Mistborn – The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

“Our belief is often strongest when it should be weakest. That is the nature of hope.”  

Read: February 14-16, 2015.

Initial Thoughts: Ocean’s Eleven meets Epic fantasy.

About

The Final Empire is a bleak and cruel place. A thousand years ago the man who was to be the ‘Hero of Ages’, took control of the world after destroying the Deepness, naming himself eternal Lord Ruler. 

Life is hardest for the skaa, who have been enslaved for a thousand years, forced to work until their death for the Lord Ruler and his nobility. The skaa have been forced into slavery because they lacked the ability to manipulate metals to power unique gifts, super strength and emotion manipulation, known as allomancy. The nobility have been granted these powers as a reward for supporting the Lord Ruler. Most nobles are only able to use one metal, but very rarely one is born with the ability to manipulate all the metals; a Mistborn.

Our main protagonist is a skaa girl named Vin, who has survived on the streets as part of a skaa thieving crew, using her “luck” to keep her alive in the criminal underworld of the Final Empire. Vin’s life changes when she meets Kelsier, who had been a legendary crewleader in the underworld until he was caught by the Lord Ruler and sentenced to death in the Pits of Hathsin. Kelsier has escaped and returns to carry out his biggest heist yet - killing the Lord Ruler.   

My Thoughts 

Wow, just wow. This book was FANTASTIC. After having read so many mediocre Young Adult books lately, I enjoyed having to read a complex, well written book that constantly kept me on my toes.

The plot was slow to start. It took me quite a while to make it through the first hundred pages due to the complexity of the world and magic system. Given that this book is the first in a trilogy the pace and thorough explanations of the laws of allomancy were to be expected. Once I made it past the world building I could not put this book down.

I loved the characters. They were well written and each character had their own presence which develops as the novel progresses. Kelsier was probably my favourite. Even though he is on a fools mission, his convictions are so strong that he makes all those around him believe in the missions success.

And we cannot forget about the plot twists. Seriously, that ending! You think you know what is going on and then everything changes out of left field. Once it happens it makes complete sense and you don’t understand why you never saw it coming. I love it.

Seriously, believe the hype. If you have not read this book, pick it up. I cannot wait to read the second book in this trilogy later this spring. 

Overall Rating: 5 Stars