Brandon Sanderson’s “Mistborn: The Final Empire” ($7.99,
Tor) may have spent a record amount of time on my to-read pile. The hardcover got
shuffled around for at least a year or so, and when the paperback came out, I
added it to the pile as well, where it spent quite a bit of time. I never
seemed to get around to it, though.
After enjoying what Sanderson did with the conclusion of
Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time, I thought it was time to give some of his works
a try. I looked at “The Way of Kings,” but I wasn’t really ready to start
another monster epic fantasy series that might take up a couple more decades of
my life. So I returned to “Mistborn,” which had always seemed to have something
that interested me, but never seemed to make its way off the pile.
Sanderson introduces us to a world where some cataclysm in
the distant past has caused swirling mists at night that the people feel and
regular gouts of ash falling from the sky. The Lord Ruler of the world, a
godlike figure, has reigned for 1,000 years after he defeated a mysterious foe
called the Deepness. The world is sharply divided between the nobles,
descendants of those who supported the Lord Ruler, and the skaa, who are
treated as little more than slaves – downtrodden, beaten and forced to work in
mills, mines and fields. The peace is kept by the Steel Ministry, the religion
established by the Lord Ruler, and its strange Steel Inquisitors and obligators.
Enter Kelsier, the only man to ever survive and escape from
the Pits of Hathsin, one of the harshest prisons the world has to offer. Kelsier
is also a forbidden and hunted half-noble, half-skaa. He returns to Luthadel,
the home of the Lord Ruler, with a grand scheme to make changes. Vin, a young
girl in a local thieving crew, soon catches his eye for her hidden talents as
an Allomancer, individuals who can ingest and burn metals to enhance strength,
senses and other abilities. Kelsier takes her under his wing to train her, and
brings her into his own crew, a much more upscale group than she’s used to.
Together, they’ll attempt to do what most of the world thinks is impossible.
The first thing that you have to talk about with this book
is the magic system. It’s interesting and unique. There are 10 allomantic
metals that those with the ability to use them can draw upon. The users have to
ingest the metals and then “burn” them to draw on their powers. Tin, for
example, heightens the senses. Pewter gives the user strength. Iron and steel
allow the user to push and pull on other metals. Zinc allows the user to
enflame the emotions of others, while brass soothes emotions. And so on. The
power of alomancy is usually passed through noble bloodlines. Any skaa that has
the ability has some noble blood and therefore will be put down by the Steel
Ministry if caught. Most allomancers are Mistings, able to use one power. Much
rarer are the Mistborn, such as Kelsier, who are able to use all of the metals.
While it’s a fascinating system, it won’t hold your
attention without story and characters, and Sanderson delivers on those points,
as well. The flamboyant, yet deeply troubled Kelsier is a great character who draws
the reader in, but as intended, it’s Vin that we end up feeling a sense of
closeness with and rooting for. She’s the more relatable character, with
elements that allow us to better indentify with her.
The story works on several levels. At its heart it’s a heist
tale as Kelsier and his group plan and attempt to execute their schemes. There’s
plenty of action and adventure in that portion. There’s also an element of
coming of age for Vin, and an element of mystery in the story of the Lord Ruler
and his ascension. We learn much about that last part
throughout the book, but we’re left with a lot of questions and still with a feeling that all is not as it seems.
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