Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson

Mistborn

Mistborn – Book 1

Publisher: Tor Books (2006)

Author: Brandon Sanderson

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 657

Price: $7.99

Once, a hero arose to save the world. A young man with a mysterious heritage courageously challenged the darkness that strangled the land.

He failed.

For a thousand years since, the world has been a wasteland of ash and mist ruled by the immortal emperor known as the Lord Ruler. Every revolt has failed miserably.

Yet somehow, hope survives. Hope that dares to dream of ending the empire and even the Lord Ruler himself. A new kind of uprising is being planned, one built around the ultimate caper, one that depends on the cunning of a brilliant criminal mastermind and the determination of an unlikely heroine, a street urchin who must learn to master Allomancy, the power of a Mistborn.

I read this book on recommendation alone, I didn't even read the back cover before I started the book. That's the power of the glowing things I had been told about Mistborn. I've read a lot of fantasy in my time, it's hard for a new story to seem new to me, but Brandon Sanderson managed to accomplish this with this truly great fantasy tale.

It's hard to say exactly what this story is; a heist story, an inspirational tale of rebellion, a book on the power of belief, it's all of these rolled in to one. Throughout the entire book there is class warfare being waged. The Lord Ruler, his Inquisitors and obligators make up the upper crust of society, followed by the nobleman that own most of the industry in the Final Empire. Those nobleman lease the lives of the skaa,the work force, from the Lord Ruler. The skaa are the most numerous of the populous of the inhabitants of the empire, but also the most downtrodden. They've been subjugated for a thousand years, and almost all of the fight has been beaten out of them. It's a familiar set up. Kelsier is a crew leader, the head man of a team of theives, with a huge plan to steal from the Lord Ruler, and in the process ignite a rebellion that will put the government into the hands of the skaa.

The beginning of the book is the fantasy literature equivalent of an Ocean's movie. The reader is introduced to a wide range of characters, all with their particular job in the crew. Vin, a former street urchin with immense untapped powers, and Sazed, a steward and Terrisman with a power all his own are two of those characters that stand out the most. At first it's a little difficult to keep straight in one's mind what their individual tasks are, but as their personalities are fleshed out you will get a good handle on who does what.

The magic systems are the true highlight of the book and its action. There are two systems presented to the reader. The first is Allomancy, which allows the wielder to consume certain metals and gain the ability that metal confers to the user. This allows for the user to push and pull metal objects, enhance their sensory or physical abilities, and many other interesting effects. Feruchemy is the other magical ability, it allows a person to store physical abilites, memories, and youth among other things in metal objects, allowing those reserves to be tapped in to in a moment of need. Both schools of magic feel real and believable. By grounding the abilities in real world objects Sanderson has made these fantastic abilities seem more like science than magic at times.

The story proceeds at a tremendous pace, I didn't find myself bored or missing the action at any time. Although Kelsier plays his cards close to his chest the conclusion didn't offer too many surprises, as a lot that happens had been hinted at as the story moved along. I find myself thinking that the real story here is the progression of the character Vin. She goes from an abandoned teenage thief to a powerful being, capable of toppling any that stand in her path. The words of her brother, who she feels betrayed her by leaving, echo in her mind. He tells her how the world is, and who she is; and one of my favorite parts of the story are those in which she learns that maybe he didn't know as much as she thought.

Conclusion: Mistborn is an incredibly fun book to read. The combination of a well thought out and believable system of magic and memorable characters, who actually change during the course of the book, make it one of my favorite books of the past few years of reading. The predictable parts are overshadowed by the amount of fun the reader has getting to that point.

Rating: 9/10