From Goodreads:

In a world where ash falls from the sky, and mist dominates the night, an evil cloaks the land and stifles all life. The future of the empire rests on the shoulders of a troublemaker and his young apprentice. Together, can they fill the world with color once more?

In Brandon Sanderson's intriguing tale of love, loss, despair and hope, a new kind of magic enters the stage — Allomancy, a magic of the metals.

After reading Skyward by Brandon Sanderson, I realised I had to start reading more of his books. Especially considering Starsight isn’t out til late 2019. I had to find something else to entertain myself with. The obvious choice for me was The Final Empire, the first book in the Mistborn series. And I wasn’t disappointed.

The Plot

I admit, I was worried about this being a little generic at first. We had a street urchin type character who was discovered to have amazing powers. It’s such a common trope, I did worry at first. Turns out, I might love this trope! After all, isn’t that kind-of the basis for Harry Potter? It worked for J.K. Rowling, and it’s working for Brandon Sanderson. Both this and Skyward had this, and I don’t care. I loved everything about them. Perhaps I should seek out more chosen one/unknown powers type books.

The Characters

Between the 2 books, I’ve discovered that Sanderson is a master at the found family type character group. I loved all of the characters in this. From our main character, Vin to Sazed to Kelsier to Spook. They were unique, had their own voices and I was rooting for all of them. For each character, I’ve tried to find a quote that summed up who they were in the book.

Vin

Vin is our undiscovered powers main character. And she’s really good at being a main character. She’s got enough character and personality to be able to carry it. Her transformation throughout this book is what I really enjoyed reading. She starts off as a lowly thief, abused, with no self-confidence, and an asumption that everyone will betray her at some point in her life. With the help of Kelsier and the other members of their team, she slowly comes out of her shell, and transforms into a completely different person.

“Sometimes Vin imagined she was like the ash, or the wind, or the mist itself. A thing without thought, capable of simply being, not thinking, caring, or hurting. Then she could be…free”

Kelsier

Oh, Kelsier. Our mentor to the main character. I loved Kelsier. I loved his back-story, how he got where he was and how that shaped who he was throughout the book. He’s like the glue that holds the whole team together, and he’s good at it too. We learn about Allomancy mostly through Kelsier, and he’s a pretty good teacher of that too!

“Ah, but being an annoyance is something that I am very good at. In fact, I’m far more than just a ‘mild’ annoyance–people tell me I can be downright frustrating. Might as well use this talent for the cause of good, eh?”

Sazed

Sazed is something different to everyone else. He’s a whole other, I don’t know the correct word here, race? He’s the only Terrisman we really encounter in The Final Empire, and I’m fascinated to read more about them. Some Terrisman have unique abilities, and Sazed has some great abilities hidden underneath everything. As a character, he brought some much-needed philisophical thought and grounding at times. Most of the group, especially Vin and Kelsier were in a rush to do things, but Sazed brought them back down and encouraged them to think more. Sazed is probably my favourite member of the group, outside of Kelsier and Vin. He’s understated and his knowledge is almost endless.

“Belief?”
“Yes,” Sazed said. “Tell me, Mistress. What is it that you believe?”
Vin frowned. “What kind of question is that?”
“The most important kind, I think.”

Elend

Elend isn’t necessarily a crazy important, key character in this, but I’ve taken a sneak peak at the first chapter of the next book, so he’s getting an honourable mention here. Elend is Vin’s first real introduction to noblemen in this, and he’s not your average noble. When the reader meets him first time, it’s like we’re supposed to love him, as keen readers. Elend is introduced as trying to hide from the rest of the party to read. Relatable, right?

The World

The Final Empire is set in a, maybe 18th century type world, where ash falls from the sky like rain, mists envelope everything at night and plants don’t grow very well. It’s set in a world where magic exists. The most prevelent in this novel is Allomancy. Allomancers use certain metals to do certain things. If you run out of a metal, you can’t do whatever that metal previously granted you. For example, at the start of this, Vin uses what she calls luck to stop someone hitting her. She’s actually using Brass to sooth the emotions of the person, making them less angry, and therefore not have the desire to hit her. I totally loved this magic system. It’s a magic system with rules and limitations. Not a system where you can just do what you want when you feel like it. I’m all for that. It helps create conflict too. What do you do when you run out of metals?

There’s more to the world than just Allomancy, of course. We learn more about the history of the world from Kelsier and Sazed, and I found this fascinating. I’d be up for just reading a book on the history of this world. I wonder if such a thing exists…

Would I read it again? If I leave it much longer until I pick up the second one, I’m going to have to read it again so I can make sure I haven’t forgotten anything. I’ll probably reread anyway at some point, just for fun.

Will I be picking up the next in the series? Hell yes!

Would I recommend it? Yep, it’s a great fantasy novel.

Is it going on my favourites shelf? Yes! Brandon Sanderson is quickly becoming a favourite author too!

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Created Mar 11, 2019 at 2:46pm • Submit your own review...