By Ava Shaffer
In this epic tale of thieves and lords, plots and schemes, and hope and fear, this fantasy answers the question “What if the Chosen One failed to defeat the Dark Lord?” Combine the talents of a teenage street-urchin, a charismatic ringleader, and a band of wise-cracking thieves, and you have the core make-up of Mistborn. This fantasy world riddled with Allomancy magic, clever characters, and courtly politics chronicles the journey of a hodgepodge rebel crew as they work to overthrow a dystopian emperor, The Lord Ruler. By equally embracing fantasy tropes we all know and love while simultaneously spinning those familiarities on their head, Mistborn cements itself as a modern fantasy classic.
Read This Book If You…
Have read/watched Game of Thrones
Love found family dynamics
Need a bit of humor to spice up your epic fantasy
Appreciate a mix of politics, magic, and compelling characters
So I did it! I have stepped forth into the addicting, fantastical, 600+ page novel-wielding rabbit hole of Brandon Sanderson books! As I have started going back to my roots as a reader and reading more fantasy again, I knew I wanted to begin the new year by embarking upon the journey of the Cosmere universe. For those who don’t know, the Cosmere is the overall universe that a majority of Brandon Sanderson’s fantasy books take place in, with 60 books currently making up the world. I read extensively online which books to start with, and I was told the Mistborn series was the way to go. One quick trip to Books-a-Million to buy the mass-market editions of the Mistborn trilogy later, and here we are!
I’ll start by saying I had very high expectations for this book, and it met those expectations easily within the first 20 pages! The world of Mistborn is so fascinating and easy to fall into, it’s a reader's escapism dream. And the world of this is just so grand, from the glamorous noble court scenes, to the intricate politics, to the life of a thief on the streets, I was entranced by every new corridor this story led me down.
“Plots behind plots, plans behind plans. There was always another secret.”
I loved the world-building within this story and how we are slowly introduced to the magic system along with Vin, a sixteen year old girl raised as a thief on the streets of Luthadel. It is evident Sanderson understands this world and its elements so well, and equally understands how to communicate that to the reader in both an effective and entertaining manner. Overall, this world and the characters within it felt so real to me, it was impossible not to care about what happens on the next page.
The characters had to be some of my favorite parts of this story. The narrative mainly follows Vin and Kelsier, a charismatic rebel leader, in a third person point of view, which was a smart choice because both of these characters were so wonderful to read about. Equally resourceful, smart, funny, and full of heart, I was glad to spend the time with Vin and Kelsier.
I also loved all of the side characters in Mistborn! The fun banter between the crew really built all of their personalities and portrayed their found-family dynamics in such a heartwarming and natural way. In particular, I loved all of the scenes with Breeze, Sazed, and Spook. The character developments in this story felt so earned because as a reader you get to spend so much time with them (600 pages of time, understandably) and grow to care for them so much. And obviously I loved Elend. You can’t put a snarky noble heir with a heart of gold and a penchant for reading books at parties in a story and not expect me to love him. (His meet-cute with Vin was one for the books, truly.)
Sanderson is a master at inserting small clues within the story so subtly and seamlessly, having them connect at the perfect time later in the book, he could give the Soothers within this story a run for their money. The mystery and intrigue of the way this story unravels, along with its immaculate world-building and interesting characters you root for, made this book an exciting and rewarding read. I found the themes of belief and hope within Mistborn to be the perfect premise to tell this epic story on. I’m excited to continue reading books in the Cosmere universe, and am glad to have started 2024 with this one!
“Our belief is often strongest when it should be weakest. That is the nature of hope.”
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