Review by micaelamariem - The Final Empire

micaelamariem 's review for:

The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

3.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

One of the online book clubs I joined decided to start the Mistborn trilogy this month, and I was so excited to finally get a taste of Brandon Sanderson literature. Because I drive a lot, I decided to go with the audiobook for this one, though in retrospect, I think with all the characters, hard magic system, and action scenes, physical would have been better and less confusing.

In the Final Empire, the Lord Ruler rules over all, ash continues to fall, and the Skaa population are treated like slaves. But Kelsier intends to change that. A Mistborn half-Skaa, he recruits elite allomancers to take on the most dangerous mission: take down the Lord Ruler. His secret weapon: a street-rat girl with the same powers as him, afraid to trust anyone. Will she be able to trust him in order to get the job done?

There were so many characters that it became hard to keep track of. Some of the most important ones were: Vin, Kelsier, Elend, Marsh, Sazed, and the Lord Ruler. Vin, Kelsier, and Elend were the main characters with a heavy emphasis on Vin. I appreciate the character development in these three as they learn the importance of trust vs betrayal, empathy, and wisdom. If I had to rate the characters, I'd give them an 8/10.

The atmosphere in the world is grim. It's a dystopian world covered in ash and mist while half the population are enslaved. Sure, the nobility distract themselves from this with balls and parties, but even among them, there is a cutthroat necessity to survive. I thought Sanderson did a good job at bringing out these themes of survival vs love through the environment. The worldbuilding develops a hard magic system that is very well thought out, though a bit dull or heavy for some readers. (It's me--I'm some readers. I'm sorry! I appreciate all the work he put it in this, but I really don't like going through each specific metal and what they do and their drawbacks. It takes away from the plot.) If I had to rate atmosphere, it would be 6/10.

Despite the hard magic system, the writing style was evocative and compelling. Told in Vin's and Kelsier's (and occasionally Elend's) third person perspective, we as readers could fully grasp each character's motivations and how those change or adapt over the course of the book. Though Sanderson switches between perspectives, he's also able to hold back enough detail to keep the mystery going until the plot twist--and there were definitely parts near the end that had me gasping. There were also plenty of action scenes that made the book seem more fast-paced, and he also sprinkled in some witty dialogue to keep the comic relief going. Writing style rating: 10/10

Plot-wise, the book is also compelling. I'm a sucker for any dystopian rebellion story, though, which might make me biased. What I especially loved was the balance of action scenes and budding romance--all knit together with the aforementioned witty dialogue. I did, however, think there were too many scenes where the assembled crew simply sat around and talked and made plans. This part to me was dull, but at the same time, it could also symbolize their closeness to the nobles who would sit and philosophize, or provide opportunity for the crew to build trust and relationships with each other, so I understand the necessity. Still, it brings down my rating of plot just a little to an 8/10.

Intrigue was one of the best components of the book. There were many reveals towards the end that had my mouth gaping. There are still questions that need to be answered in the next two books of the trilogy, like questions about Vin's power, the mists themselves, and a new budding religion. Intrigue: 10/10

Though it took me time to get used to the heavy worldbuilding, hard magic system, and multitude of characters, I really ended up enjoying this book. I think part of my drawback was listening to an audiobook--and one with only one narrator at that. I think I would have been able to follow along easier with the text in front of me, which is what I'll probably do for the rest of the series. Enjoyment rating? 7/10.

Overall, I'd give this book a 3.5 star rating, round up to 4 on Goodreads. I fully expect the subsequent books to be higher rated and me to slowly become a Sanderson fangirl.

Content Warnings