Mistborn Liveblog 16

Chapter 15

As I continue reading Mistborn, I'm led to think about the importance of the risk of peril to the story. In Mistborn, there is plenty of physical peril, which is great. But I'm starting to think about other kinds of peril. There are relationships, friendships and bonds that could be in peril of being stretched beyond the breaking point. There are internal struggles that suggest a peril of confidence in oneself. There's the peril of failure for society as a whole. And I'm sure there are others as well.

Each form of risk and danger serves a different purpose, and I'd love to see a greater balance between them. Right now, the physical and societal perils seem to be the most emphasized, but we're also being introduced to a psychological peril of a character and I'd love to see that explored more. I won't get into more details here, so let's move into some spoilers:




Well, now, this chapter starts with a rather interesting turn of events. Kelsier is fine (sort of) and had escaped back to his safe house, but he has no idea where Vin is. Dockson chews him out, understandably, and I liked that their discussion didn't devolve into "how are we going to complete the mission without her." Instead, they stuck to their concern for her.

Then we learn that it was in fact Sazed, the Terrisman, who saved Vin. I did not see that coming, and I'm not sure how well it sits with me. True, we don't know much about Sazed at this point, and he does refer to something new, metalmind, that he used to follow Vin into the city. I'm sure this is meant to raise intrigue into his character, but I'd rather the intrigue occur before he miraculously swoops onto the roof of a building to save Vin from the most formidable foe of the story so far. As it sits, I'm having a bit of a hard time digesting and accepting this new-found intrigue.

We do get to see a bit deeper into Kelsier's psyche and encounter a great deal of uncertainty regarding his plan. It seems an odd thing for him to divulge-- sure it was only to Dockson, and they have a pretty solid friendship, but still... if I were part of a huge, dangerous job, I would like to think the man with the plan actually believed in it. Certainly, the psychological aspect of this could be an interesting part of the story, but with how scattered Kelsier's personality seems, I wonder how much will actually come of it.

In the end of the chapter, he says that he'll only know if the night was worth it after knowing whether or not Vin lives. That smatters of some kind of metaphor for later in the book, though I'm not sure in what way quite yet.

More tomorrow. Happy reading.

Jameson