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 moraa on

5 of 5 stars

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"There’s always another secret."

And to think I waited more than 18 months to read this!



You’re going to have to settle for ✨✨✨✨✨ bloody stars because goodreads won’t let me give you more than that.

Anyway, this review is going to be incoherent so try to stick with me here.

It’s taken me less than three days to read this and every second I spent away from this book (and there were many for all manner of reasons) was a second I wanted to crawl back to the comfort of its pages. It seemed that every time I had to put it down something was happening that I didn’t want to miss.

It’s no surprise therefore, that I took it upon myself to narrate the events of this book as they were to my younger brothers. They don’t read half as much as I do but the first response I got was “I’m raiding your bookshelf!” (they don’t know I don’t have a physical copy yet) but you can already tell what kind of story this is (and I suppose what kind of storyteller I am).

"You should try not to talk so much, friend. You'll sound far less stupid that way."

It’s already too late for that, dammit! Anyway, enough of that. Let’s get down to the real stuff.

The Final Empire is… well, it’s quite simply fantasy at its best in the modern age.

That’s it. I have nothing more to say. What can I say?

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 30 May, 2020: Finished reading
  • 30 May, 2020: Reviewed