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The Mistborn trilogy was Brandon Sanderson’s grand entrance to the world of adult fantasy. Elantris was his first, but it was Mistborn that really caught people’s attention, and rightfully so. The Final Empire is the first book and primarily deals with the planning and execution of a huge revolution.
A very long time ago, the Lord Ruler took over Scadrial. He’s still there, at the head of his hierarchy, as he seems to be immortal. He established two main classes of people, so divided it’s like they’re different species. The skaa are the working class, while the nobility are the ruling one. It is said the nobility are descended from those who helped the Lord Ruler rise to power and is also why some among their number are allomancers.
The magic on Scadrial operates on metal — an allomancer swallows a specific type of metal and burns it to gain power, like enhanced senses, speed, affecting others’ emotions, pulling or pushing on bits of metal to fly through the air, and even being able to see slightly into the future to react to attacks. Most allomancers can only use one metal, and thus one power, but there are some who can use all of them. They’re called mistborn.
The Final Empire follows Vin, a young woman who gets recruited into a revolutionary group to overthrow the Lord Ruler’s empire. The group wants justice for the skaa. It wants a fair government. It wants to win, and it needs Vin’s help to infiltrate the nobility and hone her newly discovered skills as a mistborn.
Rated: Moderate. There are some intense battle scenes, death, relationship problems, and a few mentions of prostitutes.
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