The Final Empire (Mistborn #1) by Brandon Sanderson
“The Hero of Ages shall be not a man, but a force. No nation may claim him, no woman shall keep him, and no king may slay him. He shall belong to none, not even himself.”
Within the Final Empire the skaa have been enslaved for centuries by the Lord Ruler. Though the ashes still fall and the mists they fear still roil in each night, a rebellion has started to grow. A crew of thieves, each with their own unique specialty, have plans to turn this rebellion into a full on revolution.
The Story
I was fortunate enough that Bentley and Chelsea let me jump in on their buddy read. I don’t think I would have enjoyed it as much without their feedback, ideas, and understanding throughout the book. I seriously am so excited to start the next book. I have to admit, the long prologue and first few chapters weren’t the most exciting chapters ever, but from there the story really unfolds from slow burning to a full blaze. The story itself primarily follows Vin, who is a lowly thief, and her endeavors after she has been recruited by Kelsier, a man known as The Survivor of Hasinth for the biggest, craziest job he has ever planned. Mostly told between Vin & Kelsier the team is constantly berated by obstacle after obstacle that keeps you wondering if they will ever pull off the job or not. While an uprising isn’t some the most exciting, original idea, Sanderson did a wonderful job of introducing it as new through his wonderful world building.
The World Building
I thought that as the story progressed Sanderson did an excellent job of unfolding more and more about the world as well as character development. The world building for me was by far the best part for me. While I have a lot of questions about some aspects, I can tell by the way Sanderson unfolded information in this book, that we will most likely have them answered in due time throughout the rest of the series. With that being said, I’d like to point out some of my favorite bits that I found incredibly intriguing.
The Special Abilities– I loved how in depth all of this was. There wasn’t just one type of power. In fact the major ability, metal burning, wasn’t even as straight forward as just having it. There were levels of ability, uses, checks and balances, using up and refilling, and tricks unique to each type of ability. At first I was a little overwhelmed by the different types of metal and what they did. I thought I might have to memorize all of them to keep up with the story, but Sanderson flawlessly reminded me of their uses as the actions were performed without sounding redundant.
Creatures, Races & Histories-There are a few different races mentioned in the book, and each had their own history, special abilities, religions etc. In fact, I loved how Sanderson created multiple religions within the one people as part of the world building, even if it wasn’t relevant to the particular world they were living it, it still helped support the story, and it was these small details that really put this book above the rest. The creatures were so eerie & unnatural. First of all, the Inquisitors off the bat were so creepy I got chills reading about them. The mistwraiths have all their superstitions wrapped around them along with the fact that they only roam around in the mists just made them über creepy too. These creatures along with the superstitions really set the mood for the world.
The Characters
Okay, there are too many characters to really do all of them any justice, so I am only going to mention Vin (who I consider the main character) and my favorite from the whole crew.
Vin-Now while Vin turns out to be a super bad ass chick, my favorite parts of her were her weaknesses. Despite her growth as a character in skill, confidence, and trust, she was still vulnerable to dangers, loss and disappointment. She never stops second guessing herself, she just pushes through because she simply has to. Just because she was certainly stronger and bolder by the end of the book, she could still cry out with relatively normal reactions.
Sazed-I loved this guy because he was entirely selfless. He only sought out the best for his friends, particularly in this book Vin, and even when they were stupid he did nothing but support them all. He is steadfast in his word and true with his friendship. For me he turned out to be one of the most intriguing characters, and I honestly think it was meant to be that way. He is shrouded in mystery for most of the book, despite his prominent presence, and I can only hope that he continues to play a big role in the upcoming books.
The Soundtrack
Radiohead – Daydreaming
