Book Review: The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson

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Title: The Hero of Ages
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Genre: High Fantasy
Audience: Adult
Series: Mistborn #3 (Mistborn Era 1, #3 of 3, Cosmere)
Next Release: The Lost Metal, 15 November 2022 (Mistborn #7, Era 2/Wax & Wayne #4 of 4)
Format read: Primarily Audio this read through, but also own eBook, leather bound and paperback
Publisher: Tor (US), Gollancz (UK), Dragonsteel Entertainment LLC (leather bound)
Date read: 23 October 2022 (2nd time reading, 1st time in 2020)
First published: 14 October 2008
Content Warning: Abuse, Blood, Death, Murder, Sexual Assault, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, War

The nature of the world is that when we create something, we often destroy something else in the process.

Page 68

Mini Review:

A year has passed since the events at the end of the Well of Ascension. The mists are acting weird, a malicious unknown force has accidentally been unleashed on the world, and the crew is missing even more key members. Can they keep the empire safe and survive these times? How do they get people to acknowledge the real danger? Is there a Hero of Ages? If the prophecies were correct about the Well of Ascension, what does that mean for the hero?

Everything stayed the same. Until it all collapsed, of course.

Page 243

The Mistborn Saga reviewed:

Full thoughts:

The Hero of Ages is the third and final book in the original Mistborn Trilogy, also known as era one. It brings the stories of the crew to a close in really good way.

“It’s a mystery,” Vin said, narrowing her eyes and smiling. “We Mistborn are incredibly mysterious.”

Page 258

This review will inevitably contain spoilers for earlier books in the series. I recommend starting with my other reviews and/or reading Mistborn: Final Empire and The Well of Ascension first to avoid spoilers!

Timeline wise, The Hero of Ages picks up a year after the end of Well of Ascension. Elend and Vin have settled more into their roles of Emperor and Empress. Elend is physically stronger than ever after the ordeal at the Well. He’s determined that they will survive and fight this thing that was released. Sazed is struggling to find his faith. Spook is full of guilt. Ham and Breeze are alive, but scarred. And our dear old friend the mists? They are still acting really weird.

Black is so monotonous that you can forget about it, but red—you’d always be thinking, ‘Why, look at that. That hill is red. That evil force of doom trying to destroy me certainly has style.’ ”

Page 86

Like the first book, this story is separated into five parts, which hit strong points in the overall plot of the story and are bookended by a Prologue and Epilogue. The chapter numbers continue between parts which I really appreciate from a structural standpoint.

Prologue

Part one: Legacy of the Survivor, chapters 1-13

Part two: Cloth and Glass, chapters 14-33

Part three: The Broken Skies, chapters 34-44

Part four: Beautiful Destroyer, chapters 45 – 58

Part five: Trust, chapters 59-82

Epilogue

Vin had a tendency to be paranoid and assume the worst. Of course, she also had a habit of being right.

Page 44

The main characters this book are Vin, Elend, Sazed and Spook. The story is told from a third person perspective and takes place in multiple locations across the Final Empire. The book includes maps of the empire as well as Urteau and Fadrex city.

There are epigraphs (short passages/quotations) at the start of each chapter which are exerts from a specific book which is made clear later on in the story. I’m not sure at what point I realized who the author was but it was a very nice realization. You can read all the Epigraphs nicely put together on the Coppermind. This style choice is found in all 3 books of the trilogy. In Well of Ascension the epigraphs are the inscriptions left by Kwaan in the Conventical of Seran and in Mistborn: The Final Empire the epigraphs are excerpts from Alendi’s journal. I really enjoy this style of including epigraphs, especially when they reference in-world books and lore. This is a writing choice that Sanderson uses in the Stormlight Archive series as well.

How did men believe in something that preached love on one hand, yet taught destruction of unbelievers on the other? How did one rationalize belief with no proof? How could they honestly expect him to have faith in something that taught of miracles and wonders in the far past, but carefully gave excuses for why such things didn’t occur in the present day?

Page 558

Faith is a reoccurring topic in this trilogy. Sazed is a keeper of knowledge who specializes in religion. He has been charged with learning about all religions and has preached them all equally over the years, trying to match religions to individuals. After the events of the Well of Ascension, Sazed finds himself in a crisis of faith of the highest level. I really like how this is dealt with in the story and discussed.

Better to trust and be betrayed, Kelsier seemed to whisper. It had been one of the Survivor’s mottos. Better to love and be hurt.

Page 560

Other strong themes include family, trust and identity. Vin (as well as some other characters) struggle with finding who they are and accepting all aspects and definitions of that. Too often we want to put ourselves in a neat little box and cut off all the parts that stick out, but that’s not how it works. I also really like how the story addresses this for the various characters on this particular journey.

“There has to be a balance, Vin,” he said. “Somehow, we’ll find it. The balance between who we wish to be and who we need to be.” He sighed. “But for now,” he said, nodding to the side, “we simply have to be satisfied with who we are.”

Page 189

This story is also simply fun. I love this world and the humor and banter between characters.

“Vin,” he said flatly, “did you just suggest that we attend a ball being held in the middle of a city we’re besieging?”

Page 242

The magic system in this world is so fascinating. You can read the appendices in any of the Mistborn books to learn more about it but you also learn it from the story itself. The different metals can give different powers, but only some persons can use all the metals. Most allomancers (aka persons who can ingest and use metals for extraordinary abilities) can only use one metal. Now that Elend and Vin are both Mistborn (aka they can use all the metals) they are just a little bit more epic. In Hero of Ages we learn even more about the metals and their powers.

Vin shrugged. “It’s not so hard to keep secrets when you’re a god-emperor with a fanatical priesthood.”

Page 55

Overall this was an amazing end to the series. It’s also a complete ending, so it is really up to whether you start the next journey with Mistborn Era 2 or not. The series continues in the same world, MANY years in the future, with the major plot points accounted for. I hope you stay with the crew for this journey!

“Have fun dancing with our enemies,”

Page 258

The Mistborn saga is part of the larger Cosmere. I encourage you to start with the original Mistborn Trilogy, Era 1, (The Final Empire, The Well of Ascension and the Hero of Ages) then see what you think. If you choose to continue with Mistborn, you are in luck as the 7th Mistborn book, which is book 4 of Era 2, releases in November 2022, completing the 2nd Mistborn series.

Notes on edition:

Like with the first two books in the series, this time I mainly listened to the audiobook and highlighted some favorite quotes in the eBook. I did also flip through my stunning leather bound edition which features art including covers from other editions and is just wonderfully designed.
I have been really impressed with the leather bound editions from Brandon Sanderson’s Team and look forward to one day having a complete set!

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