A review by jadejade
The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

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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