Title: The Final Empire
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Series: Mistborn #1
E.S.C.A.P.E Score: 51
(see below for breakdown)
5 stars
From Goodreads:
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.
My Thoughts
I have to say I really enjoy Sanderson’s writing. It is incredibly detailed yet entertaining, he has a way of imparting huge amounts of information with out them feeling info dumpy and I really like they way he builds out his characters. The Final Empire was no exception. There is a fantastic amount of world building, that there feels there is a full history and cultures that we have only just scratched the surface of. The world building is also incredibly visual, you get a real sense of the various locations, the fear of the mist as it fills the night, the people of the world of all walks of life, from the aristocracy to the lowly skaa
Sanderson also excels at creating magic systems and this is one to rival them all. The plot revolves around one of our main characters, Vin, learning to use powers she has always had but never understood and the process in which we the reader learns as she does is just fantastic. This combined with the second perspective of Kelsier who has a mentor relationship with Vin and is well versed in his craft really allows us to dive deep into the magic system and how it works. I loved all the subtle difference about how it works for each person and how there are races that use the magic in completely different ways. I also liked that Kelsier while the mentor was not the expert in all facets of said system and would often defer to others. It just made the magic feel more tangible.
The plot also is jam packed, with heists and plots, which throws twist upon twist at the reader. I have mentioned on several occasions how much I love a good heist plot and this really didn’t disappoint. There was even a bit of a romance plot that I found myself getting drawn to. There was the occasional area which got a little dull as out players waited for the action. Some parts even got a little repetitive. But when the action started it was un-put-down-able. With some bits that really hit me.
I really loved how this resolved, particularly the outcomes for each character. I do wish there had been a little more set up of the next book as I am totally unsure where it will go from here. Overall I really enjoyed it. I am a Sanderson convert and can’t wait to revisit this world. Personally I hope we get more from Sazed, we only really got to scratch the surface of his knowledge, but i really enjoyed him and his relationship with both Vin and Kelsier.
Fi's Bibliofiles 
I’m so glad you enjoyed this one! Sanderson’s definitely got a way with world building. ✨
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