Mistborn: The Final Empire // Review

Author: Brandon Sanderson
Published On: July 17th, 2006
Publisher: Tor Books
Genre: Adult Fantasy
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Synopsis:

For a thousand years the ash fell and no flowers bloomed. For a thousand years the Skaa slaved in misery and lived in fear. For a thousand years the Lord Ruler, the “Sliver of Infinity,” reigned with absolute power and ultimate terror, divinely invincible. Then, when hope was so long lost that not even its memory remained, a terribly scarred, heart-broken half-Skaa rediscovered it in the depths of the Lord Ruler’s most hellish prison. Kelsier “snapped” and found in himself the powers of a Mistborn. A brilliant thief and natural leader, he turned his talents to the ultimate caper, with the Lord Ruler himself as the mark.

Kelsier recruited the underworld’s elite, the smartest and most trustworthy allomancers, each of whom shares one of his many powers, and all of whom relish a high-stakes challenge. Only then does he reveal his ultimate dream, not just the greatest heist in history, but the downfall of the divine despot.

But even with the best criminal crew ever assembled, Kel’s plan looks more like the ultimate long shot, until luck brings a ragged girl named Vin into his life. Like him, she’s a half-Skaa orphan, but she’s lived a much harsher life. Vin has learned to expect betrayal from everyone she meets, and gotten it. She will have to learn to trust, if Kel is to help her master powers of which she never dreamed.

This saga dares to ask a simple question: What if the hero of prophecy fails?

Yes, yes, I finally did it. I finally shook off my terror and apprehension and read my first Brandon Sanderson book! I’m incredibly proud of this moment – adult fantasy is a whole different beast to tackle, and I was completely ready for this experience to go south.

But it didn’t! I enjoyed this first installment much more than I anticipated, honestly. I didn’t know too much going into this, other than that it’s the best place to start with Sanderson (I see you, Way of Kings, and you scare me), but I knew it had a vastly-praised magic system and a cast of characters that I was just destined to adore. Both of these things (pretty much) lived up to expectations!

I’ve decided to try a new style of reviewing for this one (and maybe going forward!) that I think will fit the book better. I’m going to break down my thoughts on plot, characters, worldbuilding, and romance, with my other thoughts wrapping it all together. Let me know what you think!

*This review holds mild spoilers for the first Mistborn book!*

I won’t lie and say that this book hooked me from the get go. Honestly, it took me a few days to really get into it and actively want to pick it up. The beginning is a lot of introductions: new characters, new world, new political structure, new magic system. This is expected, of course, but I think as someone who reads YA fantasy more often, this extended introduction/set-the-scene situation was a bit harder for me to get into.

But once I did, boy did I fly! It helped that there was such a fun band of characters – each was doing their part to pull off this great “job”, as they call it, and it helped to move the story along quickly. I sped through those last 100 pages in, like, two hours.

From the very short, very vague synopsis on the back of the book, it’s hard to get a clear picture of what, or even who, this story is about. I was pleasantly surprised when I realized that not only did we have our main two POVs – Kelsier and Vin – but we also had a whole cast of supporting characters that gave this book more fun!

I loved Kelsier and had a ton of fun reading his chapters, though I couldn’t shake that sense that he’s one of those characters that the reader will never really know. We don’t get much insight into his past, and his sneakiness and ulterior motives give him an air of mystery that neither the reader nor his crew ever really get past. It’s not necessarily a bad thing – I just had to read his POV knowing that he’s one of those characters that will forever be just out of my grasp.

Vin was….eh. I didn’t hate her, I didn’t love her. It was fun to see her come into her allomantic powers, and I can 100% understand the trauma she’s carrying from growing up in the environment that she did, but I just couldn’t connect with her on that level that makes me adore a character. She also started to make some really bonehead choices towards the end of the book, which frustrated me. Regardless, I do have faith for her in the later books.

I mean, Brandon Sanderson isn’t a fantasy powerhouse for nothing.

What hooked me was less the actual setting and more the political structures and the magic system that it produced. The entire idea of a “Lord Ruler” having control of the entire country and keeping them in check through excessive wealth and a near-immortal appearance is just wild. The inequality between the noblemen and the skaa, and the ways that they implement and enforce their power, was a brutally honest reflection of real-life history. I loved the little snippets we got of life before the Final Empire, like the chapter headings taken from the Hero’s diary, and the knowledge that Sazed has stored up from thousands of different cultures.

Allomancy itself is an incredibly unique magic system, one unlike anything I’ve ever read! I was a bit confused when we started talking about the 9th, 10th, and 11th metals, but I have complete faith that my ~allomantic prowess~ will only advance as I read on!

*Sigh*.

I was in a slump when I picked this up, and the biggest motivation was the desire to read something outside my comfort zone. However, I’ll fully admit, I was hoping for a sweet lil’ romance to go along with it.

Vin has this little thing with one of the noblemen, Elend, who she comes into contact a few times with while infiltrating the noble balls. I knew there was going to be a little bit of romance, but it wasn’t anything like I was expecting.

Elend has so much potential that fell through! I was gripping the book to my chest during his scenes. The banter between him and Vin was so fun, and I loved how we could see the side of him that was less greedy-noble-powerhouse and more something-here-isn’t-right.

In the end, however, there were just too few scenes between him and Vin for me to root for them, and the ending was too “nice little bow” for my tastes. I know Elend is featured heavily in the next book, and since I have a feeling I’ll adore him, I’m going to read on. But still, I’ll have to tag this book “instalove” because I just don’t think I can call that a real romance.

• Sazed is too pure for that earth and someone needs to protect him at all costs.
• I wish we could’ve gotten more from Vin’s storyline with her brother than we did. I was expecting him to return in later books and cause some drama, but, well.
• While I liked Ham, Breeze, Dox and Spook, I don’t think any of them alone would compel me to continue on. I’m hoping that will change!
• The governmental system was a bit confusing – the difference between the Steel Ministry and the ordinary ministry? Maybe I’m just dumb and didn’t pay enough attention!
• I also really vibe with Marsh, I hope we learn more about him in the next books!

All in all, I really did enjoy this book. Now that I’ve been introduced to the world, the magic, and the characters, I have a feeling I’ll speed through the next one much quicker than I did this.

For a first foray into Brandon Sanderson, I’ll say that I definitely don’t find him as scary as I once did.

Actually, scratch that. Have you seen the size of the Stormlight Archives books?

Have you read any of Brandon’s books? What’s your favorite? How can I hype myself up to eventually tackle that monster of a series?