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A review by rbruehlman
The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson
4.0
After almost a year and a half, I've finally read this book! I can't joke about never finishing it anymore.
There are three types of books, in my opinion: 1) books you read to learn, 2) books you read to think, and 3) books you read to be entertained. I naturally gravitate towards 2. Mistborn is solidly in camp 3.
Ultimately, I got what I expected and came for. I asked for a book that did worldbuilding, and I got worldbuilding.
I rarely read fiction and haven't read a fantasy book since middle school or high school at least. Why not give it a shot? I love world cultures (in real life), and that extends to worldbuilding in fantasy. I loved Dragonriders of Pern in middle school, and while I did not enjoy the Harry Potter series, I do find the world of Harry Potter mildly interesting. It's like reading about a foreign culture, except it's not real. Ergo Brandon Sanderson was recommended to me as an author specializing in worldbuilding.
Was Mistborn good? The book clearly wasn't meant to make anyone think or learn anything new, just entertain, and it did a decent enough job entertaining. To be clear, it's not a work of art. The writing style is just okay, and the characters are decent-fine. The plot pacing was mildly annoying and slower than I'd liked, and the book could have been shortened by a third. Ultimately, though, what I wanted was to be mildly entertained and to be curious about the world Sanderson was building, and the book did that job handily.
Said another way, this book was like watching CSI or something--not an amazing show, but it does a serviceable job keeping you engaged for the length of the episode. You won't feel like you wasted your time, but it was also something you did to fill empty time, if that makes sense? It scratches an itch of sorts.
Will I read the sequels? Probably, although more on the merit of the fact that it feels weird to read one book of a trilogy and not finish the others--it's kind of like giving up on a book partway. I'm mildly curious about what happens, but not interested enough that I'll rush out and buy the sequels in rapid order. Maybe in a year or two, or maybe never, no rush.
If this book was a standalone, would I read other Brandon Sandrson novels? Nah. Got my fill. I don't think he's a bad author by any means, but I kind of get the sense Sanderson is like Stephen King--he writes a lot, and while none of it is bad, none of it is great either. It's fast-casual fare--you know what you are getting every time, and it's a cut above fast food, but it's not really good food.
A side note: Sanderson gets props from me for killing off one of the major characters. I love it when books do that. Plot armor sucks. I'm way more invested in stories if characters aren't sacred and I can't predict where things will go or what will happen to them.
There are three types of books, in my opinion: 1) books you read to learn, 2) books you read to think, and 3) books you read to be entertained. I naturally gravitate towards 2. Mistborn is solidly in camp 3.
Ultimately, I got what I expected and came for. I asked for a book that did worldbuilding, and I got worldbuilding.
I rarely read fiction and haven't read a fantasy book since middle school or high school at least. Why not give it a shot? I love world cultures (in real life), and that extends to worldbuilding in fantasy. I loved Dragonriders of Pern in middle school, and while I did not enjoy the Harry Potter series, I do find the world of Harry Potter mildly interesting. It's like reading about a foreign culture, except it's not real. Ergo Brandon Sanderson was recommended to me as an author specializing in worldbuilding.
Was Mistborn good? The book clearly wasn't meant to make anyone think or learn anything new, just entertain, and it did a decent enough job entertaining. To be clear, it's not a work of art. The writing style is just okay, and the characters are decent-fine. The plot pacing was mildly annoying and slower than I'd liked, and the book could have been shortened by a third. Ultimately, though, what I wanted was to be mildly entertained and to be curious about the world Sanderson was building, and the book did that job handily.
Said another way, this book was like watching CSI or something--not an amazing show, but it does a serviceable job keeping you engaged for the length of the episode. You won't feel like you wasted your time, but it was also something you did to fill empty time, if that makes sense? It scratches an itch of sorts.
Will I read the sequels? Probably, although more on the merit of the fact that it feels weird to read one book of a trilogy and not finish the others--it's kind of like giving up on a book partway. I'm mildly curious about what happens, but not interested enough that I'll rush out and buy the sequels in rapid order. Maybe in a year or two, or maybe never, no rush.
If this book was a standalone, would I read other Brandon Sandrson novels? Nah. Got my fill. I don't think he's a bad author by any means, but I kind of get the sense Sanderson is like Stephen King--he writes a lot, and while none of it is bad, none of it is great either. It's fast-casual fare--you know what you are getting every time, and it's a cut above fast food, but it's not really good food.
A side note: Sanderson gets props from me for killing off one of the major characters. I love it when books do that. Plot armor sucks. I'm way more invested in stories if characters aren't sacred and I can't predict where things will go or what will happen to them.