Mistborn Liveblog 23

Chapter 22

There's an element of storytelling that I do enjoy, but find I really enjoy when it is broken. Stories are filled with heroes who reach their goal, overcoming ever-worsening odds, but in the end they are victorious. It's a great part of stories. But it's done so often, the rare moments of utter failure or great sacrifice become that much more precious to me as a reader.

Take Harry Potter. I expected him to die at the end, sacrificing himself to defeat Voldemort. I did not like the 'not-really-dead' sequence. It felt like JK Rowling was trying for a twist ending that wasn't really one-- trying to force emotional reactions that were not really there. Had Harry actually died and stayed dead-- the emotion would have been real. Certainly, not everyone would have been happy with that ending, but I saw it as a lost attempt to show the world that less-than-ideal endings can still be great.

How does this all relate to Mistborn? Spoilers below...




In the past two chapters, we've seen Kelsier and Vin reading the translation of the book Vin grabbed while fleeing the Inquisitors. And now it's been revealed that the introductory paragraphs for each chapter are actually the Lord Ruler's journal. Not quite what I thought initially. I thought it was the journal of the hero who failed to defeat the Deepness and let the Lord Ruler take over, but it's actually the journal of how the Lord Ruler doubted that he was the one and some of his travels.

It makes me wonder whether the hero failed to actually defeat the Deepness and was taken by it-- thereby becoming the Lord Ruler, or if the hero defeated the Deepness and just became corrupt in the process. I think that the latter is more likely-- perhaps he wasn't actually the right hero or perhaps all his doubts betrayed him in the end.

The journal is a really interesting device and I'm glad that it's being fleshed out further in these chapters. While it would not be so bad to just go back and reread the paragraphs in each chapter, I find the full version far more cohesive-- not to mention the extra tidbits that are there. I would love to read the full story, not just the journals. It would be a great break form the traditional 'happy endings'.

More tomorrow. Happy reading.

Jameson