Sagaspedia
Trivia
Trivia, title by title: 38 in total. Tap a cover to open it. Titles you haven't marked as read stay locked so nothing gets spoiled.
- Referencenod to comics or other movies
- Cameoa familiar face shows up
- Setupplanted now, pays off later
- Behind the scenesproduction trivia
- Behind the scenesWhat if the hero lost?
The idea came from a question: what if the prophesied hero failed and the dark lord won? Sanderson wondered about it while reading Harry Potter. The book opens a thousand years after that defeat.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesA heist movie with magic
Kelsier's crew and their plan were inspired by the Ocean's heist movies. The mists came from a drive through fog in Idaho.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesNovel number 14
It was the 14th novel Sanderson finished. He merged ideas from two unpublished 2002 drafts: one gave him Allomancy, the other gave him Vin and Feruchemy.
source ↗ - SetupDon't skip the epigraphs
Each chapter opens with a passage from the logbook of a man who, a thousand years ago, believed he was the Hero of Ages. Who he was and what happened to him matter more than it seems.
source ↗ - ReferenceA familiar informant
Kelsier meets an informant who pretends to have bad eyesight. Sanderson readers know him: it's Hoid, who shows up in disguise across the Cosmere, the author's shared universe.
source ↗
- Behind the scenesAfter the good guys win
Publishers Weekly put it this way: it will please anyone who always wanted to know what happened after the good guys won. Instead of another revolution, you get politics, a siege and an assembly.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesThe longest of the trilogy
It runs 590 pages and about 244,000 words in the US hardcover, the longest Era 1 book. The Final Empire is around 210,000.
source ↗ - SetupCarved in steel
The epigraphs now come from a text a Terris scholar carved into metal instead of writing on paper. The choice of material is no accident.
source ↗ - SetupDaytime mists
Watch for reports of mists appearing during the day and people falling sick in them. It reads like background, but it's the first sign of something bigger.
source ↗ - ReferenceVin's kandra
Vin inherits the contract of the kandra who worked for Kelsier. The kandra, creatures that copy bodies, matter more here and come back later in the saga.
source ↗
- Behind the scenesA trilogy of trilogies
Sanderson planned Mistborn as three trilogies: one epic fantasy, one in a modern setting and one with space travel. This book closes the first. The plan now has four eras.
source ↗ - SetupWho writes the epigraphs?
The epigraphs explain metals, kandra, koloss and Inquisitors as if looking back, with everything already settled. Who wrote them only becomes clear at the end.
source ↗ - ReferenceHoid again
The informant from The Final Empire turns up again in Fadrex. Vin senses something is off about him and keeps her distance.
source ↗ - ReferenceBridge to Era 2
Era 2's laws, religions and legends grow out of this book's ending. The Alloy of Law is set 341 years later.
source ↗
- Behind the scenesTwelve years in the making
Sanderson planned this story while writing the original trilogy and kept working on it for years. He says it was 12 years in the making.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesA surprise release
It dropped as a surprise e-book in January 2016, announced in the postscript of The Bands of Mourning. It later went into the collection Arcanum Unbounded and got its own print edition.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesNovella or novel?
It's nearly 50,000 words. It's sold as a novella, but the ISFDB database lists it as a novel.
source ↗ - ReferenceVisitors from other worlds
Khriss and Nazh, travelers from other Cosmere planets, appear here. Hoid drops by too.
source ↗ - SetupPlanted clues
Sanderson calls bringing characters back a dangerous trope, so he foreshadowed it in the original trilogy. Reread Era 1 and look for the clues.
source ↗
- Behind the scenesJust a writing exercise
It started as a writing exercise to clear Sanderson's head while he worked on A Memory of Light for The Wheel of Time. It wasn't even meant to be published. It turned out better than he expected.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesFrom short story to series
The plan was a few short stories set between the two trilogies. It grew into a four-book series of its own, Era 2.
source ↗ - ReferenceA gun named for Vin
The new gun Ranette builds for Wax is called Vindication, after Vin. Elendel has monuments to Vin and Elend, and the city is named for him.
source ↗ - SetupThe old man's book
At the end, a mysterious old man gives Marasi a book for Wax. Remember both, the book and who handed it over.
source ↗ - SetupSomeone above the villain
The villain answers to something bigger, a secret society called the Set. It's the thread that ties all four Era 2 books together.
source ↗
- Behind the scenesWritten in pieces
Sanderson wrote the first third in 2012, between drafts of A Memory of Light. When he came back to it in 2014, he got stuck. He wrote The Bands of Mourning first and only then finished this one.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesA readers' award
It won the Stabby Award for Best Novel of 2015, voted by Reddit's r/Fantasy community.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesNYT top five
It debuted at No. 5 on the New York Times combined print and e-book fiction list, up from The Alloy of Law's No. 9 debut.
source ↗ - ReferenceAn old friend
Wax travels to the kandra Homeland and meets TenSoon, the kandra who stood by Vin in Era 1.
source ↗ - SetupA title with two meanings
The title is about the many roles a person plays in a lifetime, and about a kandra. Keep it in mind with every new face.
source ↗
- Behind the scenesWritten before the one before
It was written before Sanderson finished Shadows of Self, to get back into the world and characters. It came out about 16 weeks after the previous book.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesThe postscript surprise
In the postscript, Sanderson announced a surprise e-book, Mistborn: Secret History, and said it's meant to be read after this book. Amazon leaked the listing early.
source ↗ - ReferenceThe Lord Ruler's bracers
The Bands of Mourning are said to be the Lord Ruler's bracers from Era 1. Three centuries later, they're a myth.
source ↗ - SetupThe coin from the party
At Lady Kelesina's party, Wax picks up a strange coin. It isn't there by chance.
source ↗
- Behind the scenesFour years late
The title was announced in 2014. It was set for 2018, slid to 2019 and finally came out in November 2022, after Sanderson squeezed in the Skyward series.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesHalf a million copies
The first US printing was 500,000 copies. It debuted at No. 2 on the New York Times list.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesAn ending written three times
Sanderson wrote Part Three's three arcs separately, so he wrote the ending three times. The epilogue runs long because he wanted more time with the characters.
source ↗ - ReferenceThe most Cosmere-aware
Sanderson calls it the most Cosmere-aware book in the series. The main link is to a story in Arcanum Unbounded, and a worldhopper shows up.
source ↗ - SetupToward Era 3
The ending points to what's next. Era 3, not out yet, is set to take place on a Scadrial with 1980s and 1990s technology.
source ↗
Locked. These details give away parts of the title. Mark it as seen to unlock.
Original text by Sagaspedia. Posters: The Movie Database (TMDB); character photos via Wikipedia. This site uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB. All trademarks and titles mentioned belong to their respective owners. Streaming availability may change.
As an Amazon Associate, Sagaspedia earns from qualifying purchases.
About · Contact · Privacy · [email protected]