Is Mistborn my new favorite novel?

Last night I finished Mistborn, The Final Empire. And I have to say: I loved it! If it’s not my new favorite story it’s very close.

As I teased last time, this is my entrance into Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere. On March 2019 I tried with The Way of Kings, but I was not mentally at the right time to take an epic fantasy story. So that year I went for something lighter. When I decided that it was time to start with Brandon’s books again, I preferred to avoid its bigger piece. After putting on pause The Wheel of Time I wanted something smaller, more approachable.

I’ve always had a curiosity for Mistborn. I think it’s the name that attracted me first. It makes my imagination fly. But then when i heard it was a fantasy heist plot, I got overly excited. Ocean’s Eleven, but with magic? Heck yes! And now that I’ve finished the first book, I annoyed that I didn’t read it sooner!

As my first Sanderson’s book I have to say that I really like how he writes. I’m sure the style will vary from book to book, but I found Mistborn’s prose very good but approachable. Something that as a non-native speaker I really appreciate.

The characters are lovely. Not only the main two but also the rest of the crew. Vin is arguably the principal character of the story and it has been very enjoyable to see her grow, from the first chapter to the last. She has learned and changed a lot, but you can still see her past self in her. It’s so well done.

The plot makes you flip pages like there was no tomorrow. There are no slow parts. Even the chapters with less action, there is still something very interesting happening. There is no filling. The plot moves page after page. If there is one detail to comment is that the heist itself takes a bit of a back sit, but it’s to focus on the characters and make them shine, so it’s all for a good purpose. And don’t get me wrong, the heist is still there. Is the main driver of the story. It’s just not a one hour film where everything that matters is how to rob the bank. It’s way more than that!

And the setting? Well, well well. The setting is so vivid in my mind. It’s so different that I really feel like I was running through the mists at night with our protagonists. And the best thing is that it doesn’t take much time boring you with explanations of it. Sanderson is able to sell us this world with very little. No filling.

But let’s get to what had me more curious. The magic system. A hard magic system. Pretty much everything I read has been soft magic systems, and I was very expectant to see what everything was praising Brandon for, the king of magic systems. Well, people were not mistaken. He delivered. Now, if you don’t get pumped up by details about how magic works, this may not excite you as much. And it’s truth that there is a bunch of word count dedicated to the magic by necessity. But even if you are not a fan of this style I think you will like it because it’s so well woven into the character development and action scenes that I don’t think there is a single paragraph where you will be bored.

And those action scenes! Between the characters, the big plot behind each scene and the spectacular magic, I would say that Mistborn has some of the best action scenes I’ve ever read. And there are a lot of them.

Finally, the world building. As I said the, setting is magnificent, but it doesn’t stop there. The wider world and universe are what interests me the most. Being able to finish this book and step into the bigger world of the Cosmere is something I’ve wanted to do for a while. And just with this book, I can already see glimpses of what could be. I’m eager to enjoy the discovery.

So yes, I don’t know if this is my favorite novel, but it is. And the best thing is that Brandon is a machine, and he keeps writing and writing. So I signed up for an amazing long ride!