#Review: MISTBORN: THE FINAL EMPIRE by Brandon Sanderson

MISTBORN: THE FINAL EMPIRE

Author: Brandon Sanderson
Series: Mistborn #1
Source: Purchased from BookOutlet
Publisher: Tor Books
Publication Date: July 25, 2006
Rating: 4/5 stars

Summary: 
Following on the heels of Sanderson’s successful launch into the YA market with the New York Times bestselling Rithmatist comes Mistborn, now repackaged for the teen audience

Once, a hero rose to save the world. 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 defeating the Lord Ruler. A new kind of uprising is being planned—one that depends on the cunning of a brilliant criminal mastermind and the determination of an unlikely heroine: a teenage street urchin named Vin.

Once, a hero rose to save the world and failed. This time, can a young heroine succeed?

Purchase:

Amazon | Chapters | TBD

Okay so I read this one as a buddy read for #RockMyTBR which is hosted by Sarah for our book of the month? Idk this was the choice for this month so I read it. And at the end, I REALLY enjoyed it and will definitely be continuing this series but I still have some hesitations about this one. I do highly recommend it, especially if you are a fan of Sanderson, intricate magic systems, and general badassery.

I have been a fan of Sanderson since I read the end of The Wheel of Time which he masterfully ended. I could write pages upon pages about how Sanderson turned that series around for the better, but it made me into a huge fan. I read Steelheart and have had the Mistborn books on my shelves for a long time, so I am super glad I read this one. This is definitely a Sanderson book, but the beginning was so meh that I almost didn't continue.

I really dislike when people are like "okay the first 150 pages suck but the rest is great!!" so here's what I'm going to say: it isn't that the first 150 pages suck, it is just that they weren't gripping as a typical Sanderson book which made this one really easy to put down. Not only did I put it down multiple times, I even put it down in the middle of a sentence! I don't do that. I did that here. And I mean, I stuck with it because I love Sanderson -- and I'm super glad I did -- but it was a bit put-downable at the beginning which can rub people the wrong way. It is also the reason this is 4* because the rest was superb.

I LOVED the magic system and the intricacies to it. That was BY FAR the best part of this one. I am not going to lie, I thought it was explained really well during the course of the novel and throughout Vin's training but I enjoyed the explanation at the end too (my version had a little guideline at the end). I thought that it was introduced really nicely inline with the story without me feeling like it was info-dumped or over explained. I think it was really well developed and I love love love everything about it. I like complex magic systems that still make sense in the grand scheme of things.

I loved how Vin really found herself and realized she wasn't One Thing Or Another, she was something else entirely. I liked her thoughts when she burned gold, especially. I just liked Vin in general. I thought she had the best character arc out of everyone I've read for a while. I am really excited to see where she is headed in the next book. I liked Kelsier as well, but I thought he took too many risks without thinking about the consequences, even though that was his whole shtick. I liked that all the characters had their roles, played their parts, but also had things outside of the group. Even though Vin was ignorant to it, I loved that she asked them about their lives, past and present. I liked hearing back story and finding out why people were fighting how they were.

I also loved that it was a heist novel FOR AN ENTIRE GOVERNMENT. WHO DOES THAT?? SANDERSON DOES. I did think it came together pretty easily and kinda conveniently. I would have liked a bit more expose on the government and it's inner workings. I thought the last section was very tiny and thin and didn't have nearly enough in it for me to be sold on how it ended. I understand there are two more novels but it didn't have that hook to keep pushing me to read the next one RIGHT AWAY, if you know what I mean. I WILL because I have it, but if I didn't I would probably put it off for a while.

I honestly cannot say enough good things about this novel, but ONLY once we learn about the plan. The lead up was SO meh that I almost didn't make it to that. It took me way longer than it should have to read the first 150 pages, but I sped through the rest so I guess that's good? I would recommend giving this one a chance if you are looking to get into high fantasy that isn't geared towards young adult. But do be warned that the first 150 pages weren't that spectacular.