The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson REVIEW

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Started: 20/11/19

Finished: 06/12/19

Spoilers: No.

A very easy five stars. Everything about this book is sensational. This will be a rave review because, frankly, there’s nothing bad to say about this book. It’s everything a fantasy book needs to be and more.

Characters This book is a great example of how to write good characters and characterisation. Sure, we may not know the backstory behind each and every character, but that didn’t stop me from connecting to and loving all of them. I cared for them all and feared for them, and I enjoyed the group dynamic and banter so much.

One of my favourite relationships was between Vin and Kelsier. They had a mentor/student - father/daughter thing going on that I absolutely love. This is a trope I adore. The young person being trained by an older pro who becomes a mother/father figure. As far as that troupe goes, the Vin and Kelsier relationship is top-notch, and one of the best that I’ve read.

Out of all the side characters, I must admit, I had such a soft spot of Breeze. He simultaneously felt misplaced in the group while feeling like a perfect fit. Each member of Kelsier’s crew has a unique personality and brings something different to the group.

On a side note, no spoilers, but that particular character death tore out my heart. Why? WHY?

Plot Half heist story, half revolutionary war. I had no real idea what this book was about before starting, other than the heist aspect, (for which I’m a sucker), and I think going in mostly blind was the best way for me. I was a little concerned about the magic system before starting. One of the only other things I’d ever heard about this book was an intricate magic system that involved ingesting metals, which just sounds totally weird to me. But once I started to understand it, I enjoyed it so much.

The plot itself was incredibly engaging and I was invested in the characters and their goals from very early on. I wanted them to succeed so badly.

The progress and complications that met their plans along the way were timely to keeping the pace flowing, but this speaks volumes more about Sanderson’s excellent writing,

Setting The world-building is second to none. I’m honestly struggling to find any faults in this book whatsoever, but I certainly won’t find one here. The world felt so realised. From the way it’s described to the way it’s structured, everything about it felt honest. Honest in its awfulness, and its excess, and its struggle.

This is a world of strict regime. Under the thumb of the Lord Ruler. It didn’t try to disguise it’s nastier, darker aspects, such as slavery and rape and murder, hierarchy and unfair breeding programmes. Everything was exposed. All was laid bare and it was simply accepted as normal. It was a scary world on the face of it. Built from the ground up from page one, I can now visualise a fully formed city in my mind, and I can’t wait to see what becomes of it in book 2.

Writing Style The writing is noticeably good. There are so many things to rave about.

Firstly, the pacing is fantastic. There’s never a dull moment. Every page is exciting and enriches the plot in some way.

Secondly, Sanderson has a remarkable way of filling in plot holes just as they start to appear. They’re more like plot cracks that are never allowed the time to sit unaddressed, never allowed the time to become holes. The moment I began to question something in my mind (why would they do that when they could easily do this instead? kinda thing), my doubts are immediately questioned or addressed, to which one of the characters will explain exactly why things have to be done a particular way. I’ve never read a book, that answers my every question the moment I begin to ask it.

Thirdly, the fight scenes are so dynamic. I’m not usually a fan of blow-by-blow fights as they can be drawn out and tedious, but Sanderson makes the fights so exciting to read, and they read so quickly. I found them all so unexpectedly fun.

Fourthly, the journal entries at the start of each chapter were initially interesting, but when they were so expertly woven into the story narrative, it was like a light bulb moment. When they started to appear within the actual story it made me want to go back and reread them all. It was so well done and felt almost like a plot twist.

Fifthly, I appreciated how well the magic system was explained, and the fact that it was broken down into parts. We (alongside Vin) are offered a comprehensive explanation from Kelsier of what each metal does. Later, as Vin trains with different Mistings, we learn a bit more of individual metals in finer detail. Then again Kelsier discusses Allomancy further with Vin as she begins to master it. We may be thrown in the deep end, but we are offered numerous life rafts to keep us afloat. We are never abandoned to the waves, in over our heads and left to drown. I feel like I have such a vast understanding of this magic system now, and I didn’t once need to refer to the reference guide in the back of the book.

Final Impression I’ll be continuing the series very early on in 2020, and can’t wait to get stuck into more. I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship.