The Hero of Ages: Book Three of Mistborn

Brandon Sanderson

Oct 2008 · Mistborn Book 3 · Sold by Tor Books

About this ebook

Now with over 10 million copies sold, The Mistborn Series has the thrills of a heist story, the twistiness of political intrigue, and the epic scale of a landmark fantasy saga.

Vin fulfilled the prophecy and released the power gathered in the Well of Ascension. But it was all a trick, and now the godlike being Ruin has been unleashed on the world, bent on its destruction by earthquake and Fire.

Having escaped death only through becoming a Mistborn himself, Emperor Elend Venture now hopes to find clues left behind by the Lord Ruler that will help them fight back. Legends speak of a hero, but were any prophecies not corrupted? To make up for being duped, Vin must unravel the truth so she can become the Hero of Ages before Ruin can wipe out all life on the planet.

Other Tor books by Brandon Sanderson

The Cosmere
The Stormlight Archive
● The Way of Kings
● Words of Radiance
● Edgedancer (novella)
● Oathbringer
● Dawnshard (novella)
● Rhythm of War
● Wind and Truth

The Mistborn Saga
The Original Trilogy
● Mistborn
● The Well of Ascension
● The Hero of Ages

Wax & Wayne
● The Alloy of Law
● Shadows of Self
● The Bands of Mourning
● The Lost Metal

Other Cosmere novels
● Elantris
● Warbreaker
● Tress of the Emerald Sea
● Yumi and the Nightmare Painter
● The Sunlit Man

Collection
● Arcanum Unbounded: The Cosmere Collection

Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians
● Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians
● The Scrivener's Bones
● The Knights of Crystallia
● The Shattered Lens
● The Dark Talent
● Bastille vs. the Evil Librarians (with Janci Patterson)

Other novels
● The Rithmatist
● Legion: The Many Lives of Stephen Leeds
● The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England

Other books by Brandon Sanderson

The Reckoners
● Steelheart
● Firefight
● Calamity
● Lux (with Steven Michael Bohls)

Skyward
● Skyward
● Starsight
● Cytonic
● Skyward Flight (with Janci Patterson)
● Defiant

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Ratings and reviews

I have the trilogy as audio books. While I got hooked on the first book, the interest dropped sharply after each sequel. Sarenson 's writing suffers from tedious repetitions of the same ideas over and over again. In the trilogy I probably heard the same phrases over and over again. The same simple ideas drilled a dozen times, as if Sarenson assumed his readers are too stupid to remember something they were told a couple of chapters earlier. Truly exasperating.

Id say good ending to the first series trilogy (there is now a second trilogy that takes place hundreds of years later) Slow start, weak middle, and a strong finish. Again, like the second book, there is a lot of re-explaining of key terms, and basic principles of the world, often more than necessary and sometimes annoying. The only thing I can relate this to is filler of an anime that keeps replaying the same character backstory, every few episodes or so. Otherwise, there is a logical conclusion that is both interesting and satisfying. Not much is left to ponder after the final page is turned. Leading up to that, however, can drone on a bit. The character progression is present and feels natural. No one is immune based off of importance, which is something ive enjoyed throughout the series. Overall 8/10. Otherwise, 4/5 :)

So...my advice to anyone who reads the first book and falls in love with some of the characters: Stop reading. Pretend there was never a sequel. Not that there's some mass death or something in this book, but just because the ending seems to be a horrid cop-out. If you weren't as into it as me and are just enjoying the story for the ride, this book is fantastic. Sanderson does do a great job setting up all of the final acts and twists and reveals, but that doesn't do a lot to make the final ending satisfying in my opinion.

About the author

Brandon Sanderson grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska. He lives in Utah with his wife and children and teaches creative writing at Brigham Young University. He is the author of such bestsellers as the Mistborn® trilogy and its sequels, The Alloy of Law, Shadows of Self, and The Bands of Mourning; the Stormlight Archive novels The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance; and other novels, including The Rithmatist and Steelheart. In 2013, he won a Hugo Award for Best Novella for The Emperor's Soul, set in the world of his acclaimed first novel, Elantris. Additionally, he was chosen to complete Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time® sequence.