I am surprised The Final Empire is from 2006. It reads like "good old fantasy". It does not try to address any controversial or philosophical issues. It does not pull literary tricks on you. It is just good solid entertainment.

I liked it very much for what it is. The best feature I think is that it transports you into a 100% different world. There are no elves, orcs, zombies, old wizards, knights in shining armor, or warrior monks here. (There are not even flowers or blue skies.) The world is very nicely put together. A lot of questions, a lot of answers. All very coherent.

Features that perhaps reveal its modern origin are the social structure (decadent elite terrorizing the poor) and the main character (young woman from the most oppressed class). Indeed it was published two years before [b:The Hunger Games|2767052|The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)|Suzanne Collins|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1447303603s/2767052.jpg|2792775]. The zeitgeist must have been strong.

The main character is pretty much the only woman in the story though, except for a few that make sandwiches for the men. So this is quite safe to read if you have feminist-phobia :). (Is there perhaps an in-universe explanation? The most influential figures in this world are supposed to be chosen at random, by inheritance of a genetic trait. A patriarchy should be unstable in these circumstances.)

A lot of the first half of the book is like a video game tutorial. Magic ("Allomancy") is based on 8 different metals. The hero and the reader have to learn about each, so we just get started and go through each of them. Thankfully it is presented with a fair amount of action, and the action continues throughout the book.

As the end of the book was drawing near I was afraid how much of a closure we would get. This is the first novel of a fairly large series of novels, right? Wikipedia says an expected 32-36 books will make up the "Cosmere". But the book's ending is awesome! It gives complete closure. It leaves a few questions open, but answers everything you wanted to know badly. Thanks for that!