Review of the Mistborn Trilogy by Brian Sanderson

Since I read this excellent trilogy very quickly (thank heaven I received the trilogy as a set--I think I might have lost my mind if I had been forced to wait for the next two books after reading the first one), I think it's best for me to just do a single review that encompasses my thoughts about all three books, since the details of what happened in each book run together a bit in my memory.

First, a little bit of context from the beginning of the series: the Mistborn trilogy takes place in a fantasy world in which ash falls from the sky and thick mists shroud the land at night; the vast majority of the population (known as the skaa) is either enslaved by noblemen or living in very poor conditions, and the whole mess is presided over by a godlike figure known as the Lord Ruler. The Mistborn world also involves multiple magic systems, the most prominent of which is Allomancy, the ability to "burn" different ingested metals and gain special powers from them, such as the ability to manipulate metal objects by Pushing and Pulling on them in a somewhat Force-like way. A man named Kelsier plots to take down the Lord Ruler with the help of his band of thieves and a young urchin girl named Vin. The whole long, complex, and captivating tale ensues.



The Mistborn trilogy simply ensnared me and would not let go. From the beginning, the whole world in which it is set makes the reader's brain demand to know why. What is wrong with this disturbingly Earth-like world? Why is there ash falling from the sky? Who enslaved the skaa? What the heck are these mists and why is everyone afraid of them? Who's this mysterious Survivor of Hathsin guy? Even if I had hated half of the characters in this series, I think I would have kept on plowing my way through it just to unravel the mystery of what made the world the way it is.

Luckily, though, I didn't hate half of the characters. I didn't hate any of the characters, even the "bad guys." Sure, I wanted the "bad guys" to get their comeuppance from the heroes, but everyone has their story in the Mistborn world. Sanderson makes his characters deliciously complex without making the story too complicated, if that makes sense at all. The characters all have their own levels of complexity, but the story as a whole is fairly easy to follow (one of the things that irks me about some fantasy works is when the authors make everything so incredibly complicated that you practically need a map and an encyclopedia to understand what's happening). The third book, especially, offers a lot of revelations about characters' backgrounds and motivations, but the first and second have a lot to tell us about Vin and Kelsier, as well. Some people have complained that the second book is mostly internal monologues by Vin and various other characters, and I suppose that that's a pretty fair statement, but I found it to be worth it, because I was so wrapped up in the characters by then that their feelings were actually important to me.

I loved Vin. I wanted nothing but the best for Vin. She is an especially interesting strong female lead because she does something that I haven't come across all that much in my literary travels: she starts off hard and strong, fighting to survive, deadening herself to feelings of trust, friendship, and love, and then struggles with the task of accepting her femininity, providing a refreshing contrast to the typical case of the regular, everyday, somewhat naive girl being thrust into a situation that forces her to grow up quickly, become strong and wise, and learn to act more like her male companions in order to survive. Vin is a tough, no-nonsense, rational-to-a-fault young woman trying to convince herself that it's okay for her to want to wear jewelry and have silly, ill-advised romantic feelings for young men (while still being totally kick-ass, of course). Her self-doubt about who she is and what she deserves to be makes her very easy to sympathize with, and I just rooted for her all the way, even when she made some dumb choices.

In addition to my love for Vin, I found myself in awe of the way Sanderson had constructed the plot across the three books. One of the things that makes me love the Harry Potter series, my favourite set of books, is that I notice a hint or two that JKR dropped in the earlier books every time I re-read them. Sanderson does this just as skillfully. There is great pleasure to be had in reading the third book soon after the first two, because the events of the first two are still fresh enough in the mind for the reader to be able to see the connections between the early and later parts of the story and experience a deep respect for Sanderson's forethought. While, as I said, the story doesn't seem so complicated that it's not enjoyable to read, he takes you on a journey, makes you think you understand what's going on (at least a little), and then the smoke clears and you realize that you've been obediently circling his carefully-strung web all along. Some of what you thought you understood, you actually did understand, but some of it is just waiting patiently to blow your mind. It's gorgeously done.

Sanderson's world-building, too, is top-notch. His magic systems are carefully explained, and they even get origin stories. Sanderson doesn't fall prey to the "because magic" cop-out I've mentioned in other reviews. He explains what the magic is, where it came from, why it works, what limitations it has, and so on. His fantasy creatures get their own origin stories as well, and the world is, overall, just pleasantly realistic (if disturbing) and well-supported by Sanderson's explanations of why things are the way they are.

Overall, the Mistborn trilogy is, as far as I'm concerned, an excellent bit of fantasy work. It's got strong world-building, multi-dimensional characters who actually make you care about them, a strong female lead, a really cool magic system, and a deliciously complicated, intricate plot that will likely leave you with your mouth hanging dumbly open when you see the connections between the three books.

Bravo, Sanderson. I think I might just give some of your other work a try.