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Messages - Epsilon

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As for Vin's horseshoe trick, I think it's less a matter of "no one else thought of it" as opposed to "no one else could DO it."  Vin, remember, had amazing and incredible precision with her steel-pushes and pulls.  (Part of this would likely have come from the fact that she grew up as a thief.  Remember, other Mistborn came from noble families and had no need to develop the subtler skills in their youth.  And a large part of it would also be because Vin is, well... Vin!)  As for the horseshoe trick, Elend was able to do it, but mainly because he was taught specifically by Vin, who had mastered it, and even then, he still had trouble, I believe.

Interesting idea, but I don't quite buy it.  Perhaps most Mistborn couldn't manage that, but do you really think Kelsier wouldn't have been able to figure it out?  I don't believe that.  He's an extremely clever man whose expertise is Pushing and Pulling.  The way he whipped loose pieces of metal around him when facing that final Inquisitor in The Final Empire demonstrates his skill.

Perhaps Kelsier actually knew about it and used it when he went to destroy the Pits?  But then why wouldn't he share it with Vin?  He shared just about everything else with her.  Plus, he would have used it when he and Vin went to the rebels hideout in record time.  He knew pewter-dragging was dangerous.  Why would he do it if he knew it was unnecessary?  The only reasons I can see are plot devices (such as excuse to explain pewter dragging).  Anyway, I'm not trying to poke holes in the universe.  I'd just like to understand the reasoning behind it.

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I just finished the series and hopped on to read through this thread when I should be sleeping. :)  Now I'm registering and posting when I should be sleeping...

Overall, I think your books are fantastic, Brandon.  I have been amazed at how consistent and thought-out your worlds are.  You do an amazing job of dropping hints without being too obvious (When I figure out your secrets on my own, it's usually only pages or paragraphs before having them explicitly revealed -- which feels like just the right distance since I get to feel accomplished but the story isn't).  I also really like how your characters make rather-specific plans, begin carrying out those plans, and react realistically when they go (believably) awry.

Minor criticisms:  I couldn't take Sazed's final lines about the Hero being of neither gender seriously.  He may be insecure about his masculinity, but he's referred to as he, falls in love with a woman, and (presumably) has the same genetic makeup as other males.  He is male.  Losing genitalia doesn't change gender and I just didn't buy that the prophecy authors would be gender-neutral to refer to a eunuch.  Anyway, personal problem...

I also felt like you hedged your bets a bin on Vin and Elend dying.  I realize it's your work with your cosmology, but nothing takes the impact out of death like finding out they aren't really really dead and could possibly come back in the future.  Death is meaningful because it's permanent.  I don't think it's cliched to either kill your heroes or to not kill them.  Both have their pros and cons; half-killing them seems like it will leave many people dissatisfied.

......wooooooooooooooah......

I still can't stop thinking that in my head. It's all that's really coming to mind at the moment.

I made the stupid mistake of finishing the book this afternoon in a public place. Therefore I looked like a complete moron as I burst into tears when Elend died. I think it was a good ending. I'm still not totally decided on that. I'm just in shock.

It's just so amazing how the books progressed, developing into this huge cosmic epic that I never expected from just reading The Final Empire a year ago. I guess in some sense what I'm feeling is a slight sense of... awe, maybe? I want to know how he comes up with stuff. I mean seriously, talk about not just writing another fantasy series.

But I'm also shocked that no one else seemed to have figured out that Sazed was the Hero of Ages. I thought it might be him when I started the book, but it could as easily have been Vin or Elend. But at about a third of the way through, page 215 to be exact, there was this line from Sazed thinking in his head:

"I am, unforunately, in charge."

Sound familiar?

"I am, unfortunately, the Hero of Ages."

No one else would have used the same wording as Sazed did when he was thinking to himself. I have to assume that was intentional on Brandon's part. It was very subtle... I'm actually surprised I noticed.

I'm gratified that you noticed.  The Terris dialect IS very subtle.  That speech pattern is one hint, the other is the use of "I think" to soften phrases at the ending.  Beyond that, Sazed speaks with compound, complex sentences using frequent hedging to indicate that he's often uncertain.  (That's another Terris speech pattern, not wanting to offend with language.)

The epigraphs in this book particularly (though I did it for Kwaan too) are intended to "sound" Terris, and like Sazed in particular.  I didn't think anyone would catch it.  You made my day!

My wife and I definitely noticed.  That was the first thing I noticed about the book (obviously, since it's the first line. :)).  I really enjoyed the pre-chapter blurbs in 1 and 2, so it was on my mind as I opened to book.  My entire thought process was:

"This person doesn't sound like Vin.  She wouldn't say fortunately or unfortunately.  She's more fatalisted.  To her, what is... is and you deal with it; there is no fortunately or unfortunately.  Maybe it's Elend...?  I know these blurbs are part of a huge curveball like they were in 1 and 2."

By the time the narrator used the word "Elend" instead of  "I", I was pretty sure it had to be Sazed.  And, as Pygmalion, pointed out, bells went off in my head when I read "I am, unforunately, in charge."  I started to doubt myself when Vin became a god but I just couldn't hear her voice in those paragraphs.  Vin is simply too blunt for that scholar's prose.  I'm glad I stuck to my guns. :)

Anyway, I have several questions I was hoping you could answer:

1) I haven't yet seen this asked / answered:  If Rashek was simply an Allomancer / Feruchemist, how did he survive beheading?  In The Final Empire, doesn't Ham or Breeze mention he was beheaded in the early years and that it didn't even phase him?  Nobody else seems to survive that, regardless of their powers.  I was hoping to see something about that in the later books...

2) This is related directly to The Final Empire, but was there a reason you chose not have the characters understand the horseshoe trick until the very end?  I never quite believed that Mistborn had never figured out that they could simply Pull their coins back to them after jumping off them.  It was one of the first things that occurred to me and I'll never have that kind of power... As a reader, I actually felt a bit insulted when Vin had that "revelation."

Thanks for the great stories and being so involved in this site.  It's a real treat to get your answers / insight outside of the books!

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