“Our belief is often strongest when it should be weakest. That is the nature of hope.”
Yes, I am ready for this big commitment. Not only for this trilogy but for the whole Cosmere series which has 17 books published till now and many yet to be released.
Naturally, I don’t gravitate towards such high action-based fantasy. Probably one of the reasons I haven’t watched the Marvel movies till I watched one. After that, it was a binge-watch for the whole Marvel Universe.
The reason I avoid such books is that they are very high on the escapism factor for me. And, consciously I tend to avoid reading books for escapism. But I guess once in a while you are bound to be trapped.
Overview
The Final Empire is the first book of the Mistborn trilogy, which is again a subset of the wider Cosmere series, which has other series and trilogies. All these books are set up in an imagined Cosmere Universe created by figments of the imagination of Brandon Sanderson. I am not very sure about how all these worlds are interrelated, as this is my first book by this author. But stay tuned to decode these mysteries along with me.
The Final Empire is ruled by Lord Tyrant who oppresses the skaa residents of this planet. Until one day, latching on hope few people come together to resist and overthrow the Final Empire.
Highlights from this book
World Building
As this is a high fantasy book and an entry point in this Universe, the initial 200 pages of the book were gone in the world-building and acquainting readers with the magic system. But since I was listening to GraphicAudio production of this book along with the text, there was never a moment for me when I was bored.
The entire world and magic system are mind-blowing and are full of possibilities. I have high hopes that Brandon Sanderson is going to take it to the next level in the following books.
Storyline
The book starts with all the classic tropes in fantasy, good vs evil, the chosen one, the repressed hero. And somehow it irks me. But trust Brandon Sanderson to deliver you the unexpected. Even though the tropes are well-known the story didn’t progress or even ended as I hoped it to be. There are so many open questions, which is a sign of a well-written debut novel for a trilogy.
The story is complete on its own and yet there are so many open threads for a sequel. It was a good respite for me as compared to my recent experience in the high fantasy genres such as Kingkiller Chronicles and A Song of Ice and Fire.
Character
There are a lot of characters in the book, but 2 which stood out are Kelsier and Vin. Kelsier’s character was clear since the beginning but Vin’s character has shown quite a growth with her struggles from PTSD. However, I didn’t like that Brandon Sanderson keep us pointing it explicitly in the text. I mean I can see it and I could have deduced that even without telling me. I loved the banter and relationship of all the crew members. Elend’s character was a little flat for me. But I hoping to see much more character development in the upcoming books.
Conclusion
This will be a long journey, albeit an interesting one. I am looking forward to other books in the series. Please join me if you wish to re-visit your memories or if you want to start the series itself.
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