The Hero of Ages (2008) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Characters edit see section history

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• Vin Venture: a half-skaa former street urchin who possesses the power of a Mistborn. Elend's wife and considered to be The Hero of Ages. Main protagonist of the book.
• Emperor Elend Venture: A nobleman, scholar and son of Straff Venture. New Mistborn of extraordinary power. Vin's husband. Emperor of the New Empire.
• Sazed: A Terrisman from the Northern Dominance of Terris. He is a Keeper, and specializes in religion. He is also severely depressed by Tindwyl's death in the Battle of Luthadel. He no longer wears his metalminds and he is trying to find the one true religion that offers no falsehood. He now serves as chief ambassador in Elend's empire, and has been named by Elend third in line for the throne, should Elend and Vin both die.
• Aradan Yomen: King of Fadrex City and the surrounding area in the Western Dominance. An Obligator.
• Marsh: Steel Inquisitor, brother of Kelsier
• Lestibournes: aka Spook. A Tineye from Kelsier's crew. Youngest member of the crew and was only fifteen when the Lord Ruler was overthrown. He is Club's nephew, and was once known for his use of garbled street slang. At the command of other members of the crew, he fled Luthadel before its fall, but felt terribly guilty for doing so. He now serves as a scout and spy for Elend, and has been stationed in Urteau, where he is gathering information about the rebels there.
• Ladrian: aka Breeze. Crewmember, and a Soother. Breeze likes his wine. Almost as much as he likes himself. He is now one of Elend's foremost counselors and diplomats. He is thought by the rest of the crew to be half-skaa, like all of them, but he's actually a full-blooded nobleman who was forced during his youth to hide in the underground. He is romantically involved with Allrianne Cett.
• TenSoon: Once Straff Venture's kandra, TenSoon was loaned to Zane for use in spying on Vin. TenSoon killed OreSeur and took his place, acting as Vin's companion. He came to like her, despite his natural inclination to hate all humans, and eventually betrayed Zane, breaking his Contract, to help her. In consequence of this action, he returned to the Homeland to accept punishment from his people. He has the Blessing of Presence, as well as the Blessing of Potency, which he stole from OreSeur.
• Quellion: aka The Citizen. Leader of the rebel city Urteau. Quellion considers himself a pure follower of the Survivor, and tries to uphold Kelsier's injunction to overthrow and execute the nobility. Beldre is his sister.
• Ashweather Cett: One of Emperor Elend Venture's advisers. Used to be ruler of Fadrex City and the Western Dominance
• Zane Venture: Elend's brother, Mistborn
• Ruin: An ancient Terris god, Ruin is the force of destruction, entropy and decay in the world. Once imprisoned near the Well of Ascension, Ruin was accidentally released by Vin. Ruin's power is not yet complete, and he mostly affect the world subtly, by whispering in the ears of his servants and by changing the text of documents. He cannot change or read things written on metal.
• MeLaan: A kandra of the Seventh Generation. She was trained and "raised" by TenSoon.
• General Demoux: Army General. An officer in Elend's army, known for his faith in the Survivor.
• Allrianne Cett: Cett's only Daughter, Lord Breeze's companion and a Rioter.
• Lord Kelsier: the Survivor of Hathsin, and one of the greatest Mistborn Allomancers of all time. He escaped from the Pits of Hathsin where he had been forced to work as a slave, and wandered the world. After being contacted by a skaa hoping for rebellion, Kelsier strikes up his loyal crew with a new contract: the fall of the Final Empire. Also known as the Survivor.
• Lord Fatren: Also known as Fats. The skaa man who rules the city of Vetitan.
• Lady Beldre: Quellion's sister.
• Alendi: A man who conquered the world a thousand years ago, before the Lord Ruler's Ascension. Vin found his journal in the Lord Ruler's palace, and thought, at first, that he had become the Lord Ruler. It was later discovered that his servant, Rashek killed Alendi and took his place. Alendi was a friend and protege of Kwaan, a Terris scholar who thought that Alendi might be the Hero of Ages.
• Goradel: Once a soldier in the Luthadel Garrison, Goradel was guarding the palace when Vin decided to infiltrate and kill the Lord Ruler. Vin convinced him to switch sides, and later led Elend through the palace to try and rescue her. He is now an officer in Elend's army.
• Telden Hasting: One of Elend's old friends, with whom he talked politics and philosophy. Known for being something of a playboy and dandy.
• Rashek: A Terris packman before the Ascension, Rashek was hired by Alendi to help him make the trek to the Well of Ascension. Rashek deeply resented Alendi, and eventually killed him. He took the power at the Well himself, and became the Lord Ruler.
• Haddek: He is the leader of the First Generation of Kandra.
• Penrod Ferson: One of the most prominent noblemen who remained in Luthadel after the Collapse, Penrod made a play for the throne, eventually succeeding in taking it away from Elend via a democratic process. He later accepted Elend as his emperor, and now rules Luthadel.
• Slowswift: A nickname of a certain nobleman in Fadrex city.
• Lord KanPaar: A kandra of the second generation.
• Noorden: One of the only obligators who chose to stay in Luthadel and serve Elend.
• Ham: A Thug on Kelsier's crew, now a general in Elend's army. Known for his enjoyment of philosophical puzzles, and for wearing only a vest no matter what the temperature. His real name is Hammond.
• Tindwyl: A Terris Keeper and a member of the Synod. Once romantically involved with Sazed, Tindwyl was killed during the siege of Luthadel. She was one of Elend's primary teachers in the art of leadership.
• Reen: Vin's half-brother, who protected her and trained her as a thief. Reen was brutal and unforgiving, but he did save Vin from their insane mother, then protect her during her childhood. He was killed by the Inquisitors when he refused to give them Vin's location. Sometimes, Vin hears the words of his lessons in her memory, and he has come to represent the more brutal side of life in Vin's mind.
• Mare: Wife of Kelsier, died after being caught in Kredrick Shaw and was sent to the pits of Hathsin
• Ash: Add a description of this character.
• Franson
• Durn
• Saze
• El
• King Lekal
• Conrad
• Mailey
• Rittle
• Valette Renoux
• Druff
• Human
• Kwaan
• Lord Ruler
• Druffel
• Trell
• Lord Cett
• Wellen
• Master Vedlew
• VarSell
• Lady Patresen
• Olid
• Janarle
• Straff Venture
• Lord Breeze
• Lord Spook
• King Cett

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Urteau: Capital of the Northern Dominance, and once the seat of House Venture. Now in rebellion, it is ruled by a man known as Quellion the Citizen. Site of a storage cavern.
• Fadrex City: A modestly sized, well fortified city in the Western Dominance. Once home and capital city of Ashweather Cett, it was an important warehousing and distribution center for the Canton of Resource. As Cett left, it was seized by the obligator known as Lord Yomen.
• Homeland: The cavern complex that the kandra use as their secret home. It is known to no human other than the Lord Ruler. Kandra who serve well in Contracts are allowed periods of rest in the Homeland.
• Pits of Hathsin: A network of caverns and crevasses that were the only place in the Final Empire that produced atium. The Lord Ruler used prisoners to work them. Kelsier destroyed their ability to produce atium shortly before he died. Now home to the Terris refugees.
• Kredik Shaw: The Lord Ruler's palace in Luthadel. It means "the Hill of a Thousand Spires" in the old Terris language.
• Luthadel: Capital of the Final Empire, and largest city in the land. Luthadel is known for its textiles, its forges, and its majestic noble keeps. It was nearly destroyed during the siege of Luthadel by rampaging koloss and is now ruled by King Penrod, one of the subject kings under Elend.
• Satren: A city in the East that has a storage cavern.
• Trustwarren: The holiest place in the kandra Homeland.

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Glossary edit see section history

• Allomancy: A mystical hereditary power involving the burning of metals inside the body to gain special abilities.
• Allomantic Metals: There are 8 basic Allomantic metals.These come in pairs, comprising a base metal and its alloy. They can also divided into 2 groups of four as internal metals (tin, pewter, copper, bronze) and external metals (iron, steel, zinc, brass). It was long assumed that there were only 2 other allomantic metals: gold and atium. However, the discovery of alloys for gold and atium has expended the number of metal to twelve. There have been rumors of other metals, one of which has been discovered. (See also: Aluminum)
• Allomantic Pulse: The signal given off by an Allomancer who is burning metals. Only someone who is burning bronze can "hear" an Allomantic Pulse.
• Aluminum: Once known only to the Steel Inquisitors, this metal -- when burned -- depletes all of an Allomancer's other metal reserves.
• Anchor (Allomantic): A term used to refer to a piece of metal that an Allomancer Pushes on or Pulls on when burning steel or iron.
• Ascension (of the Lord Ruler): The Ascension is the term used to describe what happened to Rashek when he took the power at the Well of Ascension and became the Lord Ruler. It is also sometimes used in connection with Vin, as she did something similiar in taking the power, though she released it instead of using it.
• Ashfalls: Ash falls frequently from the sky in the Final Empire because of the Ashmounts.
• Ashmounts: Seven large ash volcanoes which appeared in the Final Empire during the Ascension. They eject mainly ash, rather than magma.
• Atium: A strange metal formerly produced in the Pits of Hathsin. It collected inside of small geodes that formed in crystalline pockets in caves beneath the ground.
• Blessing, Kandra: Each kandra was granted one of four powers by the Lord Ruler. These are the Blessing of Potency, the Blessing of Presence, the Blessing of Awareness and the Blessing of Stability.
• Boxing: The slang name for an imperial gold coin. The name comes from the picture on its back of Kredik Shaw, the Lord Ruler's palace - or, the "box" in which he lives.
• Bronzepulse: Another term for an Allomantic pulse.
• Burn (Allomancy): An allomancer utilizing or expending the metals in their stomachs. First, they must swallow a metal, then Allomantically metabolize it inside of them to access its power.
• Clip (Coinage): The nickname for an imperial copper coins in the Final Empire. Commonly used by Mistborn and Coinshots for jumping and attacking.
• Coinshot: A Misting who can burn steel.
• Collapse, The: A term used to refer to the death of the Lord Ruler and the fall of the Final Empire.
• Coppercloud: The invisible, obscuring field set up by someone burning copper, If an Allomancer burns metals while within coppercloud, their Allomantic pulses are hidden from those burning bronze. The therm "Coppercloud" is also, sometimes used to refer to a Smoker (a Misting who can burn copper.)
• Duralumin: The Allomantic alloy of aluminum, duralumin is a mixture of aluminum, copper, manganese and magnesium. If an Allomancer burns duralumin, the next metal (or metals) he or she burns will be given explosive power, at the cost of burning away all at once every bit of that metal inside the Allomancer.
• Extinguish (Allomantic): To cease burning an Allomantic metal.
• Flare (Allomantic): To draw a little extra power from an Allomantic metal at the expense of making it burn faster.
• Hazekiller: A soldier with no Allomantic or Feruchemical powers who is trained to fight and kill Allomancers.
• Ironpull: Pulling on a metal when Allomantically burning iron. This Pull exerts a force on the metal item, yanking it directly toward the Allomancer. If the metallic item, known as an anchor, is heavier than the Allomancer, he or she will instead be Pulled toward the metal source.
• Kandra: A race of strange creatures who can ingest the dead body of a person, then reproduce that body with their own flesh. They keep the bones of the person they imitate, using them, as kandra themselves have no bones. They serve Contracts with mankind -- which must be bought with atium -- and are relatives of mistwraiths.
• Keeper (Terris): "Keeper" is often used as simply another term for a Feruchemist. The Keepers are actually an organization of Feruchemists dedicated to discovering, then memorizing, all of the knowledge and religions that existed before the Ascension. The Lord Ruler hunted them to near extinction, forcing them t o remain hidden.
• Lurcher: A Misting who can burn steel.
• Malatium: The metal discovered by Kelsier, ofter dubbed the Eleventh Metal. Nobody knows where he found it, or why he thought it could kill the Lord Ruler, but it is an alloy of atium and gold. Malatium eventually provided the clue Vin needed to defeat the Lord Rulerm as it allows an Allomancer to see a shadow from another person's past.
• Metalmind: A piece of metal that Feruchemist uses as a kind of battery, filling it with certain attributes that he or she can later withdraw. Specific metalminds are named after the different metals they are made of: tinmind, steelmind, etc.
• Mistborn: An Allomancer who can burn all of the Allomantic metals.
• Mistcloak: A garment worn by many Misborn as a mark of their station. It is constructed from dozens of thick ribbons of cloth that are sewn together at the top, but allowed to spread free from the shoulders down.
• Misting: An Allomancer who can burn only one metal. They are much more common than Mistborn. (Note: In Allomancy, an Allomancer has either one power or all of them. There are no in-between with two or three.)
• Mistsickness: The name used for the strange malady that strikes people who go out into the mists. Though most who do are unharmed, a sizeable minority fall to the shakes and grow sick. This sickness can last just a few days or over two weeks, and is sometimes fatal. One need only go out in the mist once, however to become inoculated -- and immune -- to mistsickness. Nobody knows why it began, though the first reports of it came just before Vin took the power at the Well of Ascension.
• Mistwraith: A nonsentient relative of the kandra people. Mistwraiths are globs of boneless flesh that scavenge the land at night, eating bodies they find,then using the skeletons for their own bodies.
• Pewterarm: Another term for a Thug, a Misting who can burn pewter.
• Preservation: An ancient Terris god, Preservation was Ruin's opposite -- the force for stability, stasis, and continuity. He gave up most of his mental force to imprison Ruin at the Well of Ascension.
• Pull (Allomantic): Using Allomantic to Pull on something -- either on people's emotions with zinc, or on metals with iron.
• Push (Allomantic): Using Allomancy to Push in something either -- either on people's emotions with brass, or on metals with steel.
• Release (Feruchemical): When a Feruchemist stops tapping a metalmind, no longer drawing forth its power.
• Riot (Allomantic): When Allomancer burns zinc and Pulls on a person's emotions, enflaming them.
• Rioter (Allomantic): A Misting who can burn Zinc.
• Ruin: An ancient Terris god, Ruin is the force of destruction, entropy, and decay in the world. Once imprisoned near the Well of Ascension, Ruin was accidentally released by Vin. Ruin's power is not yet complete, and he mostly affects the world subtly, by whispering in the ears of his servants and by changing the text of documents. He cannot change things written in metal.
• Seeker (Allomantic): A Misting who can burn bronze.
• Skaa: The peasantry of the Final Empire. They were once of different races and nationalities, but over the thousand year span of the empire the Lord Ruler worked hard to stamp out any sense of identity in the people, eventually succeeding in creating a single, homogeneous race of slave workers.
• Smoker (Allomantic): An Allomancer who can burn copper. Also known as Coppercloud.
• Soothe (Allomantic): When an Allomancer burns brass and Pushes on a person's emotions, dampening them.
• Soother: A Misting who can burn brass.
• Synod (Terris): The elite leaders of the Terris Keeper organization, the entire Synod was attacked and carried off by the Inquisitors. They are presumed dead.
• Tap (Feruchemical): Drawing power from within a Feruchemist's metalminds. It is parallel to the term 'burn' used by Allomancers.
• Thug (Allomantic): A Misting who can burn pewter.
• Tineye: A Misting who can burn tin.

Series & Lists edit see section history

Preceded by The Well of Ascension, and followed by The Alloy of Law.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Brandon Sanderson (Author)

Other Contributors:

1. Christian McGrath (Cover Artist)

First Edition edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
• Dewey: 813.6

Notes for Parents edit see section history

If the child can appreciate Tolkien, Robert Jordan, and other epic fantasy novels, this will be a great addition to their library.

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Science Fiction & Fantasy › Fantasy › Epic
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Contemporary

Books with Additional Background Information edit see section history