Brandon Sanderson

What’s this Book About? Vin and Elend now rule the Central Dominance as Emperor and Empress. And they’re slowly expanding their domain. Elend has now mastered his new mistborn abilities, as Vin is still a mountain of sorcery and power, greatly contrasted from her days as a simple thief. Contrasted too, are the days from being a major spy for a heist to steal the Lord Ruler’s Atium. Even smiting the Lord Ruler himself is child’s play compared to the events that befall The Hero of Ages.

My Review: This is a brilliant third installment for the Mistborn series. Elend is a confident leader who’s cast off some of his more ideological approaches, whereas Vin continues her journey as a Mistborn and discovers frighteningly new sorcery as her power grows. Their story is being recorded by someone who knows them well, but doesn’t quite know who the “hero of ages” will become. Elend? Vin? Whatever the case, their problems only swell as mist and ash increase, covering crops, creating disease, and signalling the end of the world. Despite the sheer apocalyptic nature of this book, what I also enjoyed about it were a few of the simpler scenes that hail from the days of balls and witty banter. We also get an emerging major development in Spook’s growth and evolution into manhood, even as major operative for the expansion of Elend’s empire. And all of this barely scratches the surface of what happens. Overall, this is a grand and fitting conclusion to the first age of the Mistborn series!… (more)

Rating: 3.5 stars

I liked this short story. Set in a very different planet than anything we've seen so far in the Cosmere, Silence Montane runs an inn in the middle of a haunted forest as a safe place for travelers. Silence has a dangerous side-income of bounty hunting that brings in most of the income she needs to keep the inn running. This story is about one of Silence's side jobs that doesn't go as planned.

Sanderson's world building is top notch. Atmospheric and creepy. I would not want to be wandering this forest alone at night, though that might be safest. Silence is a strong lead with a brutal past and is fairly fleshed out for how short this story is. I liked how the story comes full circle at the end. Hopefully we get a full length novel in this world some day.… (more)