(Mistborn Era 1, Book 1) Book Review
Basic Plot: The Skaa people have been enslaved for decades. Beaten, raped, murdered, and worked to their deaths. Vin hides in the underground world of thieves, trying everyday to just stay alive. Kelsier, the Survivor, has had enough. He’s seen too many broken and too many wrongings to let it just continue happening. With the help of an enlisted crew with specific talents for the job, they are going to overthrow the Lord-Ruler and end his evil reign.
Wow. This was a trip honestly. I had a rough beginning with this particular Sanderson book. This is about 650 pages, depending on the format you’re reading it, and I would say for about the first 500 I felt nothing but annoyance and disconnect to the plot and characters. I felt as if it was forced when it came to the qualities I was to like about each character. Kelsier was not only sketchy, but also annoying. I wanted him to stop acting so over the top about everything and be trustworthy as he claimed to be. Vin was a real struggle, for a character who had such a terrible upbringing, she sure did come across as pretty niave. She would also constantly contradict her thoughts by acting on whims and without analyzing before doing. But, all this being said, in a typical Sanderson fashion, it all became clear in the last 100 or so pages. Everything changed. Plot twist after plot twist, character development after development. Action packed turns in the story arc combined with secrets of characters being revealed really changed this entire book for me.
I have it a 3.5 out of 5, which is probably my lowest Sanderson score but that’s because, like I said the majority was annoying. I lacked a connection to the characters and it felt like it contained too much build in plot because of this. I don’t know if I would have read this is entirely if this was instead my intro to the Cosmere. That being said though, I’m very glad I stuck through it because it really did pay off in the end and actually made me excited to continue this particular series.
