Book notes: Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson

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Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

Synopsis:

“From number one New York Times best-selling author Brandon Sanderson, the Mistborn series is a heist story of political intrigue and magical, martial-arts action.

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?” -Amazon

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Opening thoughts:

I heard of this author when he was featured on the Tim Ferriss podcast and was intrigued by his story. Apparently, this book is one of his best sellers, so I figured I might as well start with this one.

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Key notes:

Part One: The Survivor of Hathsin

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

• Kelsier told Vin that she was an extremely rare “Mistborn” with access to all 8 powers

Chapter 4

• The job they were working on was overthrowing the Final Empire, or at least the government

Chapter 5

• Kelsier used his powers to rob one of the most fortified noble houses of loot and Atium, one of the rare metals

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

• Vin still wasn’t trusting of anyone or Kelsier, but she told him she’d stay because she wants to see what happens
• For her part in the plan, she would pose as an upcoming noblewoman and be a spy

Part Two: Rebels Beneath a Sky of Ask

Chapter 9

• He had been training Vin for a few months, and she was making fantastic progress controlling her powers in a fight 
• Her studies in being a fake noblewoman were progressing well
• Kelsier noted how talented she was in allomancy and how instinctual it was for her. Also, how clever, intelligent, and how fast she picked up things

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

• They discovered that the entire crew Vin used to be on was tortured and killed publicly

Chapter 12

• She was tempted to leave the crew with the money, goods, and new skills she had so far. But what kept her was that she wanted to see if this trust between the crew could last and be successful in their mission
• She attended her first ball and ran into a young lord named Elend

Chapter 13

• She followed Kelsier, but eventually he caught her and confronted her. She was determined to help him as a Mistborn and hone her own powers
• He showed her the power of Atium and prepared her on how and when to use it 

Chapter 14

• Her and Kelsier were ambushed by Inquisitors and Vin barely managed to escape with the help of someone else

Chapter 15

• Sazed managed to rescue and patch up Vin and bring her back to the hideout
• Kelsier also mentioned how he has a feeling they need to get rid of the Lord Ruler if their plan is to succeed, though he’s been described as unkillable
  • He suspects the 11th metal and the room he tried to get in to holds the key

Part Three: Children of a Bleeding Sun

Chapter 16

• A Keeper is one who stores things for the future

Chapter 17

• Kelsier told Vin about how his late wife possibly betrayed him and that he still loved her. Also how he snapped and got his powers the night she died
• He wants to achieve this crazy plan to help make his wife’s dream come true to make the flowers grow again and heal the world

Chapter 18

• Sazed warned Vin that Elend Venture’s rude behavior was just to annoy his family and use her
• She attended another ball and gained more intel by dancing with other young lords

Chapter 19

• He was right to suspect that Vin would start to fall for the young lord, and explicitly warned her to stay away from him as it will jeopardize the mission and her crew

Chapter 20

• She trained with Marsh on bronze allomancy and then they exchanged thoughts on their history and on Kelsier’s plan

Chapter 21

• He visited the troops in the cave in order to boost morale

Chapter 22

• Dockson confronted Vin about her thoughts that some noble people were redeemable and not all horrible, but she realized she was slowing being duped into not seeing how horribly they treat Skaa as not people

Chapter 23

Reader’s note: Right now Vin is divulging a little bit too much to Elend. It’s so frustrating how he’s the rich and flirty nobleman at the top of the hierarchy and yet she thinks he’s the only redeemable one. It seems like either such a cliché trope, which is annoying, or she’s being tricked and is being very stupid right now and jeopardizing the entire mission

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

• They ran at a break neck piece and speed for 16 hours straight, which was maddening for her
• Kelsier reflected with the old man who was one of the 2000 survivors about what had happened and how the 5000 other men got killed

Part Four: Dancers in a Sea of Mist

Chapter 26

• Then pointed out her father, to whom the crew identified as the leader of the obligator’s and technically higher ranked than the inquisitors 
• They watched the public executions of innocent Skaa, and Kelsier revealed he was more determined to win. That the plan can still work with some adjustments

Chapter 27

• Kelsier and Vin met with Marsh in secret to get information from him as he was undercover with the Obligators 

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

• Sazed commented how people are very resilient
  • Our belief is often strongest when it should be weakest. That is the nature of hope

Chapter 30

Reader’s note: I’m kind of disappointed in her for not wanting these frivolous and superfluous shows of wealth during these balls to continue when there is so much classicism and a start contrast to how the Skaa live. She’s going to miss all these pompous parties and it makes me disappointed in her and seeing how dumb it all is. It’s all just show and so unimportant

Reader’s note: OK, now I am completely disgusted in her for chasing after Elend, even after he’s rejecting her and telling her that his house is more important than her and they could never be. And she’s still reaching out to him and calling for him. I really hope she learns her lesson and never tries to pursue a guy like him again

Reader’s note: I hate how she’s going to jeopardize her own safety and the entire safety of the crew in order to save Elend just because she admitted she loves him even though he’s clearly not worth it. He does not care about her anymore. It is completely frustrating and annoying for her character

• She managed to interrupt his assassination and escaped two Mistborn. She miraculously was able to kill one of them who was actually Shan, the ex fiancé who was always bullying her

Chapter 31

• After her outburst in front of the crew in the kitchen, her and Kelsier chatted on the roof. She shared with him what she knew
• They experimented and proved that some strong elements can see through copper smoke and sense people. This proved her theory that his wife probably most likely didn’t betray him
• Elend found out that Valette was a Skaa. He also found out that the ruckus from earlier was actually an assassination attempt on his life

Chapter 32

• Trust is a willful division where you shut off the voice about betrayal
• Marsh was found dead. Dockson also mentioned that he learned that there is a rift between the inquisitors and the obligator’s
• The Inquisitors are somehow more powerful but it’s a secret that nobody knows
• With Marsh dead, Kelsier told the crew to abandon their hideout and look out and regroup later. He however, would strike back

Chapter 33

• Kelsier ended up destroying the Atium mines thereby disrupting the Empire’s economy for a few hundred years
• Kelsier jumped into action to try and free the prisoners though it was a trap and there was an Inquisitor waiting
• Kelsier distracted him so that him could gather reinforcements and free the prisoners.

Chapter 34

• Kelsier managed to kill an Inquisitor and inspire the others. However, the Lord Ruler started to head over and used his powers to depress everyone’s emotions
• The Lord ruler killed Kelsier in one blow before leaving

Part Five: Believers in a Forgotten World

Chapter 35

• What is belief and what is faith if you don’t continue it after failure?
• They soon discovered that Kelsier had a plan to continue with the crew after his death. Everyone had a roll except for Vin, who Kelsier left her a message telling her he’s sorry
  • She decided to become the new Empire’s assassin

Chapter 36

• Vi infiltrated the room by disabling two Inquisitors and saw the real Lord Ruler. She then got captured and was forced to burn all of her medals, leaving her defenseless
• The Lord Ruler forced Vin to confess that the Lord Obligator was her father, and then he was murdered by the Inquisitors

Chapter 37

• Elend surrendered to the crew and told them that he can take care of the Noble houses while they focus their rebellion against the ministry and Lord Ruler
• The Inquisitor told her that her brother resisted immense torture and claimed that Vin had died from starvation so that they wouldn’t chase after her

Reader’s note: So it’s good that Sazed helped Vin escape and Elend also assisted, but I hate that now she’s hanging onto him and is madly in love with him just because he came back. I hate this love subplot so much.

Chapter 38

• Vin realized that when she burned the 11th metal, it revealed that the Lord ruler was actually the Terrisman who was the assistant to the actual Lord Ruler in the logbook
  • He killed him and took his place in the cave and the power before taking over the world. That’s why the man in the logbook sounded so much more different than the current Lord Ruler.
• It turned out that Marsh was alive and had himself turned into an Inquisitor. This way he was able to kill all the other Inquisitors, and it gave Vin a chance to barely survive against the LordRuler
  • She killed him by ripping out the metal bracelets on his upper arm with the last bit of her strength which caused him to age quickly and die
• In Kelsier’s honor, they stabbed the spear through the Lord Ruler’s heart and killed him

Epilogue

• They suspected that the Lord Ruler was a hybrid of both Allomancer and Feruchemist. That’s why there was strict breeding rules so that no one could challenge him
• They suspected that Allomancy was born from the mists and started after the person in the logbook went into the cave

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Closing thoughts:

Even though it started off a bit slow, by the time the story got to Vin learning about and honing her powers, it got really good. This may be one of my top 10 favorite Fantasy/Fiction books of all time. I can see why Brandon Sanderson is a renouned author and very successful.

My biggest gripe is clearly the romance subplot with Vin and Elend. I feel like not only is he and their love such a cringy cliche, but also she definitely did not need him at all. She could have been a badass character, and those two could have just been good, platonic friends who work together to topple the old Empire and form a new one. And of course the tall, rich, handsome noble with the most status becomes “redeemable” even though he’s such a jerk at first. I hate it so much.

But otherwise, highly recommend this book if you’re a fan of this genre. I myself can’t wait to pick up the next book in the series.

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Nutshell:

Vin, who recently learns she’s a rare “Mistborn” with supernatural powers, joins a Skaa rebellion crew in hopes of overthrowing the corrupt Final Empire.

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Similar books:

• The Sandman by Neil Gaiman
• Good Omens by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
• Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A Heinlein
• Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
• The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
• A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

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Rating:

4.5/5

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