Book Reviews- Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

Despite being a huge fantasy fan, I had never picked up a Brandon Sanderson book for some reason. But Mistborn’s summary caught my eye as I wandered through the Barnes and Noble, trying not to impulse-buy too many things. I was in the mood for a nice, female driven fantasy and the magic system sounded promising. So I bought the book.

And down the rabbit hole of love I fell.

The Plot- 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? (Summary according to goodreads)

*Note, this is a very simple summary and in no way prepared me for the awesomeness within

Characters- I adore these characters. Vin is such a relatable heroine with as many flaws as she has strengths. She’s practical, street smart and strong but she’s also distrusting, not book smart, and stubborn. She is more tomboyish but still finds a charm in playing at a lady later (instead of doing the rebellious ‘I hate girly things’ a lot of tomboy characters do). She’s an honest character who just gets into my heart and I adore her. I like Elend Venture as well, who is the love interest but never intrudes too much into the plot or over stays his welcome. He has his part to play and he does it well. Sazed is another amazing character, being a smart Terrisman who collects knowledge, especially on different religions. My favorite character, however, is Kelsier, Vin’s teacher. Like… I adore Kelsier more than I have any character in a long time. Every moment he is on the page I am happy. There is not a character I hate in this series, clearly, cause I can’t shut up about them. But I will, if only to brag about the books other qualities.

The Good Points- Putting the amazing characters aside, there’s a lot of other things to talk about. Like the world building for instance and how unique and AWESOME the magic system is. And how the fight scenes just leap off the page and seem to beg for a movie adaptation just so I can see them. The plot also takes a typical trope (overthrow the evil ruler of this empire) and makes it wholly unique. The team trying to take him down discuss the logistics of the plan and it’s all very logical and strategic in a fascinating way. It’s not a ‘start a rebellion and go to war’ kind of plan. It has a lot of parts and it’s so smart. And the Lord Ruler who could have easily been so boring was deathly intimidating. He just held such presence and I was fascinated by him. Great I’m talking about characters again. Seriously though. There are too many good points to count.

Bad Points- What bad points? What are you talking about?! Just kidding, I’m sure there are bad points. I don’t care about any of them but I’m sure they exist. I’m sure the plot can move a little slowly for some people and the book is kind of long but. Eh. Who cares. The bad points pale in comparison to the good. Go read this book.

If you can’t tell, I loved this book... a lot. It reached a rare point of obsession with me, resulting in a feral and vehement argument anyone who disagrees with its brilliance. I get pretty rabid with a select few books when people dismiss them. This is one of them. If you are a fantasy fan and you have not read this book, you have no excuse. Buy it and read it immediately for the best magic system I've read in a while, amazing world building, fleshed out characters, genuine plot twists and a really intimidating villain.

That is all.

Final Rating- 5/5