The following is commentary, written by Brandon, about one of the chapters of MISTBORN: THE HERO OF AGES. If you haven’t read this book, know that the following will contain major spoilers. We suggest reading the sample chaptersfrom book one instead. You can also go to this book’s introduction or go to the main annotations page to access all annotations for all of Brandon’s books. For those who have read some of MISTBORN 3, any spoilers for the ending of this book will be hidden, so as long as you’ve read up to this chapter, you should be all right.

Sazed’s Struggle

Here I can see how giving Sazed something to do—letting him study his religions one by one—makes his viewpoints far more interesting. The previous version of this chapter, which perhaps I’ll post, had him simply riding along, listening to Breeze, despairing. That was boring.

Yet, making one small tweak—giving him something to do—changed that dramatically, at least for me as I read the chapter. It allows Sazed to struggle, and a struggle can be even more tragic than a loss. Either way, it’s more interesting to read because conflict is interesting. Here, he’s trying—even though he’s failing—to find meaning in the world. He can try to shove aside his depression and read his pages instead.

Religious Philosophies

There is a belief that many people hold in the world, and I like to call it the “spokes on the wheel” belief. This is the belief that as long as you struggle hard and try to live your life well, you’ll make it to heaven, or nirvana, or whatever lies on the other side of death. People who believe this tend to take an “It doesn’t matter what road you take; they all lead the same place” approach. Every religion is a spoke on the wheel, leading to the center.

There is a lot of nobility to this belief. It’s an attempt to be inclusionary, and the people I’ve met who believe this way tend to be sincere—or at least very accommodating—in their personal convictions.

I don’t write books to disprove any one philosophy or belief. People who believe this way are not idiots, nor are they fools. This was the belief Sazed followed through the first two books of the trilogy. However, I see a danger in this set of beliefs, and Sazed’s trials in this book are a result of that danger. If you believe everything, it seems to me that it is difficult to find any hard-and-fast truth.

Monotheism has its own problems, and I explore those in other books. Don’t take this as a bash against your beliefs if you follow Sazed’s previous philosophy. I simply saw a potential conflict, and couldn’t help but explore it.