Review: Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

Title: Mistborn: The Final Empire
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Copyright: 2007
Publisher: Tor Books
ISBN: 0765350386

Notes: First book in the Mistborn series

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Nearly Perfect. The New Standard To Which Fantasy Should Be Held - 5 stars - a book review

Just when you think epic fantasy is beyond tired, someone like Brandon Sanderson comes along and re-imagines the timeless coming of age quest adventure in a way that is so unique, so memorable, so engaging, and more importantly, so refreshing. The review title says it all. Mistborn (The Final Empire) is nearly perfect. The Final Empire has everything that grand fantasy should: a well developed world, a unique and intriguing magic system, an evil that transcends humanity, and a coming of age story.

The premise of The Final Empire is irresistible: a band of lower class people planning the ultimate caper to defeat the evil and oppressive Lord Ruler and the ruling class of nobles all vying for power and money at the expense of the slave-like Skaa. The main characters are all individuals with a unique skillset that helps the party with their objective of destroying the Lord Ruler's grasp on the Mistborn realm. Even better, their unique attributes also help worldbuild and educate the reader on the history and happenings of the last one thousand years.

As mentioned, the magic system is intriguing, to say the least. By ingesting metals, Allomancers can "burn" each metal to perform different magical acts, such as Pushing or Pulling themselves towards metal and "flying" through the air or locating metals, making themselves stronger or faster, and an introduction to fabled metals that are so rare and even unknown. This magic system makes for interesting and exciting battles and help turn the tide for parties with Allomancers.

Sanderson is an incredibly talented writer. He is a tour-de-force in the fantasy genre and should not be missed. I'm not sure that I want to trust anyone that likes fantasy but did not enjoy Mistborn. The only problem I had with The Final Empire is that it took me two years to finally read it.

Good reading,

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