Preamble:

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My friends recommended The Stormlight Archive series to me a while back and I started with The Way of Kings. It was extremely compelling. Brandon Sanderson is an exceptional author who creates vivid worlds with iconic characters and intense intrigue in a way that is very accessible. The magical elements in The Way of Kings are very well developed and have limitations that lead toward satisfying highs and intense lows for the characters that wield them. The fantastical universe that Brandon Sanderson sets up is deep and mysterious but somehow seems connected and consistent.

After chatting with my friends about the series they told me that it would be a good idea and would help me understand the world of these books better if I were to read the Mistborn series. The Mistborn series takes place thousands of years before The Stormlight Archive series but they are supposed to all exist within a common universe known by Brandon Sanderson as the Cosmere. I took a break from the Stormlight Archive after its second book, Words of Radiance, and started Mistborn.

Review of Mistborn: The Final Empire:

The Final Empire is ruled by an immortal dictator known as The Lord Ruler. Before the Lord Ruler took power centuries before the events of this book the continent was ruled by a multitude of rulers who were constantly at war and as they fought each other the realm was in danger of being destroyed by a mysterious force known as the deepness. We don't fully understand what the deepness was but the world needed a hero to save it from impending doom. Somehow the Lord Ruler gained supernatural powers that made him invincible and over time brought all people together under one empire, The Final Empire, or is it?

The Final Empire's economy depends on the slave labor of the skaa who have been beaten down for so long that there is no fear of them revolting in any way that matters. Sure, small groups rise up now and then but there have never been any serious threats to the current regime. The Lord Ruler relies on his obligators and inquisitors to enforce his cruel and absolute rule. Along with these officials are the noble lords and ladies who use the skaa for their labor camps, mines, and kitchens.

The world also has magic in the form of allomancy which allows the wielder to burn metals as fuel for powers such as manipulating others’ emotions, extreme strength, extra sensitive hearing, and vision or flying. The ones who can manipulate only one type of metal and therefore only have one power are known as mistings but when one can manipulate all the metals they are known as Mistborn. It is thought that they get their power from the mist that envelops the land each night.

Vin is a Mistborn but she doesn't know it. She is a skaa-born thief who was abandoned by her brother and left to live with cutthroats and murderers who con and steal their way to live in the Final Empire. They risk death if they are discovered but they aren't on the plantations and have more freedom than the average skaa. Vin wants to escape her current thieving crew but is beaten mercilessly by the crew leader. Her fate is uncertain when Kelsier, the most successful skaa thief of all time and Mistborn, deposes the crew leader and takes Vin into his crew of elite misting thieves. Kelsier’s crew is so successful that they can impersonate noblemen and have more power than some actual noblemen.

Kelsier takes Vin on as his apprentice to teach her how to be a Mistborn. She is uncommonly gifted in her abilities but the source of her power is unknown to her. Skaa are not capable of having misting powers so she must be only half skaa. It is only among the noble class that misting powers are born. Normally when a noble Lord takes a skaa slave to bed they kill them immediately so they don't have the chance to grow up to have mist powers but Vin’s mother survived. Kelsier and his crew embark on a new and highly dangerous job. This one will make them all wealthier than the Lord Ruler himself. They just have to do the impossible, destroy the Final Empire!

Mistborn: The Final Empire was enjoyable and has all the flavor that was present with the Way of Kings and Words of Radiance. Brandon Sanderson does a great job of bringing a complex fantasy world down to earth with the use of well-developed characters and conflicts. His writing is easy to comprehend even though the stories are dynamic and involve plenty of mystery. It is easy to get immersed in the world Brandon Sanderson has created and I will continue reading this series and the Stormlight Archive series as well. I didn't really think that this book helped inform the events of the Stormlight Archive so far but maybe it will add context as it continues. It definitely works on its own but if I were to rate them I liked the first two books in the Stormlight Archive more but by a small margin. All of these books are really exciting and enjoyable to read and I can't wait to see what happens next! I highly recommend Mistborn: The Final Empire to anyone who enjoys deep fantasy!

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