Mistborn : Final Empire Series (Book #1) (Mistborn, Book 1) [Mass Market Paperback]

Brandon Sanderson (Author)

Book Description

Release date: July 31, 2007 | Series: Mistborn, Book 1 (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 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.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Sanderson's eerie second fantasy (after 2005's Elantris), set in a mist-haunted, ash-ridden world, pits Kelsier, "the Survivor of Hathsin," against the immortal Lord Ruler's 1,000-year domination of both the Great Houses and their serflike "skaa." Through Allomancy acquired in the Ruler's most hellish prison, Kelsier can "burn" 10 metals internally, fueling superhuman powers he uses to assemble rebels in a loose plan to destroy the nobility, the empire and the Lord Ruler himself. Kelsier uses Vin, a street urchin with the same Mistborn powers Kelsier possesses, to infiltrate the Great Houses' society, where she falls in love with philosopher prince Elend Venture. This mystico-metallurgical fantasy combines Vin's coming-of-age-in-magic and its well-worn theme of revolt against oppression with copious mutilations, a large-scale cast of thieves, cutthroats, conniving nobles and exotic mutants. The fast-paced action scenes temper Vin's interminable ballroom intrigues, while the characters, though not profoundly drawn, have a raw stereotypic appeal. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

The Sliver of Infinity, the Lord Ruler, is the locus of religious and temporal order in a world in which the skaa are slaves or worse. Half-skaa erstwhile thief Kelsior is the only person to survive and escape the Lord Ruler's most brutal prison, in which, however, he discovered he has the powers of the Mistborn, which are based on the internal "burning" of certain metals, all of which the Mistborn can use, while most others can burn only one. Now Kelsior plans his most daring raid ever, into the center of the palace to discover the secret of the Lord Ruler's power. Beforehand, his band finds the half-skaa orphan Vin in another thieving crew, where she's useful because she brings good luck. She is also Mistborn and, if she can master and learn to trust her powers, will enable Kelsior's crew to infiltrate the nobility and possibly overthrow the status quo. Intrigue, politics, and conspiracies mesh complexly in a world Sanderson realizes in satisfying depth and peoples with impressive characters. Regina Schroeder
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 672 pages
• Publisher: Tor Fantasy (July 31, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765350386
• ISBN-13: 978-0765350381
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (557 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #20,701 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm Brandon Sanderson, and I write epic fantasy novels for Tor Books. The sixth novel I wrote, ELANTRIS, was my first published, and I followed this up with the Mistborn trilogy and WARBREAKER. I was also chosen to complete Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time series based on his notes, resulting in THE GATHERING STORM, TOWERS OF MIDNIGHT, and A MEMORY OF LIGHT. I'm now launching my own grand epic that I've wanted to tell for many years, starting with THE WAY OF KINGS.

Read an excerpt here: tor.com/wok

More sample chapters from all of my books are available at brandonsanderson.com/library -- and check out the rest of my site for chapter-by-chapter annotations, deleted scenes, and more.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#47 Overall (See top 100 authors)

#6 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy

#7 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy

#7 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Fantasy

#24 in Books > Teens

#47 in Books

#6 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy

#7 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy

#7 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Fantasy

#24 in Books > Teens

#47 in Books

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

123 of 130 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Great unique fantasy in an unusual world May 8, 2007

By J. C. Amos

Format:Hardcover

I really wish that amazon would introduce a more intricate rating system than five stars, as this would get about 4.5 stars from me. After many failed attempts at starting up various fantasy series, Brandon Sanderson has delivered something refreshing and vastly entertaining. This is very nearly a five star novel, though there are a few simple discrepencies that keep Mistborn from being legendary.

Pros:
- I was immideately pulled in by the bizarre world environment here. The idea of a land completely covered in ash at all times is strange and interesting.
- The "magic" system, if it can be called that, is unique and a breath of fresh air. For me, a lot of fantasy is ruined by overuse of magic and lack of explanation about how magic works. His use of metals and Allomancy is genius and it's apparent that Sanderson invested a lot of time into this system. It's fun and believable.
- Sanderson displays great world-building talents in Mistborn. Not only to we have a strange backdrop in the environment, but good history to fill it with. The mists and the Mistwraiths are weird and different.
- There is no lack of action here. While I might have liked a little more description on the larger battle scenes, the Allomancy battles were just plain fun to read. With the characters using their abilities to push themselves through the air and hurl large metal objects, it was almost as if they were battling superheroes, and strangely enough this really works. He paid great attention to the rules and science of the Allomancy he created and applied them to these battle scenes well.

Cons:
- As others have noticed, characterization could use a little work. While Vin, Kelsier, Elend and Sazed were descriptive characters, a lot of the others on the crew (Dockson, Clubs, Breeze, Yeden) felt a little too cookie cutter and I found it hard to remember exactly what those characters did and what their individual roles were.
- Some of the dialogue is a little too typical as with many other fantasy books. This is one aspect that I rarely find to my liking in fantasy -as few authors seem to do it very well- and it isn't so bad here, but a lot of the conversations seemed a little unbelieveable. There were a lot sappy moments between the characters, some of which I find hard to swallow. (Perhaps I've become spoiled by Martin and Hobb, where distrust and hate between a lot of the characters make dialogue and character drama more believable.)

The flaws with Mistborn were hardly enough to keep me from thourougly enjoying it. Every great fantasy author has their strengths, and Sanderson's are apparent. This book is unique with a lot of great ideas. The only thing that's very typical is the tyrannical Lord Ruler and his thousand-year reign, but the author handles it very well and shows that cliche isn't always a bad thing. And the conclusion to Mistorn was fantastic. All of the plot threads were handled well and in clever ways, the action and final confrontations were great.

I will look forward to reading whatever else Sanderson has to offer. Read it, enjoy it and tell others. Good fantasy in a sea of mediocre deserves praise.

199 of 215 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good read February 8, 2007

By B. Davis VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

I picked up Mistborn on a lark- based in large point by the written praise of Robin Hobb (an author whose work I greatly enjoy. I have not yet read Elantris, the author's first work. So, with an open mind, I picked up Mistborn...

And was greatly impressed! I consider myself a fan of Jordan, Hobb, Martin, Erickson, Williams and have recently enjoyed the works of R. Scott Bakker. I can now add Brandon Sanderson to the list.

The product description, and some of the other reviews, give pretty accurate assessments of the story and plotline.

So, with that in mind, it's worth highlighting a few of the strengths and weaknesses of his story- with an eye toward hoping the weaknesses are resolved come book 2...

Strengths:

* Nice world-building

* Good story arch/plotline

* Original "magic" system

Weakness:

* Prose/dialogue/elocution: Several passages of inter-character discussions were ... just.. too explanatory. I (personally) try to gauge when reading items whether people in an actual conversation would speak the way an author portrays. And, unfortunately, especially after "major" plot points, I felt some of the conversations between characters were just... too long- near soliloquy's vs. being dialogue. Again, this is a style point and a personal tick of mine.

* "Generic" characterizations: Much has been made of Vin's ability to swiftly learn allomancy; however, both she and Kelsier were the most fully-drawn characters. Other characters- Marsh, Breeze, etc- were more shallowly drawn. Again, I'm not talking about the need for Jordanian descriptions, but, within the context of a 3rd person-limited perspective, I'd like to gain a bit more insight into how the current person (aka Vin) feels/knows/sees of these other important secondary characters.

So, take that as you will, but, no matter what: buy and enjoy the book. For an author's second work, it's fantastic. I look forward to reading Elantris, and, also, book 2 of this series.

69 of 79 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Exciting and fun magical adventure July 25, 2006

By Eric James Stone

Format:Hardcover

Mistborn: The Final Empire is a fast-paced adventure with some fun characters, combining political intrigue with magical battles. The characters are interesting and the plot takes some unexpected turns.

The magic system is, perhaps, the element (pun intended, as you'll soon understand) that stands out most in the novel. Too often, the magic used in fantasy novels tends to either follow some rather stereotypical rules (casting verbal [often rhyming or using an ancient language] spells, potions, etc.) or to lack much in the way of discernable rules at all.

In the world of Mistborn, the magic system is based on swallowing certain metals that are then "burned" to provide the particular power granted by that metal. It means that in the strictest sense, the number of things that can be done with magic is limited by the less than a dozen known allomantic metals. (For example, pushing metal away is one power, and pulling metal toward you is another.) But by ingenious use of the various metals, Mistborn allomancers can do a lot of different things.

This is the first book of a trilogy, but fortunately it works well as a standalone novel as well. I've come to dislike being left hanging off a cliff at the end of a book.