The Final Empire is the first book of The Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson. This fantasy book was first published in 2006. The story was set in the mist-surrounded land of Final Empire, ruled by the immortal and all-powerful god named Lord Ruler. After centuries of oppression by Lord Ruler and its servants, a group of thieves, led by a man named Kelsier, plans a rebellion to overthrow the Final Empire and end centuries of slavery and injustice. Vin, who is a young and small-figured thief crewmember, is approached by Kelsier's group after they discover that she is a Mistborn, a person who can use Allomancy (a magic power to control metals). After years of living with betrayals and fear, Vin needs to learn how to trust other people and find her newfound place in the world as a Mistborn.
This book is simply fantastic!
The characters are all interesting and compelling. Flawed individuals with their own inner struggles who found and help each other toward a common goal. The world-building is super cool. Allomancy is particularly brilliant. It's a power system that serves not only as a way to create imaginative battle scenes but as a natural way to start and highlight the emotional conflicts between characters. It's also incomplete, enabling it to grow as the story progresses and to keep the system interesting to follow.
The history of the world is really well-crafted. The creatures, the places, the people. They're carefully revealed in small bits throughout the pages in a way that maximizes the impact of the final revelation at the very end. But it also leaves so many possibilities and rooms to explore in the sequels.
Although the book is packed with politics, philosophical debates, and social intricacies, the writer does a great job of focusing them around the characters and the central plot. Presenting big ideas within light dialogs between the characters. And of course, putting some awesome action scenes every now and then to balance out the heavier parts.
Overall, if you like fantasy stories like The Lord of The Rings or Game of Thrones, this would be a great new world for you to explore. A truly satisfying fantasy book.
