Set in Brandon Sanderson’s universe, The Cosmere, Mistborn is a slow-paced, but fantastic take on the common heist plot.
By | Aiden Diaz
Having been a diehard fantasy lover for the past seventeen years of my life, I can confidently say that Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn: The Final Empire is a worthy read for the genre.
At first glance, Mistborn may look like an average high-fantasy book, but even with the core idea of the story being that of a popular trope, Sanderson manages to subvert expectations multiple times with his writing.
He manages to flip the “prophesied hero” trope on its head when Vin, Kelsier, and the rest of the uprising have to pick up the remains of said hero’s failure. Throughout this, Sanderson manages to create a perfectly natural student-mentor relationship, sprinkling hints of romance throughout.
He’s able to skilfully make use of his character’s interactions to create a gripping narrative storyline.
Sanderson isn’t all about fantasy. Not at all. Sure, it’s fantastic to see an underdog and a “new hero” overthrow an empire with the use of grounded, practised magic, but Mistborn is so much more than that.
At its heart, it’s a story about overcoming oneself and trauma.
Nobody in the world of Mistborn can be trusted—betrayals happen at any moment, and relationships are superficial. It’s the idea of overcoming this pernicious worldview that makes this book worth the read.
I, myself, have never read Sanderson in my life, but after reading the first of this trilogy, I cannot lie that he’s made a new fan out of me.
Fantastic work, Sanderson. And I’ll be reading your latest work next.