By Brandon Sanderson
Write up: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!
Never have I been more satisfied with the ending of a fantasy tome. Series books in fantasy, first tend to go on forever with no end in sight; and two, when they do end, after all that buildup you are left feeling a lot of the time like: "that's it?" The Mistborn Series, I'm happy to say did neither of these thing to me. It stayed to its promised 3 books, and the ending wrapped everything up so nicely and answered so many questions that when I closed the book I felt justified in reading till the end. The ending while predictable in one sense: the happy ending, was still able to surprise me in another: who survived and who ended up being The Hero of Ages. When you read as much fantasy tomes as I do, it becomes easy to predict what will happen next in these books. You become a bit jaded. But this surprised me. I did not see some of the revelations coming. Not many writers can accomplish that with me anymore.
This installment begins one year after Vin released the creature Ruin from the Well of Ascension. The ash is falling heavier than before; the Mist comes earlier, stays longer, and seems to be attacking certain people; there are more and more frequent earthquakes; and on top of all that their is unrest in almost every Kingdom. Of course the culprit for most of these things is Ruin, whose main objective is to destroy the world and create chaos. He can influence anyone's mind under the right circumstances, and he makes sure the circumstances are right most of the time; and he can read and manipulate anything that isn't written on metal; or hear any conversations you are having. Which makes it hard for you to plan to defeat him. Needless to say, no one thinks he can be beaten and he wins many battles. But Elend is determined to save as much people as possible, with the help of Vin and his loyal men. He and his team have found Caverns under every major city, each one filled it different essential elements needed for survival..along with messages written by the old Lord Ruler. Many of the messages gives clues that would help them in their fight against Ruin. It seems the Lord Ruler prepared these in case of his death and the release of Ruin. So Elend spend most of the time securing those cities, adding them to his Empire and collecting the supplies He doesn't know if Vin can stop the end of the world, but he is making sure the people survive no matter what happens. Vin spends her time trying to figure out the mystery of why the Mist was killing people and who Ruin was and how to stop him from destroying the world. But the more they try...the closer the world destruction becomes, and more and more of them are convinced they can't win. Up until the very end of the book...you were not too sure that she would succeed...and after the end of the book..whether she did or not is still a good question.
This installment answers many questions: Who is the Hero of Ages? What is the Mist? Why is it attacking people? Why is the world covered in ash? Where did the other species in the world come from and what is their purpose? Who created the world? It also, surprisingly, redeems the villain of the first book in a way. We see the Lord Ruler as someone caught up in something bigger than him, and doing his best to fight it and stay one step ahead. I would say that is one of the bigger surprises of the book. Many characters that you were introduced to in the first book, that you thought were minor, turn out to be more important than ever thought. And the major characters...well...this is where the ending of the book becomes bittersweet. Good, but bittersweet. I enjoyed this series very much.
Grade for Book: B+
Grade for Series: A
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