Mistborn: The Final Empire

I've finally read a Brandon Sanderson book, and it really does feel like this has been a long time coming. So many people whose videos I watch consider Sanderson to be one of the best authors currently publishing in the fantasy genre and I was so excited to read one of his books at last.

I had managed to avoid spoilers for his work, I barely knew how the magic worked and I had no idea what kind of plot to expect. I was honestly expecting a typical high fantasy plot that follows a young boy fighting back against an evil overlord as the chosen one. I feel oversaturated with this plot in fantasy, but I trusted Sanderson to do something new and original with it. If so many people loved his work, why wouldn't I?

Vin lives on the streets with her brother as low level members of a gang, trying to get by and avoid attachments. She is skittish, terrified and harbours a secret talent. She can use her ‘Luck' to get others to do what she wants. This skill is essential in a scheme for her gang to get rich, right up until it calls the full attention of the government down upon herself. Vin discovers her ‘Luck' is allomancy; the power to consume metals to power megical abilities and her life completely changes.

Sanderson's magic system and setting made this book stand out to me. The book felt like it should be set in a steampunk world and I certainly pictured it that way. The eight metals used in the magic system felt like they should have been daunting to keep track of, but the writing kept them very clear and explained the different aspects of the magic system individually. It was this aspect of the writing that I really enjoyed. Sanderson was clearly setting up a massive world in this first book, one that would be expanded upon in later installments, and yet it never felt like I struggled to keep up.

I thorougly enjoyed my first entry into Sanderson's expansive universe, but there was one thing I felt was missing. The Final Empire deal with some harsh realities that these characters experienced (slavery, poverty, death) and yet I felt like the book was missing a deeper look at these elements of the story. I think the book would have been five stars for me if it had shown a grittier take on the story. That's just a personal preference though, and the book was still great without those elements.