The Hero of Ages & Body of Lies

I posted my review of Brandon Sanderson’s final Mitborn novel, The Hero of Ages, last night. I really enjoyed the whole series and think it is one of the better completed series I've read. Like Greg Keyes, Sanderson had a plan for a set amount of books, stayed to that set amount and managed to pull off an incredibly well-told tale. Here’s more from my review:

Brandon Sanderson brings his Mistborn saga to a close (for now) in The Hero of Ages, wherein mists are now seemingly destroying the world and two ancient forces are about to clash. The only hope Vin, Elend and their allies has are clues the now-dead self-fashioned god the Lord Ruler left in various caves where metals were stored.

Doubt and perspective could be the themes that characterize Sazed’s character, as well. Although on the surface he plays the role of Royal Scholar, Sanderson plays with that character type with nuance. Sazed’s faith is continually in question throughout The Hero of Ages because of SPOILER, something with which he has difficulty coming to grips. As a cataloguer of world religions, Sazed is searching for the “true” religion. The only thing in which Sazed continually shows his faith is in the prophesized Hero of Ages. Though he can’t quite grasp the intimate specifics, his faith in the vague prophecy is what keeps him grounded. Here again, the cliché of the prophecy is toyed with by Sanderson (reminiscent of Tad Williams Memory, Sorrow and Thorn trilogy) to great effect.

Mrs. Blog o’ Stuff and I were probably the only people who went to see Body of Lies of the weekend, rather than that stupid fucking talking Chihuahua movie. Anyway, Body of Lies was a pretty damned good movie, with good performances by Crowe, DiCaprio and Mark Strong. I didn’t completely agree with the plot device used to advance one part of the plot, but other than that, a solid political thriller that really echoes well against some of the issues in today’s geo-political spectrum.