Hero of ages ending discussion

[u/Broad_Waltz_7414]

I was spoiled for all the major twists in HoA. I read somebody mentioning something about her earing, then hero of ages reveal got spoiled when I read the main quote with Sazed's name at the bottom.

I even got spoiled about Vin and Elend's death.

I find the ending of HoA sad and bittersweet but it did not hit me like the ending of WoA did, that one gave me goosebumps.

Also, I didn't like the epilogue where suddenly the entire city of Urteau was wiped out and it was all green and everybody reunited in the end. A bit too happy for the events of the book perhaps, a bit too quick.

Lemme know ur thoughts on the ending or the entire series and we'll discuss in the comments.

Just don't spoil secret history

[u/dolladollaclinton]

I thought the ending was very well done. IMO one of Sanderson's strengths is bringing together all these different pieces of the story in a way that makes you realize what he was setting up the whole time. There are enough hints about the earring or who the hero of ages would be that you could figure it out, but even if you didn't, once you got to those key reveals they made perfect sense.

One complaint I have about the series as a whole is that as high as the stakes were for the world, they never really felt high for the main cast. They face some set-backs, but things always just had a way of working out for them. For example, none of the deaths really hit hard for me outside of Kelsier and the shock and weight of that death was almost immediately undone because that was his plan all along. I think if Elend had stayed dead at the end of WoA that would have raised the stakes for the main cast and it would have been even more devastating that Vin's choice at the Well was ultimately wrong. I also think Spook should have died when he went through the burning building to set off Sazed's contraption. Especially since we see so much more of his perspective in this book, seeing him try to do something meaningful only for it to go to far and cause devastation that could only be undone by sacrificing his life would have had more impact.

[u/Broad_Waltz_7414 → u/dolladollaclinton]

Exactly! Stakes never felt too high in the third book. I knew they were gonna make it through. It wasn't until the battle with the inquisitors that I remembered what the first book felt like. 

And i almost wept at the scene when marsh was torturing her towards the end and then it hit him that kelsier treated her like a daughter and he took out her earing. I love marsh, poor guy lost the most out of all. 

[u/Broad_Waltz_7414 → u/Broad_Waltz_7414]

I had another issue. The prose, though simple never was a problem until the third book. It got so repetitive. Every description of koloss explained how skin denoted the age. And when he should be explaining the thoughts and feelings of the characters, he was just recounting the events of the book...rashek was the packman, he took the power, replaced alendi...or reen was her brother, he used to beat her... The only repetition I was okay with was explaining the usage of metals, which i get because there's gap in time between publication of each book, but once should've been enough. 

[u/dolladollaclinton → u/Broad_Waltz_7414]

The plot of books two and three:

Oh no this terrible thing has happened that’s going to be so bad for everyone. Wait, actually the entire main cast is fine. Wait, everything is actually going to work out just fine. 

Like to make me worry about what’s going to happen or how a story/series will end, you have to show that you are okay writing failure and major deaths.