Helpful Score: 4
I started this book expecting yet another, slightly above average, cliché fantasy novel. It surprised and delighted me far beyond my expectation. Mistborn: The Final Empire is an amazingly crafted, beautifully detailed novel of epic proportions. The book begins with a small act of rebellion and soon builds to an extremely intense story, including a surprising number of different elements and many twists and turns. The magic powers especially caught my attention, a new and extremely interesting system involving metals and magical mists. All told, this book, the first in a trilogy, was excellent, and I hope the rest of the series is as good. Highly recommended!
Helpful Score: 2
I enjoy Brandon Sanderson's novels, but I don't love them. Mistborn is a good story with interesting characters. I especially liked the fact that Mistborn's protagonist is female, something that's still too uncommon in fantasy and science fiction novels. Mistborn's system of allomancy is creative and unique. Sanderson writes simply, concisely, and directly. As a result, the book has good pacing and the story moves along at a good clip. But his writing style creates two problems. First, his books read as though they're written for a junior high audience. I would compare Sanderson to John Scalzi; they both are direct and to the point. But only Sanderson's books feel like they're a bit beneath you. Second, the climactic scenes always feel rushed and not that climactic. In Mistborn, the tension never builds to the point where you feel like something really BIG just happened. Most of the key events are over before you realize it and the importance barely has a chance to sink in. It keeps Sanderson's books from being as good as they could be.
Helpful Score: 1
What a great book, one of the best I've read in a long time. If you enjoy political intrigue in your fantasy, then this is the book for you. There is really not a lot of action, but Sanderson has a way of making the story feel "action filled". Characters are well fleshed out and I felt deeply about the characters. The book started out a bit slow, but really it was necessary to the story and all makes sense come the end. I knew exactly how this was going to end, but I didn't know how we would get there. There were enough twists and mysteries that I didn't have figured out so the ending stayed enjoyable. Even though this is the first book of a trilogy, things wrapped up nicely and this book really feels like a standalone. I definitely looking forward to the next book in the series.
Helpful Score: 1
The first in the Mistborn trilogy. Slaves are provoked to rebel against their God/Lord Ruler in this epic fantasy novel. I enjoyed the subplots and subcharacter much more than I did the main character, Vin. The author tries, but fails a bit to convey the feelings/emotions of a young adult female. She seemed bit hollow to me. The other cast of characters really draw you into the story making you cheer for them and hope that they succeed in their mission of rebellion. I will definitely be reading the 2nd book to see where this story goes.