Posts in category 'books'
Review: The Hero of Ages
Review of The Hero of Ages (Mistborn #3.0) by Brandon Sanderson (9780765316899)★★★★
(https://b-ark.ca/qIQKSS)This book convinced me that Mr. Sanderson is basically the opposite of Stephen King or Neal Stephenson: the middle bits of his books can be a bit slow, but when the man writes an ending, holy heck he writes an ending!
Who is the Hero of Ages?
To end the Final Empire and restore freedom, Vin killed the Lord Ruler. But as a result, the Deepness--the lethal form of the ubiquitous mists--is back, along with increasingly heavy ashfalls and ever more powerful earthquakes. Humanity appears to be doomed.
Having escaped death at the climax of The Well of Ascension only by becoming a Mistborn himself, Emperor Elend Venture hopes to find clues left behind by the Lord Ruler that will allow him to save the world. Vin is consumed with guilt at having been tricked into releasing the mystic force known as Ruin from the Well. Ruin wants to end the world, and its near omniscience and ability to warp reality make stopping it seem impossible. She can't even discuss it with Elend lest Ruin learn their plans!
The third book in the first Mistborn trilogy is such a dilemma for me. On the one hand by god it was slow. While Mr. Sanderson tried to create a narrative drive via Spook’s journey and so forth, the siege of Fadrex felt like it went on far far too long.
On the flipside, the reveals in this book–the nature of hemalurgy, the backdrop of Ruin and Preservation, the history of the Kandra–were absolutely riveting! And man, that ending.
But does it all make up for the plodding middle? I’m not sure. As far as individual volumes go, I think this one is the most flawed. But as a series, I remember why I loved it so much!
Continue reading...Review: The Well of Ascension
Review of The Well of Ascension (Mistborn #2.0) by Brandon Sanderson (9780765316882)★★★★
(https://b-ark.ca/SGMksi)The middle volume of the first Mistborn trilogy brings more twists and inversions of classic fantasy tropes that offset a somewhat slow middle to bring a satisfying end to this second book.
The impossible has been accomplished. The Lord Ruler -- the man who claimed to be god incarnate and brutally ruled the world for a thousand years -- has been vanquished. But Kelsier, the hero who masterminded that triumph, is dead too, and now the awesome task of building a new world has been left to his young protégé, Vin, the former street urchin who is now the most powerful Mistborn in the land, and to the idealistic young nobleman she loves.
As Kelsier's protégé and slayer of the Lord Ruler she is now venerated by a budding new religion, a distinction that makes her intensely uncomfortable. Even more worrying, the mists have begun behaving strangely since the Lord Ruler died, and seem to harbor a strange vaporous entity that haunts her.
Stopping assassins may keep Vin's Mistborn skills sharp, but it's the least of her problems. Luthadel, the largest city of the former empire, doesn't run itself, and Vin and the other members of Kelsier's crew, who lead the revolution, must learn a whole new set of practical and political skills to help. It certainly won't get easier with three armies – one of them composed of ferocious giants – now vying to conquer the city, and no sign of the Lord Ruler's hidden cache of atium, the rarest and most powerful allomantic metal.
As the siege of Luthadel tightens, an ancient legend seems to offer a glimmer of hope. But even if it really exists, no one knows where to find the Well of Ascension or what manner of power it bestows.
I’ve fallen woefully behind in writing reviews of books as I’ve been reading them but I’m going to try to catch up based on contemporaneous notes I took shortly after finishing each book. That does mean this’ll probably feel a bit disconnected. You have been warned! And by you, I mean myself some time from now, given I’m likely to be the only person reading this…
This second novel of the first Mistborn trilogy was not without its flaws. While I absolutely loved the evolution of many of our characters, not to mention the world itself, and the trope inversions toward the end were fantastic, the book definitely felt a bit slow through the middle bit (a trait further exacerbated later in The Hero of Ages). That being said, I had little trouble powering through this volume. It’s still a Sanderson book, and as always, the avalanche at the end was breathtaking!
Continue reading...Review: The Final Empire
Review of The Final Empire (Mistborn #1.0) by Brandon Sanderson (9780765311788)★★★★★
(https://b-ark.ca/yiuY88)An exceptional first installment of one of my favourite series, I decided to go back and re-read the series as part of my dive into the Cosmere. I was not disappointed!
For a thousand years the ash fell and no flowers bloomed. For a thousand years the Skaa slaved in misery and lived in fear. For a thousand years the Lord Ruler, the "Sliver of Infinity," reigned with absolute power and ultimate terror, divinely invincible. Then, when hope was so long lost that not even its memory remained, a terribly scarred, heart-broken half-Skaa rediscovered it in the depths of the Lord Ruler's most hellish prison. Kelsier "snapped" and found in himself the powers of a Mistborn. A brilliant thief and natural leader, he turned his talents to the ultimate caper, with the Lord Ruler himself as the mark.
Kelsier recruited the underworld's elite, the smartest and most trustworthy allomancers, each of whom shares one of his many powers, and all of whom relish a high-stakes challenge. Only then does he reveal his ultimate dream, not just the greatest heist in history, but the downfall of the divine despot.
But even with the best criminal crew ever assembled, Kel's plan looks more like the ultimate long shot, until luck brings a ragged girl named Vin into his life. Like him, she's a half-Skaa orphan, but she's lived a much harsher life. Vin has learned to expect betrayal from everyone she meets, and gotten it. She will have to learn to trust, if Kel is to help her master powers of which she never dreamed.
This saga dares to ask a simple question: What if the hero of prophecy fails?
So I checked Goodreads and I’m a little shocked to discover it’s been over seven years since I first read The Final Empire. As a result, while I remembered the rough beats in the storyline, I’d long forgotten the details and so in many ways this felt like a fresh read. I’m happy to say my view of the book has absolutely not changed since then, and in fact having read more of the Cosmere–and perhaps having changed a bit myself in the intervening years–I think I’ve come to appreciate it even more.
Now, I’m going to say up front: this review is gonna be jam packed with spoilers for books across the Cosmere. You have been warned!
Continue reading...Review: Elantris
Review of Elantris by Brandon Sanderson (9780765311771)★★★★
(https://b-ark.ca/Ou8ws6)How do you summarize Elantris? It’s got mystery, magic, romance, action, political intrigue… and it all works while avoiding falling into classic fantasy tropes and cliches.
Elantris was the capital of Arelon: gigantic, beautiful, literally radiant, filled with benevolent beings who used their powerful magical abilities for the benefit of all. Yet each of these demigods was once an ordinary person until touched by the mysterious transforming power of the Shaod. Ten years ago, without warning, the magic failed. Elantrians became wizened, leper-like, powerless creatures, and Elantris itself dark, filthy, and crumbling.
Arelon's new capital, Kae, crouches in the shadow of Elantris. Princess Sarene of Teod arrives for a marriage of state with Crown Prince Raoden, hoping -- based on their correspondence -- to also find love. She finds instead that Raoden has died and she is considered his widow. Both Teod and Arelon are under threat as the last remaining holdouts against the imperial ambitions of the ruthless religious fanatics of Fjordell. So Sarene decides to use her new status to counter the machinations of Hrathen, a Fjordell high priest who has come to Kae to convert Arelon and claim it for his emperor and his god. But neither Sarene nor Hrathen suspect the truth about Prince Raoden. Stricken by the same curse that ruined Elantris, Raoden was secretly exiled by his father to the dark city. His struggle to help the wretches trapped there begins a series of events that will bring hope to Arelon, and perhaps reveal the secret of Elantris itself.
It’s been about a week and a half since I finished reading Elantris, which means once again this review is coming late, well after my initial impressions have faded. So, don’t expect too much.
Despite being his first work, this feels like classic Sanderson to me. We have reversals of classic fantasy tropes. We have powerful female characters leading the fight for justice, something which I’m discovering is a bit of a fixture in Sanderson’s work. We have, of course, a fairly coherent magic system whose rules are the key to the big reveal at the end of the novel. And, of course, we have a bit of a Sanderson avalanche at the end.
I will say, the slow reveal of the magic in this world was a bit frustrating, if only because it proves so critical in the final acts of the book. But, that issue aside, this book was well paced and exciting.
Continue reading...
