The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson Blog Tour: Week 5

We have reached the end of the Mistborn Trilogy . . .

I hosted the discussion of Part 1 here.

Naithin hosted the discussion of Part 2 here.

Grace hosted the discussion of Parts 3 and 4 here.

Wow! This last part was a real roller coaster! I read it all in one sitting, unable to tear myself away from the action as it seemed that Ruin would destroy everything and everyone. I was fairly certain that Ruin would not prevail, but it was impossible to see how that would happen as we got closer to the end. By the time Ham was reunited with his family I was sobbing . . .

Was I the only one to cry like a baby? If not, how many tissues did YOU get through?

I was particularly moved by the sacrifice made by the kandra: it was so sudden and unanimous amongst those with the Firsts. I was delighted to discover that the Firsts were actually Terrismen and I loved how Sazed sat there picking their brains.

Were you surprised by the actions of the kandra? Do you think that Ruin would have succeeded if they had not made this sacrifice?

I really like the way that Mr Sanderson has changed our view of the Lord Ruler over the course of the Trilogy. As we look back at his actions now, we can see that he did things for the greater good and with the best of intentions. He definitely made some really bad decisions, but he was not a truly evil person.

Were you surprised that Sazed became a god? Do you think that he could make mistakes similar to those of the Lord Ruler, and that he will be seen as evil in one thousand years?

I would have liked to know what Sazed did with the kandra and koloss. I certainly felt like the kandra deserved to be returned to their Terrismen forms and allowed to live normal lives, especially after their self-sacrifice.

Were there any things that you would have liked Sazed to address, but that were not mentioned?

We have seen Kelsier's gang go through so much, and now there are only two of them left. Spook has definitely come into his own power by the end of the book, and he is now a Mistborn thanks to Sazed.

Who do you think will take control: Spook or Breeze? Or do you think that Cett will try to seize the power?

Finally, I am so pleased that I joined the Read Along for The Final Empire, as it introduced me to a wonderful writer: I can totally understand why Robert Jordan chose him to finish off The Wheel of Time series. I would like to thank everyone who has hosted and contributed to this wonderful experience: you have made reading a great trilogy even better! :)

So, who wants to read The Alloy of Law?????

The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson Blog Tour: Weeks 2-4

Naithin hosted the discussion of Part 2 here.

Grace is hosting the discussions of Parts 3 and 4 here.

Come along and join the fun!

The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson Blog Tour: Week 1

Welcome to the discussion of Part 1 of The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson

If you want to follow the discussions, you can find the schedule at Stainless Steel Droppings.

The piece of artwork is Vin with a suitably giant koloss sword by Inkthinker.

So, we begin the last book of the trilogy and I hope that we will get answers to many of our questions!

The Prologue was a bit shocking, although we now have a name for the entity that Vin released at the end of Book 2: Ruin. We also have a name for a third form of magic: Hemalurgy, which seems to involve lots of blood, death and spikes. As we learn later, Marsh is desperate to break away from Ruin’s control, but seems unable to do so.

Do you think that the other Inquisitors are also so anxious to break free? Do you think that Marsh will ever be able to act independently, even for a moment?

Yet another year has gone by, but we can see an enormous change Elend. Not only has he learnt a great deal about his Mistborn powers, but he has also become much more of a leader.

Do you like this new Elend or do you think he has become too ruthless?

Through the diary entries at the beginning of each chapter we learn that Rashek altered the world to try to counteract the mists. He moved the planet nearer to the sun to burn off the mists, but moved it too close and so had to create the ashmounts to prevent the whole world cooking. Then he had to adapt the plants and animals to cope with the ash.

Knowing how much the Lord Ruler altered the life on the planet, do you think that anything can survive the encroaching Deepness?

We are finally seeing the kandra in their home. It seems that they are ‘awakened’ mistwraiths, but we do not know how this happens. Similarly, we do not know how the koloss are created, although they also owe their existence to the Lord Ruler. I find it interesting that Vin’s pet koloss calls itself ‘Human’.

How do you think that the kandra and koloss were created? Could this be another use of Hemalurgy? Also, what do you think of the kandra society?

The diary states that the metal that gave Elend allomancy is a piece of Preservation.

Do you think that Preservation is an entity similar to Ruin? If so, do you think it could be influencing events as well? Are they adversaries? Could they both be gods?

Finally, we know that the diary entries are written by the Hero of Ages.

Who do you think is / becomes the Hero?

I am sure that you have other questions that you want to discuss, so have at it!

The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson Blog Tour

The Blog Tour begins this Saturday: the schedule is at Stainless Steel Droppings.

The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson: Week 5

Head on over to Lynn's Book Blog to see what we all think of the last part of the book.

The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson Blog Tour: Week 4

Head on over to Reviews and Ramblings' post to see what we all think of Part 4.

The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson Blog Tour: Week 3

Welcome to the discussion of Part 3 of The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson

If you want to catch up on the previous discussion, you can find Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

The piece of artwork is a suitably colorful Sazed by Firnheledien

Obviously, there is a lot to discuss, so I will pick out a few of the points that struck me as most important.

At the end of Part 2, Elend had been voted down as King and I think most of us were disappointed with the Assembly, but not overly surprised because the members had no experience of living in a democracy. As we have seen in Part 3, the three factions are working for either themselves or their own people, and they see their defeat as inevitable. Although I can understand their desperation, I was very unimpressed by the treachery that brought Lord Cett into the city because it was mostly driven by personal greed.

Were you surprised by the merchants’ plan to elect Cett? How do you feel about the Nobles’ and merchants’ willingness to make the Skaa slaves again?

We have had more information about the Hero of Ages and the signs of the Anticipation, although the hints about the Deepness have been very vague. It does seem that Vin is able to detect the Deepness in a similar way to Alendi, but Kwaan’s writings show that he became increasingly convinced that Alendi was not the Hero of Ages. Vin can ‘hear’ the drumming in the distance and see the mist creature, just like Alendi, but if he was not the Hero perhaps she is not either. I do like the way Vin has started to do research: shock, horror! I also liked the stunned reaction that her writing elicited from Elend and Sazed: they seemed so surprised that she could actually write legibly!

Do you think that Vin is the Hero of Ages? Do you think that she is right about the Deepness / mist causing death more by starvation than by actually killing people?

We have all been very intrigued by the growing friendship between Vin and Oreseur. We are slowly getting more information about kandra culture, and now learn that they have a religion and prophecies of the end of the human race. It seems like Vin is starting to trust OreSeur because he is sharing personal details with her. However, we still do not know who the kandra spy is: Vin has now ruled out Dockson, Clubs and Captain Demoux. This seems to leave nobody in the immediate circle to be the spy, and yet we know that there is one. This suggests that OreSeur’s information about the kandra being unable to use alomancy might be a lie, but none of the gang’s allomancers are behaving differently, so I trust Vin’s judgement that none of them are the kandra. This means that the only person that could be the spy is OreSeur, unless it is a member of staff that we have not met yet, which would seem like an overly painless plot device. I have no idea how OreSeur could be the spy, but as Sherlock Holmes said:

When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.

Do you think OreSeur could be the spy or am I just delusional?

I was so surprised by that beautiful little scene with Sazed and Tindwyl. It seems like we have a sweet, and very realistic, love story unfolding. This left me grinning like a lunatic, because it was so unexpected but so touching. He is worried that she will not want a eunuch, even though she has spent her life being forced to breed with a succession of different men. It is always nice to see a learned man show that he is actually an idiot about some things!

Did you like this scene? Do you see their relationship deepening, even though he is not ‘fully equipped’?

At the end of this Part we have come full circle, and Elend is officially removed from office by the Assembly even though I had hoped that he would persuade them to keep him as king. I was surprised that Cett was roundly defeated, although I am not sure that he will abide by the Assembly’s decision. I was somewhat confused by the attack in the Assembly room, especially as Zane did not take part as far as I could tell.

How do you think Lord Penrod will manage as king? Will Cett simply kill him and seize the throne?

Further Questions (I always have so many!):

• OreSeur says that the kandra and koloss have a link: are they both creations of the Lord Ruler, just like the Inquisitors?
• Why did Vin recognize one of the assassins in the Assembly room: was it another one of Elend’s half-brothers?
• How many of you want to see film of Vin being all badass in a fancy white gown?
• Will Elend still be able to love Vin now that he has seen her in action? 

Ok, I think I need to stop with the questions now: let the discussions begin!

The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson Blog Tour: Week 2

Head on over to Books Without Any Pictures' post to see what we all think of Part 2.

The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson Blog Tour: Week 1

Head on over to Carl's post to see what we all think of Part 1.