Mistborn: The Hero of Ages, by Brandon Sanderson

I have previously posted on the first two novels in Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy. The post on the first one is here, and the post on the second one is here.

I am giving away large chunks of plot in this post, for anyone who tries to avoid that.

I began reading the third novel, The Hero of Ages (New York: Tom Doherty Associates, 2008) and I had no idea where Sanderson was going with these books. I have now read all three of them twice, and I'm not sure I have a firm grasp of his aim and destination yet. Perhaps that's partly my fault.

But here's the bottom line: the kingdom (or rather, the entire planet) is saved from environmental destruction. The volcanoes that have been pumping ash all over are finally vanquished, the sun can shine through, and green vegetation is restored. But at what cost? Many people die. The central character, Vin, and her husband, Emperor Elend Venture, die, or at any rate are transformed into some other type of being.

In the process of restoring the planet, the characters come to realize that there have been two powerful supernatural beings, Ruin and Preservation, at war. Preservation had bound Ruin to the Well of Ascension, and in going there, and saving Elend, Vin had released Ruin. One of the things that Ruin had been doing was to plant various thoughts, leading to ruin, in people's minds. One of the characters, so far a minor one, Spook, has been hearing what he thought was Kelsier, the hero of the first novel, who died near the end of that book. Preservation, although powerful, gives up his power to fight Ruin, and finally disappears. Atium, one of the magical metals used by the various kinds of practitioners of magic, has the potential to become Ruin's body, but Elend comes to understand that, and Ruin, too, is destroyed.

There is another god, or something, more powerful than Ruin or Preservation, and Elend and Vin become god-like beings themselves, and, although killed, don't really die, because their existence continues.

Another story, which has been going on throughout the three novels, also is resolved. Sazed, the student of all kinds of religion, has never found a religion that is completely satisfactory -- that can be proved logically.
He is told, by the oldest of the kandra, a race of beings derived originally from humans, that:
"Faith isn't about logic . . ." (p. 623)

His knowledge of the old dead religions turns out to be helpful, even necessary, in restoring the planet, and he finally finds faith. At the end, the survivors of the eucatastrophic climax of the novels emerge from hiding and begin to live a new life in a restored world.

Thanks for reading. A complex trilogy, and long enough that it requires considerable investment of time to read, but I found the books entertaining, with excellent characterization.

Mistborn: The Well of Ascension, by Brandon Sanderson

The Well of Ascension is the second book in Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy. For my post on the first of these novels, which includes links to information on the author, and on the trilogy, see here.

As in most trilogies, the second book is the least exciting. The first one usually lets you know about where you are, and who the main characters are. The third, ideally, ties up all the loose ends. In the second, you don't yet know exactly where you are, and you don't know where you are going. You, with the characters, have to sort of slog through an entire volume. That's true of this book, although Sanderson has provided a good read.

As usual, rather than try for a complete re-cap of the plot, I'm mostly going to muse on some themes.

First, I will consider metals, as used in this series. A mistborn person is one who is able to utilize metals, ingested in a suspension, in various ways. A misting is able to use only one of these metals. Sanders provides a "Metals Quick-Reference Chart" at the end of the book, which lists 12 such metals. (Actually, there are two more metals introduced in the third book, and a strong hint that there are two more.) These include elements: iron, tin, zinc, copper, and gold. They include common alloys: steel, pewter, electrum, brass, and bronze. They include two elements, or possibly alloys, which Sanderson made up for this series, namely atium and malatium. Why these? Why not nickel or manganese? Why not silver?

Then there's the question of just how these are utilized. Is there a special organ in the digestive system that somehow oxidizes these metals? The mistborns don't seem to know, and we don't, either. How, except, of course, by magic, could the ingestion of steel make it possible to exert some sort of repulsive force (a Push) on an appropriate metal, and propel yourself rapidly into the sky, or for a block or more horizontally? (And, provided there are more metals to Push on, keep going for miles.) Where does this energy come from? How could the reactions, be they chemical or nuclear, be contained in an otherwise normal body?

Another thing to consider is that there are a lot of different sentient creatures in these books. There are humans. But the humans seem to be divided into nobility and skaa, and, although the two can produce offspring, there seem to be differences. Apparently, only persons with a noble ancestor can become mistings, or mistborn. Then there are the Terris people. Did Sanderson mean for us to associate these with Terra? I don't know. If he didn't, perhaps he should have chosen a different name. The Terris have their own traditions and governance, and seem to be somehow distinguishable on sight. They often serve as stewards to nobles of other groups. They use metals in ways similar to the ways they are used by the mistborn. But their uses are not identical. They use copper to store memories, and mistborn have no such power. I suppose you could call the Terris a distinct race. There are obligators. An obligator is a combination priest, spy, and notary public. There are inquisitors. Inquisitors have steel spikes through their heads at the eye sockets, replacing the eyes. They can detect metals well enough that they don't need eyes. They have the powers of a mistborn. And that's only the humans. There are also kandra. A kandra is able to take the shape of a human (or an animal), and they are such good actors that they can fool other people into believing that they are the person they resemble. There are koloss, ugly human-shaped brutes, who seem to want nothing, save to fight. They have blue colored skin, and can grow to at least twelve feet in height. There are no koloss babies. Where do they come from? There may be mistwraiths, strange creatures floating around in the air, generally at night. Do they really exist, and, if they do, are they intelligent? Benevolent?

Then there are the quotations at the beginning of each chapter. There are a lot of chapters, 59 in Well, as well as 38 in Mistborn, and 82 in The Hero of Ages, the last book. Each chapter has from a sentence to a paragraph, in italics, so it is not confused with the main text, at its beginning. Who is supposed to have written these? When? Why? Did the same person write the quotations in all three books? Are all the quotations in any one of the books from the same source? These issues aren't clarified. After reading the trilogy a second time, I think I know some of the answers. But I'm not sure.

Now to character. Elend Venture is the son of the most important nobleman (other than the Lord Ruler) in Luthadel, the main city. But his interests are academic. He likes to study government, and how it should be operated, so as to benefit the people as much as possible. His father, Straff Venture, is an egotist, but one who knows enough about how to control people that he keeps his army, his servants, and his skaa mistresses under control.

In the first book, Vin disguised herself as a noble woman, and attended balls as a way of gathering information about vulnerabilities among the nobles. She met Elend, who came to balls because it was expected of him, but usually read a book, rather than dancing or socializing. The two of them began to fall in love. In the second book, Elend, as a high noble surviving the chaos following Vin's killing of the Lord Ruler, takes over the kingdom. He wants to be a good ruler, but doesn't always know how. Tindwyl, a Terris woman, shows up, and takes over Elend's training, teaching him how to conduct himself so that he will be respected and paid attention to. Her training is not quite on time, it seems, because the council that Elend set up when he wrote Luthadel's constitution decides to overthrow him, and he feels bound by the constitution he has written. Sanderson's political theory is interesting, but it doesn't get in the way of the action.

The continuing development of Vin, and of Elend, is well done. Sazed, too, continues to develop throughout this book. (Sazed is a Terris eunuch who has taken, as his life's work, the study of the religions that the Lord Ruler stamped out, about a thousand years ago.) Sazed helps Kelsier's crew, including Vin and Elend, who becomes part of the crew after Kelsier's death, and he finds meaning to his life in that, but he is seeking a religion that will give meaning to his life, and he can't find one.

I must write a little about plot, because there are some events at the end of the book that are crucial. The Well of Ascension is a magical entity. Vin opens it. In the process, she releases some sort of spirit being. Elend is injured badly, and it seems that he will die. But another spirit signals to Vin without speaking, and tells her to feed Elend a nugget of metal, found near the well. He becomes fully Mistborn, and begins a healing process.

More can, and probably should, be said, but I will stop here, and attempt to post about the third volume, in the near future.

Thanks for reading.

Warbreaker, by Brandon Sanderson

I recently read Warbreaker (New York: Tom Doherty Associates, 2009) by Brandon Sanderson. See here and here for two reviews of the book, the first by Orson Scott Card.

A previous post by me muses on the first book of a trilogy by Sanderson.

I will parallel that post, in part.

First, as in the Mistborn trilogy, Sanderson has gone to some pains to construct a new type of magic. In this book, the magic is related to color. It is also related to Breath, which is some sort of attribute that each person has. (Their soul? Their spirit? Something else? I'm not sure.) People can voluntarily give their Breath to another person, and, in the process, lose their own, after which they become drab, or colorless. On the other hand, a person with breaths from several people can impart some or all of that breath to inanimate objects, such as ropes or scarves, and then these objects will respond to commands, such as to tie someone up, or to pull the person practicing magic to a height. The breath placed in inanimate objects can be reclaimed. Orson Scott Card wrote that "it seemed as if Sanderson was flailing around trying to come up with another cool new never-before-seen magic system." That had been my impression, but there's no serious harm in doing that, and, as Card wrote on, Warbreaker is a good story.

The magic was complex, and hard to understand, even though Sanderson provides an appendix on the relationship between breaths and powers. There was more magic than that. A few dead people, the Returned, are reborn (re-created? reincarnated?) as gods -- they have special powers, and bodies that are, essentially, perfect. Some other dead people, the Lifeless, are used as soldiers, or slaves. They don't seem to have self-awareness, but can obey commands. Sanderson seems to violate the second law of thermodynamics here -- the Lifeless don't eat, but apparently may serve as slaves for years. No special energy source is mentioned.

There are also kings, queens, and royal families, and a super-Returned, the god-king. There are references to a devastating war, fought a few centuries ago, and to the leading characters in that war, who apparently had special powers, ability, and knowledge.

As I wrote about the first book of the Mistborn trilogy, "there are interesting characters in the book. These characters have feelings, and flaws, and most of them are trying to do good." One flaw I found is that several of the characters seemed to sound alike.

There's plenty of action, and some romance, in the book. It's a real page-turner. But it has its flaws.

Thirdly, and as usual, I wish to muse about religious aspects of Warbreaker, giving away as little of the plot as I can in the process. One such aspect has already been referred to -- in the country where most of the action takes place, there are a couple of dozen or so gods, or goddesses, the Returned, in the book. They are not, as Lifesong, one of the main characters, and a god, keeps insisting, immortal, and don't have omniscience, either. They can only grant one petition for healing, and, if they do so, give up their own reincarnated lives in the process. There are priests or priestesses for each of the gods. These priests carry out every wish of their gods, or goddesses. But the gods are insulated from the real world, pampered amazingly, but trapped, as it were, in part of the palace.

Lightsong is as close to a Christ-figure as Sanderson comes:

"Lightsong gave his life to heal me," the God King said. "He somehow knew that my tongue had been removed."
"The returned can heal one person," the priest said, looking down at his god. "It's their duty to decide who and when. They come back for this purpose, some say. To give life to one person who needs it." (574)

There is another god, more of a creator type, in a smaller country next to Hallandren, the main one. 

All in all, a good read. Thanks for reading this!

Elantris, by Brandon Sanderson

I recently read Elantris, a fantasy* novel by Brandon Sanderson.

The first link in this post is to the Wikipedia article on the novel. Although it isn't long, it does hit the important points. It also has several links to reviews of the work, and to a page of annotations by the author.

The reviews say, correctly, that Sanderson created some memorable characters in this, his first novel. The first is Raoden, prince of Arelon, a small country near a now ruined city, Elantris, which was once, both city and inhabitants, the wonder of the world. The Elantrians had healing powers, lived for a long time, and performed various wonders. As the novel begins, Elantris is decaying rapidly, the result of some sudden disaster. The Elantrians are zombie-like creatures, original inhabitants, or exiles from Arelon, sent there because they have suddenly taken on the zombie-like aspects of the other Elantrians. Raoden himself is taken by this transformation.

Sarene, princess of a nearby country, is the second character. As her part begins, she has decided to marry Raoden, although they have never met in person. (There is video-phone-like communication possible, using intelligent servant beings who can communicate with each other over long distances.) She arrives, to be told that Raoden is dead. (He is legally dead, and his father seems to have forgotten him -- typical treatment for those who undergo the transformation to being an Elantrian, and the exile.) However, she is still part of the royal family of Arelon, by law. She begins to adjust, and tries to help the common people of Arelon, and eventually even those of near-by Elantris.

I will deal primarily with the religious aspects of the book. In large part, it is a religious novel, although mostly for the third of the three main characters. Hrathen, a high-ranking priest of the Shu-Dereth religion, sent to "convert" Arelon, by whatever means necessary, struggles with his own faith. Does he really believe anymore? Is his religion merely a means of achieving political and military power? What should be done with those who are adherents of other religions? Should they be killed? There are two main religions, but others are mentioned, one involving human sacrifice.

Hrathen finally comes to this position:

Sarene whispered. "You have turned against your own religion. Why?"

Hrathen walked in silence for a moment "I . . . I don't know, woman. I have followed Shu-Dereth since I was a child -- the structure and formality of it have always called to me. I joined the priesthood. I . . . thought I had faith. It turned out, however, that the thing I grew to believe was not Shu-Dereth after all. I don't know what it is."

"Shu-Korath?"

Hrathen shook his head. "That is too simple. Belief is not simply Korathi or Derethi, one or the other. I still believe Dereth's teachings. My problem is with Wyrn, not God." (p. 471. Shu-Korath is a rival religion, apparently related to Shu-Dereth. Inhabitants of Arelon, including Sarene, follow that religion, which is much less militant than Shu-Dereth. Wyrn is the head of Hrathen's Shu-Dereth religion, powerful politically and militarily, and with absolute power over all adherents.)

Right after this, Hrathen dies. The final words in the book are these:
"No," Sarene said. "When you speak of this man, let it be known that he died in our defense. Let it be said that after all else, Hrathen, gyorn of Shu-Dereth, was not our enemy. He was our savior." (p. 487)

It could be argued that this is somewhat exaggerated. Even Sanderson qualifies "savior" with "after a manner." The work of Sarene, herself, and the intense effort by Raoden to learn the secret of the Aons, are perhaps even more the saviors of Arelon, and Elantris. (The Aons are rune-like symbols, which were traced in the air with the finger, or on any surface, or could be sculpted into a surface, and were the means through which the pre-transformation Elantrians could perform various marvelous acts, such as healing and instantly transporting themselves to distant locations. Raoden finally discovers the reason why they stopped working, which I won't give away. He is able to make them work by the end of the novel.)

In summary, a great fantasy novel, with fine characterization, and considerable attention to moral and religious questions. I would by no means call it a Christian novel, but it does take questions of belief, and right behavior, so seriously that they are the core of the book.

I have previously posted on another book by this author, and will post again on another of his works in the near future, God willing.

*I label this "fantasy" because it is not based on extrapolation of some scientific phenomenon into the future, but depends on magic, that is, ". . . the power to use supernatural forces to make impossible things happen, such as making people disappear or controlling events in nature." (From the Google definition.) Most of the most important fantasy literature is "sword and sorcery" fantasy.

Mistborn: The Final Empire, by Brandon Sanderson

I was looking for a new fantasy author to read, and decided to try a book by Brandon Sanderson. His official website is here, and the Wikipedia article on him is here. I read his Mistborn: The Final Empire (Tor, 2008), and I'm glad that I did. The link in the previous sentence is to the Wikipedia article on the book. This is the book's web page on the author's web site. Clearly, I'm not the only fan of this book, or the series of three books that it is part of. There is a Mistborn Wiki, with a number of articles on various aspects of the book(s).

I generally try to avoid giving away the plots of books that I read, and I will try to give away as little as possible in this post. I have three points to make.

First, there are interesting characters in the book. These characters have feelings, and flaws, and most of them are trying to do good. The good that they are trying to do is to overthrow the Lord Ruler, and the nobility, who hold most of the population, the skaa, of the unnamed planet (continent?) that is the setting in slavery. The leading character is a teenage girl, Vin. Most of the story is told from her standpoint. She has magical ability, and her mother was skaa. She decides to join Kelsier, an inspiring, if unpredictable leader, who also has magical ability, in his plot to overthrow the Lord Ruler.

Second, the nature of the magic in the book is intriguing, and, as far as I'm aware, unlike the magical powers of any other sub-creation. There are actually three kinds of magic in the book. The main kind is Allomancy, a hereditary gift that must be awakened, usually by a traumatic event. Most people aren't Allomancers at all. Some are Mistings -- they are able to somehow internally consume a particular metal or alloy, and, when they do, have temporary powers of one sort or another. There are several types of Mistings. There are also Mistborn, people like Vin and Kelsier, who can use several kinds of metals or alloys, and have all the powers. Such powers include heightened senses, increased strength, the ability to influence the emotions of others, or to hide from enemies using Allomancy, and the ability to move things rapidly against gravity, including the Allomancer herself. In other words, Mistborn are able to move rapidly like the characters in some recent Chinese Martial Arts movies, such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. There is another kind of magic, Ferruchemy, which a particular race, small in number, the Terris, can practice. There is a third kind of magic, practiced by a few powerful servants of the Lord Ruler. All three of these forms of magic utilize metals, by ingestion and burning (Oxidation?), or by physical contact.

The third aspect of the book that I wish to muse on is going to give away major portions of the plot.

Religion is mentioned several times. One of the characters, Sazed, is a Terris. He is able to access and retain information on many kinds of religions, using special memory storage provided through Ferruchemy. Occasionally, Sazed mentions some obscure, or at least extinct religion. He doesn't give much detail, but none of the religions he mentions seem to be closely related to any religion currently practiced in real life.

I was not clear on whether or not the skaa, or the other inhabitants of the land that the book is set in, have a religion. If they do, it seems to be worship of the Lord Ruler, who, himself, has powerful magical abilities, as he uses both Allomancy and Ferruchemy, and is, apparently, immortal. He says that he is, and even those who want to overthrow him believe that he is immortal.

Whether anyone else pays attention or not, one of the things I have tried to do, at least for my own satisfaction, in this blog is to consider questions of religion in fantastic literature. If you wish to know more about this, I recommend my "What Must Be Christian About a Christian Novel?" and "Paganism and Christianity in Juliet Marillier's Fiction." Both of these have links to related posts.

I was a little surprised to find, near the end of Mistborn, that there is a Christ-figure in the book. By this, I mean that there is a character who has some of the attributes of Jesus Christ, who suffered for the sins of others, died as a sacrifice for those sins, and rose again to prove His power. The character is Kelsier. Kelsier decides, when the rebellion looks like it won't actually succeed, to sabotage the only mine where the rarest of the metals used by Mistborn is found. The Lord Ruler, and the nobles, as well as other mistborn, like Kelsier and Vin, depend on this metal. His sabotage is successful. In retaliation, the Lord Ruler orders the execution of hundreds of skaa, who, of course, had nothing to do with the sabotage. Kelsier decides that he cannot allow this to happen. He begins freeing the prisoners, knowing that this will make the Lord Ruler, himself, act to try to stop Kelsier. The Lord Ruler does this. He kills Kelsier, in a public place, where many skaa, and many of the Lord Ruler's servants, as well as Vin, are witnesses. Kelsier's close associates, including Vin, discover that Kelsier planned to give himself up -- he knew that he would be killed.

A non-human creature, who has been successfully masquerading as a nobleman, apparently known to be an non-human only by himself and Kelsier, assumes Kelsier's bodily form, and appears, in this way, to some skaa, and this, as well as the revulsion caused by the death of Kelsier on their behalf, leads the skaa to overthrow the nobility. Eventually, they begin a religion, with Kelsier as its deity.

Thus, Kelsier sacrifices himself for others, and, in a sense, rises from the dead, which, as I see it, makes him a Christ-figure.

May I be clear -- this is not exactly a Christian book. It does reflect Christ, although fictionally and not completely.

Vin and Sazed are able to kill the Lord Ruler at the end. I expect to read the remaining books in this series, and will be interested to see where Sanderson takes Vin and the other characters. I'd also like to know why there are mists, why ash is continually falling from the sky, why Vin has difficulty imagining green-colored vegetation, and, as a biologist, how the people (and animals) get food, if there aren't any green-colored plants.

Thanks for reading.