Add BookmarkThe Final Empire (Mistborn, Book 1)
Brandon Sanderson, fantasy’s newest master tale spinner, author of the acclaimed debut Elantris, dares to turn a genre on its head by asking a simple question: What if the hero of prophecy fails? What kind of world results when the Dark Lord is in charge? The answer will be found in the Mistborn Trilogy, a saga of surprises and magical martial-arts action that begins in Mistborn.
For a thousand years the ash fell and no flowers bloomed. For a thousand years the Skaa slaved in misery ... (show more)
Brandon Sanderson, fantasy’s newest master tale spinner, author of the acclaimed debut Elantris, dares to turn a genre on its head by asking a simple question: What if the hero of prophecy fails? What kind of world results when the Dark Lord is in charge? The answer will be found in the Mistborn Trilogy, a saga of surprises and magical martial-arts action that begins in Mistborn.
For a thousand years the ash fell and no flowers bloomed. For a thousand years the Skaa slaved in misery and lived in fear. For a thousand years the Lord Ruler, the “Sliver of Infinity,” reigned with absolute power and ultimate terror, divinely invincible. Then, when hope was so long lost that not even its memory remained, a terribly scarred, heart-broken half-Skaa rediscovered it in the depths of the Lord Ruler’s most hellish prison. Kelsier “snapped” and found in himself the powers of a Mistborn. A brilliant thief and natural leader, he turned his talents to the ultimate caper, with the Lord Ruler himself as the mark.
Kelsier recruited the underworld’s elite, the smartest and most trustworthy allomancers, each of whom shares one of his many powers, and all of whom relish a high-stakes challenge. Only then does he reveal his ultimate dream, not just the greatest heist in history, but the downfall of the divine despot.
But even with the best criminal crew ever assembled, Kel’s plan looks more like the ultimate long shot, until luck brings a ragged girl named Vin into his life. Like him, she’s a half-Skaa orphan, but she’s lived a much harsher life. Vin has learned to expect betrayal from everyone she meets, and gotten it. She will have to learn to trust, if Kel is to help her master powers of which she never dreamed.
Readers of Elantris thought they'd discovered someone special in Brandon Sanderson. Mistborn proves they were right. (show less)
Related Media
Photo Gallery
Reviews (See all 382) Write a reviewfor this
-
A unique fantasy is something that when you find it, you know that you are onto something great, or entirely the other way. Well, happily Sanderson has done something great. What makes this unique is not that the heroes have to overcome the evil ruler, because you know you've heard that before.
Or that the evil ruler has monstrous minions, because we have seen that before also. But that those evil minions are such that no one can remember ever defeating the minions, or the evil ruler who is... (show more)
A unique fantasy is something that when you find it, you know that you are onto something great, or entirely the other way. Well, happily Sanderson has done something great. What makes this unique is not that the heroes have to overcome the evil ruler, because you know you've heard that before.
Or that the evil ruler has monstrous minions, because we have seen that before also. But that those evil minions are such that no one can remember ever defeating the minions, or the evil ruler who is immortal as far as everyone knows. Yet that too has been read elsewhere.
What separates The Final Empire is magic. Not everyone has the ability, but those that do access their magic in such a well described and unique way that the entirety of the magical world makes sense and is needful to its resolution. Complexity and depth make this work breakout from the others in the genre.
The plot moves at a decent pace though the buildup to the crescendo of the climax has some lulls. Once that climax triggers though, a great deal happens both expected and unexpected making the book a very worthwhile read. (show less)
Already read
-
I really enjoyed this one. The system of magic was very different than that of any other book. There wasn't the normal grandiose background with lots of obscure references to historic events that I've come to expect from many fantasy books these days. That's both welcome and a disappointment at the same time. I'm sure more will be revealed in the series as it goes on.
I initially purchased the book because Sanderson has been tapped to finish the Wheel of Time series of books after Robe... (show more)
I really enjoyed this one. The system of magic was very different than that of any other book. There wasn't the normal grandiose background with lots of obscure references to historic events that I've come to expect from many fantasy books these days. That's both welcome and a disappointment at the same time. I'm sure more will be revealed in the series as it goes on.
I initially purchased the book because Sanderson has been tapped to finish the Wheel of Time series of books after Robert Jordan's unfortunate passing. I jumped into this book with the wrong frame of mind, and it took me a while to get my head on straight and look for the right things. It's a fun book. It has good characters that you can put a face on and learn to like if you don't like them already. The supporting characters add to the story. Few are filler. They may not serve much of a purpose, but they do serve some purpose. I like that.
I try not to give anything away in reviews as I hate spoilers when I'm not expecting them. So, turn away now if you don't want to know what happens.
The ending was not nearly as climactic as I would expect. It had a moment or two, but they certainly didn't surprise or shock you. Vin is a likable character, and she comes through strong. Other characters finished weakly. Again, the magic system was so different than any other book I've read, it makes this one worthwhile. Knowing there are more, I'm willing to forgive the ending. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad. It just wasn't spectacular, and with the setup, I expected spectacular. (show less)
Already read
- See all reviews
Lists
This book has been added to these lists:
More Stuff
About Us
LivingSocial.com is a social discovery and cataloging network that allows people to review and share their favorite movies, books, games, music, restaurants and beer
