vin misborn Posted January 24, 2013 Report Share Posted January 24, 2013 Ok, I’m new here and registered just to ask this certain question, apologies in advance if it seems too silly. I just started reading the series and I’m on chapter 11 of first book. Well my question is: in the beginning of every chapter there always appears a little section written in italics, and I just cannot grasp on what is it about? In prologue it seemed that it was narrated from some hero who lost to lord ruler some time ago because of his self doubts. But in consequent chapters i’m not really sure if it’s the same person talking. Do those little prologues continue to be narrated from the “defeated hero” POV, i’m really confused about who is the narrator there and it kind of bothers me lol. can someone explain it without giving away spoilers of future events..? would really appreciate it if someone could answer P.S. have to say that Vin reminds me a lot of Arya from ASOIAF, could decipher some similarities between the characters. and I’m really liking this series so far, Kelsier is my favorite character, hopefully he doesn’t die (wishful thinking much?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voidus Posted January 24, 2013 Report Share Posted January 24, 2013 Yeah, they're all written by the same person and their identity is supposed to be a secret so it'd be a bit spoilerific to explain it. Happy reading and welcome to the forums! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nepene Posted January 24, 2013 Report Share Posted January 24, 2013 Some mild spoilers here. Broadly speaking, the general implication of the story is that it is from an ancient man who conquered the world and was called the hero of ages. He, along with a group of Terrisman, was questing for some holy place of magic to stop some catastrophe. The heroes capture a diary with the quotes in later and explain it more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
name_here Posted January 24, 2013 Report Share Posted January 24, 2013 (edited) The Mistborn (and Stormlight Archive) chapter breaks are all from in-universe documents. You'll generally find out details about the documents at some point during the book in which they appear. Edited January 24, 2013 by name_here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vin misborn Posted January 24, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2013 All right, thanks to everyone for replying and explaining, i suppose that would do. Probably now it would be easier to understand those little segments while knowing some context behind it. It was just quite confusing while reading and it appears at the moment that i would have to re-read those little segments after finishing the book to fully understand the meaning behind the words… Can I ask if all three books are considered to be of the same quality or are there some differences (for example book 1 is better than the rest, or book 3 is the best and so on…) And also does book 1 have a conclusion, or does it end on cliffhanger, meaning that book 2 would be needed to explain some mysteries or plot points…? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Monstrosity Posted January 24, 2013 Report Share Posted January 24, 2013 Book 1 is the most self-contained of the three, and wraps up its main plot pretty well. Book two doesn't really resolve very well on its own - it mostly leads into book three. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voidus Posted January 25, 2013 Report Share Posted January 25, 2013 Can I ask if all three books are considered to be of the same quality or are there some differences (for example book 1 is better than the rest, or book 3 is the best and so on…)And also does book 1 have a conclusion, or does it end on cliffhanger, meaning that book 2 would be needed to explain some mysteries or plot points…? Depends what you like reading, all three are a bit different but I'd say all are equal in quality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaos Posted January 25, 2013 Report Share Posted January 25, 2013 All right, thanks to everyone for replying and explaining, i suppose that would do. Probably now it would be easier to understand those little segments while knowing some context behind it. It was just quite confusing while reading and it appears at the moment that i would have to re-read those little segments after finishing the book to fully understand the meaning behind the words… Can I ask if all three books are considered to be of the same quality or are there some differences (for example book 1 is better than the rest, or book 3 is the best and so on…) And also does book 1 have a conclusion, or does it end on cliffhanger, meaning that book 2 would be needed to explain some mysteries or plot points…? Eventually, those "chapter bumps" will be discovered by the characters in the book. Book 1 has a very, very satisfying conclusion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyman Posted January 25, 2013 Report Share Posted January 25, 2013 In my opinion, book 3 also has a very satisfying conclusion. But people do differ on that, but I don't think it's mostly to do with quality, strictly. Book 2 is...the lead-in to Book 3. I found it the slowest of the three, but it is well worth it for what you get out of book 3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cleric Posted January 26, 2013 Report Share Posted January 26, 2013 1 and 3 are my favorites personally. 2 is an excellent book with a lot of cool stuff in it, was just a touch dark for my tastes. none of the books is weak or badly done. all have great story. 2 has some of the best character progression as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senor Feesh Posted January 27, 2013 Report Share Posted January 27, 2013 Quality-wise, I'd find it hard to decide. I love the trilogy (and Alloy of Law is also totally amazeballs). As for conclusions, Sanderson was pretty savvy with this - the traditional trilogy set up. Book one has a tangible plot and resolution, leaves enough questions unanswered to have scope for a sequel, but not so much you'd feel cheated if there wasn't one (e.g. if the book had tanked, and the sequels weren't [picked up by a publisher). Book 2 then leaves on a much more bleak, not exactly 'cliffhanger' ending, but at least you KNOW rust needs resolving in the next book - think Empire strikes back, where Has is in carbonite, the second Death Star is under construction, Luke just lost a hand and found out the truth about Vader - huge plot awaiting resolution in the final chapter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king of nowhere Posted January 27, 2013 Report Share Posted January 27, 2013 It was just quite confusing while reading and it appears at the moment that i would have to re-read those little segments after finishing the book to fully understand the meaning behind the words… actually, I enjoied them much more when rereading the trilogy. I could appreciate all the subtle hints to the truth, and all the subtle misdirection menat to make you believe sopmething else - something that is revealed in the climax of the book. Another really nice perk of rereading the mistborn trilogy is paying attention to when characters are being emotionally allomanced. There are several places where the character whith the point of view is influenced wsith emotional allomancy, and is subtle enough that you miss it the first time you read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teegs Posted January 30, 2013 Report Share Posted January 30, 2013 Seriously, do yourself a favor and stop reading the boards till you finish the trilogy. You WILL spoil things. Trust me, Brandon explains everything by the end. He is very good at making things clear, you won't be completely an utterly confused when you finish the trilogy. RAFO Draw your own conclusion. Then come talk about it. Believe me, it's worth the wait. =) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts