Mistborn: The Final Empire

I will freely admit I only picked up Sanderson's works to see who was the man that would finish Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. I had noticed his books before but they didn't appeal to me enough to buy one. When I did read his first novel Elantris a while ago I found I don't quite agree with Justin's opinion of the novel. Elantris was entertaining but certainly didn't break any new ground. The writing showed some flaws as well. After reading it I though Sanderson would have to raise the level to please Jordan's readers. I must admit that Sanderson had made some progress since Elantris. Mistborn does not, as Tor, claims turn the genre upside down, but it is a good read none the less. I promise to shut up about Jordan from this point on. It would not be fair to Sanderson to look at this book only in the light of how good a job he will do finishing A Memory of Light. Even if that is what made me pick Mistborn: The Final Empire up in the first place.

Mistborn is set in a world that has been ruled for the last thousand years by a despotic god-like creature known as the Lord Ruler. He has gained power and founded the Final Empire in an event known as the Ascension, a final confrontation between good and evil with the fate of the world hanging in the balance. This event has since faded to legend but it is quite clear the good guys didn't win. The world is a dark place, the ash veiled sun barely gives enough light to sustain a the perpetually brown-leafed vegetation. At night a mist envelopes the world and the creatures that roam through it are said to be ruthless killers. Most of the population is enslaved and works at the edge of starvation to sustain a small group of nobles, who in turn are suffered by the Lord Rules as long as they provide him with enough taxes and services. This small elite keeps in power mostly though the use of allomancy, the magic of the Mistborns. By burning certain metals they enhance certain physical attributes, making them more dangerous and more powerful than ordinary people. Not that displays of power have been necessary lately. Dissidents and rebels have long since been slaughtered, there is but one religion left, the worship of the Lord Ruler. Life is cheap under the Lord Ruler's tyranny. The world is not a nice place to live in.

Not quite everybody is willing to accept the way of the world though. Kelsier is a man with a dark past, a man who has lost at the hands of the Lord Ruler. His wife, his freedom and almost his life. Yet an act of love and self-sacrifice has changed his outlook on life. He has done the impossible and escaped from the pit he was supposed to die in. Kelsier refused to let hope die. Several years on he is using his considerable allomantic powers to help a fledgling rebellion achieve a position from which they can strike at the Lord Ruler. The task is complicated, the risk enormous but Kelsier beliefs it can be done. A belief strengthened by him finding Vin. A young girl destined for a life of poverty among the capital's thieves and beggars. Without knowing what she is doing she has discovered her allomantic powers and uses them to help her gang or thieves be more successful. Unfortunately that talent draws unwanted attention. Before the authorities can get their hands on Vin though Kelsier snatches her away from her miserable life and trains her. Without realizing it, Vin turns into an essential part of their operation, the element that may be decisive in their attempt to overthrow the Lord Ruler's Regime.

Like in Elantris Sanderson introduces a fairly rigid system of magic. It has clear rules but parts of it seem to be missing. I enjoyed this aspect of the novel quite a lot but you do have to remember to forget your chemistry lessons as soon as you open the book. If not you'll probably end up in the following train of thought. The power of an allomancer depends on "burning" small bits of various metals they have ingested. Some of the metals they ingest are toxic, certainly in large quantities over longer periods of time. Allomancers don't suffer ill effect though, if they burn off the excess metal in their stomach. This seems like a violation of the law of conversation of mass to me, unless you apply special relativity. Maybe they have invented cold fission ;) He also doesn't explain why allomancers are not chronically anaemic. And, since I have put suspension of disbelieve overboard altogether in this paragraph, why use a non existing metal? The periodic table is full of them, it doesn't seem necessary. I have been reading too much hard SF lately I guess but as you can see there is something to be said for keeping your magical systems deliberately vague. Much easier to suspend disbelief that way. Without getting any further into the mechanics of this magic, the rules he sets up are clear and consistently used throughout the book. Magic does not provide a deus ex machina ending in this book.

I thought Sanderson's characterization has improved a bit too compared to Elantris. Vin in particular is a well rounded character. She is obviously talented, but also inexperienced and naive at the right moment. Sanderson walks a fine line with her but he manages to keep her from appearing to be superhuman. Her childhood was far from pleasant and she shows scars that only slowly fade. Certainly a fitting heroine for this story. What the book misses is a point of view of one of the villains though. We get to see the entire story from the point of view of those who try to overthrow the empire, the motivation of the bad guys themselves remains unclear. Although at the end it becomes obvious that this is something Sanderson will deal with in the remaining two books in this trilogy. In a way it is a shame he didn't incorporate some of it in this book, it is what keeps Mistborn: The Final Empire from being a good stand alone fantasy. Then again, that was not what Sanderson was aiming for.

As I mentioned before Tor presents this as a fantasy novel that turns the genre upside down. That's nonsense. Evil empires fall left and right in modern fantasy so presumably they must rise at some point as well. This first Mistborn novel is not a ground breaking fantasy, it will not change the genre or draw in lots of new readers. For those comfortably with the genre and looking for a good fantasy novel this book would not be a bad choice though. It is not particularly challenging but certainly well written and Sanderson leaves a number of interesting questions unanswered for the next book in the series. This, combined with the fact that Sanderson delivers a better book than his début novel made me decide to read the next one as well. Mistborn: the Final Empire is a good start to what promises to be a solid fantasy trilogy. I will be reviewing Mistborn: the Well of Ascension next month.

P.S.

Sanderson is one of the authors who have fully embraced the internet. For those who are interested in more background material on this novel he provides chapter by chapter annotations on his website. Personally I wouldn't recommend getting into those before reading the novel but the author does very carefully avoid spoilers to future chapters.

Other Reviews of works by Brandon Sanderson

The Well of Ascension - Jul 31, 2008

Elantris - Nov 26, 2005