Book Thoughts

I picked up Brandon Sanderson’s Misborn: The Final Empire on a whim after reading the back cover. The question raised on the back cover, “What if the prophesied hero had failed to defeat the Dark Lord?” piqued my curiosity. Maybe this question appeals to “the inner darkness that every writer has.” (according to Jeff VanderMeer) I’ve always wanted to read a story where evil wins. (Because “good is dumb.” Thank you Mel Brooks) The question on the back cover turned out to be a little misleading, but as I will explain it didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the novel at all.

Sanderson introduces us to a desolate stagnant world that has been ruled by a cruel and apparently immortal Lord Ruler for over 1,000 years. Numerous volcanoes scattered across the Final Empire create ash that rains down on the land continuously. Everything is rendered in shades of brown and grey. People don’t even know that plants are supposed to be green; they laugh at this idea. At night a horrible almost sentient mist descends upon the land. All but the most hardy of adventurers dare to go out into the mists after dark.

Enter the peasant underclass - the skaa. Similar to medieval peasants and slaves, the skaa make up the majority of the population yet are brutally repressed for no apparent reason. Nobles are allowed to kill a skaa just for looking at them the wrong way. Keeping this brutal regime from being destroyed form within is the Steel Ministry with their fearsome enforcers - Steel Inquisitors.

All of this meshes together to create a vivid if depressing world. However, Sanderson has saved the best for last. Allomancy. Allomancy is a form of “magic.” I use that term lightly because there are no spells cast or mystic words uttered here. Occasionally people are born with the rare gift to “burn” ingested metals to different effects. For example, a Soother is able to swallow brass and burn it internally to calm the emotions of others around them. Usually a person is only able to use one ability. However, there are very fortunate individuals that are able to burn all of the ten metals / alloys. They are called Mistborns.

The best thing about this system of “magic” is that Sanderson bases it on physics. Some people are able to push or pull on other metals, however when they do so they still have to obey the laws of physics. Mass and direction are important. Sanderson does an excellent job of incorporating all of these things into the brilliant fight scenes without leaving the reader lost.

Back to the plot. Sanderson takes the “small group of rebels overthrowing the evil empire” trope and modifies it to fit within his universe. This is where I thought the question on the back cover was going to come into play. I thought they were going to fail in their mission. However, as you learn, the prophesied hero failed over 1,000 years ago and an impostor took his place and became the Lord Ruler. So in the end, the small group of rebels does end up destroying the evil empire, though not without repercussions.

Sanderson has created a vivid world with a unique system of magic. The story drags on a little toward the middle, but otherwise for the most part the pacing is very well done. The characters are believable, especially the main character Vin who has to learn to trust others. I want to read the rest of this series because clearly this is only the beginning.

Score: 4.5 / 5

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