Mistborn Trilogy: The Final Empire, The Well of Ascension, The Hero of Ages
This discounted ebundle includes: Mistborn: The Final Empire, The Well of Ascension, The Hero of Ages
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson, the Mistborn trilogy is a heist story of political intrigue and magical, martial-arts action.
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. This saga dares to ask a simple question: What if the hero of prophecy fails?
Mistborn: The Final Empire — Kelsier, a brilliant thief has turned his talents to the ultimate caper, with the Lord Ruler as the mark. Kel's plan is the ultimate long shot, until luck brings a ragged girl named Vin into the fold. But she will have to learn to trust if she is to master powers of which she never dreamed.
The Well of Ascension — Evil has been defeated; the war has just begun. Vin, the street urchin who has become the most powerful Mistborn in the land, and Elend Venture, the idealistic young nobleman who loves her, must build a healthy new society in the ashes of an empire.
The Hero of Ages — The Deepness has returned, along with unusually heavy ashfalls and powerful earthquakes. Humanity appears to be doomed. Vin and Eland investigate the past to save the future, and in the end, sacrifices must be made.
Other Tor books by Brandon Sanderson
The Cosmere
The Stormlight Archive
The Way of Kings
Words of Radiance
Edgedancer (Novella)
Oathbringer
The Mistborn trilogy
Mistborn: The Final Empire
The Well of Ascension
The Hero of Ages
Mistborn: The Wax and Wayne series
Alloy of Law
Shadows of Self
Bands of Mourning
Collection
Arcanum Unbounded
Other Cosmere novels
Elantris
Warbreaker
The Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians series
Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians
The Scrivener's Bones
The Knights of Crystallia
The Shattered Lens
The Dark Talent
The Rithmatist series
The Rithmatist
Other books by Brandon Sanderson
The Reckoners
Steelheart
Firefight
Calamity
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Reviews (181)
Last book a bust
How strange. I stopped reading Sanderson at one point because though aspects of his stories were quite good, it was just too, too sick and twisted and I realized that the good wasn't worth the sick one had to endure. So, time went on with me avoiding anything he wrote until I happened on this trilogy where no sick was mentioned in the descriptions. So, I decided to give it a chance, because they guy IS (or was) a good storyteller. So, the first two books were pretty good, great characters, pretty much everything one wants in this genre, until the last book. As I read them all back to back, I can't exactly remember where it was getting so bad I was skipping over page after page, exasperated and bored, reading just a line or two to keep up with the story. And that was very possible--there were just SO MANY words, words, useless words, such endless drivel, pointless reflection and ceaseless wondering, wondering, wondering. It was so annoying--I just wanted to get to the place where the ash was gone, the leaves were green and flowers appeared. It's no spoiler to know that was going to happen. But did it have to happen on the last page--after so much useless annoying, unsatisfying reading of boring words? As I write this and remember the annoyance and exasperation, I'm changing the three stars to two. I was going to give it three because the first two books were okay, but no, with such an unsatisfying end after so much annoyance, maybe even two stars is too much. I'm not sure when this was written in Sanderson's career--I am totally giving up on him now. How did he go from sick and twisted, but good story, to totally boring and annoying. I'm wondering if he really wrote this.
Great characters and setting, tiring and pointless dialogue.
Mistborn is a fantastic setting with great characters and innovative takes on magic, life and the universe. That alone got me all the way through this series. I wanted to see how it ended. What I didn't love was these books being full of a lot of boring dialogue. I found myself skimming entire chapters that did nothing to further the plot or delve deeper into a character's psyche. The farther I got into each book, the more I skimmed. The more I skimmed, the more I realized that the dialogue was offering me very little. I tend love great dialogue in a novel. Some books have little action, but great characters and dialogue. This series wasn't one of them. For my money, I very much preferred The Way of Kings. If you find yourself 1/4 of the way through this series and bored, I recommend switching to Sanderson's other and, IMO, better series.
A thoughly engaging read, the plots twists and turns have me wishing I could read this for the first time all over again.
The Mistborn Trilogy is the series that got me reading Brandon Sanderson's books. As to how I even heard about it, I think I read it in a blog somewhere promoting it as the story of a fantasy world where the "Dark Lord" who is called the Lord Ruler had won. As a fantasy reader who is so used to the story of fighting the "Dark Lord" it came as a refreshing break to read a story of what comes after if the heroes failed, so I felt that I just had to read this book. Setting: Fast forward 1000 years into the future and we are treated to a world where ash regularly falls from the sky lit by a red sun over a land covered by brown plants. It is not really a very pleasant place. Unlike the places in other stories I've read, this is not one I'd like to visit. What impresses me about it is that it is quite a departure from the usual fantasy setting that essentially boils down to Medieval Europe + Magic = Fantasy World. What's even more impressive is that Sanderson has really made all these unique aspects of his setting fit into the story. No, the world is not just dark and gloomy for the heck of it, there is actually a reason that is revealed in the third book along with a twist that had me shifting my opinion on the Lord Ruler. Mood: The world and the people as portrayed could have easily made this trilogy a dark/grim-dark tale. The lives of the skaa, the common people, have little value and you get to see how they are killed dismissively by the ruling class. There is actually a rule that nobles and skaa cannot interbreed so what the nobles did was that they were actually required to kill the skaa women that they bed. Also, one of the magic systems used involves a ritualistically torturous process to work properly. For all that, this is actually a hopeful story. The dead bodies tend to pile up, but it is never the focus of the story. I guess the difference is that we don't get to look through a cynic's perspective like we do in books like George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire. For all their personal struggles, the heroes are still heroic. Characters: Looking into our characters, the first two books of the trilogy can actually be seen as a coming-of-age tale for the main protagonist, Vin, who struggles with the idea of trust as she learns to understand what it means to have friends. It is about her empowerment as she learns to wield the powers of a mistborn. And finally, there is also her struggle with identity. Her powers, while making her powerful, also makes her very useful, which creates conflict in that she finds herself wondering if she is simply valued for what she can do as opposed to her being valued as a person. For all the world altering events taking place in the books, what I really like with the books is that it is grounded as a character-driven story. Magic: Sanderson is known for his magic systems. He tends to build them from simple concepts to create some really incredible effects through their varies interactions. The approach is along the lines of "magic as a science" so people who favor the idea of magic being dark and mysterious would dislike his systems. In Mistborn, there are three magic systems all tied to metals. In Allomancy, an Allomancer can use metals to wield powers the simply allow one to push or pull at something. That's it. The other systems are equally simple. What's really interesting is that Sanderson is clever enough to surprise me with the different ways the various magics are used. From a simple push or pull, we have people 'flying' around in the night. Verdict: Though the premise of the first book, that of the Dark Lord having triumphed, along with his clever magic system that deviates from the trope of complex spells and mysterious ways would certainly set this trilogy apart from other fantasy, that should not be the reason to pick up this book. You should read this because it is a well-written and well-executed piece of literature. There are those who call Sanderson out on using simple, transparent prose, but I really think it necessary that such a writing style is used to depict the fast-paced, action-packed sequences that are spread around in the books. Fancy wordcraft would just get in the way. In the end, are novels about finely constructed paragraphs or are they about exquisitely crafted stories?
Great start and then not so much
The star rating is for the trilogy overall. The first book alone I'd give four stars. It was very well written and riveting -- great characters, interesting concepts presented very well, nicely constructed world. Fairly predictable (which Sanderson has certainly changed since this was written) which is why it would have received four stars. I didn't connect at all with the main character, but I'd still give it four stars. The second and third I'd give two stars. They drag (severely at times) with a thousand (probably literally) variations on "Maybe we should do this", "Maybe I should have done that", "Maybe he will do this other thing" and the famous "It's all my fault". While I wanted to find out how the plot resolved, I was very glad to be done so I could move on to something else. I know Sanderson has become one of the greats since this was written (The Way Of Kings been an amazing example). But books two and three here are on the struggle-bus.
An excellent read for the thinking fantasy afficionado
This series was actually recommended directly to me by another author. I enjoyed this trilogy...mostly. From the start the books read like a movie...well polished with amazing settings and wonderful characterizations. I was prepared for the series to be good and it was until the ending which was almost like an afterthought. The only exposure Sanderson I had prior to these books was his standing in to complete the Wheel of Time series. I thought he did a fairly good job in a difficult position with the books he wrote but I wasn't motivated to read any more of his work. Thank you, Robert J. Crane for pushing me to this alternative world Sanderson has created. Sanderson is a master of writing in a manner that is unexpected and his talent of breaking expected literary norms with his characters and world work well for the most part. The series likely will appeal to any hard core fantasy reader and the immersion into Sanderson's world will leave the reader thinking and speculating about the philosophies presented.
Well written, but drags a bit in books 2 and 3
The first book was excellent (5 stars). Interesting world, interesting characters, well paced. The second book was slower paced, and more introspective. It acted as a bridge between the first and third books, and trudged along, not giving too much away. The third book would have been excellent if it were about 40% shorter. It provided a solid finish to the series, but the author spent a lot of time re-explaining stuff from the first two books, sometimes repeating the explanation a few chapters later. (In fairness, some things might have been forgotten if some time time had passed between readings, but there's a very nice summary of previous books at the very end for anyone not reading the trilogy straight through.) Lots of introspection, often retreading old ground. I feel like the author "phoned in" the middle stretch of the book; at one point a character uses the expression "hat trick", even though this particular universe does not seem to have hockey. The plot, the characters, and the big finish make the journey worthwhile, but I can't help thinking this would have been better as two books rather than three.
Not my favorite Sanderson, but a good deal better than a lot of what's out there.
I'm a fairly recent convert to Sanderson fandom. About a year ago I picked up "The Way of Kings" for a couple bucks thinking it was hard to loose out on such a deal. Even if it wasn't any good, I didn't loose much. That day I gained much. "The Way of Kings" was an amazing introduction to the world of Sanderson's mind. Having devoured the first book, I could hardly contain myself and hold off on purchasing the second book that recently had been released. Hold off I did however, and very close to the anniversary of my first purchase, "Words of Radiance" was also put on sale for a ridiculously low sum of money. Greedily I downloaded and again devoured the book. Both books left me with a great need to read more, but there were no more books available in the Stormlight Archives to read, so I researched. I discovered the mysterious Cosmere and the links left behind in past Sanderson works, and I was hooked. Noticing a good deal on "The Mistborn Trilogy" I again pounced, and eagerly jumped into the world molded by Sanderson's deft hands. Truthfully, Mistborn left me a little wanting. The Mistborn trilogy is a good read. It's a lot of text, and generally worth the asking price. If this had been the first books I read in the Sanderson universes, I'm not sure I would have gone looking for more. There's nothing that stands out to me as inherently and horribly flawed, I just didn't end up caring for these characters as much as his later effort in Stormlight. In the months since I finished Mistborn, I have read a quarter as many pages as I did in the two weeks it took me to finish - so yes, it was a good read - but it did not leave me whimpering for more. Now part of that difference would be in that Stormlight has not yet reached a conclusion, and the Mostborn trilogy is in fact a complete story arc from start to a very definite conclusion, but I stand by my initial thought that if you're looking for Sanderson's best work, this is not it. Now for other prudes like me: The violence is fairly high. There is no George RR Martin or David Farland level violence, but this is a story set in war time. Lots of blood, death, and several squeamish moments, but no revelry in the violence, just good people trying to get the job done in horrible circumstances. The third book does seem to have more of the squeamish bloody stuff as he delves into why everything is as bad as it is and just how much it's going to take to fix. The amount of profanity is low, crudity is pretty minor, sex is present, but again not pervasive or over the top. There is a romance that blooms and leads to both sex, and marriage, but no prolonged sex scenes.
Wish I Had These in Paperback
I lived these books while I was reading them, because I had all three as one book on my Kindle. That format is interesting because it feels like one book. The atmosphere and the characters were alive and memorable. I can still feel like I am there. It was a wonderful (in the sense of evoking wonder, not necessarily "nice" or "pleasant") world to be lost in. The conflicts were true and eternal. I can't really explain my feelings about this series. It was just amazing. The only problem is that after reading all of them, I wanted to go back to certain points, particularly in the first book. That is hard to do in an all-in-one Kindle format. I didn't know I'd want to read these things later, so I didn't add any bookmarks. Of course, I don't at all hesitate at the idea of rereading them, as they were definitely good enough for that. Still, I now wish I had paperbacks instead that I could thumb through and reread specific passages more easily. So, for now, the boxed set is on my Wishlist!
Incredible trilogy featuring a strong plot and an incredible world
The Mistborn trilogy is another masterpiece by Brandon Sanderson, introducing another fantastic world to hopeful readers. The plot is strong, the books are incredible, and the characters are incredibly complex. They come to life in this incredible series of books. Pros: The books are amazing. The universe that this series takes place in is very well developed, and each book has its own mystery that needs to be solved, or a problem that needs to be resolved. The plot is incredible, leading to surprises and twists everywhere as suspense builds. After reading this trilogy, you'll want to read even more about these characters. *Unfortunately, the spin-off novel, The Alloy of Law, which leads to the Wax and Wayne trilogy, only mentions the main characters that you come to understand as historical heroes of the past. Cons: The books are slow at some times. The interesting parts are very interesting, but the build-up is not as much. As the book switches to different characters, you'll find yourself getting attached to favorites and dreading parts that don't feature them. The books are also incredibly gory, leading to some scary pictures. If you don't have a strong stomach, the Mistborn trilogy, along with most of Brandon Sanderson's books, are not going to be pleasant to you. These books are still awesome, though. Final Verdict: The Mistborn trilogy is an amazing series that will make you want to read as much as possible in your free time, especially near the ends of the books. However, make sure that you can stomach some of the gruesome images that can form as the result of the words of the series
Fantastic series! Must Read!
Brandon Sanderson is a fantastic author. The mistborn novels offer everything a reader could want from a fantasy novel. They have great characters, an interesting setting and dilemma, and most importantly a ever evolving and dynamic system of magic. As is common in Brandon's novels, he strikes a great balance between having enough characters to give the reader different points of view and perspectives, versus having too many characters with too many things happening (ie Song of Ice and Fire and Wheel of Time, both series which I've read and loved). The books are not too long, and they have great pace to them, where you constantly want to keep reading to find out what will happen next. A plus to reading all of Brandon's novels, is that they coexist in the same universe, and have certain elements that overlap across all of them. This is great as it adds an extra dimension as you read the books, and then another dimension after reading when discussing fanlore on sights like Reddit. This allows you as a reader to truly immerse yourself in the worlds/universe the author is building. I am nearly done the third book in the series and can't wait to get on Reddit to see what everyone is hypothesizing and some little things I may have missed while reading.
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