Mistborn: The Final Empire (Mistborn #1) – Brandon Sanderson

Title: Mistborn: The Final Empire (Mistborn #1) by Brandon Sanderson
Publishing Info: July 25, 2006 by Macmillan
Source: Amazon, Audible
Genres: Adult, Fantasy
Find it on the web: Buy from Amazon // GoodreadsDate Completed: September 9, 2014
Related Posts: The Well of Ascension (Mistborn #2), The Hero of Ages (Mistborn #3), The Alloy of Law (Mistborn #4), Legion (Legion #1) & Legion: Skin Deep (Legion #2), , The Emperor's Soul, The Eleventh Metal (Mistborn #0.5), , Firstborn, Shadows of Self (Mistborn #5), The Bands of Mourning (Mistborn #6), Calamity (The Reckoners #3), , Perfect State, Mistborn: Secret History (Mistborn #3.5), Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell, Elantris, The Rithmatist (Rithmatist #1), Warbreaker (Warbreaker #1), The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive #1), Snapshot, Words of Radiance (The Stormlight Archive #2), Edgedancer (The Stormlight Archive #2.5), Oathbringer (The Stormlight Archive #3)

    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.

I’ve been getting a lot more into adult fantasy — little by little — and the more I heard about MISTBORN, the more it sounded pretty amazing. Then Nikki (There Were Books Involved) basically told me it WAS amazing and I should read it immediately. I needed a new audiobook and since this was a longer one, I decided it would be great for audio since I was a bit behind on my print copies. Anyway… enough about me. Let’s talk about MISTBORN.

So admittedly… it started of juuuust a bit slow for me. I haven’t delved into a ton of adult fantasy yet (honestly all I’ve read as far as adult fantasy goes is A Game of Thrones and The Lies of Locke Lamora) but since I’ve really been getting into young adult fantasy lately, I was guessing that love would transfer no matter what the target age was but I still wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I think the reason it went slowly at first was merely because my most recent read with the Genteman Bastard series (that’s Locke Lamora for those of you unfamiliar) was so pleasant because there’s so much comedy strewn throughout and I love a good heist book. While MISTBORN has similar themes with thieves and a general fantasy world, they’re definitely two very different books so my expectations were just a bit off. Once I adjusted my perspective in the book, things really started to come together.

Firstly, the characters are fantastic. It took me a while to get acclimated to Kelsier and Vin and exactly what roles they’d play in the book and how they relate to each other. Once I got in the groove, I absolutely loved it. Vin and Kelsier have an amazing relationship in this book and no, it’s not a romantic one. Kelsier is much older than thankfully it wasn’t romantic. No, they had a relationship that I find even more special sometimes than watching two characters fall in love — Kelsier really became a mentor to Vin and even a father figure at a time in her life when she had no one to trust and no one to rely on. He not only helped her come into her own, but also helped her learn how to trust again and provided her with a group of people who became her new family. As much as I love all the feels when witnessing a romantic relationship, I got a different set of feels from watching these two characters form an amazing bond of friendship and trust.

The secondary characters were also wonderful. I feel like I only got to know them a little bit but I think in future books, I’ll get to know them even better. The way Sanderson shapes characters was so impressive. There are so many times when you see both the light and dark sides of each person — even with the side of evil, there are still hints at the more humane aspects and how even when two sides are warring, the lines start to blur every once in a while.

The world building was absolutely fantastic. I feel like I created a picture in my head cobbled together from other fantasy worlds I’ve read but it was still very much its own place and its own story. The explanations and integrations of Allomancy and Feruchemy were amazing and as complicated as Allomancy can be with the number of metals involved and how they work, I never really felt overwhelmed or confused trying to understand which did what. Everything was explained in context as Vin was learning and as other characters were using their Allomantic powers so it was easy to follow along, and this continued throughout the whole book — not just as each one was introduced. I’m SO happy that Brandon Sanderson chose to keep naming the metals as they were being used because I could have easily gotten lost and forgotten the properties of each as I read. It was handled just perfectly, not to mention what an amazing magic system this is. I feel like the closest I’ve read is elemental powers but I absolutely love the concept and originality of “burning” metals that allow extra abilities.

The whole plot for the book was just excellent and it’s amazing how things can get set up so early on the story and yet the reader has no realization of hidden motives or intentions (no spoilers. Some things you just can’t guess) as well as setting up the story line for future books. I was already hooked by the time I finished MISTBORN but now I really can’t wait to dive into book two as soon as possible! There were quite a few surprises and the ending was positively shocking so I can’t wait to see what else Brandon Sanderson has in store for readers with the rest of the series. This is one I don’t want to delay!

“The View from Goodreads” is a new featured section in my reviews that I decided to incorporate! I tend to update my Goodreads status a LOT when I read — reactions, feelings, notes — so I thought it would be fun to share the sort of “reading process”! All status updates are spoiler-free (no specific plot points will be revealed) but will contain reactions to certain pages and/or characters!

Vin // Character Obsessions: Self-reliance, Allomancy, trust (or lack there of).
I loved Vin. It took me a while to figure out exactly what she was all about but even in just book one, she really grew leaps and bounds from where we first meet her. In part, it’s Vin’s personality and determination that allows her to really come into her own but it’s also a lot in thanks to her relationship with Kelsier as her mentor and her work with his crew. I can’t wait to see more of the new side of Vin in the rest of the series!
Kelsier // Character Obsessions: Rebelling, friendship, bravery, planning.
OH, Kelsier. I loved him so much. At first I wasn’t entire sure if I would because I really couldn’t place who he was and what kind of character he would be but the more I got to know him, the more I loved about him. Even though he was a mentor to Vin, I think he really learned a lot from her too. I just loved their relationship and I think both of them really gained a lot from getting to know each other.

Kept Me Hooked On: Adult fantasy. I’m still a beginning with adult fantasy and it does have a bit of a different feel than YA. There was still a romantic element present, but it wasn’t the main focus as I feel it so often is in YA. Not like that’s a bad thing, but I feel like the adult fantasy novels I’ve read so far don’t feature the romance as the main plot point rather it’s there as a natural element and conflict but not the reason for the book. I’m sure that’s not really intentional and just happens to occur in my picks so far, but I’m kind of enjoying the romance as the side plot and getting action and adventure as the main focus!
Left Me Wanting More: Connection in the beginning. I can’t really say what was to “blame” for my inability to connect in the very beginning… The world was just being introduced to me so I was trying to figure it out as well as who the characters were and why they were important. I was also not entirely sure what kind of story to expect and since my previous read was so humorous, I wasn’t entirely prepared for a serious read (although I did end up loving it).

Addiction Rating
Buy it!

MISTBORN was a really great read for me. It started off just a tad slow but once I really got into it, I absolutely loved it. I can’t wait to read more of this series and looking forward to more from Brandon Sanderson!

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(Click the cover to see my review!)