The Hero of Ages

How do I even start to describe what this last book in the Mistborn series is like to read? It all seemed so simple and straight forward in the beginning and then things built and built and built, taking off into tangents that I could never have predicted and surprised me in ways I never expected. When it ended I wasn't quite sure how I felt. Elated, yet sad, yet happy, yet satisfied and a part of me was just numb from what I had just experienced. The Hero of Ages took the story I thought I was reading to places that were unexpected and emotional and thoughtful and just plain amazing. I was expecting the usual end that I get with the fantasy genre, the usual end to the conflict that has the heroes a bit battered, but walking off into the sunset having beaten evil and triumphed. But this was so much different, so much larger and so much MORE. I feel like I'm still reeling from it all. The other two books now have so much more meaning to them, so many nuggets I wish I could go back and re-read to see how it all comes together in this final volume. The culmination of the trilogy all together is a well-crafted puzzle that makes sense once all the pieces are in place and the full picture is beautiful to behold. It's a bitter-sweet ending, but one that carries so much weight that you can't help appreciating the journey you've been on to get there. This trilogy will top my all-time favourite list and will remain there for quite some time, I'm sure. The emotion definetly runs high in this final volume, mostly due to Sanderson's wonderful characters and larger than life themes, but I also need to mention his amazing ability to craft a world, magic systems and creatures that are just so unique and imaginative that I haven't come across their like in ages. Thank you so much for the journey Brandon Sanderson, it was emotional and exciting and thoughtful and I just loved it to pieces.