Reviews tagging 'Racism'

The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

48 reviews

jodean's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, War, Death, Classism, Murder, Violence, Blood, and Slavery

Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Racism, Grief, and Physical abuse

Minor: Body horror, Ableism, Abandonment, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture

juliachn's review

dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Rape

jadejade's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I've been wanting to start this series for a while but I bounced off this book when I first picked it up. This time I just kept going in the hopes that I would be rewarded in due course. Be warned that it is a slooow start. Although I was find the setting and characters interesting enough, I only started actually enjoying this book 158 pages in during Vin and Kelsier's carriage discussion (out of 647 pages, roughly a quarter of the way in). By the cliff-hanger at page 261 (roughly 40% mark) I realised I was all-in and <i>needed</i> to see what happens to these characters. Now that I have finished it I'm keen to keep going to the end of the series.

Despite the slow start, I do like how threads keep coming together as the story progresses, resulting in a Sanderlanche in the last 150 pages or so, where the story pace and reader interest really picks up. What really engaged me in the end were the extracts at the start of each chapter and how they tied into Vin and Kelsier's journeys.

For particularly keen readers, there are maps and annotations for this and several other works, available on Sanderson's website. My favourite comments from the author are of the vein, "This question is answered ... in Book Three. Soz."

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Death, Blood, Gore, and Racism

Minor: Slavery and Rape

strawberrytheauthor's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I loved this book. I have been scared to start Brandon Sanderson’s cosmere books but this was so good! I can’t wait to read the other two books in the trilogy. This book was written in a way that if you ignore the epilogue it could be a stand alone so there isn’t much pressure in starting it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, War, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Violence, Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gore, Grief, and Infidelity

Minor: Mental illness, Misogyny, Cursing, and Torture

missgarceau's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Torture, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Slavery, Stalking, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Child abuse, Classism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Body horror, Body shaming, Gore, Hate crime, Death, Rape, Physical abuse, Violence, and War

wormariwood's review against another edition

I was only one chapter in and already the misogyny was too much for me to handle.  I wanted to keep going but was informed that it is a topic that comes up a lot in the book, particularly in describing women being

raped

, and I just can't handle stuff like that, so I decided to drop it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Racism, and Misogyny

Moderate: Rape

eshanaran's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gore, Slavery, and Racism

The Final Empire was an overall enjoyable read. It was a bit slow in the beginning but when the plot started going it got better. Sanderson's writing feels a bit overstuffed. It was frustrating in the beginning when nothing much was happening so it felt like it took ages for events to progress. He'd describe so much and wouldn't shut up about how the magic system worked. I love a good detailed hard magic system but at some point I had a pretty good grasp on the mechanics but he kept going on and on about pushing and pulling. The second half was definitely more enjoyable than the first half which felt slow. Overall, a solid fantasy novel. The story is endlessly creative with lots of twists and turns and surprises. The characters are enjoyable and world building is detailed (a bit too much at times) and the characters are endearing. I understand why the series is so beloved. The ending was very satisfying and wrapped up well. I'll probably continue with the series but I'll wait a bit longer before picking up the next book.

phoreading's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A relaxing and enjoyable experience, especially as an audiobook. A wonderful escape into an accessible fantasy world. It does get quite dark at times, and the racism/eugenics endemic in the society of the book was upsetting. I wish this was commented on more, but the heroes' battle against the evil empire took precedence! And it was an epic battle!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Racism, Violence, Hate crime, and Forced institutionalization

arytia's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

My first glimpse into the cosmere and Sanderson‘s work in general and I absolutely loved it! I was a bit worried as it was my first high fantasy novel as well but I got right into the story. I can’t wait to see how the story will continue and how Sanderson, as an author, has grown over the years. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Rape, and War

Moderate: Racism, Misogyny, and Mental illness

Minor: Child abuse, Death of parent, Blood, Body horror, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

lauraschroniclife's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Very enjoyable. Really good world building. Great cast of characters. Fun magic system that was explained without feeling super info dumpy. This will be on my favorites for a long while. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Classism, Racism, Blood, and Gore