For a thousand years, the ash fell and no flowers bloomed. For a thousand years, the Skaa slaved in misery and lived in fear. For a thousand years the Lord Ruler, the "Sliver of Infinity," reigned with absolute power and ultimate terror, divinely invincible. Then, when hope was so long lost that not even its memory remained, a terribly scarred, heart-broken half-Skaa rediscovered it in the depths of the Lord Ruler's most hellish prison. Kelsier "snapped" and found in himself the powers of a Mistborn. A brilliant thief and natural leader, he turned his talents to the ultimate caper, with the Lord Ruler himself as the mark.

Kelsier recruited the underworld's elite, the smartest and most trustworthy allomancers, each of whom shares one of his many powers, and all of whom relish a high-stakes challenge. Only then does he reveal his ultimate dream, not just the greatest heist in history, but the downfall of the divine despot.

But even with the best criminal crew ever assembled, Kel's plan looks more like the ultimate long shot, until luck brings a ragged girl named Vin into his life. Like him, she's a half-Skaa orphan, but she's lived a much harsher life. Vin has learned to expect betrayal from everyone she meets, and gotten it. She will have to learn to trust, if Kel is to help her master powers of which she never dreamed.

This saga dares to ask a simple question: What if the hero of prophecy fails?

Going into Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson, I knew very little about the story. Some of my coworkers had been nagging me for months that I needed to read it. The back cover provided just enough information to pique my attention, so I bought it. 

I was immediately plunged into a world that is very bleak. From the abject subjugation of the Skaa, to the ash falling from the sky. This is a world without color, without stars. There are no flowers. Most crops struggle to survive. 

There is a stark comparison between the gritty, dirty streets and the gleaming white abodes of the nobility. The nobles can do whatever they want with the Skaa, and the Skaa can’t do a single thing about it. The brief introduction does a great job of showing just how bad this system can be. This divide gets explored in a way that shows the view from each side, as well as those who stand somewhere in the middle. 

We also get to explore the world of the Mistings and the Mistborn. I particularly enjoyed this part. The magic system is called Allomancy and it is certainly different from anything I have ever encountered before. It took a while to get used to, but with how he introduces it, it grew on me. He not only explains to us what it is, but he shows us how it works and what it feels like. 

This has to be my favorite introduction and use of a magic system I have encountered so far. It is based on metals, where ‘burning’ different metals enable you to do different things. There are a limited number of metals that can be burnt, of course, and if you burn something that isn’t pure it can be very bad for your health. 

I mentioned Mistings and Mistborn. Mistings are people who can burn a single one of the metals. They have different names based on which metal they burn. The Mistborn are those who can burn all of them. That is what the two main characters are, as well as the Lord Ruler. 

Between the intricacies of the magic system and the internal machinations of both the house politics and the movements of the rebellion, I quickly became enthralled. The narration is all in the third person, but it is not quite omniscient. It is more focused on the perspectives of the two main Mistborn, Kelsier and Vin. 

As mentioned in the description above (borrowed from Amazon), Vin very skittish and untrusting when you first meet her. It was a delight to see her grow more confident, not only in herself and her skills but also in her ability to trust those around her. Her life has been significantly harder than Kelsier’s, yet she grows so much throughout the first book I could not help but be proud of her.

This Mistborn trilogy includes three books. There is the one I read, The Well of Ascension, and The Hero of Ages. Set 300 years after that we have The Aloy of Law, Shadows of Self, and The Bands of Mourning. The next book, The Lost Metal, is set to be released later this year.

I am currently regretting the fact that I opted to buy Mistborn on its own instead of buying the trilogy box set, as I now have to go back and buy the other two. Which is going to have to wait until I have finished some of the other two dozen books I’ve bought this year.

Don’t worry though, I definitely intend on finishing this series. I can’t stand not knowing how this ends.

The rating

This is a classic fantasy series that is definitely worth reading. The magic system is unique and refreshing and created in a way that makes sense. The characters are endearing and you find yourself starting to consider them a family along with the main character. There are some very well crafted twists slipped in there that, if you’ve read it, you know exactly what I’m talking about. It’s one of those things you never see coming, yet when you get there it makes complete sense. I genuinely enjoyed reading this and cannot wait to see what happens in the Well of Ascension.