Mistborn: The Final Empire is a book of secrets and mystery, one with powers bound to the metallic, and a world sent to ruin. Mistborn was published in 2008 by Brandon Sanderson, a fantastical fantasy writer who’s been doing his job for years. This series, not the book with the same name, but the series as a whole has been going on for years after the first release. This is the main reason I picked this book to be the last Book of The Month for this school year: There’s so much heart and thinking poured behind it and it’s so simple to pick up it just fits. But why should you pick up a copy of Mistborn and read it?

Background – The Ashen World

Like most of Brandon Sanderson’s books, Mistborn does not occur on any planet we know. It is primarily on a world named Scadrial, a planet of ash. Of course, there is planet life and animals, however instead of traditional rain now and then “Ashmounts” (Massive volcano-like formations that spew ash at intervals) erupt and spread ash everywhere—causing ash to fall throughout the day. This alone caught my attention as stories that are grounded in reality are fantastic, however, Brandon explores the world fantastically and shows how people are affected by nature itself.

It should be noted that the world is only dated to be around 1000 years old, with no such presence of modern technology or even gunpowder. Most common people carry blades or bows for self-defense.

Summary – Ones Born of Mist

Mistborn follows a full-time thief named Vin— a reclusive, quiet, and quite untrusting of others in fear of betrayal.  Mistborn, however, follows other perspectives in pursuit of a goal adopted by Vin once she is integrated with a group led by a man known as “The Survivor of Hathsin”: To kill and overthrow a man named Lord Ruler, emperor of the Final Empire. To add to this already complex plot in Scadrial, there’s a specific form of magic called Alloymancy where people born of noble lineages can “burn” a specific type of metal that does special effects like pulling metal towards themselves or improving physical abilities. Now despite the name being Mistborn, Mistborn is an actual person and is defined as someone who can use all metals of any type. A normal person with a single allomatic ability is called a Misting. All that’s left is to see and reveal the mystery, including how to defeat the Lord Ruler.


Conclusion – “There’s Always Another Secret”

This book captured my heart, eye, and interest like a thief in the dark. I genuinely could not recommend this more than I already have. The series is 3 books long with a fully published second era that takes place years after the first trilogy. Brandon Sanderson has made this series full of mystery and secrets. If you wish to check out another one of his works, I made another Book of the Month going over The Way of Kings [here].