Mistborn: The Hero of Ages (2008)

Mistborn: The Hero of Ages is an epic fantasy novel written by American author Brandon Sanderson. It was published on October 14, 2008 by Tor Books and is the third novel in the Mistborn trilogy.[1] It is preceded by The Well of Ascension in 2007 and followed by The Alloy of Law in the Mistborn: Era 2 series, Wax and Wayne in 2011.

Plot Summary
At the end of the previous book, Vin released the power in the Well of Ascension in order to achieve what she believed was protecting the world, at the expense of losing Elend Venture, her husband. It is revealed that Vin was tricked into releasing the power at the Well, rather than using it, and unleashed Ruin who had been imprisoned there. Before Vin killed the Lord Ruler he warned her she was dooming the world and Vin now realises the Terris prophecies were falsified. An apparition helped her locate a bead of lerasium - the condensed form of Preservation - in the Well's chamber, turning Elend into a Mistborn when he ate it and subsequently, with the ability to burn pewter, saved his life.

As the world begins to succumb to Ruin's influence, earthquakes shake the land in ever greater frequencies, the ash falls from the sky constantly and Inquisitors and koloss, no longer controlled by the Lord Ruler, rampage across the world. The mists are appearing in daylight now and even worse, killing those foolish enough to venture out into it. Elend holds a tenuous grip as Emperor as he and Vin search for the storage caches and atium stash the Lord Ruler hid in the event Ruin was freed.

Sazed continues to struggle with his faith, trying and failing to find a religion that makes sense, while he, along with Breeze, try to help Elend take over the rebel city of Urteau. Sent as a spy, Spook attempts to uproot the Urteau rebellion and incidentally gains strange abilities. He is referred to as the "Survivor of the Flames" for his near miraculous actions followed by his involvement in the rebellion in Urteau.

TenSoon returns to the kandra Homeland in the hopes to convince his kind to work with the humans to fight Ruin. Instead he is called a liar, imprisoned for his numerous crimes and stripped of his bones, and placed in a pit as punishment. Later in the book, TenSoon is called for sentencing, where they give him a set of dog bones he had kept, imagining this would be degrading to TenSoon. Instead, TenSoon uses the agility of the bones and his experience with them to dodge his captors and escape from the Homeland.

Vin and Elend attempt to conquer Fadrex City and its rebel king, Aradan Yomen. Along the way they discover patterns to the mist killings and the secrets of Hemalurgy. Fearing to discuss their plans openly in case Ruin could overhear, Vin is captured by Yomen when she attempts a solo mission to get into the storage cache and find the atium stash. Yomen uses her as ransom while Elend's koloss army succumbs to the will of Ruin. Turning against him, Elend and his human army are granted sanctuary inside the walls of Fadrex City. Meanwhile, Vin escapes and heads towards Luthadel where she confronts the last of the Inquisitors.

In the ensuing battle, Vin's earring is torn out of her ear, finally allowing her to absorb the power of the mists. In a devastating show of power, Vin levels most of Kredik Shaw and kills the Inquisitors, but is vaporized herself as she ascends to take up the Shard Preservation and attempted to right the world but failed in almost the same way as Rashek.

With the knowledge of the atium stash's location, Elend sets out for the kandra Homeland. On his journey he is left wondering why so many people had gotten sick longer than others when they had been exposed to the mists. Upon arriving at the kandra Homeland, he discovers the atium in the Trustwarren and comes to the realization that those sick for longer had become atium Mistings. Using this powerful force, they meet the approaching koloss army on the fields outside the Homeland. Fighting until their atium is used up, Elend confronts a Ruin-controlled Marsh.

Watching the fight between Elend and Marsh, fueling the former with mist-power, Vin witnesses her husband die and, with nothing left to lose, she hurls herself at the form of Ruin, destroying them both and leaving Sazed to pick up the two Shards. As the new Shard of Harmony, he uses all of the knowledge from his copperminds to bring the world back to its pre-Rashek state -- the orbit is corrected and green plants and colorful flowers return. As Scadrial is now safe, Sazed, as Harmony, leaves Spook a note, explaining how Elend and Vin are happy together and he makes Spook a Mistborn.

Major

 * Vin:  A fully fledged Mistborn who was thought to be the Hero of Ages until recently. She is the wife of Elend Venture and a very powerful Allomancer. She is also a Sliver of Preservation later in the book.
 * Elend Venture:  The Emperor of the Central and Northern Dominances after The Lord Ruler's fall. He is the husband of Vin, and a powerful Allomancer after ingesting a bead of Lerasium at the Well of Ascension.
 * Sazed:  A Terrisman who is also a Keeper that specialises in religion. He has currently lost faith in religion after the death of Tindwyl.
 * TenSoon:  A kandra of the Third Generation, contracted to Vin after his original master, Zane, was killed by her. TenSoon returns to his homeland only to be imprisoned there and to later escape. He encountered Sazed and takes him back to the kandra homeland.
 * Spook:  A Tineye Savant working as a spy in Urteau. He inadvertantly gains the title of "Surivior of the Flames" and instigates a rebellion against the government of Urteau. He is made into a Mistborn by Sazed.
 * Marsh:  Kelsier's brother turned Inquisitor. He is forced to do Ruin's will although still retaining all his mental faculties. He eventually kills Elend at the command of Ruin.

Minor

 * Hammond:  Once a member of Kelsier's band, he now serves as a General in Emperor Elend's army. Ham is a Thug, a Misting who can burn pewter to strengthen his body.
 * Breeze:  A nobleman masquerading as a skaa, Breeze established his own noble house after Elend became Emperor. It is assumed that Waxillium Ladrian is his descendant.
 * Aradan Yomen:  Lord and king of Fadrex City. He is Elend's biggest rival and even manages to capture Vin for a short while.
 * Ashweather Cett:  Advisor to Emperor Elend Venture.
 * Human:  A koloss that talks to Vin and reveals the origins of his species.
 * Quellion:  Also known as the Citizen. A man who took over control of Urteau after The Lord Ruler's demise.

Sequels
Hero of Ages is the final book in the first trilogy of what Brandon initially called a "trilogy of trilogies," with the second trilogy occurring when Scadrial reached roughly modern-day technology levels and the final trilogy taking place after they developed faster-than-light travel. Brandon then wrote The Alloy of Law, which takes place between the first and second trilogies, but he did not initially consider that to be a new era. In part due to The Allloy of Law's positive reception, however, Brandon plotted out a new trilogy to continue to the story from The Alloy of Law, which he now considers to be Era 2; he still also plans a modern trilogy and a space opera one.

Statistical Analysis
This page contains some statistical analysis of The Hero of Ages, the third book in the first Mistborn trilogy.

For a full series overview see Mistborn/Statistical analysis, and for other books in the series see Mistborn: The Final Empire/Statistical analysis and The Well of Ascension/Statistical analysis.

The information on this page can be found here.