“Mistborn” by Brandon Sanderson
The young adult fantasy that took my breath away: Brandon Sanderson’s “Mistborn” is a must-read.
A Book Review
“Mistborn” by Brandon Sanderson
The young adult fantasy that took my breath away: Brandon Sanderson’s “Mistborn” is a must-read.
I am not a fan of young adult fantasy.
But every now and then I come across a book (or a series) so fabulous, that I stay up for the entire night to finish an epic battle scene. Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn is one such series that took my breath away.
I was familiar with Sanderson’s work because I had read Skyward before. When I started Mistborn, I believed it would be a generic run-of-the-mill story with a young protagonist prophesied to fulfill some grand destiny, but boy, I couldn’t have been more wrong.
There are three books in the series that starts with Vin, a young orphan girl, who learns to survive on her own in the streets. She has something — a power? — that allows her to influence people’s decisions, but she does not know how to use it and can barely manage to work her magic on a select few.
Her world turns upside down when she meets Kelsier, a famed hero, who was the only person alive to have survived the torture chambers of The Lord Ruler. What Kelsier teaches her turns into the impossible quest to overthrow their evil overlord who had ruled over the entire planet for a thousand long years.
Here is a review of the series, with a special mention of all the elements that made me enjoy it so much:
Book One: “The Final Empire”
The book starts out with some epic scenes and had me hooked until the end with excellent characterization and world-building.
The magic is described in great detail, and especially interesting is the concept of a Mistborn — someone who can “burn” metals to fight, fly, run great distances quickly and influence the decisions of other people. Vin was one, but she never realized it. I am a big fan of badass women warriors, and Sanderson does an amazing job of portraying her that way.
The ending is satisfying in a way, but it leaves the reader with a lot of questions that will hopefully be answered in the next book.
I have to give a special mention to the edge-of-the-seat action sequences. The author specializes in them and throws in just enough of them to make the book a treat.
All in all, it was an amazing read. I can’t wait to delve into book two right away.
Book Two: “The Well Of Ascension”
I started the book high on expectations from “The Final Empire”. However, the first 300 or so pages failed to pack a punch. Most of them were either spent in court politics, or Vin and Elend thinking, “I’m not good enough for him/her” over and over again.
To be fair, this is the middle book in a trilogy, and middle books always focus more on setting up space for the final climax and taking the story forward.
The book is set in a new city, Luthadel, and readers have their familiar characters returning along with a few new characters being introduced, the most interesting of them being the deliciously conflicted and obviously powerful Mistborn, Zane. Reading his points of view were fun, for they had a distinctly different flavor than the rest of the book. The interactions between Zane and Vin — the two most powerful Mistborns readers are introduced to — are filled with sparks.
As I mentioned before, Sanderson specializes in fight scenes and action sequences, and this book was filled with some breath-taking ones. The last 100 pages were a pleasure to read, the powerful ending leaving me craving to start the next in the series as soon as possible. It was impeccably written. And in the end, it left readers (surprise of surprise) with a brand new Mistborn.
Book Three: “The Hero Of Ages”
What a book! What an ending to an amazing series! What action, what fight scenes, what heart-warming love and friendship!
This book brings to a fitting end all the promise and expectations the first two books set up. All threads are tied up, leading to a spectacular climax. In fact, Sanderson plays the foreshadowing game so well, that the reader gets answers to questions they themselves didn’t know they had.
The dialogue is powerful and the characters leave a mark. My favorite, of course, is Vin, but Elend is a close second. And how can one forget the valiant TenSoon and the ever-reliable Sazed?
I would strongly recommend this series to all lovers of YA fantasy. Go ahead and read it. You won’t regret the decision.
To purchase this trilogy, click here.
Stay tuned for more reviews by Anangsha Alammyan!