The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson | Book Review

The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson
Mistborn #1
First Published: 2006
Paperback
Young Adult, Fantasy
Rating:

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 colour 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.

YES I FINALLY READ THIS.

Admittedly, the Mistborn trilogy hasn't been on my radar for long, I didn't even know it existed before last year, but then it cropped up on BookTube and seemed to be everywhere. And everyone were saying how good it was and I wanted it. Gosh how much I wanted it.

After some mishaps with TBD shipment, I finally had it in my hands. And then proceeded to abandon one of my most anticipated reads ever, Winter, in order to read it.

I was not disappointed! I was sucked into this fantastic world from the first paragraph, falling in love with the writing and the characters almost as soon as each was introduced. They were just such a likable band of misfits, brave and daring where those qualities are oppressed, joyful and cheerful where there shouldn't be any reason to be, and flawed to the point of perfection.

Firstly, we have Kelsier. Has there ever been a more charming bandleader? The fact he sometimes really really really really worried me, as the rest of the crew worried, somehow just added to everything. Because I felt myself willing to believe him, in him, alongside everybody else.

Then there's Vin, the only woman in the crew, and the youngest by many many years. She's sixteen, has lived her life trying to be invisible in a landscape that only meant her harm, trusting no one. And she has a unique ability. She becomes Kelsier's apprentice, in a way, and she is the true hero in this story for me.

I loved, loved, loved her. Loved watching her slowly open up to her friends. Loved watching her come to put her faith in something so intangible as "trust".

Not to mention all their abilities as Mistborns! They were so interesting to read of, definitely one of the more interesting magic systems I've ever encountered. I can't wait to learn how the mistborns were created, because this book hints that we're going to discover all that in this series.

The whole novel spans around a year in time, and that year is spent planning and hatching plans--some of which misfire, some of which succeed--on how to overthrown the evil ruler of this world. And let me tell you this - you will believe it all. Sometimes, these things seem too easy or too far fetched. But Sanderson definitely worked hard to make sure every bit of it made sense and could, possibly, happen in RL. 

Now, the weakest point of this novel is probably the romance. Not because I didn't like the love interest, because I adored his keen mind and dishevelment, but because Sanderson spent no time establishing them.

We're told they've been hanging out for a few weeks and stuff, but we see very few of these conversations and interactions, leaving us to wonder why the heck everyone say they're in love when all you can see is attraction and the possibility of more.

Romance is not a big factor in a novel like this, but if you're already putting it in I feel like you should at least give it some thought and not just throw in "yep, they're in love".

Aside for this, there were a few other points that didn't make sense to me while reading this novel. Make sure to come back tomorrow for spoilery discussion questions that I'd love to brainstorm with you!

But overall, a fantastic read that I couldn't put down!