Series: Mistborn Book 1
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 544 pages
Audiobook Length: 24 hours and 39 minutes
First Published: 2006
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Rachael’s Review
For a thousand years, the Lord Ruler has enslaved the Skaa with no hope that his despotic rule will ever end. From a hellish prison, Kelsier snaps and develops the powers of a Mistborn. As a brilliant thief, Kelsier instigates the ultimate heist to overthrow the Lord Ruler with a crew of the underworld’s elite. But adding in Vin, a ragged orphan girl, might just be what they need to succeed, if they can teach her to use her powers and to learn to trust others.
My college bestie told me this was her favorite book and since I didn’t read it when my entire family did a few years ago, I felt like this was the summer to finally try the Mistborn series. Fantasy isn’t my usual genre but Sanderson quickly hooked me with his rich world-building and fascinating characters. The detailed explanation of the magical system wasn’t really my thing, though I know people like my husband love reading about such things. However, the compelling narrative was complex enough to keep you guessing and perfectly set up the rest of the series.
Publisher’s Description
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.
This saga dares to ask a simple question: What if the hero of prophecy fails?
Quotes from The Final Empire
Our belief is often strongest when it should be weakest. That is the nature of hope.
You should try not to talk so much, friend. You’ll sound far less stupid that way.
Men rarely see their own actions as unjustified.
I’ve always been very confident in my immaturity.
About Brandon Sanderson
Brandon Sanderson is an author and a professor at Brigham Young University. His works include The Mistborn trilogy, the Stormlight Archive novels, and Elantris. He currently lives in Utah. Visit the author’s website →
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