Did I really just read my favorite book of 2015? I don’t know what other books that may be able to top THE FINAL EMPIRE, but whichever book that may be, it’s going to have to beat the following things that this one did flawlessly:
Exceptionally written characters;
Character development that made logical sense;
A plot with zero holes;
A setting that felt grand and realistic;
The characters, seriously, the characters guys;
A different take on abilities/magic;
World building that was detailed but not daunting;
A kick-ass female character;
No insta-love;
Relationships that felt honest and accurately depicted;
The true meaning of friendship;
A big bad that felt grandiose and undefeatable;
BAMFs doing what BAMFs do;
Yes, yes to all.
The hype was strong with this one, and I felt like it was 100% deserved.
This story takes place in The Final Empire where the majority of the population (the skaa) are looked down upon, abused repeatedly, and forced into slave labor by the Lord Ruler and the nobles. They don’t have any hope, because it has literally been beaten out of them for a thousand years.
A thousand years. Of abuse. Of being told that you’re worthless. Of believing you’re not worth a damn. How do you even attempt to combat something so large as that?
Well, if you’re Kelsier, the answer is a rebellion.
Kelsier is a half-breed. He’s skaa, but his father was a nobleman. In The Final Empire, it’s forbidden to father half-breed children, and the mothers are killed before they can carry to term. Usually. Kelsier knows what it is to be skaa. He’d been all but destroyed by the Lord Ruler. When he was captured trying to break into the Lord Ruler’s Keep, Kredik Shaw in Luthadel (the major city of the Empire), Kelsier and his wife, Mare were thrown into the Pits of Hathsin. However, instead of staying defeated or getting himself killed, he rose up, and Snapped after his wife was killed in the Pits.
Snapping is what happens to those that can gain access to the ability to burn metals (use metals they consume). Most people that Snap are Mistings. They are able to burn one type of metal, but Kelsier, is Mistborn. He has access to all the abilities that burning metals give.
Confused? I was, but don’t worry, here's a picture:
So, Kelsier takes his new found freedom from the Pits, and his discovery of being a Mistborn and decides he’s going to overthrow the Lord Ruler. It’s a daunting task, but luckily he enlists the help of his old thieving crew, and Vin (a Mistborn discovered by a member of thieving crew).
This is where the story goes from interesting to amazingly interesting, epic and fantastic.
Although I loved THE FINAL EMPIRE’s plot, setting, and Brandon Sanderson’s storytelling in general, his ability to create characters that were flawed, but spectacular, was amazing. I genuinely cared for all of the good guys, and they all felt necessary. Secondary characters can sometimes feel like filler or fodder for the author to kill off, but that wasn’t the case here.
I want to just write in vivid details how spectacular each of these characters are, but I won’t. I really don’t think I would do these characters justice, no matter how glowingly I talked about them. All I will say was that they each had their place, and that each character filled their roles in a flawless manner.
Mistakes were made, of course, to drive plot and character developments, but what I mean is that Sanderson created characters that were human and fallible, but they were each important. Good guys, bad guys, they all had their place, and even really minor characters helped drive character developments of main characters.
It was just a great experience being able to read about all of these characters and their faults and their improvements and their lives throughout the book.
I mentioned the fact that there was no insta-love, and that the relationships in this book were also done incredibly well.
So for the insta-love, I mentioned Vin above. She’s a street kid who has stayed alive by keeping her head down and using her “Luck” (burning metals instinctively). When Kelsier recruits her to his team, he gives Vin the important task of spying on the noblemen in Luthadel. While in her role as Lady Valette Renoux, she meets Lord Elend Venture, the heir to the Venture House (the ruling/superior noble house in Luthadel). Elend annoys her at first (for the longest time), and it’s not that pseudo-annoyance that turns into love the next page. No, Elend gets on Vin’s nerves. She’s skaa, and he’s a nobleman, and she really dislikes everything about nobleman. He may seem a little different to her, but Vin’s a street kid, and she doesn’t let down her guard easily.
I really enjoyed reading their interactions and how their friendship grew into something more. Like a lot of novels though, that friendship is tested, but it felt extremely realistic and necessary for the story progression.
The relationships between all the crew members also felt realistic. I know that Kelsier had worked with them all in the past, but there was this trust that was believable. Even with the disagreements, there was no underhandedness between the crew members and Kelsier.
I kept waiting for it. I assumed it would happen for drama sake, but it didn't.
Really our good guys had enough to worry about than what deceits their friends may cause them.
I may post more on this review later, so please don't hate me if this gets updated a couple more times. I have more thoughts, and maybe I'll try to clean this up a bit. We'll see.
But seriously guys, if you haven't read this series, you really should. I recommend it to you all!