Brandon Sanderson “The Final Empire“ Mistborn Book One

Brandon Sanderson is an American author specialising in high fantasy novels that are characterised by the epic nature of their settings, characters and plots. In 2006 the first book in the Mistborn trilogy was published and became a bestseller. Brandon Sanderson has received several awards for his fiction.

Meet the Final Empire and its capital Luthadel, where the Lord Ruler, who once saved the world from destruction, has reigned over his people for centuries – invincible and immortal. His rule, however, is a regime of terror. Together with the noble families he suppresses the majority of the population – the Skaa, who slave away, weak and starving, an easy prey for the rulers.

The Final Empire is an almost barren country, there are no flowers, everything is grey due to a continuous downfall of volcanic ash, which covers everything. At night strange mists creep through the cities.

In these bleak times one Skaa, Kelsier, has escaped the Lord Ruler’s prison mines and decides to team up with the leader of the Skaa rebellion to overthrow the regime. He works with a team of close friends and includes Vin, an orphaned young girl who was formerly part of a thieving gang.

Kelsier teaches Vin to develop her magical abilities because like him Vin is a Mistborn, an allomancer, a person who can burn metals inside her body thereby attaining superhuman powers for a short period of time. These burnt metals can sharpen her senses, increase her speed, influence other people and fly through the air.

Vin’s main mission, however, is to act as a spy for the rebellion by attending the balls of the nobility and gather useful information – which she does and in addition, she falls for the heir of the most important house – Lord Elend who does not seem to fit into the noble society.

Although there are many drawbacks, the rebellion gathers speed and the final confrontation in the Lord Ruler’s Tower bring some nasty as well as some pleasant surprises.

„The Final Empire“ introduces the reader to a fantastic universe. Besides Mistbornes, there are Keepers, who are able to store information about the history and traditions of their people, Mistings, who can burn only one metal, Ferruchemists and Kandras – creatures that can assume a person’s exact shape provided they have absorbed their body. These fantastic beings add to the appeal of the book which is a real page turner.

A thrilling read for fantasy lovers!

Prof. Münzer-Jordan