Well, call me flabbergasted, but this final Mistborn book makes up for all shortcomings of the previous one, and catapults the series from 'good fantasy with interesting new magic system' to 'whopping epic fantasy' status. Brandon Sanderson painted a broad picture, with two books that are all entertaining prep-work to an amazing conclusion. Throughout, I was vaguely reminded of Melanie Rawn's Sunrunner books.

The Hero of Ages has none of the shortcomings I felt Well of Ascension had. From the beginning it was paced just right. The pre-chapter flavor texts by the then unknown Hero of Ages tossing us snippets of background info just want to keep you reading on and on.

I also appreciated that this book brought some growth to characters that had been there since the first book but never got much attention, like Spook. I think maybe I liked his story in Urteaux the best from all the various sub-plots.

I still think Vin and Elend are just a bit too powerful and not always that likeable as heroes. In the end, the book's conclusion moved me greatly. While I was reading on a sunny beach in Italy, I was mocked by my travel companions for being moved to tears at the end of it.

The 5 stars ultimately are for the series as a whole.