I would suggest that you write how you feel the story should be written. Getting inspiration from someone is one thing, but changing your work because some people want a happy ending or dark ending takes away from the purity of writing. The part you added in at the end where Sazed let Spook know Vin and Elend were happy in the afterlife really stuck me like a thorn. I think it was apparent how happy they were together in life and how necessary their sacrifices were. That would have been enough for me.
During the drafting process, anything and everything is subject to change. Brandon is a pragmatic writer; there are lots of changes he makes based on feedback from his agent, his editor, and alpha readers whose input he values. Yet he won't make any change if he thinks it won't work.
Ultimately, Brandon
is answerable to the fans. People won't buy a book they don't like. Or rather, if they buy a book and don't like it, they're unlikely to buy more books from the same author, and unlikely to recommend it to their friends. Of course it's impossible to please everyone, and Brandon isn't trying to please everyone, but as he talks about a lot on Writing Excuses, it's important to fulfill the promises you make to the reader. You don't want your reader to feel betrayed.
Back in 2006 when I finished the book, I wrote to Brandon, "Can I hate you? You killed Vin and Elend. But you made a profound statement. You turned a cool adventure fantasy series into something else. I can't help but be impressed." He responded,
This is the thing I'm worried about. Vin and Elend have been dead in my mind for quite some time, at least since the beginning of the second book. The trick is, will readers go along with it? . . . I'm hoping for responses like yours--emotional ones that see how the ending works, hate it anyway, but are satisfied with the series. . . . As for the spiritual side of the book, I did want to imply something with the last few paragraphs of the book, implying that Sazed has communicated with Elend, Vin, and Kelsier--so that there is an afterlife. I might want to emphasize this, however, considering your response.
My response: "I trust you to take what's useful to you from my comments and put out an excellent final product even if it doesn't satisfy all my pet desires. I'm glad the kandra will get an ending. But being too specific about an afterlife ending for Elend and Vin can be dangerous, since it could tie things up TOO neatly and could torque other readers off."
So, Death Magnetic, your response was predicted, but I think it's very telling that the poster after you swung in the opposite direction. It's a very fine line to walk. Personally, I think Brandon pulled it off. I think some people here and there (on both extremes of the spectrum) are going to hate this ending (though how someone could be underwhelmed by it, like one Amazon reviewer, is a bit beyond me—but hey, there are millions of people in this world, and millions of opinions). But I think more will be so touched by it that they will tell their friends. I personally do like happy endings, but I also like to be touched emotionally by a book. This book really does it for me. It's tragic, and sad, but happy at the same time. It's very difficult to do well, but I think Brandon pulls it off.
But anyway, Brandon
did do what he wanted to do with this ending. It just took some feedback from different people to verify that and tweak the words so they brought across what Brandon wanted.
My other suggestion is more of a plea really. Please don't extend this series just to capitalize on it. If you really feel there is more story to be told, then tell it. I, for one, thought the ending would have been perfect if allomancy, hemalurgy, and feruchemy would have faded from existence as their corresponding gods did. It would have been rather romantic to have people start over with a new "normal" world.
First off—I loathe endings like that, where the magic goes away. I think that's often breaking a promise to the reader. For example: Roald Dahl's
Matilda. Yeah, I understand the thematic reason for that, but I don't want a book to tell me, as its ultimate message, "In a normal world, super powers have no place."
Duh. I'm not reading fantasy to validate rationalistic philosophy or become better adjusted to face my own real life. I read it for the sense of wonder. If you're writing a fantasy novel, don't tell me, "Oh, the wonder's all gone now." (I'm glad the movie version of
Matilda changed the ending so she can have a good life
and keep her powers.)
Second, Brandon has always planned more Mistborn books. He has more to explore cosmologically, and the magic system is just so darn cool. Here's what I said: "The two metals will surprise you. Um, yeah? I'll bet. Does this mean an opening for some kind of sequel? But how could there be a sequel to this book? Could it possibly be as epic? You'd need an alien invasion or something, to compete against a god." Brandon replied (two years ago):
I actually would like to do three MISTBORN trilogies, but I don't know if I'll be able to get away with it. My goal would be to write them in different times. For instance, this is the ancient MISTBORN trilogy. The next one would take place in the same world, only five hundred years later, with a modern-style setting. The final trilogy would be set in the same world, only have an sf/spacefairing setting.
It's just a kind of wacky idea I came up with. Still, it intrigues me. I've never seen an author do something like that--update the world from medieval to modern to future in the same series. What do you think?
When I read that paragraph, my heart about stopped. I responded:
YES YES PLEASE ARE YOU KIDDING ME YES I WANT TO READ IT NOW!!
Seriously I would be all over that, and I would love to see allomancers in space, but it could be very hard to pull off. I haven't read many SF/Fantasy combos. But it could be revolutionary. And it only makes sense. We've got historical fantasy and contemporary fantasy, so we need some future fantasy.
It's audacious and daring. It could fail on so many levels, especially the third trilogy. But I believe Brandon can pull it off. Not right away, but after he's built up some more of a fanbase (which is inevitable, given what he's writing now). He just has to make sure that he does it in a way that doesn't break promises to the reader. I'm looking forward to it.
Does that mean that he might someday, maybe, hopefully (pretty please) bring them back to life? I suspect that you might not answer, but can I atleast hope? Cause if anyone deserved to live a full NORMAL life it was Vin and Elend.
I think that Vin and Elend have had more than enough trials and tribulations for a full normal life, and the blank slate world that Spook and the others are in now is going to have its own challenges. But we have to remember that mortality is not the only state of existence, and sometimes there are better options. (Have you seen the movie
Somewhere in Time? If not, rent it and watch it.)
I am glad that Brandon will be writing more Mistborn books, but I'm also glad that the cast of characters will be different (except for maybe Marsh and TenSoon and Sazed). Vin's and Elend's story is over, and they filled their roles masterfully.
Of course—if the Church of the Survivor lives on, worshipping Vin, we may NOT have seen the last of Vin's influence, since hemalurgically spiked people can communicate with the intermediate levels of the beyond. (Maybe only with Sazed, though, so perhaps not.)