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The Hero of Ages  By  cover art

The Hero of Ages

By: Brandon Sanderson
Narrated by: Michael Kramer
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Publisher's summary

From number one New York Times best-selling author Brandon Sanderson, the Mistborn series is a heist story of political intrigue and magical, martial-arts action.

Who is the Hero of Ages?

To end the Final Empire and restore freedom, Vin killed the Lord Ruler. But as a result, the Deepness - the lethal form of the ubiquitous mists - is back, along with increasingly heavy ashfalls and ever more powerful earthquakes. Humanity appears to be doomed.

Having escaped death at the climax of The Well of Ascension only by becoming a Mistborn himself, Emperor Elend Venture hopes to find clues left behind by the Lord Ruler that will allow him to save the world. Vin is consumed with guilt at having been tricked into releasing the mystic force known as Ruin from the Well. Ruin wants to end the world, and its near omniscience and ability to warp reality make stopping it seem impossible. She can't even discuss it with Elend, lest Ruin learn their plans!

The conclusion of the Mistborn trilogy fulfills all the promise of the first two books. Revelations abound, connections rooted in early chapters of the series click into place, and surprises, as satisfying as they are stunning, blossom like fireworks to dazzle and delight. It all leads up to a finale unmatched for originality and audacity that will leave listeners shaking their heads in wonder, as if awaking from an amazing dream.

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
©2008 Dragonsteel Entertainment, LLC (P)2008 Macmillan Audio

Featured Article: The Best Brandon Sanderson Audiobooks


Brandon Sanderson is one of the best-known and most popular fantasy authors working today. If you're entering his wonderfully magical worlds for the first time, it can be daunting. Never fear! This guide will walk you through the best Brandon Sanderson audiobooks, from his most well-known series to his lesser-known (but equally excellent) standalone novels. So buckle up and get ready for days (yes, literally, days!) of amazing listening.

What listeners say about The Hero of Ages

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    5 out of 5 stars

So sorry it's over

I am writing this after having finished the entire trilogy. While this was an incredible book and stands alone just fine on its own, I wanted to reserve judgement on each book till I finished the trilogy in order to put each one into perspective. This was my first Bandon Sanderson book and I loved it. At first, it was challenging to get into the whole concept of Allomancy but I eventually did and appreciated every aspect of this masterpiece. The books moved quickly, the story is rich in its treatments of many aspects personal character, politics, government, philosophy and religion. And each character is fully developed to the point where we probably care about all of them including some of the bad ones. The world created by Brandon Sanderson and stunningly narrated by Michael Kramer is not like any one I or probably any of us could have possibly imagined. As long as this trilogy was, I am so sorry to have it finally end.

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66 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Well concluded!

Sanderson's final book is masterful. I was absolutely addicted to listening to it and couldn't set my ipod down. It's very well written, never feeling contrived. I felt sometimes there were a little bit too many explanations intended for somebody who started at the third book and didn't read the others which would drag on a bit, but this didn't take away from the book. Most, if not all loose ends feel tied up. The magic system he created is almost entirely disclosed and his revealing it bit by bit is well done and keeps you interested. Character development is supreme and watching them grow through their struggles is very entertaining. I highly recommend this book and the ones leading up to it.

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49 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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BRILLIANT!

FINALLY, an author that gives you ALL of the clues, without suddenly pulling out some "Hidden Clue" they'd held back to keep you from figuring out everything too early... He laid out EVERYTHING as the story moved along, and when everything comes together, you slap your forehead and say, "It was ALL RIGHT THERE IN FRONT OF ME, and I STILL didn't figure it out!!!"

If ANYONE has a CLUE about "Who/What 'God' or ANY religions are about", I'd lay MY Money on it being "Sanderson"... He weaves everything all together to EXPLAIN "Faith", WITHOUT leaving any "Wiggle Room For Error, In case he's proved to be wrong later" (Which I doubt COULD happen anyway), so that even those of us who have yet to find any "Faith", or have had ours shattered, can at least UNDERSTAND what we're looking for...

Just BRILLIANT! VERY Well Done!!!! Pure Excellence on EVERY LAYER, and EVERY DETAIL, of the tale he's crafted... and on ALL of the MANY different subjects he covered!!!

"MORE, Please!"

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28 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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A satisfying conclusion to the series.

This is the last book in this series. It is great just like the others. If you already read the other two books I probably couldn't make you stay away from this one if I tried and I definitely wouldn't. This novel kicks the action up several notches and the scale of the powers involved goes up several orders of magnitude. The novel answers all the questions and finishes the series off nicely. The only downside is that this series is so good I wound up with post book depression. You know it is the last of the series and it is like losing old friends. The only downside is that there aren't several more books in the series. Although, in the age of super long seriesh it is nice to see someone actually finish a series.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

hope for the ages

It is encouraging to know that Brandon Sanderson will be finishing the Wheel of Time series. May Robert Jordan rest in peace no criticism intended here of RJ but this guy can write a tightly drawn
story. With some twists in plot and characters that are very well drawn this story is a bit off
the beaten path from a lot of sword and magic swinging fantasy. There is a really creative edge to his plot. In the audio vernacular this
book is a page turner. I consider seriously each
book I buy from Audible. I spend a lot of time in the car and I want to be entertained with thoughtful sci fi or fantasy. Every time I finish a good one I think I may have run out and then a GREAT story like this comes up and bites me.

Highly recommended.

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23 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

I want to lie

I want to lie and say this was the best book of the three, but I can't. Yes, a lot of secrets were solved but the author lost his focus and seemed like he rushed the ending. Count me as one of those that did not like the ending. It was a good book and needed to be written but I thought the first was the best of the three.

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Bravo! Master Sanderson!

Thank you, Master Sanderson, for what was a wonderful, unique, and thoroughly fulfilling story, with an excellent and well thought-out ending. Some stories are great, but don't often end well, this story was great to the very very last. I cannot recommend this trilogy highly enough -- an absolute must experience story. Listen to it, read it, or have someone read it to you, but you will not regret coming to know The Crew.

And thank you, too, for picking up the Light of Tar Valon and completing Master Jordan's epic tail; he would be most proud, I believe. You have become, in both your own right, and in helping complete the final tale of another master, a true hero of ages...

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Well Concluded series

This series was strong start to finish. If you're like me you are hooked and all I can say is you won't be disappointed.

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Nice for young readers who like magic battles

This will cover the first three books of the Mist Born series. The first book started really well setting up basic ideas that were both interesting and emotionally compelling, then the story went boring for many chapters. Finally there was some good character development and the magic system is described. The magic system was mildly interesting and story had some interesting aspects, but overall I found it all a bit adolescent. The series had a lot of action and teen-aged (or post teen) angst, and felt a bit comic-bookish. The tone of the books and outlook of the characters are essentially modern yet the story is set in a per-industrial world. This really bugged me. The worst case was when a character flies high into the sky and looks down at swirling mist that looks like a huge weather system. How does a character in a world without satellites know what a weather system looks like? Arg.

Enormous amounts of time are spent on the minutia of extended magical combat. If you really like listening to friends talk about the Magic card game they played last night, you might really love the detailed descriptions of the many magical battles.

I did finish these three books as the story and characters were just interesting enough to overcome the angst, anachronisms, and melee. The series ended with a good completion, but an opening for more to come.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Not bad, not stellar...entertaining

I enjoy good, long reads while I work. This was not a bad way to end a rather unique series, but it did get a little tiresome. A third of the book could have been cut (during the writing process) without much getting lost. It definitely would have tightened the series!

In the end, I'd certainly recommend the series and this reading.

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