2025 Reading Challenge discussion

Hi all, I just noticed that there is a companion book to The Hero of Ages named Secret History, anyone interested in reading this as well either this or next month?

Ilona wrote: "Hi all, I just noticed that there is a companion book to The Hero of Ages named Secret History, anyone interested in reading this as well either this or next month?"

I could read that next month. WARNING: (From the description) "it contains HUGE SPOILERS for the books Mistborn (The Final Empire), The Well of Ascension, and The Hero of Ages. It also contains very minor spoilers for the book The Bands of Mourning." (Bands of Mourning is book 6 in this series).

I added the book to my library holds list.. very excited to read both of them in later June.

My only problem is first I must finish May things.. and stop wanting to add more things when now Im "falling behind".

Why do we do this to ourselves?? lol I blame the authors creating such good stuff we cant get enough of!

Enjoy Vin and the crew for me until I catch up in a few weeks.

Since last year, I'd been planning to read Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere Universe books in publication order.
This means, after Hero of Ages (if I even manage to finish reading it this month, I'll be leaving this Buddy Read to read Warbreaker (Warbreaker, Book 1) then the Way of Kings (Stormlight Archive, Book 1).
Haven't felt much like reading lately which has made keeping up with my various reading commitments (BRs and challenges) rather difficult all month. *sighs

Edited to add: I've changed my mind about leaving this Buddy Read if anyone else is game to continue the series.

Yeah, not a lot of content discussion here, so I assume everyone is behind. I certainly am, and I don't know if I will read this before the end of the month. I will try, once I finish my current book, 2/3 of 1Q84, another short book that my wife really wants me to read, and THEN the Hero of Ages. I really bit off too many buddy reads and group reads this month, fortunately a couple of them have not been available yet from the library so it pared me down to just 1.5 books more than I can manage.

I'm going to back out of the next 3 Mistborn books too. I prefer to take a break after Hero of Ages, given the era break in the books (the next 4 books, only 3 of which are written to date, are set in (minor (view spoiler)['Era 2' which starts 300 years after Hero of Ages (hide spoiler)]). Since the 4th book of that set is not written yet (per Branderson, he is going to try to get to it this year but possibly not until the first draft of Stormlight book 4 is done), I am going to wait until it is at least approaching publication before reading the next series. At this point in my life I hate the prospect of having to re-read earlier books to "catch up" to a new entry after a time gap. I did that way too much with the Wheel of Time back in the day. Too many books to read before I die, I can't afford to duplicate!

Anyway, worst case scenario, I will bring Hero of Ages with me on a family trip to Canada, leaving June 29, and might be able to finish it during that week. It'd be nice if vacation = reading time, but it tends to work out the opposite.

Happy reading, whenever anyone actually gets to this particular buddy read! I am sure it will be explosive, given the ardent love so many people have for this trilogy and how much has been built up thus far.

As Marc already knows from my dismal 1Q84 performance lately, I am also woefully behind because, apparently, the books I most wanted to read in May and June didn't include my longest buddy read book.
I have managed to read the first 100 pages of Hero of Ages, though.
Since my favorite character TenSoon features prominently, I have enjoyed it so far.
Definitely planning to finish Hero of Ages by month end.

Just short message from me (cause I only have my phone atm), but I finished Hero of Ages this morning and I wanted to let you know that the book is super awesome and worth your time! :) I will need some time to digest all of it, but am looking forward to the discussion.

Also, I proposed to read the Secret History this or next month, but in the preface Sanderson advices his readers to read it after completing the sixth book. So, I've decided to wait until I've finished that one.

Just starting this book today.

Interesting statistics discussion in chapter 21. I’m just wondering if this seems out of place in fantasy or if this level of knowledge is part of the world building.

That would be fine with me

Kristin wrote: "Would you like me to extend this buddy read into July and postpone Book 4 until August?"

i would love the extra time to catch up, but I would defer to the wishes of my buddy readers who have finished Hero of Ages already.

Fine by me :)

okay

I personally prefer to keep them as 1-month reads, but I'll go with what the others decide, as I seem to be only one who managed tp read the first three in three months.

Frankly, I think two months per book is too long--it would mean stretching this Buddy Read series into next year.
I vote to keep the one-book-per-month pace. If I find I cannot keep up, I will continue reading the series on my own.

This morning, I finished reading to the end of Chapter 16, which is roughly the 25% point.
Random thoughts and impressions up to and including Ch 16
(view spoiler)[*TenSoon: All the pages dedicated to his imprisonment give me hope of his escape and reunion with Vin. Will the Firsts agree with TenSoon's reasoning that Vin is their new Lord?
*Elend: He's changed so much since the last book. In Book 3, Vin speaks to Elend about Kelsier's last message, suggesting who should fill which role in the new Empire. Can anyone refresh my memory? Did Kelsier recommend Elend to serve as Emperor?
*Marsh: Oh, he has reappeared with a vengeance and a new commitment! I am eager to read about what's been happening with him all this time.
*The Citizen: Another gloryhound attempting to usurp The Survivor's legacy, skewing Kelsier's words to suit his own purposes.
*Spook: I love how the heretofore ignored Spook is now given voice in chapters of his own. The author's notion of Allomantic savants, as manifested by Spook, is fascinating. (hide spoiler)]

My morning read of this book ended on a cliffhanger (view spoiler)[ Spook inescapably surrounded by the Citizen's goons (hide spoiler)]!
Now I can't wait to continue reading this book tonight!

And, yes, I realize my comments are irrelevant to those of you who have already finished Book 3. My Buddy Read m.o., however, is to comment as I read through the book. :D
Cheers!

Hello again, fellow buddy readers!

I'd previously mentioned taking a break from this series to read the author's works in chronological order, BUT..I'll do my best to keep with the rest of this series as long as discussion remains active. :D

Hello, folks.

I read to the end of Part II this afternoon, which is around 42% (according to GoodReads)
Two questions about what I've read so far:
(view spoiler)[*Italicized intro to each chapter: Whose voice or writing is this? It seems to be commenting from the perspective of the present, so it's not Alendi, right? Are these Sazed's notes? Or would telling me be a spoiler?
*Reen's voice: Vin occasionally hears destructive, pessimistic advice from her deceased brother Reen. Might it actually be the voice of Ruin, disguised as Reen? (hide spoiler)]

How's everyone doing? Who's done with Hero of Ages, besides Ilona? Scott, you finished, didn't you?
Marc, are you enjoying (or, did you enjoy) your travels in Canada?

@Ariel, Barbara, Fatima, Harini, Jeremy, and Larissa
What are your thoughts on Hero of Ages? Did you manage to finish it already? :D

oshizu wrote: "Hello, folks.

I read to the end of Part II this afternoon, which is around 42% (according to GoodReads)
Two questions about what I've read so far:
*Italicized intro to each chapter: Whose voice or..."

Good questions, oshizu! I am not gonna tell you the answers though, they are definitely spoilery. You'll find out the answers eventually :P

I’m at the start of part 5.

I've finished the first two chapters of Part 5, so my comments below include spoilers up to that point.

Ilona wrote: "Good questions, oshizu! I am not gonna tell you the answers though, they are definitely spoilery. You'll find out the answers eventually :P"
Haha, thanks! My second question about Vin (view spoiler)[wasn't actually asking for an answer. I like to try to guess plot developments. (And I was on the money with Reen's voice!)
The remaining mystery for me is why Ruin required metal piercings in the case of Zane, Quellion, Pernod, and Spook, but not for Vin, (hide spoiler)]

Scott wrote: "I’m at the start of part 5."
That's pretty much where I am, too, Scott!
I must confess that I checked the page length of Mistborn Books 4-6 and feel relieved that they're 400s-500s pages in length.
I hope that the shorter length doesn't just mean smaller print, lol!

I finished reading The Hero of Ages yesterday.

My final impressions/questions
(view spoiler)[Metal piercings: I'd begun wondering in Part II if Vin was hearing the voice of Ruin rather her brother Reen so, by extension, also assumed that Ruin--not Kelsier--was whispering to Spook. What I don't understand is why Vin's metal piercing is removable while the metal piercings of everyone else's (the humans, inquisitors, koloss, and kandra) must remain in the body.

Spook's message via Goradel: In his final message to Spook (on the book's last page), Sazed writes: "You did well. Know that the message you sent via Captain Goradel saved us all, in the end."
Did I miss something? I thought Spook's message never reached Fadrex City because Goradel was intercepted and killed by Marsh.

Favorite character: It remains TenSoon. I wish he could reappear in Book 4, lol! In fact, I'm looking forward to meeting a whole new cast of characters in Alloy of Law.
Brandon Sanderson is highly imaginative and creative writer and his world-building is amazing. I just have difficulty relating to (that is, empathizing, like) the majority of his characters. That's just me.

What I liked most: I did enjoy immensely, however, looking for the little clues he scattered here and there, encouraging us to unwrap the various plot secrets before their actual reveals. (hide spoiler)]

Thank you, all, for agreeing to extending the Hero of Ages BR for an additional month so the rest of us could finish reading it!
Now I'm ready for Alloy of Law!

Finished it

(view spoiler)[didn’t really figure it out at all so the ending was a big surprise. I have a million questions so I’ll probably reread it someday. But not now.

One of my main questions is why did vin Elend die?
(hide spoiler)]

@Scott
I'm curious now how many of our questions will be answered in the subsequent Mistborn books, especially The Secret History.

Scott wrote: "Finished it

didn’t really figure it out at all so the ending was a big surprise. I have a million questions so I’ll probably reread it someday. But not now.

One of my main questions is why did vin Elend die?..."

@Scott, I have been thinking about your final comments lately.
(view spoiler)[
There were many plot developments that I didn't figure out.
The origin of the First Generation, for example, astonished me.
Of course, Sazed's realization that was not the Announcer.

What do you mean by your question "why did Vin and Elend die?"?
Are you asking why the author didn't choose to give them a Happily Ever After? Or what purpose their deaths served to the trilogy's overall plot? (hide spoiler)]

The latter.

Kristin wrote: "OK, this has been changed to a 2-month read and moved to the July folder. Would you like all the remaining books in the series to be changed to two-month reads?"

@Kristin
I'd like to follow up on your previous question about the length of our subsequent Mistborn buddy reads.
The remaining Books 4, 5, and 6 range from 300 to 500 pages in length. We'll no doubt be fine with reading each book one month at a time, right?

Thanks Kristin!