Customer Reviews

Mistborn: The Final Empire

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Mistborn is about a land of ash called the Final Empire, controlled by the Lord Ruler who has governed it for centuries. Under his rule the Skaa have lived in servitude and depression. The book is about Kelsier - who gathers a crew of the most reliable and gifted of the underground, with one task in mind: the fall of the Final Empire. He finds a girl like him, a mistborn with all of the 11 powers, and recruits her. Vin, a 16-year old thief, grew up all her life never trusting, but all her beliefs are thrown into chaos as she finds herself in the heart of a battle between the Final Empire.

There were many reasons I picked up this book. One is the synopsis: What if the hero of prophecy fails? In fantasy there is usually a hero prophesied to save the world. But if he fails what would happen? What also caught my attention is a crew of thieves who's goal is the downfall of an empire. That sounded really interesting and exciting to me and I knew I had to give it a try! And I'm so glad I did! The best way to describe this book is just as the author said: The book has a little of everything for everyone. Romance, lots of action, a wiz-bang cool magic system, dark lords running amok, great visuals, and character tension. And that's just book one.

Fantasy books usually are hard to approach, they're thick and usually have a very complex magic system. Though with Mistborn the author explained the magic system gradually. I loved the idea of "metals" being the source of power. A misting is a person who can control one power from a certain metal and a mistborn is someone who can control all the 11 powers there are. Our two main characters, Kelsier and Vin, are mistborns.

The story is told through the point of views of Vin and Kelsier. Vin was an interesting heroine - at first she was this character who had so many flaws but you see her develop into a strong girl. Kelsier was loads of fun. He was a humorous yet deep character and he's probably my favorite. I loved the relationship between all the crew members, all of them were interesting and well-developed characters. The nobles and the "Dark Ruler" tended to be stereotypical though and could have used more work.

This will suit many older young-adult readers (about 16 and over ) as well - the writing is addictive, it has some romance, and action - nothing too violent though - and a great magical system. Overall a great beginning to a trilogy. This book can be read by itself if you wanted, it works as a stand alone. I'm definitely reading the next book in the trilogy!

I heard about Brandon Sanderson a few years ago. The reviews were always praising, especially in terms of world-building and magic systems, and being the nerd that I am, those are pretty attractive to me in fantasy. However, when I started reading Elantris, I just couldn't get into it and gave up a hundred pages through. Then I bought Mistborn (or The Fnal Empire, depending on which edition you read) at JFK airport, and immediately loved it.

Reading Brandon Sanderson right now is a little like listening to Muse after the Twilight movies. Sure, he wasn't a nobody before, but he wasn't nearly as famous as he has become in the last two years either. And if you tell anyone you are reading his books now, they'll smirk and say you only do it because of his work on The Wheel of Time. But to me, it was the other way around. I was happy he was the one to finish Robert Jordan's magnum opus because I knew how good he is.

If I have to find a niche in the genre to put Brandon Sanderson in, that would be the same place occupied by David Gemmell (may he rest in peace), the one Raimond Feist vacated when he went the way of Salvatore and Brooks - the road of endless tired sequels, one every three months or so... It is the niche of high fantasy, of adventures and magic, and of characters that would be cardboard in the hands of a lesser author, but who in Sanderson's writing have just enough of that little spark that makes us care for them.

Mistborn is set in a setting that is rarely explored in fantasy. A long time ago, a great threat loomed over the lands, and a hero rose to defeat it. Many united under his banner, and he was the last hope of the world.

He failed.

It is now a thousand years later, and the land is covered by ash, spewed endlessly by active volcanoes. When darkness falls, unnatural mists envelop everything, and strange creatures lurk inside them. This is the time of the Final Empire, held in the iron fist of the Lord Ruler - an immortal god-like being that has controlled humanity for a whole millenium. Under his rule there are only two castes - the nobles, descendants of those that once helped the Lord Ruler ascend to power; and the skaa, slaves belonging to nobility, to do with as they please. Rebellions have been few and far between, and all of them end in total bloody suppression.

But now a new kind of rebel appears. One with the means and will to end the Final Empire once and for all, by striking at its heart - the Lord Ruler himself.

The story centers around the skaa rebellion in Luthadel, capital of the Empire. Even though it is a part of a trilogy, Mistborn is actually self-contained; the next installments in the series broaden the concept, revealing new layers to the world, previously hidden by the Lord Ruler's reign. And as a stand-alone book, it shines. It has everything a high fantasy needs: intrigues, lurking in the dark, amazingly cinematic fighting sequences... and magic.

Magic in this world is called Allomancy. An Allomancer is a person who ingests little slivers of metal and then "burns" them in his body, producing a specific effect. There are a number of metals, each working in opposing pairs: one gives you the ability to pull metals, another - to push them; one detects Allomancy, another hides it. This power is extremely rare, and only flows through the blood of some members of nobility, which is the reason for a law that states that any nobleman who takes a skaa lover has to kill her after, to avoid the power being given to the slaves. Of course, this doesn't always happen the way it should, and thus the unlikely cast of characters that shape the events of Mistborn. There are two kinds of Allomancers - those who could burn only one metal are called Mistings. There is, however, an extremely rare number of people, able to burn all metals - the Mistborn.

The magic system is so ordered and used with such precision throughout the book, it resembles more a Science Fiction concept than a Fantasy one. Sanderson obsesses over the interactions between different Allomantic talents, and the result is something that you could imagine so vividly, you almost begin to believe it possible. The action scenes involving Allomancy (that is, nearly all of them) are breathtaking, with people flying, Pulling and Pushing objects to amazing effects.

The story itself is a classic tale of insurrection from within, as the main character Vin - an orphan girl from the street with the powers of a Mistborn - is turned by the rebellion leader Kelsier - also a Mistborn - into a lady from the minor nobility, who he uses to infiltrate the world of the nobles for the purpose of sowing dissent and mistrust. The characters are more or less black and white, although enough nuances exist to make them come to life.

In the end, Mistborn is a greatly satisfying read. It lacks the grand scope of "Hard Fantasy" authors like Martin, Erikson or Bakker, but it does't need them either. Sanderson has written a thrilling adventure filled to the brim with action, intrigue and one of the most wonderfully developed magic systems I've encountered in the genre. I'd recommend it without reservations.

8/10

[...]

Really enjoyed the book! I'm not one to stray from my faves (GRRM,Dave Farland) but truly glad I did.Will not disappoint you I promise.

I had purchased this book about 15 months ago, and finally read it. At the time I had recently learned that Sanderson would be continuing the Robert Jordan Wheel of Time series.

Where I will give Mr Sanderson credit is for his world building. He had created a fantasy world with unique features that we haven't seen in anyone else's work.

However about halfway through the novel the book hit a horrible point. It became boring! The plot started moving slugglishly. I tried to continue, but each time I picked up the book, it made me want to fall asleep or set it aside. Thankfully I put the book down for good and moved back to another author whose work I am familiar with.

This book was not at all good no matter what way I looked at it.
IT "Claims" to have a unique " hero doesnt win storyline", but in fact the heros apprentice, Vin, does it for him.