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 … 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.
At the Publisher’s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
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loved the series
It’s been a long time since I read this, but I remember it was exciting with sympathetic characters and a great system of magic
This was really good! The characters and action were great, and the story was intricate and entertaining. Some of the descriptions of the magic system dragged a bit, but I’m still fully invested and looking forward to the next book.
Excellent being of the series. Well thought out and developed characters with a unique world and magic based system. So will written, industry became one of my favorite story arcs. If young haven’t read it yet, quickly jump in.
Mistborn is one of the more intriguing fantasy novels I have come across in recent history and has one of the more unique magic systems I have encountered. It is the first book by Brandon Sanderson I have read, but most certainly will not be the last. The story pits an immortal lord ruler, surrounded by a force of truly scary henchmen, against a group of Skaa thieves plotting the ultimate heist. The main character is a young woman called Vin, a street urchin with some very special abilities, who is recruited by a notorious thief, turned legendary hero, to play a pivotal role in his plot against the lord ruler. Along the way there are plenty of twists and turns and the resulting story is filled with rich detail, brilliantly crafted characters, dynamic action sequences, and a fertile landscape of ash and mist. I look forward to reading the rest of this amazing series.
Like every great work of fiction, the Mistborn series rests upon one interesting question. In this case, author Brandon Sanderson asked himself – What would happen if the prophesied hero (The One) failed?
Answering this question, Sanderson created the Final Empire. A colossal nation under the iron fist of the Lord Ruler – a godlike emperor – and his twisted religious order.
We are introduced to a world divided between the preposterously wealthy nobility and the enslaved Skaa. It doesn’t take long to realize that this book is about a fight between the oppressed and their oppressors, but the stakes couldn’t possibly be any higher. The Lord Ruler’s divine powers are simply too great, his thousand-year-old grip on the Final Empire too tight. So much so that the enslaved Skaa have all but forgotten the meaning of hope. But it is also here that the book becomes interesting. Instead of a more, let’s call it, traditional approach, Sanderson created a pastiche of sorts, mixing his High Fantasy setting with a Heist Plot pulled from “conventional” thrillers. The result feels both exciting and fresh. This freshness, however, also comes from the worldbuilding itself, so let’s start there.
Sanderson shows tremendous restraint in his worldbuilding. Every Fantasy element seems to be there for a reason, making it all matter, instead of just being cosmetic. You will sometimes be told about some distant culture or forgotten religion (usually interesting ones) that have no consequence in the plot, but these passing mentions are exceptions and actually serve to immerse you in this world, giving you the feeling that there is a lot more to the Final Empire than just its capital (where most of the action takes place). The most original element of the worldbuilding is, without a doubt, its magic system. Most times, I frown upon complicated magic systems, because they’re usually a sign that the author is just showing off (look how smart I am). Allomancy, however, is such an integral part of the plot that it makes complete sense that the author made such a huge effort creating it. At least I assume it was an effort, considering how well thought out and detailed everything was. The downside is that it does require some exposition, which drags the action down a bit during the second act, but nothing too serious.
As for the plot itself, expect a very decent amount of excitement. There are plenty of unexpected turns, although nothing that will melt your brains. The pace is very good, especially from the third act onwards, and the ending felt satisfying. My only complaint is that there is one thing about the ending that makes no sense to me, but I can’t talk about it without majorly spoiling stuff. I’m not saying the ending doesn’t make sense, I’m saying there is one detail about it that I don’t understand. I actually expected it to be explained in the epilog, but it isn’t even mentioned. Weird…
Finally, the characters are varied and interesting. There are a couple of clichés in the gang that is pulling the “heist”, but all main characters are deep and believable. Kelsier is a particularly good one as is Ellend. I am not a fan of Sazed, though (a secondary character, albeit with a prominent role), who feels quite one dimensional.
Overall, this is a REALLY good book. Brandon Sanderson is one the greats in contemporary Fantasy. His technique is flawless and you will be quickly drawn into his world. The Final Empire is one of those books that you’ll wish it wouldn’t end. On the other hand, it’s just the first of a trilogy, so you can just rush to buy the next one in the series as soon as you finish it.
Great series, can’t go wrong with this. Neat fantasy of a different kind of power, based on different metals. Good characters and you never know what to expect in this different world.
Listened to this audiobook while driving through Alaska and had an amazing time. The world building is great and I loved Vin’s growth. I’m really excited to continue reading in the series.
Everything Brandon Sanderson writes is extraordinary.
This is a caper story, but in a fantasy setting — albeit not a classic fantasy, but one with steampunk tropes… without the “steam”. Got it? Well, I bet you’ve never seen a genre mélange working so well as what Brandon Sanderson did here. I, for one, haven’t. And I like what I see here.
Again, the book is about a heist, the objective being the robbery of the Emperor’s rare metal treasury, the toppling of an empire (actually, THE empire) and the assassination of a god (rather, THE god). A group of underground specialists is hired to topple The Final Empire and its head, the 1,000 year-old tyrant/self-proclaimed god called The Lord Ruler. Each member of the team has a very special ability — actually, most of them have supernatural ones. In this world, “magic” is called allomancy, the ability some people have to ingest and “burn” small amounts of certain metallic elements or alloys to create a desired effect, like influencing emotions, becoming stronger or hiding the usage of other people’s power from scrutiny; those people are called “mistings”, because they’re capable of using only one metal. But Kelsier, the protagonist and leader of the team, is a “mistborn”, a very rare kind of individual who can burn all ten metals. That makes them a kind of superhero, and that’s another star in the constellation of qualities of this book: they don’t act like magicians from fantasy, they’re really more like superheroes from comic books.
Our character of identification (the character used by the author to explain the world to you as another character explains things to them) is a street urchin named Vin, and I gotta tell you that she eventually starts to rival Kelsier as the most interesting and likable character of the novel. As a matter of fact, I bet that every person that reads «Mistborn» will get infatuated with one member of the heist crew more than the others. That’s how good Sanderson is at creating characters.
I gotta say, allomancy felt a little like rune magic, the magic system presented in David Farland’s The Runelords Series, but simpler. That’s not a bad thing (nor is it a good thing), it’s just a different style of doing a magic system. While Farland (the pen name that sci-fi writer Dave Wolverton uses when writing fantasy) put a sci-fi “feel” to rune magic, Sanderson’s allomancy is more “fantastic”, meaning that it’s simpler and has its explanations rooted in typical fantasy tropes. I think it’s a rather elegant addition to the hall of creative magic systems we have.
Finally, «Mistborn» ends with a surprise twist. But I ain’t telling!
Loved the entire series. Nice twist on use of powers. Good characters, storylines, and story telling.
I personally though the ending was weak – like I felt at the end of “The Princess Bride” … seems like author just was tired and wanted to wrap it up. But still well worth the read.
He has set up his own world based on metals having traits within a human body. It is very interesting the way that his characters work together.
This was such an awesome series. I fell in love with the characters and the world.
EVERYTHING YOU COULD WANT IN A FANTASY WORLD!!!!
There is not enough I can say about the way this series is written. If you are going to read book one, go ALL THE WAY THROUGH all three because it’s really one story cleverly divided into three sections and the end will BLOW YOUR MIND!!!
Brandon Sanderson introduces us to a unique and well-developed world with a sad, harsh attitude concerning race and status, and a curious set of special abilities. His cast of characters is memorable and loveable. Vin grows so much. I enjoy reading this book every time.
Love everything Brandon Sanderson writes
I could have happily read many more books in this series.