Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

Mistborn: The Final Empire (Cosmere Universe) (Mistborn, #1)

by Brandon Sanderson

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson, the Mistborn series is a heist story of political intrigue and magical, martial-arts action.

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?

Reviewed by nitzan_schwarz on

4 of 5 stars

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YES I FINALLY READ THIS.

Admittedly, the Mistborn trilogy hasn't been on my radar for long, I didn't even know it existed before last year, but then it cropped up on BookTube and seemed to be everywhere. And everyone were saying how good it was and I wanted it. Gosh how much I wanted it.

After some mishaps with TBD shipment, I finally had it in my hands. And then proceeded to abandon one of my most anticipated reads ever, Winter, in order to read it.

I was not disappointed! I was sucked into this fantastic world from the first paragraphfalling in love with the writing and the characters almost as soon as each was introduced. They were just such a likable band of misfits, brave and daring where those qualities are oppressed, joyful and cheerful where there shouldn't be any reason to be, and flawed to the point of perfection.

Firstly, we have Kelsier. Has there ever been a more charming bandleader? The fact he sometimes really really really really worried me, as the rest of the crew worried, somehow just added to everything. Because I felt myself willing to believe him, in him, alongside everybody else.

Then there's Vin, the only woman in the crew, and the youngest by many many years. She's sixteen, has lived her life trying to be invisible in a landscape that only meant her harm, trusting no one. And she has a unique ability. She becomes Kelsier's apprentice, in a way, and she is the true hero in this story for me.

I loved, loved, loved her. Loved watching her slowly open up to her friends. Loved watching her come to put her faith in something so intangible as "trust".

Not to mention all their abilities as Mistborns! They were so interesting to read of, definitely one of the more interesting magic systems I've ever encountered. I can't wait to learn how the mistborns were created, because this book hints that we're going to discover all that in this series.

The whole novel spans around a year in time, and that year is spent planning and hatching plans--some of which misfire, some of which succeed--on how to overthrown the evil ruler of this world. And let me tell you this - you will believe it allSometimes, these things seem too easy or too far fetched. But Sanderson definitely worked hard to make sure every bit of it made sense and could, possibly, happen in RL. 

Now, the weakest point of this novel is probably the romance. Not because I didn't like the love interest, because I adored his keen mind and dishevelment, but because Sanderson spent no time establishing them. 

We're told they've been hanging out for a few weeks and stuff, but we see very few of these conversations and interactions, leaving us to wonder why the heck everyone say they're in love when all you can see is attraction and the possibility of more.

Romance is not a big factor in a novel like this, but if you're already putting it in I feel like you should at least give it some thought and not just throw in "yep, they're in love".

Aside for this, there were a few other points that didn't make sense to me while reading this novel. Make sure to come back tomorrow for spoilery discussion questions that I'd love to brainstorm with you!

But overall, a fantastic read that I couldn't put down!


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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 14 March, 2016: Finished reading
  • 14 March, 2016: Reviewed