Title / The Final Empire, The Well of Ascension and The Hero of Ages

Author / Brandon Sanderson

Publication Date / 2009 and 2010

Genre / Fantasy

Series or standalone / Trilogy

Page no. / 672, 800 and 768

Overall Rating / ★★★★

Goodreads synopsis of book 1: In a world where ash falls from the sky, and mist dominates the night, an evil cloaks the land and stifles all life. The future of the empire rests on the shoulders of a troublemaker and his young apprentice. Together, can they fill the world with colour once more? In Brandon Sanderson’s intriguing tale of love, loss, despair and hope, a new kind of magic enters the stage— Allomancy, a magic of the metals.

This is a trilogy set in a world where the bad guy won the war and has been ruling over the Final Empire for thousand of years. I loved this concept as it’s not something I see very often in fantasy. There are two main things I love about this trilogy; the world and the magic system, specifically Allomancy. The Final Empire is a region of Scadrial, a fictional planet of the Cosmere, and it is blanketed by ash. In this world plants are brown and people rarely see the sky. Throughout the three books, Sanderson does a fantastic job at building on what we already know of world. I will say that the physical description of the world are sometimes a little lacking, but overall the world building is fantastic. Next, there are three disciplines of magic in this trilogy: Allomancy, Feruchemy and Hemalugy. All three are based on metals and are used to gain specific abilities. Basically allomancers have the ability to burn metal that enables them to access a range of mental or physical enhancements. For example burning tin enables an enhancement of the five senses while burning pewter enhances physical strength. There are 8 basic Allomantic metals and each has a different affect on the allomancer. A Misting is a person who can burn one metal and a Mistborn is a person who can burn all of them. I love this magic system and the author does a fantastic job at developing it through the three books. Both of these aspects are vividly realised and well written. Be aware that the world and magic systems are quite complex and intricate, so don’t go into this expecting a light, quick read. Sanderson does a great job at writing battle scenes and political intrigue.  If you enjoy unique magic systems and world then I highly recommend checking this book out. More positives include the characters and the plot. Yes, I think at times the plot is a little predictable at times but I still enjoyed seeing how it all unfolds and although some characters lack depth overall these books contain a great cast of characters. Vin is definitely one of my favourite characters. Personally I think the first book is the best, but I did also enjoy the second and third book. Each book has a good mix of character development, world building, action and politics.

Now to some of the issues I have. The main thing I would say is the length of these books. Each book is over 600 pages long but they didn’t need to be. The main reason for this is the repetitive nature of the writing. Although I love the world in this book the overly long descriptions and repetitive use of words can be a little frustrating at times. There are also plot points that are repeated throughout the books, for example in the first book you are told constantly that Vin doesn’t trust anyone. We get it – she’s had a hard time and doesn’t trust easily but we don’t need to be reminded every 5 seconds or so. I was definitely more aware of this use of repetition when I reread this trilogy. I think the pacing was a little uneven at times too, especially in the second and third book. One more small complaint is that I think the romance develops a little too quickly.

Overall I really enjoyed this trilogy, but there are definitely some issues with it. If you are a big fan of fantasy then I think this is well worth checking out. I’ve only read the first book of the sequel series and I don’t think I plan on continuing on with it. I went through a phase of trying to read everything by Sanderson but I think I’ve grown past that now. I think I got caught up in the hype surrounding this author but now I’m not the biggest fan of his writing style. Although I will definitely check out the sequel to Warbreaker whenever it gets released. Have you read this trilogy? I hope you are all having a wonderful day and I will see you next time.

Pippa

Title / An Echo of Thing to Come

Author / James Islington

Publication Date / 2017

Series or standalone / book 2 of the Licanius Trilogy

Page no. / 784

Overall Rating / ★★★★

This is the second book in the Licanius trilogy, the first being The Shadow Of What Was Lost. It is a epic fantasy trilogy set in the fictional world of Andarra and picks up roughly a month after the events of the first book. As with the first book it is written using multiple perspectives.

Firstly, this sequel has a refresher at the very beginning to quickly go over the events of the first book. As these books are quite dense there are things it missed, but I found it useful to just remind me of the very basics of the first book. It allowed me to more easily settle into the flow of the story. A glossary of terms is provided as well, which was also useful. The plot is compelling with a fantastic flow between of the multiple perspective. I find with multiple perspectives it can sometimes be a little jarring when it switches between the characters but that is not the case with this book. Each perspective is compelling and has a distinctive feel to it, although I did feel that Davian’s chapters were a little lacking at times. In my opinion you can see an improvement between the first and second book. To me, the writing felt more assured and it felt like the author had really settled into the flow of the story. I love the complexity of plot and how the author brings all the threads together. There are also some great twists in this book. One thing that I wasn’t the biggest fan of was the use of flashbacks, which are used quite a lot throughout. However, I understand why they are used and they didn’t detract too much from my overall enjoyment. Although I enjoyed the progression of the plot, the first few hundred pages are quite slow. At times there isn’t a lot of actions as the characters are stationary in their respective places. Due to this there were times it felt a little aimless. I still felt that the pacing was well done throughout, although the first half is slower than the second half. Overall, I loved where the plot was taken, and I am excited to see how things progress in the next book

One of the main strengths of this book, as well as the first, is the world building. We get to explore more of this world in this sequel and it was a pleasure to find out more about it. The magic system is also wonderfully done. These are such important aspects for a fantasy series and I think the author did a great job at building on what we learnt in the first book. However, I will say that this may also be a negative for some. This is quite a dense fantasy books with a lot happening and a complex world, so it does take some concentration to keep up with everything. Personally, I don’t mind this, but it may be something to be aware of when starting this trilogy. If you are looking for a light and quick fantasy read, then I would suggest that this is not the book for you. Moving onto the characters. I think the author did a wonderful job at developing the characters in this book. In the first book I thought the characters came across as a little cliched at times but in this sequel, I think they really developed into their own. There are also some new characters introduced that are well written. Although there are quite a few characters to keep track of, they all felt distinctive and I became even more invested in them while reading this sequel. Another aspect I like in this book is that you don’t have the typical bad vs. good aspect. Yes, there are bad guys that must be defeated but the line between good and bad is blurred and sometimes the ‘good’ people must make hard decisions. This is especially apparent with the character, Caedan. I really enjoyed this aspect of this book. In terms of the writing, I thought it was good, if a little repetitive at times.

Overall this was a fantastic continuation of this trilogy and I cannot wait to read the next book. The third and final book, The Light Of All That Falls, is set to be released early next year. I would say that this trilogy so far has a traditional fantasy feel to them.  If you enjoy fantasy and/or are looking for a new fantasy series to try, then I would highly recommend checking this out. I would also recommend reading this sequel quite soon after reading the first book as it will help you to keep up with everything that happens. Have you started this series? I hope you are all having a wonderful day and I will see you next.

Pippa