Blog Archives

The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson

Buy on Amazon

Fantastic ending to a thrilling trilogy. I want to talk about my thoughts for the trilogy as a whole in this review, but first – a few things about the book itself.

Sanderson takes about half the book to build up for what is bound to be a spectacular finish. This is something that actually started to bother me a bit in this book because it’s hard work to restrain the impulse to look ahead in the book and figure out how it all works out!

As I read this third installment of the Mistborn trilogy I could hear the clicks in my mind, checking off each confusing element, fusing together bits and pieces given in the first two books – basically making the story one that was very plausible and fantastic. The ONLY real complaint I had was I thought it was completely unnecessary to give a name to the final being – especially a name that holds so many meanings for many people. But in a way, I guess it makes sense. It just took away the fantasy element for me and made me go “hrm”. Read the book – you’ll understand (possibly!). If not, then just ignore this!

So on the trilogy as a whole – it’s fantastic. I’d heard of Sanderson only when I learned he was to finish the Wheel of Time series started by Robert Jordan. So I decided to check him out. I now know that those final two books should be pretty damn good and.. dangit I’m going to have to go through some of the boring ones again and get caught up when they come out.

Sanderson creates a very intricate, very believable and VERY fascinating set of magic rules. His world is incredibly immersive – to the point where I felt as if I was watching a movie; my imagination was stimulated that much. I blew through these books and was unable to put them down, I even walked around the house with my nose buried in them.

I am already making plans to own the trilogy and I plan to recommend it to fellow fantasy lovers – my dad included. If you are a fantasy lover and have not read these books put them on your list!

View all my reviews >>

The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson

Buy on Amazon

I know some folks have said this book is not as good as the first, and I agree and disagree. Here’s why:

The first book was a bit confusing for me (although not nearly as much as other fantasy magic systems have been). I felt as if I spent a lot of it learning how things work and figuring out how to picture the descriptions. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it, because I did, but by the end of the book I was ready to dive into the second book because I knew that, now that I had the magic system down, I’d be able to jump into the story itself.

It’s easy to forget throughout the first book that Vin is just a girl – she’s a teenager, she’s young, she hasn’t had any sort of female influence in her life (except for a warped view of her dead mother). She’s confused, scared and she’s been thrown into a very impossible circumstance that’s demanding that she actually stand up and make herself heard and seen – which goes against everything her existence as a thief and a girl has taught her. For that very reason I loved the bit of romance thrown in and the triangle created between Vin, Eland and Zane. I loved that it showed her insecurities and that it reminded us that, although she’s a fierce assassin and a person who carries the majority of the weight of this story on her shoulders, she is still a teenage girl with the same teenage insecurities. That’s a big portion of why I loved this second book so much.

Another reason is that, in spite of knowing more about the factions and the characters (although still not as much as I would like), Sanderson continues to surprise me with very rationale reasons for the way things work and with twists and turns in the political structure of the world he’s created. Simply put, I never stop guessing. I LOVE that.

Now, what I didn’t like – it’s a short list and some pretty minor stuff actually. I want to know more about the actual characters surrounding Vin and Eland. I know those two pretty well by this point, but I was sad to see some of them dying off before I really got to know who they are. (Seriously? You had to take one of my FAVORITE dudes, Sanderson?) The book is long enough that more depth could be explored with these characters but I still feel as if I hardly know them and that they are pretty one-sided.

I’m looking forward to the third book, in fact, I’m forcing myself to write this review before I go pick it up. Very excited to see how this trilogy ends and I have already placed these books on my wishlist- unheard of for me when I haven’t read the entire thing yet.

View all my reviews >>

Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

Buy on Amazon

Oh my goodness this was a fun book. I read the first chapter and had chills going up and down my arms while just sensing that I was in for quite a ride.

I was completely drawn into the world Sanderson created for Vin. (Bravo for strong female leads!). Sanderson uses a very different, unique method of magic in Mistborn and, I won’t lie, it took me a bit to get used to the pulling and pushing and soothing and rioting and such.. but once I got it, oh boy did things get good.

This is basically the story of a slavery system uprising against a cruel Lord Ruler. There’s political intrigue, massive battles, assassinations, lies, truths and every character is unique and carries a very specific task through the story until seeing it through. I loved the twists and turns and found myself reaching for the book any time I had a few minutes free.

If you love fantasy and haven’t read this book I am telling you now.. go check it out. So much fun!!

View all my reviews >>