Mistborn Liveblog 38

Chapter 37

Payoff is a pretty tall order for any writer, and now that I'm practically at the end of Mistborn, I've started to consider the challenge. Even with an extensive beta-readership, I think it must be one of the most difficult parts of a novel. I imagine Brandon likely spent a great deal of time considering and working his ending to provide the best possible payoff. But even with some feedback, there's no way to ensure the payoff is sufficient for every future reader.

I think the better measure of whether there is sufficient payoff is not in how each thread is wrapped up, but the percentage of threads that are wrapped up. I'm not referring to things that are preserved for a sequel-- I'm referring to just the things that tie into the plot and arc of the story.

Take the game Mass Effect 3, for example. There were a lot of people who were completely dissatisfied with the ending of that game because they disagreed with how it ended. Personally, I liked the way it ended because of how many threads were actually tied in and wrapped up. Certainly, it was not a perfect story, but I measured more by the sheer number of payoffs and not the quality of the final scene. For me, the payoffs in a story begin as the final climax starts it's climb. I think for those who disliked ME3, they looked only at the final scenes, not the final climax as a whole.

That's the view I'm taking with Mistborn-- it's not just the final chapter, payoffs can happen, even just in part, right now.

So let's move on to Mistborn spoilers:


Ah, perhaps there's finally the link with Elend that I've been wanting. I'm not so sure it was as powerful as I would like. I mean, he shows up to try to save her, but she ends up saving him. Yeah, he distracted the guards enough for her to get some metals, but if this is really the whole reason we started seeing Elend's view, I'm not too thrilled. I still hold to the idea that he'll take over the city once this is all over, and that would be a much better reason. While I may not like the payoff so far, I am glad that Elend's view did finally come to something, so at least it's counted as a payoff.

I loved the scene of Sazed saving Vin with feruchemistry. I think Sazed has become one of my more favorite characters. I loved this payoff for his character.

Other than that, this chapter was all set up. I don't know what's going to happen between Vin and the Lord Rulers. More on that tomorrow (I presume).

See you then. Happy reading.

Jameson