Review: The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson

Title: The Hero of Ages

Author: Brandon Sanderson

Series: The Mistborn Saga #3

Genre: Fantasy/Magic

Publisher: Tor Books

Publication Date: October 14th, 2008

Edition: Kindle Edition, 573 pages

Source: Library

Purchase: Amazon US | Barnes & Noble | BAM | Book Depository | Bookshop | Powell's

Synopsis:

Who is the Hero of Ages?

   To end the Final Empire and restore freedom, Vin killed the Lord Ruler. But as a result, the Deepness--the lethal form of the ubiquitous mists--is back, along with increasingly heavy ashfalls and ever more powerful earthquakes. Humanity appears to be doomed.

   Having escaped death at the climax of The Well of Ascension only by becoming a Mistborn himself, Emperor Elend Venture hopes to find clues left behind by the Lord Ruler that will allow him to save the world. Vin is consumed with guilt at having been tricked into releasing the mystic force known as Ruin from the Well. Ruin wants to end the world, and its near omniscience and ability to warp reality make stopping it seem impossible. She can't even discuss it with Elend lest Ruin learn their plans!

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   This was a wild rollercoaster of a final book. For me, everything was so fast paced and I enjoyed every moment of it. Also, the ending made me cry a little. 

   The reveals, the expanding of characterization. Spook getting more page time. He probably had some of the more interesting character development of any of the side characters in this series. I think of Sazed as one of the main characters. Ham and Breeze were pretty close to the same people in this book that they were at the start of the series. Maybe less jaded in some ways, but for the most part, they remained more or less the same. 

   There were moments that felt like they slowed things down a little, parts of Spook's chapters. At first I wasn't sure how much importance they had to the overall story, but back to those reveals... once I knew what was going on with him all that slower story telling made his chapters some of my favorite. I liked how he went from the quiet boy, who people inadvertently looked over because of his more passive Allomancer ability,  to a leader. Awesome growth, I hope to learn more about what he did for the future.

   Sazed remains, possibly, my favorite character in this series. Yes, he was rather melancholy in book. But I understand why. He lost someone he loved very much, and everything that he had been doing seemed unimportant. His character arc, is my favorite. I know Vin is the main charcter, and I love her as the MC, but her character arc was mostly learning to trust others. But she still stayed true to who she was at her core, kind of the same thing happened with Elend. He did have a lot of growth, but ultimately he stayed true to himself, almost to a fault considering their circumstances. Sazed on the other hand, went from being a servant, to a teacher, to a leader.... then something so much more. (No Spoilers here). Just an absolutely fantastic character.

   The worldbuilding for this series is interesting in that most of it is unknown, in world. This was done on purpose for narrative purposes, but I would love to learn more about what the world was like before The Lord Ruler took over and changed things. Maybe that's explored in the Second-era? I hope so. Anyway, I highly recommend this series. I can see why it's a favorite.