The Hero of Ages, final book of the Mistborn trilogy, satisfies all expectations following the first two books. All the questions left unanswered in books one and two are unambiguously answered in the last book. The resolution for each and every major and minor character is well planned and leaves us satisfied that just deserts are well meted out.
In the first book, The Final Empire the challenge was to defeat the Lord Ruler and free the skaa. Through the protagonist, Vin, we learn about the way magic works, and the structure of Empire society. Vin's teachers, friends and allies fill out the world view to some extent. A strong, satisfying ending to the book nevertheless leaves a greater peril.
In the second book, The Well of Ascension, dealing with the Lord Ruler is small potatoes compared to the new challenges. Byzantine political manoeuvring, romance on the rocks, and a religious system with Vin as the messiah are bumps on the road to discovering why the Lord Ruler took up the power at the Well of Ascension. The mystery of the Well is solved, but then a dangerous evil is released into the world.
The final book, The Hero of Ages, is the culmination of all the adventures of Vin and her friends as well as the stories of legend that are at the root of all the problems. The true nature of magic is finally revealed, as well as the nature and purpose of the "monsters"--the koloss, kandra, and Inquisitors--introduced in the first two books. Vin and Elend travel with an army, finding clues left behind by the Lord Ruler while taking control of hidden caches of food and water. Spook, Breeze, the kandra Tensoon, and Sazed all play a role in uncovering the truth about the power manipulating people and events in a conscious plan to destroy the world.
The subject of religion, which I thought was both a little bit of comic relief and a reflection of the political dynamics of the world, turns out to be of much greater importance. The Terris Keeper Sazed, whose specialty is researching and remembering all of the long-lost religions of the world, starts the book as a bit of comic relief. In a good-natured but annoying way he goes from companion to companion offering religions to take up as a personal belief system. In the last book, we see a depressed Sazed (after the death of his beloved Tindwyl) setting aside religion after religion as "false" and consumed by a need to understand the prophecies and the purpose of religion, faith, gods, and the end of the world.
Sanderson is a meticulous writer. He designed a detailed system of magic that is fleshed out in greater detail in each successive book until we understand the source and nature of magic, the nature of the mist/ash environment. Sanderson is masterful in tying together everything from the earlier books to the final resolution. Everything that makes this world a unique Sanderson invention, the ash, the mist, the metals, the monsters, the different kinds of magic, the ancient legends and religions; they all are interrelated.
The surprises come fast and furious towards the end, leading to a bold world-changing ending. This is an immensely satisfying end to an original vision in the fantasy world. Its a shame that the such a well-designed world has been so soundly concluded. It would be a treat to read more works set in this world.
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