Reviews

Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

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donothing66's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

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

4.0

For me was missing a lovable ness to the characters a sence of friendship I guess - it’s does improve in books 2 and now by book 3 I am fond of the characters but I wouldn’t cry over them

grahamark4's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

Good plot. interesting magic system. Sanderson is a master of magic and plot but character and dialogue remain challenging for him.

jaycube26's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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? Yes

4.0

brisingr's review against another edition

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2.0

LATER EDIT: 2 stars. the more i think about this book, the bitter i turn.

I don't even know where to start. The story is pretty common, or well, it's basic idea: a group of rebels is trying to overthrow the horrible tyrant that is ruling the world. But this is where it all ends and where The Final Empire becomes an unique and impressive book. The world presented is new and weird, and yet, still amazing and pretty much great. It does seem horrible in it's dark colors, brown plants with no flowers and mist-filled nights and in it's black city, filled with corruption and mistreated population (called skaa). But the magic system kicks in and it is amazing: you just swallow metals and every metal, when burned, gives you a special ability. The explanations given from the author are quite clear and once you're getting familiar with the terms, it becomes a very cinematic experience to read about the action here.

Ok, first thing first: every chapter starts with a passage from a lobgook/diary and those were probably one of my favorite parts from the whole book. They're real and human and close to the doubts and thoughts of a normal person - it feels honest and raw.

The crew of people who are planning the rebellion is amazing! They're fun, their relationship comes very natural and it was such a pleasure to read the parts where they were interacting. Personal favorite: Kelsier, the head of said crew, whom you really cannot help loving. He's having such a friendly and easy-going and life-loving atitude, despite every bad thing in the life of (literally) every skaa.

Vin, on the other side, it's a whole other bussiness. I feel quite bad saying this, since she is... probably the main character of the series, but I just couldn't stand her! I don't exactly have real reasons as why not, she's simply not my type of character, I disliked her actions and her way of thinking and mostly everything she said (+ timing) made me roll my eyes. Though, the book is written in such a way that you can't exactly not root for her. Oh, well. I must admit though that, until the end, she started growing on me and she also grew up a lot, becoming much more likeable, in my point of view (but I still don't particulary like her).

Ok, so I've read a lot of reviews for this book and every single one was like "omg, plot twists whaaat" and I have to say that I was not very impressed at first. At some point, I was actually thinking of simply dropping reading this book because it was dragging boringly and I was annoyed at most things (thanks god I had Kelsier to get me through that period).

Now I kind of appreciate how the book started a little bit slow, giving us a whole view on the way the Lord Ruler governs and on how political issues are working in his empire and then just boomed everything. It was quite an action-packed book, but not particulary fast-paced, which here only helped dragging the story more and more.

I did have some problems with some of the themes in the book and I am still very, very disappointed by my lack of love towards any female character. Though that might the problem with me. The story is smartly built and the last thing I can do is appreciate how things were wrapped up very nicely.

Later edit: But as time passed since I first read this book, I have no interest whatsover in continuing the series. The question it posed at the end of this volume aren't enough to make me get over my dislike of Vin or all the other characters that are not Kelsier and no matter how interesting a world Sanderson brings to life, if he can't give me female characters, then I'm out.

ibokensvarld's review against another edition

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3.0

Jag debatterar med mig själv vad jag egentligen tycker om The final empire och vilket betyg som är rimligt…

Magin är unikt och välgenomtänkt, fantasivärlden är intressant men ändå är det saker som skaver. Boken höll bara mitt intresse i korta perioder där jag kände att ”nu äntligen lossnar det, nu börjar det hända saker”. Då och då skumlästes vissa delar när intresset dalade, dessemellan blev boken liggandes och var svår att plocka upp igen.

Sammanfattningsvis är jag besviken. Det är min första bok Brandon Sanderson och allt jag har hört och läst om honom kan jag inte se i boken jag nyss har läst. Vad jag hoppas på nu när att resten av böckerna räddar serien eller att någon av hans andra serier faller mig bättre i smaken.

Betyg: ⭐️⭐️⭐️