First impressions (of Book 1, Mistborn):

So far, I'm most interested in the characters Vin and Kelsier. I'm only five chapters in at this point, and Vin has potential. She's paranoid and alert right now, but already you can see how Kelsier's appearance into her life is changing her perspective on her future. Instead of simply lurking in corners, she sees herself as a major player in the Empire's future. Life is no longer about simply surviving, but making use of the opportunities suddenly offered. Her paranoia colors all of her observations of Kelsier and his crew, which, despite my own theories, throws uncertainty into an otherwise predictable storyline. Kelsier's robust confidence makes him an easy character to trust, but Vin's thoughts remind us that, in this world (with which the reader is much less familiar), betrayal is everywhere and the only person you should trust is yourself. Vin's paranoia is directly juxtaposed with Kelsier's concrete confidence and trust in his plan and his crewmates. This creates an essential element of tension.

I thoroughly enjoyed the technique with which Brandon Sanderson chose to explain the magic system of allomancy. The scene in which the reader follows Kelsier as he 'flies' to Keep Venture was a perfect introduction. The elements of how Allomancy works are hinted at throughout the beginning of the novel, but in this chapter, the reader is given a full explanation which ties in those elements. It is a magic system with strict rules and logical execution. I'm interested to see what kind of magical effects atium and the eleventh metal have.

Final Impressions:

I finished the first book last night. The ending was so tension filled that I spent my entire night reading the last quarter of the book, and stayed up until almost 2 in the morning to finish. Not good for my workday today, but it was worth it.

The twists at the end were quite unexpected, though there were several hints throughout the novel that lead there, so when you finally arrived at that "OHHHHH" moment, things made sense. The subtlety of Brandon Sanderson's writing is astonishing to me, and definitely a characteristic I'd like to be able to incorporate into my own writing at some point. I have no idea how he pulled it off.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Each chapter starts with an excerpt from a logbook, supposedly written by the Lord Ruler, a realization the characters come to in the second half of the story, but which I had started to suspect early on. Those excerpts added quite a bit of tension and uncertainty to the story, because the character that the excerpts established didn't match the description of the Lord Ruler himself, millenia after the logbook was written. It made me question Kelsier's plan and the entire Final Empire, which establishes unreliable narrators. Due to this, I was constantly questioning Kelsier and Vin, the characters from which we experience most of the story. I loved that tension.

As I mentioned earlier, Sanderson's use of subtle observations to highlight later epiphanies is marvelous. Especially when there are epiphanies layered on epiphanies, where the characters realize they were assuming one thing, and then learning later that their assumption had been entirely wrong. Moments that caught my breath:

- Kelsier's death: His death seems so sudden and easily achieved that the reader is simply left in shock, a reaction mirrored by the characters. But the characters and the reader come to realize together that this was part of Kelsier's plan all along. He knew he needed to become a martyr to make the skaa rise against the Empire--which Sazed had been telling him all along while answering Kelsier's questions about religion, and the culture who had resisted the Empire the longest.
- The Lord Ruler's true identity: He is not the Hero of Ages. He's Rashek, the Terris packman who had hated the Hero so much that he killed him. Not to mention that he can practice both Allomancy and Feruchemy, which explains why he tried to wipe out all the Terrismen--so that they couldn't breed with anyone with Allomantic powers and create someone capable of defeating him. With this realization also comes the questions: What happened at the Well of Ascension then? Did the Hero stop the Deepness before Rashek killed him? If not, is that why the land is dead? But the hero describes the Deepness as quick-moving, and the Lord Ruler's words as he dies cast doubt; was Rashek holding back the Deepness? What will happen now? This ending establishes a very natural transition for its sequel.
- Reen's true nature: The entire novel is interspersed with words of wisdom from Reen, telling Vin never to trust, that she will always be betrayed if she let's anyone get close. Vin eventually learns to push aside some of his advice, but these quotes add an uneasiness to Vin's newfound friendships. In the end, Kar reveals that Reen never left Vin, as she had assumed. Reen had always told her that he would leave, he would betray her, and that had seemingly happened, when he disappeared one night and never came back, leaving Vin to survive on her own with Camon's crew. Vin's assumptions, and Reen's teachings, are turned on their heads when we realize that Reen didn't leave: he was captured by the Inquisitors and tortured until he died. Not only that, but he never betrayed her. He died protecting her, swearing up and down that Vin had died of starvation years ago, rather than giving up her location. This realization allows Vin to stay with Elend.

Other things that I admired about this novel was the way Vin changed. At first, she is paranoid and distrusting and uncomfortable in dresses and learning noble manners. However, as she grows into the role she will play for the crew, she becomes more and more comfortable with making friendships, talking to the nobility, and wearing dresses. As she grows into these things, she occasionally stops and mourns the changes, doubts the person she is changing into, and worries about the consequences of these changes. She wonders if she is losing her essential self by mingling with all these new people, and that makes her an entirely real person. Everybody has, at some point or another, questioned the choices they're making, the people they're hanging out with, and the things they're doing that they always said they would never do. The characters in this book, in general, are real 3D people: they have pasts, strange quirks, and doubts. Many want to believe, but are held back by doubts, and often make a conscience decision to ignore their doubts and have faith. Faith itself is a major theme in this novel as well. Not only is the Final Empire based on a faith, but there is constantly the question of what faith is, and should faith overrule common sense.

The first novel of this trilogy is freshly written and very enjoyable. I'm very much looking forward to starting the second!



BOOK 2 Impressions - The Well of Ascension:

The ending of this book was full of TWISTS. It was TWIST-tastic. Suddenly everything you thought about the Final Empire and the Lord Ruler and the PROPHECY--thrown on its head. You are COMPLETELY WRONG ABOUT EVERYTHING.

SPOILERS

The prophecy is fake! That, in and of itself, is amazing. The most evil of all evils (Ruin, as we find out in Book 3) has been manipulating memories and written word to prophesize the coming of the HERO OF AGES. The Hero is meant to find the Well of Ascension and release the power in order to defeat the Deepness. Turns out that the Deepness is made up, and when Vin releases the power from the Well of Ascension, she ends up releasing the big bad instead of defeating "the Deepness".

There are some other pretty bad-ass moments in this book, mostly toward the end. Much of the beginning and middle of the book is made up of political fumbling from Elend, intense study from Sazed and Tyndwyl, and excessive moping and self-doubt from Vin. But the END of the book nearly makes up for all this set-up. The koloss attack Luthadel, and the pathetically small armies of Luthadel are fighting these giant powerful creatures. Vin makes a mad dash back to Luthadel and drops about a hundred koloss on her return. As she is trying to save some skaa refugees, she discovers that with a powerful enough bronze push, she can turn the koloss and control them. The attack ends, and Vin waits for Elend to return. The two of them proceed to the Well of Ascension to release the power within. And as Sazed is running to stop them, he is attacked by Marsh, who is controlled by the big bad. Sazed reaches Vin too late, the big bad is released, and then Elend is saved from death by a Mistborn-creating metal. There's just one question: who is the mist spirit who ends up saving Elend, who was trying to warn Vin about releasing the power? Is it Kwaan, perhaps? Maybe Alendi? Not sure at this point, but I'm sure it is one of the mysteries that will be revealed in Book 3.


BOOK 3 First Impressions - The Hero of Ages

This book is named after the false prophecy that lead Vin to release Ruin, an evil god (?) of destruction. So perhaps this is a prophecy that was true to begin with, and which Ruin simply manipulated for his own ends? I guess we'll see.

This book starts out right in the action: Elend saving a village from Inquisitor-controlled koloss with his new Mistborn powers. As usual, an entire year has passed between the events of book 2 and the beginning of book 3. Elend is well trained in his Mistborn powers and is, in fact, incredibly strong when it comes to Pushing and Pulling. Vin appears in the middle of the fight, and together they start turning the koloss to their side using Bronze pushes. The Inquisitor which was controlling those koloss comes to protect his property, and Vin and Elend proceed to slaughter him. Then they walk into town, and suddenly their purpose here is revealed: there is a secret stockpile of supplies beneath one of the Obligator headquarters there. It is full of canned food, and, even better, a message from the late Lord Ruler, providing them with valuable information about the nature of Ruin, and the metals which Mistborn are capable of using, and their properties. Elend and Vin seem about at the ends of their rope. Vin is tense about Ruin, and Elend is just trying to keep his empire together. They've both changed significantly, however, and those changes have made them a power couple. I hope that this book is much more action-filled than the rest, and I'm eager to see what sorts of revelations they'll come to as the book progresses :)