I am mountains that crush. I am waves that crash. I am storms that shatter. I am the end.
The Hero of Ages
by Brandon Sanderson
Genre: Adult Fantasy
About: The world is dying. Kelsier's crew have done impossible things. They killed the Lord Ruler, ending a thousand year reign, and they've defeated every army that marched against them: even the inhumane ones. But at the Well of Ascension, Vin released Ruin, a god that only knows how to destroy and now there doesn't seem any way to stop him from ending the world.
The Good
A lot of answers came in this book. The puzzle pieces fit very nicely into place and it was interesting to learn more about the magic system and why the Lord Ruler had done the things he had. It felt like we were discovering so much more about the world as it was dying. And I still loved a lot of the characters. Spook got some great moments, Vin and Elend remained strong main characters, and Sazed had quite the epic journey by the end of it all. I enjoyed the reveals and I am satisfied by the ending - in fact the last few pages were breathtakingly beautiful. I'm not religious myself, but I really liked the ideas Sanderson brought forward about religions and their place in our history and as a show of humanity.
The Bad
The pace. The Well of Ascension is a bigger book but it didn't read as long - there was so much going on that I didn't feel its length. With this one, I really did. I think the hopelessness of the characters and the sense you get of a dying world doesn't help. The depressing tone slowed the pace and characters felt very isolated. Sazed spent most of the book reading through his religions, TenSoon should never have left Vin's side, and there was a lot of repetitive action with very few light-hearted moments.
The Somewhat Iffy
I don't think there were any moments I didn't believe what was going on, but I definitely did feel as though there were a lot of things happening that could have happened faster. Marsh was an interesting POV but I don't know if I needed as many sections from him for the significance he had. The Inquisitors in general were just not as threatening as they had been in the previous two books.
Overall
A good resolution to an epic series but without the tension of the previous books. It's a slow burn to the end with more sombre, thoughtful POVs as the characters enter into their final stages.
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