Mistborn: The Final Empire

First post, here we go!

The Mists rule the night.

The Lord Ruler owns the world.

I just finished reading Mistborn: The Final Empire, by Brandon Sanderson. I loved it. Every single word of praise given to this book and author is well-deserved. Before I get into the story, however, lets rewind a bit.

What is the first thing you see when you pick a book up off the shelves? That's right, the cover. A badass cover is going to entice you, while a narmy cover is likely going to make you put that book right back where you got it. Well, no worries here. Pictured at the top is the hardback cover of Mistborn by Jon Foster. Pretty cool, right? Unfortunately, that's not the version I have. I bought the mass-market paperback version—cover art by Christian McGrath—as part of the Mistborn Trilogy Boxed Set. Not nearly as cool, but certainly not ugly.

When you open the book and start reading, you will consider the quality of the cover art to be wholly appropriate. From the very beginning, the story nets you. You are introduced to a bleak, but unique and well-built world, where the sun is red, ash falls from the sky regularly, and slavery is institutionalized. Nobles are callous and cruel, the downtrodden skaa are beaten or even killed without so much as a second thought, and the godlike Lord Ruler of the Final Empire likes things this way. Then you are introduced to Kelsier, an oddly cheerful man who causes no small amount of chaos at the very start, and Vin, a timid skaa thief-girl with a very peculiar power. When they meet, the story takes off and doesn't relent until the very end.

As many will tell you, the magic system in Mistborn is absolutely fascinating. Allomancy, which uses metals as fuel, is well-structured and even fun to learn about. Where magic is vague in many other fantasy worlds, the rules and limitations of Allomancy are clearly defined, and Brandon Sanderson does not stray from those rules, completely extinguishing any possibility of you shaking your head in disbelief.

Also notable is the characterization and character development. Mr. Sanderson creates characters you can actually care about, making you wish them success in the most fantastic manner possible. Of course, things don't always work out the way we want them to, and the unexpected twists and turns in the story only make the characters that much more worth rooting for.

I gladly recommend this book to anyone. The writing is straightforward, the characters believeable, the world intriguing, and although this is the first book in a trilogy, the ending is extremely satisfying.


Rating: Awesome