Well, this probably won a place in my favorite series. I had really liked what Sanderson did with the end of Wheel of Time, and I had told myself I should read some more of his stuff - now this is done, and I didn't regret it. Vin's world is divided into the skaa (and Vin is skaa), who are essentially the slaves of the ruling class, which is itself ruled by Lord Ruler since a thousand years or so. Vin meets a band of thieves that has a completely crazy idea: to overthrow said Lord Ruler so that the skaa daily life improves a bit. Add to this a magic system that is original, believable and awesome (the magicians or "allomancers" eat metal and burn it to get different effects depending on the metal) and you get a truly great book. Highly recommended.