they possess. This theme hit somewhat close to home with me, there are some jobs/volunteer opportunities I know I would excel at, in which I know I could do great good, but I shy away from those things because I know they would hurt me (emotionally) and they scare me (I'm scared I may break). The three individuals previously mentioned give their all for others, for those they know and those they don't. They know themselves well enough to know recognize their talents and, though it costs them tremendously to use those talents, they do so for the sake of others. And perhaps, as Christians or even simply human beings who feel called to give the best of ourselves for the benefit of humanity, the way we can most deeply fulfill our purpose is to seek opportunities in which we can most fully use our gifts...even if it will eventually use us up. I suppose the comfort in being a Christian is that, if or when we break, God can put us back together and, even if this world uses us up, we will be restored and made new in another realm.

Yet another theme is hope. How people can come to depend on you when you are the hopeful one when their own hope is lacking. How it is easier to face trials when there is a hope to hold onto and how it can give you strength.

As you can tell, though these books are fantasy, they are deep enough to cause one to think and wonder. The characters continue to grow throughout the trilogy, in themselves and in relation to each other. I highly recommend them and venture to say that those normally not particularly fond of the fantasy genre may find enough depth and character development to reconcile you to this fantastical realm.

A word of caution to all readers: Sanderson isn't scared to kill off important characters, so if that is a deal-breaker, consider yourself warned. Some authors kill characters off in such a way that you feel cheated and empty but Sanderson does it in a way as to leave you somber and thoughtful.  

For those interested, here is my review of the first two books in the trilogy...also, it's a little more of an actual review. :) http://almostignoramus.blogspot.com/2013/10/book-review-for-mistborn-and-well-of.html

Book Review for Mistborn and The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson

The Final Empire is a world during a medieval-type era ruled by an immortal self-proclaimed god. It is a society consisting of nobility, slaves (Skaa), and those slaves brave enough to break free to become thieves and black market merchants. Some of the nobility and those with the mixed blood of Skaa and nobility can “burn metals,” which allows them to have powers that enable them to control the emotions of others, increase their strength, push or pull metals, heighten their senses, or shield those whom are burning metals from the prying eyes of those who can sense it. Most do not have any powers, of those that do, the majority only have one; then there are the Mistborn, who can burn all the metals and, thus, make the perfect assassins.

The Final Empire is a world shrouded in nightly mist and falling ash. A world whose sun is veiled, where the plants are brown and only the oldest legends hint at their once being green. Most are scared of the nightly mists, but that is where the Mistborn like to live and go about their work, for they can more easily hide their identities and the mist seems to embrace them as they use their powers.

Sanderson does an excellent job of creating a world a little different from our own, a world containing mists with things shrouded there that are different than anything we know. He does a good job of creating interesting characters that continue to deepen as you “get to know them” and who continue to better get to know themselves, as well. The fact that I cannot really come up with another story to compare it to speaks to its originality, for I have read quite a few stories.

Though Mistborn and The Well of Ascension have a main character who is a teenage girl, I would not consider them “young adult” books (though young adults would probably enjoy them, too). I guess they're a little deeper than most young adult books.

Mistborn is about Kelsier, a madman bent on overthrowing the Lord Ruler, the god who killed his wife and enslaved his people. He may be mad, daring, and reckless but he trusts his thieving crew, his friends, those he loves; even though his wife may have been the one who betrayed him. Even though the one he loved the most may have betrayed him, he chooses to trust, for he knows life is better that way.

It's also about Vin, a girl who tries to stay in the shadows and go unnoticed, who grew up on the streets and drifting from thieving crew to thieving crew with her brother who, above all else, tried to instill in her a sense of distrust, because he thought that was the best chance of her staying alive. To instill this lesson even further, he would beat her and finally abandoned her in a thieving world dominated by men of less than noble character. Kelsier finds her, suspects she is Mistborn, and takes her under his wing. Even though Vin thinks Kelsier is mad and that his plan will never work, because Vin is all about survival and Kelsier can show her how to be stronger, she decides to accept his mentorship. Also, Vin is attracted and bewildered by this thieving crew who seems to trust each other, she wants to wait around to see if it's real.

Mistborn is about a girl discovering her powers, it is about overthrowing a god, and making a 1000 year empire fall to the ground.

The Well of Ascension is about Vin growing up a little more, stabilizing a newly born society, and fighting off previously unknown enemies. It's about help from unlikely places and betrayal from others. It's about changing perspectives and trying to befriend others who are very different from ourselves.

What are these two stories most deeply about? Trust. Learning to trust and how a life filled with trust, though it makes you more vulnerable in some ways, is a better and more fulfilling life. In Mistborn Vin learns to trust her friends, to trust those she comes to view as family. In The Well of Ascension she continues to learn of this trust and also the trust which must accompany a more exclusive love.

These stories are about how trusting relationships can allow you to grow, discover who you are, to laugh freely, and let your guard down both physically and emotionally. They are about overcoming a very dark past, full of mistrust and valid reasons to distrust. They are about questioning whether we are being used, whether we can be loved and be useful, and being willing to be used because we love the one who needs us.

Here are two of my favorite quotes from The Well of Ascension concerning love (unfortunately I don't have access to Mistborn, because it was a library book):

“Honestly, Saze, sometimes I just think we're too different to be together...”

“At first glance, the key and the lock it fits may seem very different,” Sazed said. “Different in shape, different in function, different in design. The man who looks at them without knowledge of their true nature might think them opposites, for one is meant to open, and the other to keep closed. Yet, upon closer examination, he might see that without the one, the other becomes useless. The wise man then sees that both the lock and key were created for the same purpose.”

Another qoute by Sazed (one of my favorite characters):

“I simply offer counsel. Those who take lightly promises they make to those they love are people who find little lasting satisfaction in life.”

Both books are a decent length, but if you enjoy reading, I think they are enjoyable and worth the read. I would rate them PG-13 for violence, gore, sexual references (it doesn't go into details, but a lot of the nobility take mistresses from the Skaa) and some disturbing elements (Vin gets beat up a few times and the Skaa mistresses, by order of the Lord Ruler, have to be killed before they can have mixed blood children). Because of the violence, I would maybe place it between a PG-13 and an R.