The Final Empire (Mistborn, Book 1) | Brandon Sanderson | Highly Entertaining, Unusual yet Familiar

The Final Empire (Mistborn, Book 1) | Brandon Sanderson | one of my favorites

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The Final Empire (...

	The Final Empire (Mistborn, Book 1) Brandon Sanderson Tor Books, 2006 - 544 pages average customer review:based on 98 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Brandon Sanderson, fantasy?s newest master tale spinner, author of the acclaimed debut Elantris, dares to turn a genre on its head by asking a simple question: What if the hero of prophecy fails? What kind of world results when the Dark Lord is in charge? The answer will be found in the Mistborn Trilogy, a saga of surprises and magical martial-arts action that begins in Mistborn.

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.

Readers of Elantris thought they'd discovered someone special in Brandon Sanderson. Mistborn proves they were right.

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Highly Entertaining, Unusual yet Familiar

Mistborn, Final Empire is the first of three Mistborn books. There are three books, but (as is occasionally the case with the first volume of a trilogy) this volume stands very nicely on its own.

This first volume is Brandon Sanderson's second published work, and it is a phenomenal early work. It is a strong, excellent work.

Sanderson prides himself on the creation of new and unique magic systems. He also likes to write magic systems with strong rules; as he says, it gives the work a "grittier" feel. "Grittier" is definitely an appropriate word to use.

Yet, unlike some "grittier" fantasy, it didn't come across as obsessively gory or profane. (Think George R. R. Martin)

The magic system in Mistborn is very unique, and very well thought out. Magic can participate in the plot in a very important way, and yet it is entirely understandable and believable -- because of how well-crafted the magic system is and how well the reader can understand it.

The plot reveals a few of the bones of the underlying archetype, yes, but it puts some interesting "meat" on them.

My biggest complaint is that sometimes the characters are too precise in their self-analysis. Yes, I understand that some of the characters are very introspective. Actually, most of the time it's wonderful. But every once-in-a-while, one of the characters (usually Vin) thinks just a bit too clearly about her own motivations. When this happens, it feels like Sanderson himself stepping into the novel and telling us something directly, and a few times it pulled me out of the story for a moment.

I still give this entry the full 5 stars, and I heartily recommend that you buy and read it.

Afterward, visit Sanderson's website, because he has "bonus features" on his website for the book. He includes a few "deleted scenes" and annotations for every chapter. They tell you what he was thinking as he wrote, what he was trying to accomplish, and sometimes lets you read multiple versions of a passage that came from earlier drafts.

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one of my favorites

I'm a very picky person when comes down to books, so after looking for a good read for hours, right before leaving the library I came across this book, Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson, if it hadn't been for its cover I probably would have never noticed it, and I know they say don't "Don't judge a book by its cover" but boy were they wrong about this one, after sitting down and reading the first chapter I was almost completely sure that Mistborn would fall into my top 5 books, just like its cover, a great book, it had some flaws, but small things compare to the genies work Brandon had done with the main characters and magic system, after reading the hall book I felt like a 5 year old wishing Pokémon were real. Brandon elaborated on the magic system and on the ash covered world so well every time I picked it up it completely swallowed my for hours. In all a great book, and after reading the 2nd book of the series, Brandon became one of my favorite authors.
I thank god Brandon picked such a good cover artist, or I would have never read this piece of art.

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Unique magic, great characters, exciting story!

The Final Empire is a great fantasy book! I've been a faithful Amazon consumer for many years and have never reviewed a book until now, even though I spend lots of time reading other people's reviews... I know, bad me, but this book is so fresh and exciting I figured I'd take the leap (burning pewter of course).

I am currently re-reading in preparation for the last book of the trilogy to come out next month and I have to say I'm just as impressed as I was the first time. The characters are complex but not so much that you can't figure them out. The story is engaging and suspenseful and the end is not typical at all.

Vin is excellently portrayed and I'm happy the story is about her, but I have to say that for my money I think the character of Kelsier is fantastic. His not so subtle manipulations of everyone around him (for the common good) and his brutal decisions on what's best for the people and how to bring them about is very compelling, especially at the end of the book.

I also read and loved Well of Ascension and can't wait for the third. If any of these reviews sway you at all and you're a sci-fi/fantasy fan you NEED to read this book!

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Not cookie cutter. Thank God!

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson is an excellent fantasy novel that was hard to put down. I, like many others, wanted to see what the author who was going to finish Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series was all about. I have to say he didn't dissapoint.

Excellent read. I couldn't put the book down. What makes this book so successful IMOP is the history. History is essential to any good fantasy story and its impact on the characters in the present is what drives the story.

If you want an enjoyable, fast paced, and "new" epic fantasy you need to read this novel. Read Elantris as well. Fantastic!

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A bit of a lengthy letdown, Vin would have been a better main character

Bottom Line: Try before you buy
So, I've never read Sanderson before, nor did I know about him finishing Jordan's (Wheel of Time series) last novel until after I had already bought the book.
Started the book, was very impressed with the world building, and thought the use of metals was an interesting twist of the use of magic. But after a while, the book got kinda...boring, to the point I put the book down and left it there twice (almost wasn't going to pick up back up).
When I finally started reading again, I discovered the story got a lot better when Vin was sent to act as part of a House member, just took way to long to get her to that point..like FOREVER. The book should have started there because it was the most interesting part of the story, to me. And the most interesting character, was really Vin. She should have been the focus of the whole story, and her plight being caught up in Kelsier's war. Most interesting relationship, was Vin and Elend. Too bad there wasn't a whole gosh darn darn more of them, and the tension between them weaved and dragged out in the story.
If you enjoy really detailed world building, and you don't mind the story being dragged out, then maybe you'll like this book.
If you need a little more action and movement in your stories, with a great character to follow, maybe pass on this one.
Lorna Freeman, E.E. Knight, Holly Lisle are much better for adventure fantasy.

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