Just finished reading Hero of Ages. My thoughts and rankings for the first trilogy.
My rankings:
Well of Ascension
Mistborn
Hero of Ages
That said, I LOVED ALL THREE BOOKS and they are easily some of my best reads this year.
These are my first three Sanderson books and I get why people praise him as a master world builder. It's the little things that make the world feel wondrous and expansive.
- The Kandra being a sort of mystery in the first book to getting their whole culture and important role to play in the third was great.
- The mystery with the allomantic metals.
- The story about Alendi and how it all ties in to prophecies.
- Terrismen being stewards but secret keepers of dead knowledge
Mistborn got me hooked. Just the premise itself of a thieving crew taking down a god emperor was what initially drew me in. Allomancy as a power system is something I find so interesting. My main gripe with it is that the action scenes are a little hard to follow.
Kelsier is such a cool character and I love his mentor dynamic with Vin. Vin's blooming romance with Elend was cute. All the trials and tribulations of forming the rebellion and the motivations of each of the crew was interesting to follow. Noble houses being played against each other. Mistborn being like these magic noble agents for the houses and "they can be anyone!" was an interesting concept.
That said, Kelsier feels a little too badass at times. How did this guy just destroy the Pits of Hathsin on a whim? Like you can do that? Vin vs the lord ruler was also plenty tense, but I personally don't like the last second unexplained power up that helps the protagonist defeat the bad guy.
I think I loved Well of Ascension the most because I liked the political and strategic back and forth + the themes of being a good person vs being a good king, freedom vs tyranny, is something that I personally found so interesting. Elend forgoing his own authority to be just, only for it to make everything worse, and Ruin's first real introduction to the world being it saying "I am FREE" was I think a chef's kiss moment. Also, Vin killing Straff by flying in out of nowhere with a Koloss sword was truly iconic. She aura farmed so much in this book that it's crazy.
Speaking of Well of Ascension, I was initially confused when they tried to make it seem like Vin had a crush on Kelsier when he was alive. Idk if I'm just misreading this, but I never picked that up at all. Zane trying to seduce Vin and creating a love triangle was interesting, but I never believed for one second that she was going to go off with this guy. Also, Zane being "crazy" and that being explained as Ruin's powers in Hero of Ages was pretty cool. Part of me was hoping Zane got reformed somehow and kills his father, him attacking Vin was pretty sad.
My main problem with Hero of Ages was that I didn't find Hemalurgy all too interesting. The idea that "there's this bad force in the world that wants to end everything and Hemalurgy allows it to control everything bad" felt a little too convenient to me, even if it made for a coherent world. The theme about faith and religion was interesting, but I felt like the end cheapened it for me when it's implied Sazed became something like an abrahamic God that will keep balance for millenia to come.
Also, in the end, Sazed says something to the effect of "btw Rashek was a good guy just trying his best, he might've lost his way but try to see things from his perspective." Like wtf??? Guy ruined the world but he tried, I guess? I mean, in the context of the universe where an evil force named Ruin exists and wants to destroy the world, sure, but come on!
I didn't much care for Spook in Urteau. It was interesting at first, but they literally gave him all the screen time when I, personally, wanted to see more Breeze and Sazed (who was too depressed to do anything cool).
I also didn't like King Elend. I get how his responsibilities changed him, but weak, soft boy Elend was a more interesting character. Now that he's a strong Mistborn he just feels too... perfect? Idk.
That said, the Vin earring reveal was great. The Kandra and Koloss plot line was interesting. Vin's sliver of god hood and her reaction to Elend's death was plenty sad.
I'll start reading the Way of Kings soon, but I am excited to read the other novels in this universe.