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Title: Mistborn
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Genre: Anti-epic fantasy
Thingummies: 4
Synopsis: A thousand years ago, a prophesied hero embarked on a heroic quest to save the world from evil. It...didn't go as planned. Now, the Lord Ruler has held the world in an icy grip for a millenium, keeping most people as slaves and blanketing the land in ash. A fledgling thief discovers she has strange powers, and is offered a chance to join a group of rogues who have a plan for the greatest caper of all time: to bring down the Lord Ruler. Honor failed to save the world--but maybe a con can.
Thoughts: I feel like there's been a burst of post-modern epic fantasy in the last few years. While this could not be more different in tone from Jacqueline Carey's Banewreaker, the idea of playing with the conventions of the genre by turning it on its head has become rather popular of late. I don't want to go into too much depth here--Sanderson has set up a couple clever surprises I would hate to ruin. But this is a fun look at a world where the efforts to fulfill the ancient prophesy failed to save the world from evil.
Sanderson's style definitely matures from Elantris, which I found innovative but clumsy. He's acquired a more deft touch with character development, among other things. Again, he's done some interesting work with world-building and has a creative (if not mind-blowing) magic system that basically hangs together.
OK, now I really do have to go into some spoilers. Also, there are some questions at the end that mean that any comments are probably also going to involve spoilers.
SPOILERS OH NOES: I really have to appreciate how neatly this ended, which in and of itself was surprising for the first book of the trilogy. It plays nicely with the expectations of the genre. I figured they'd score a minor victory, learn an important lesson about themselves, and perhaps have someone die. Then in book 2, they'd go on a protracted side quest that ultimately prepared them for the big showdown against the Lord Ruler in book 3. Well, we had important lessons and the Death of the Mentor, but I was surprised and pleased that they neatly killed off the Lord Ruler and set up a new government. Not easily, but not requiring a book and a half of questing after the Eleventh Metal which is deep in the mines of Moria on the other side of the Endless Sea. But, as this series is about how getting everything you want never actually helps, there's some nice ominous hints that they've actually created a bigger problem than they started with. I suspect--and don't spoil me!--he won't have Carey's guts to actually end the series as a tragedy, though. (Not that I necessarily want that, just that it would tie in well to his theme.)
There was some fridge logic that annoyed me, which is why this isn't getting a five. A couple questions, some of which might get answered later in the series and allow me to reevaluate:
- Are the Inquisitors using Feruchemy? Don't you have to be a Terrisman to get that to work? They're breaking the rules, and it's never really explained how.
- Why the heck did the Lord Ruler keep the damn diary? Seriously, dude, read the Evil Overlord list.
- How did Kelsier figure out the Eleventh Metal thing? Did I miss where they tell us about this? Sazed doesn't know anything about it. Kelsier didn't find anything useful in his first raid on the palace, and doesn't seem to have picked up the knowledge in the mines, either. Vin speculates it's an alloy, but how did Kell know to make it? Or where did he get it? Why is he convinced it's the right alloy, since it doesn't ever do anything for him?
There are other questions, too, that I have more faith will get answered in the later series, like why (if nobles and skaa really are just alike) Allomancers have to have a direct genetic link to a noble family. But those seem to be the kinds of things that will be major plot points later. The ones above are major plot points now--I feel like you should try to resolve the "hows" of your book's major plot points in the same book, and leave just the loose threads for tying up in the sequels.
Still, a fun read. Clever, fast-paced, engaging, and involving blessedly few treks through the haunted swamp that was once the site of a great battle.
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Genre: Anti-epic fantasy
Thingummies: 4
Synopsis: A thousand years ago, a prophesied hero embarked on a heroic quest to save the world from evil. It...didn't go as planned. Now, the Lord Ruler has held the world in an icy grip for a millenium, keeping most people as slaves and blanketing the land in ash. A fledgling thief discovers she has strange powers, and is offered a chance to join a group of rogues who have a plan for the greatest caper of all time: to bring down the Lord Ruler. Honor failed to save the world--but maybe a con can.
Thoughts: I feel like there's been a burst of post-modern epic fantasy in the last few years. While this could not be more different in tone from Jacqueline Carey's Banewreaker, the idea of playing with the conventions of the genre by turning it on its head has become rather popular of late. I don't want to go into too much depth here--Sanderson has set up a couple clever surprises I would hate to ruin. But this is a fun look at a world where the efforts to fulfill the ancient prophesy failed to save the world from evil.
Sanderson's style definitely matures from Elantris, which I found innovative but clumsy. He's acquired a more deft touch with character development, among other things. Again, he's done some interesting work with world-building and has a creative (if not mind-blowing) magic system that basically hangs together.
OK, now I really do have to go into some spoilers. Also, there are some questions at the end that mean that any comments are probably also going to involve spoilers.
SPOILERS OH NOES: I really have to appreciate how neatly this ended, which in and of itself was surprising for the first book of the trilogy. It plays nicely with the expectations of the genre. I figured they'd score a minor victory, learn an important lesson about themselves, and perhaps have someone die. Then in book 2, they'd go on a protracted side quest that ultimately prepared them for the big showdown against the Lord Ruler in book 3. Well, we had important lessons and the Death of the Mentor, but I was surprised and pleased that they neatly killed off the Lord Ruler and set up a new government. Not easily, but not requiring a book and a half of questing after the Eleventh Metal which is deep in the mines of Moria on the other side of the Endless Sea. But, as this series is about how getting everything you want never actually helps, there's some nice ominous hints that they've actually created a bigger problem than they started with. I suspect--and don't spoil me!--he won't have Carey's guts to actually end the series as a tragedy, though. (Not that I necessarily want that, just that it would tie in well to his theme.)
There was some fridge logic that annoyed me, which is why this isn't getting a five. A couple questions, some of which might get answered later in the series and allow me to reevaluate:
- Are the Inquisitors using Feruchemy? Don't you have to be a Terrisman to get that to work? They're breaking the rules, and it's never really explained how.
- Why the heck did the Lord Ruler keep the damn diary? Seriously, dude, read the Evil Overlord list.
- How did Kelsier figure out the Eleventh Metal thing? Did I miss where they tell us about this? Sazed doesn't know anything about it. Kelsier didn't find anything useful in his first raid on the palace, and doesn't seem to have picked up the knowledge in the mines, either. Vin speculates it's an alloy, but how did Kell know to make it? Or where did he get it? Why is he convinced it's the right alloy, since it doesn't ever do anything for him?
There are other questions, too, that I have more faith will get answered in the later series, like why (if nobles and skaa really are just alike) Allomancers have to have a direct genetic link to a noble family. But those seem to be the kinds of things that will be major plot points later. The ones above are major plot points now--I feel like you should try to resolve the "hows" of your book's major plot points in the same book, and leave just the loose threads for tying up in the sequels.
Still, a fun read. Clever, fast-paced, engaging, and involving blessedly few treks through the haunted swamp that was once the site of a great battle.
