Mistborn: The Final Empire (Mistborn, #1)

If you love fantasy and magic, then Brandon Sanderson is a god-send, put on this Earth to write about stories and places that none of us have ever dreamed about. The Final Empire is the fourth Sanderson book I have read, and I came in with really high expectations, and I finished with those expectations exceeded.

The world building is exquisite and immense. Sanderson can really build a world, everything is described so well, to the point that I could visually imagine our heroine leaping from building to building and using her environment to navigate the world and cities, and feel the weight of the Lord Ruler’s world! Society is described very well, a class system made of a servant and noble class, the scuffles between noble houses, etc.. society is very integral to the story.

The Magical system is unique, and not over-powered. This is important to me, when reading Magic/Fantasy, I absolutely think its central that a character has to not only learn and struggle with their abilities, but that also those abilities have burden, limits, and weaknesses.

Character building is central. Sanderson spends time with each character, giving you a fair shot at learning more about them, and building their persona. Kelsier’s entire crew was fun and colorful. It really was quite a cast of interesting and deep characters that you’ll want to read through again.

The bad guys are frightening. The Steel Inquisitors are bad-ass, sort of invulnerable frankenstein misting creations with metal sticking out of them, and a ton of attitude. Then there is The Lord Ruler, who throughout the book is referred to as akin to God himself.

The plot is like a heist film. I remember telling my friend that it felt like the Ocean’s Eleven of Fantasy. It becomes much more than that.

This is one of the best fantasy books I’ve read, highly accessible, never a bore, and totally worth your while.