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A review by nincrony1
The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I found the first half of The Final Empire a little clunky; this is an early (but beloved) novel from Sanderson and he clearly had a lot of ideas to cram in there. So in between setting up the world, the characters, the magic system and the dual storylines (high-octane Mistborn action and high society infiltration), there’s a lot to keep up with along with some early Sanderson prose issues (I defend Sanderson’s prose for the most part but you can tell this is an early book). All that said, it does slowly start to gel together and I found myself getting caught up in the story, especially with the Sanderlanche kicks in for the final third.
I remember finding Kelsier a little insufferable when I first tried to read this about a decade ago - mostly for his blunt black-and-white worldview - but that’s precisely the point. He’s a complex character; a lot to admire and to condemn about him. It’s ultimately Vin, who grows into a combination of things that Kelsier could never become, who is ultimately able to defeat the Final Empire. It’s a great arc and she’s a definite favourite of the Cosmere for me. Though I can see overlap with Shallan from Stormlight and I personally think his honed craft to explore the duality of different characters in one person is handled more deftly there.
Still I’m glad to have finally read The Final Empire and I’m doing something I don’t do too often and that’s go right to the next book in a series without having a palette cleanser in between.
I remember finding Kelsier a little insufferable when I first tried to read this about a decade ago - mostly for his blunt black-and-white worldview - but that’s precisely the point. He’s a complex character; a lot to admire and to condemn about him. It’s ultimately Vin, who grows into a combination of things that Kelsier could never become, who is ultimately able to defeat the Final Empire. It’s a great arc and she’s a definite favourite of the Cosmere for me. Though I can see overlap with Shallan from Stormlight and I personally think his honed craft to explore the duality of different characters in one person is handled more deftly there.
Still I’m glad to have finally read The Final Empire and I’m doing something I don’t do too often and that’s go right to the next book in a series without having a palette cleanser in between.