Author: Brandon Sanderson
Cover Artist: Jon Foster
Publisher: Tor
Binding: Hardcover
Publication Date: October 2008
The Hero of Ages concludes Sanderson’s Mistborn trilogy. I have recently read and reviewed the first two books and where I merely liked the Mistborn: The Final Empire, The Well of Ascension turned out to be an impressive epic fantasy novel. For The Hero of Ages I am somewhere in between. Sanderson has delivered a well planned, carefully written and satisfying final volume but I don’t think it will reach the status of the great works of epic fantasy that have obviously inspired him.
The previous two books in the series have been reissued with a new cover prior to the release of The Hero of Ages. It looks like Tor will use a cover image in the old style for the hardcover at least. Which seems sensible, I’d be pissed if I owned the first two hardcovers and the third turned out the be in a different style. I must admit I like new covers better though, so hopefully Tor will consider a paperback version in the new style.
In The Well of Ascension King Elend and his companions are still busy fighting off a number of warlords in order to secure the Central Domonion as their base of operations and resources. It gradually becomes clear though, that such political matters are not what humanity should be concerned about. Ash falls heavier than ever, obscuring what little sunlight the world receives. The mists are also more persistent. Slowly the world is being strangled and no army is going to stop it. Things get even worse when Vin sets the elemental creature Ruin free at the Well of Ascension. As it’s name suggests Ruin is a destructive force bent on bringing about the end of the world. Ironically, their greatest support in dealing with the crisis turns out to be the very tyrant they have pulled down.
The Lord Ruler was aware of the fact that the end of the world was approaching. He has prepared large caches of resources filled with supplies his people would need to survive the catastrophe and rebuild afterwards. These caches also contain clues on the uses of Allomancy. Vin and Elend have located all but one of these caches. They suspect the last one will contain the ultimate price: The Lord Rules Atium stockpile. Claiming this cache turns out the be difficult though. The ruler of the city it is located in, is far from cooperative. And now Ruin is influencing matters as well. The creature seems almost omnipotent and Vin and Elend will have to trust each other blindly to be able to defeat him.
Elsewhere in the empire Sazed, Breeze, Ham and Spook are trying to help Elend keep his empire together. For Sazed and Spook this means they will have to deal with their personal demons as well. Spook, always the least accomplished of the company, is driven to extreme use of his Allomantic powers, feeling he has to somehow prove himself. Something that can be very dangerous in the long run. Sazed in the mean time is trying to deal with the loss of his beloved Tindwyl and his crisis of faith. Carefully going though his vast store of religions he goes over each one to try and determine which one contains the truth.
The first thing one notices about this finale of the trilogy is how neatly Sanderson ties everything up. He very obviously carefully planned this trilogy and leaves very few loose ends. Everything from the relationship between the three non human sentient races to the nature of the Well of Ascension and the actions of the Lord Ruler are explained He even reveals why he chose to add an imaginary metal to his allomantic system. I must admit I didn’t see that one coming. Sanderson does not hide the fact he is an avid reader of fantasy himself. I can’t help but wonder if Sanderson the reader is frustrated by the lack of detail in some fantasy novels and trying not to do the same thing in his own books.
Sanderson again substantially adds to his magical system, elaborating on the third magical use of metals, Hemalurchy. A nasty way of transferring allomantic power from one person to another, and one of the prime weapons Ruin uses against Vin and Elend. He also reveals that there are in fact sixteen allomantic metals, four groups of four. It is probably completely unrelated but it reminded me instantly of a book on Hopi mythology I once read. Everything comes in fours or four times four. It is a holy number to them. In fact, according to Hopi mythology we are living in the fourth world. A belief shared with the Maya, among other peoples, who’s calender, predicts the end of the fourth world in 2012. Probably unrelated but still fitting to a book that deals with the end of the world.
For some reason this third book in the series didn’t have quite the impact on me the second book had. Sanderson took a lot of time redirecting the attention of the reader to the worldly troubles of Elend and his companions, all the while hinting at the larger problem that needed to be solved. He did this in The Well of Ascension as well. Right at the point where I thought he needed to get on with it, Sanderson delivered a great climax to the book, with some unexpected twists. The Hero of Ages misses that to some extent. Vin and Elend keep themselves occupied with taking the city the last cache is located in till the last moment, when they finally realize what must be done the book rushes to the end. Especially Vin’s transition felt a bit sudden to me. I’m also not convinced by Sazed’s search for something to believe in. Someone as intelligent as he is ought to realize the approach he is taking will not lead to the desired result. Perhaps we should see his studies as putting off facing a difficult question? He seems to smart to fool himself like that. The way he developed Spooks character on the other hand is very interesting, in a way he become a much more believable religious icon than Kelsier ever was.
On the whole The Hero of Ages is a good book though. A fitting end to this trilogy. Sanderson has managed to raise the level of his writing considerably since writing his first novel Elantris. It will be interesting to see how a writer who obviously takes a lot of time planning his novels will deal with the sprawling story lines Robert Jordan left him. Jordan’s story kept growing on him, while Sanderson seems to know quite well where he is heading. Finishing the Wheel of Time series is a challenge but Sanderson may be up to it. In the mean time I may check out his Creative Commons novel Warbreaker. It is currently in the copy-editing stage. The novel will appear in print in the near future but I haven’t been able to find a release date. The final manuscript for this novel is available for download for free on the author’s website. With a number of interesting projects in the works Sanderson is definitely a fantasy author to keep an eye on in 2009.
