Mistborn: Mistborn Book One

This was my first and so far only brandon sanderson book, i bought it after having his works recommended to me by a relative. The characters are deep enough to be believable and generally likable, the story and wording is entertaining, but the best part of this book/series is the system of magic, which is original and interesting, as opposed to the usual magic systems. In some aspects/story arcs it was quite predictable, but it did have a major twist at the end which i did not expect whatsoever, and the predictable points (save one) did not bother me. I will continue the series and check out additional books by sanderson. Btw, what's up with the ebook cover? The one i saw on my paper edition looked nice, as opposed to this.

Ever since I saw the beautiful covers for Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn series on an awesome #bookstagrammer’s, I knew I HAD to have it. I won’t have you thinking that this was just a cover request, because after I saw these covers a few years ago I IMMEDIATELY ran to Goodreads, read what this series was about, and have CRAVED it since. Then, the absolutely LOVELY folks at Hachette India sent me the first two books, and I am ABSOLUTELY HOOKED. I took book one with me to my FIRST EVER COMIC-CON just this last weekend, and the fact that I was in the convention centre, a part of the biggest gathering of nerds that I’ve been too EVER, and still ONLY cared about what was happening inside The Final Empire should tell you how COMPLETELY MINDBLOWING this book is. One of my first adult fantasies, The Final Empire is EVERYTHING that a standard Young Adult Fantasy lacks – concentration on a FLAWLESS plot, seriously life-like and deeply flawed characters, an ACTUAL REALISTIC rebellion and plot twists you can NEVER predict. What if the Dark Lord won? The Final Empire has been under the control of the Lord Ruler for over a century now. An extremely powerful, god-chosen (as the legends claim) Mistborn, he has unleashed tyranny over his subjects for a long time. The only people he favours are the elite nobility who are given free reign over the rest of the people – the commoners – skaa. Subject to beating downs, hard lives and oppression for over a century, the skaa are so broken in spirit they would rather stay in their inhumane lives than rebel against the Empire. A thief; a con-artist and a crew leader, Kelsier is a Mistborn. Extremely powerful, he is an Allomancer with highly coveted powers that help him burn metals to make him faster, stronger and gives him the ability to play with another’s mind. Kelsier is on a job – one of a size nobody has ever undertaken before – and by the time he’s done, a century of oppression and ash fall might come to an end. Vin is a street orphan, who for all her life has only been taught that everyone will betray her catches Kelsier’s eye. Unbeknownst to her, she is also a Mistborn, and will soon become a vital part of Kell’s Life and the Job. There were a lot of things I LOVED about this book like: 1. THE ATTENTION TO DETAIL: There are very few books that pay so much attention to the WORLD it is set in, rather than just the eccentricities of the characters, but The Final Empire is DEFINITELY one of them. The cities, the social conditions, the politics and the descriptions of everything were so SPOT ON, it really felt like I was there, in the aforementioned places experiencing it all. 2. THE CREW: Every good criminal job and leader needs a good crew, right? Well, this one did NOT disappoint. Thieves with a purpose, chaos bringers with the power of control and all slightly blessed with powers, this crew put every other one I’ve read off to shame. I LOVED Ham, Dox, Clubs, Breeze, Vin, Renoux, Sazed and even Marsh. They were contrasting and fit together likt puxxle pieces and feeling like a part of their crew was AMAZING. 3. THE MISTBORNS: I have never seen powers described in a better way. Mistborns have power over all burnable metals, and Mistings have power over a particular one, and the very well done theory behind how it all worked could only have been concocted in the minds of a genius. 4. THE PLOT TWISTS + THE LACK OF A ROMANCE OVERTAKE: Obviously, I’m not going to mention the plot twists but OH MY GOD, I WAS SO SHOCKED that things like that could happen in a rational world, and I LOVED IT. There was also the AWESOME fact that this book was NOT PLOTTED AROUND two star crossed lovers, but a population of million that had been oppressed and what it would take for them to rise. I honestly have no idea where this series will build up to, and I am SO ready to find out. A true masterpiece in the literary world, and I could not recommend it more!

This book reminds me of the Night Angel trilogy by Brent Weeks, in the feel of it's action scenes and pacing. And this is most definitely meant as a complement. I couldn't put it down, which made it hard to function at work after spending two successive nights reading until 2 am. The need to read "just one more chapter" is a sure sign of a great book. I'm off to the Google play store now to but the next book in the series :-)