Mistborn: The Final Empire

This is the second novel by Brandon Sanderson.  You could see that he got some of the kinks out of his system and this one became a little more solid.  Although, some of the world was still quite simple, but that might be since this was only the first part of the series.  I am hoping that we explore more of the world at some point.

I will say that he definitely likes to give you the rules of his magic system.  Allomancy is this magic that allows certain people to “burn” metals that they have ingested and use the power that each metal gives off.  For example, pewter makes a person stronger, but you have to burn more of it to be stronger, which causes it to burn faster.  I can definitely see how this is the precursor to his Stormlight magic system (and yes, I realize all these magics will be tied together with the larger Cosmere).

One of the things I really enjoyed was the growth of the main character, Vin.  Her growth is not complete though and I hope the next book explores her dilemma further.  Is she Vin the street urchin or Valette the minor noble woman?  I would guess that she is a combination of both, but she needs to find herself.

I also did not see the death of…this is a spoiler…Kelsier.  His plan was pretty insane.  He allows the Lord Ruler to kill him, which brings hope to the people.  That was well thought out, but very risky.  I guess it would not have  mattered if he was dead. 

Another shock was the emergence of Marsh as a Steel Inquisitor.  Definitely did not see that coming!  Hell, I was sad when it seemed like he had been flayed.  One thing that did not shock me was the revelation that the Lord Ruler is not the author of the journal, but instead the Terris packman, who hated him.

I liked this book.  It is interesting to see the progression of Sanderson’s writing.  I look forward to the next book in the series.

Author: Ngewo