[Andorion]

So I finished Mistborn Final Empire, and this book is awesome. If Elantris was good, this is great. Sanderson has hooked me.

I thought about starting this thread as I wanted to post my reactions without having to worry about Spoilers

I loved the development of Vin as a character. Sanderson defies current fantasy norms of dark and gritty characters getting darker and grittier by taking a dark character and making her lighter, without making her lose her edge.

I love the magic system. Its unique (though it reminded me of Dragonriders of Pern where Dragons eat some rocky stuff). Actually I was thinking what an awesome videogame this would make, something in the Assasins Creed mould.

The world is intriguing. Why are the volcanoes in constant eruption? Why does the Lord Ruler want to live in their focal point wher Ash would be the heaviest when the fringes would clearly be better.

The re-imagining of a world living under a millennia of ashfall was pretty good as well.

I do wish Kelsier had not died. I understand the need and if fell well into the plotline, but I really enjoyed reading about him.

I am not really sure about Elend as a character . It seems he is going to get more screentime, but I really do not want a prince character.

The significance of the Mist was never really explained. Clearly it is important as Vin is somehow able to use it in the end.

The ending was mysterious and strange. I didn't really understand the mechanics of the Lord Rulers Power or how Vin was able to Pull the bracelets away from him. Clearly Allomancy will get a lot more revelations.

Ominous tone at the ending there. Clearly the "Big Bad" is yet to be revealed.

I can't wait to start the second book

This post has been edited by Andorion: 06 March 2015 - 05:53 PM

[End of Disc One]

You read fast. Glad you liked it. I thought Mistborn: The Final Empire was awesome as well, and it was my favorite Sanderson book until Words of Radiance came out.

The next two books don't have the same great pacing of the first, but the ending of the trilogy is every satisfying.

IMO Kelsier is still the best character Sanderson has come up with. One of my favorite characters ever.

[Maark Abbott]

It certainly had an influence on my own writing (there are parallels that my protagonist has to Vin), although in my case a character in a moderately dark situation winds up with a severe case of Kerrigan Syndrome.

The magic system was what impressed me most. Sanderson is definitely good with those.

[Andorion]

Forgot to add, my idea for those quotes was somewhat correct, though the twist at the end kind of upended everything for me.

I was wondering whether the quotes were the ideas of the Lord Ruler form the third or so. Obviously I got the whole Lord Ruler bit wrong. But what struck me was that those quotes could easily have been applied to an alternate Wheel of Time,

Spoiler

where Rand betrays the world instead of saving it.

Thats what I thought had happened anyway, so the twist came as quite a shock. I still don't understand the mechanics of the final confrontation so I might reread that part before I start Book 2.

As for Cosmere, There's a bit in the Emperor's Soul that clearly links it to Elantris. But I couldn't get any overt stuff from Final Empire

This post has been edited by Andorion: 11 February 2015 - 01:45 AM

[Andorion]

Mistborn: Well of Ascension

Tis book was a lot slower than the first one, principally because I think Sandrson wanted to flesh out Elend more. i think he does do a good job. The astounding naivete does get reduced a lot, and now Elend looks more like someone capable of taking on a crisis.

What I did not like was the attempted Vin-Zane-Elend triangle formation. For one thing it was ridiculously predictable. In a trilogy, if the protagonist succeeds really well in the first book, then he/she will fail in the second. If the protagonist falls in love in book 1, there will be a temptaing distraction in the second.
Also I felt Zane was too cool a character for such an arc, and I thought Sanderson wasted him. I could really have done with way more Zane internal monologues and PoVs. And Sanderson kille dhim. I would have liked to have more of him. I wish Sanderson wouldn't keep on killing of his cool characters.

As for the plot in general, it really took off after the first half. The twist at the end was awesome, though there was quite a bit of foreshadowing. I genuinely do not know how sanderson is going to execute the third book. The scope of eeverything just exploded.

[Andorion]

Cajun King, on 21 February 2015 - 05:59 AM, said:

Also bk 3 is gonna throw u straight into the shit.

Why? I bet its got to do with the INquisitors. That problem was never actually resolved in Book1. Also so is there actually a Hero of Ages? If the prophecies were fabricated by that force in the Well to ensure its release, doesn't the entire premise of a Hero collapse? Not that I mind if it does, mind you, but I am stiil struggling to reconcile overall plot elements to the last chapter twist.

[QuickTidal]

Andorion, on 21 February 2015 - 07:18 AM, said:

Cajun King, on 21 February 2015 - 05:59 AM, said:

Also bk 3 is gonna throw u straight into the shit.

Why? I bet its got to do with the INquisitors. That problem was never actually resolved in Book1. Also so is there actually a Hero of Ages? If the prophecies were fabricated by that force in the Well to ensure its release, doesn't the entire premise of a Hero collapse? Not that I mind if it does, mind you, but I am stiil struggling to reconcile overall plot elements to the last chapter twist.

Book 1 is great, book 2 is also great but you will have noticed massively chnages gears and it's a slower more introspective read....book 3 is a completely PHENOMENAL and satisfying ending. It's rare for a series to finish so strongly, but it totally does and Sanderson planted a lot of the stuff in the first wo books that pays off here in spades. Enjoy! It's a hell of a read.

[End of Disc One]

IMO Mistborn 1 > 3 > 2. But the last couple hundred pages of book 3 is the best part of the whole trilogy.

[Maark Abbott]

I always did love it when Sazed got narked off and started popping his rage switch all over the shop.

[Andorion]

About 50% through Hero of Ages, and I am afraid Spook is going to die. I am pretty sure Spook is being fiddled with by Ruin. For one delirious moment I thought Kelsier had actually come back, but its pretty clear by now its Ruin. The main reason I think Spook is going to die though is that he is rapidly becoming a more interesting male protagonist than Elend.

Elend is the Achilles heel of the series, and to me it seems Sanderson is trying his best to make him interesting. And failing. In the first book, he was quite intiguing, but mainly because he didn't get much screen time. Then Sanderson killed Kelsier, so Elend could move up to primary male protagonist.

In the second book, Zane overshadowed him easily. Zane was a Mistborn with disembodied voices in his head (probably Ruin again) who strode the fine line between insanity and sanity, and his tyrant father and Vin. Elend sat and philosophised, and his naivete which had once been charming was now irritating.

And now in the third book, Elend, now a Mistborn, supposedly ruthless, is still boring, when compared to super-sensory Spook. So Spook is going to die.

Apart from all of this I really like the apocalyptic overtones of the book - shrinking living space, dying crops, a race against time, an enemy it may be impossible to defeat - the pacing issues of the 2nd book are pretty much resolved I think.

The Inquisitors and the insights into Hemalurgy are very interesting. As the book progresses, I am more and more intersted in the Lord Ruler. What was seen as a pretty bland magical power dictatorship in book 1 is gradually being textured and nuanced and I think its doubly interesting that we are seeing this after the fall of the Ruler.

Finally the meta overtones with the Ruin-Preservation duality is very interesting. Though I really want to see how Sanderson resolves this.

[Andorion]

Cajun King, on 23 February 2015 - 04:00 AM, said:

Rafo

As soon as you put this down pick up Alloy! Don't go to Warbreaker! Do that one after.

Umm ok.. but doesnt Alloy of Law start a long time after, and is the start of a new trilogy in the same world?

[End of Disc One]

IMO read whichever one you want next, lol

[Andorion]

62 chapters into Hero of Ages, things are getting intense, things are blowing up, all that is known a=is being overturned and how did I mess the Terris packmen? I just assumed they were killed. Lazy reading. Anyway, I am probably not getting any sleep tonight as I am finishing this book first.

[Andorion]

Finished Hero Of Ages. Bloody unbelievable ending. I did not see a lot of that coming. It took me some time to grasp that Vin drawing in the mists did not mean she got extra powers, it meant that she ascended. Elend fought, Elend died, Elend had a cool ending, but somehow I am still not happy with his arc.

Absolutely loved Sazed's arc. His ending was very satisfying for me, especially when all that accumulated knowledge finally came into use.

I think I picked up one hint at a larger universe - somebody aying that Ruin and Preservation were but two aspects adn asking what were they aspects of? Clearly a hint at mor elost history.

Now the two meta aspects that I think made these books distinctive: First the whole Preservation vs Ruin thing. Anybody who has read David Eddings will know he also tried to do this, but compared to Sanderson his handling of it was clumsy and laughable. Sanderson casts the aspects in a very interesting way - very humanised, with their own flaws and also the awareness that they are not enough. The way he resolves it - through synthesis, makes it all very satisfying.

The second aspect is to me the rewriting of history. What SE handles numerous times through abstract ideas, Sanderson does through actual reality. The idea that a destructive forces rewrite records adn twist perception to their own ends is actually a very relevant idea in the current political climate. To me, this more than anything else is proof that Sanderson can write, and write on a cast scale. Now if he could only stop killing of all the interesting poeple

So this trilogy was one of the best I have read. Without question. I am now eager to find out what other magic systems Sanderson can construct, because he does such a good job of it here.

[Andorion]

Also started Sanderson's Alloy of Law. Kind of asmaller book than the others. Read three chapters or so.

Now, could someone just clarify, Is Sanderson doing a Wild West style fantasy? Becasue if he is, I am pretty sure this is a first.

[worry]

Re: magic systems he's planning to construct, there's a series where the characters eat rocks and it affects their gall bladders, and then a planned series where his characters eat different tree barks and it changes their bites, and finally one where the people eat different cuisines and it makes them various levels of fat.

[Andorion]

Finished Alloy of Law.

It was a really fun read. Wayne is an excellent character to introduce. The world that Sanderson is developing is really interesting and Now I cant wait for book 2 of this trilogy.

The technology+allomancy combination seems very original.The new metals and powers are very intriguing. The most intriguing thing though is the deification o fthe original lot

Kelsier is the Survivor.
Spook is Lord Mistborn
Vin is Ascendant Warrior
Elend is the last Emperor
Sazed is the God of the Path
Harmony is what Vin became after she combined Ruin and Destruction

Not really sure about the last 2. Sazed could also be Harmony.

Who or what is Trell?

Kolossborn?

If Sanderson is indeed planning 12 books, then he has written 4. So that leaves 8. Plus 8 more of the Stormlight Archive. Hm. Seems he has decided to be a sub-genre all by himself

[Andorion]

Now on to Warbreaker. Will post thoughts here. Will edit the title accordingly.

[Illuyankas]

Oh, Harmony is all Sazed, Vin died after becoming Preservation's holder and killing Ruin, Sazed picked up both shards and merged them, pretty much. Vin's spirit is chilling with Elend in the afterlife. The best part of the third book was reading the line "I am, unfortunately, the Hero of Ages" and knowing exactly who it was.

[Maark Abbott]

There's also the line that Sazed tried to guide the spirits of Vin and Elend back into their restored bodies but that he found that it was not feasible. It's been a few years since I read the series,.