This year I was introduced to Brandon Sanderson and have become a big fan, especially of Steelheart and the other books in the Reckoners series. My brother told me I had to read Mistborn next.
Let me clear up something that confused me: the first Mistborn novel is called The Final Empire. I was thrown off by the word "final" and thought that must be the last one in the series. The title makes sense in context of the novel, but the book marketer side of me just sees the confusion it can lead to.
On Brandon Sanderson's site this book is described as "a hybrid epic fantasy heist story." I couldn't have said it any better myself. In fact, I'm not sure how I would have described it by myself. Note the word epic, which means really long. I was a little daunted by the length, and it took me a while to get into the book. It's set in a world with completely different rules than ours, so it took a while for the author to establish those rules and for me to understand what was happening. But with a promise to my brother that I would read it, I pushed on.
And I'm glad I did. By the end I was immersed in the world and invested in the characters, which will make the other books in the series easier to get into. This is not a light read--you have to invest time and thought into it. But if you (or your kids) are into hybrid epic fantasy heist stories, it's a great read and a fun world to be a part of.
Have you ever read a book that would qualify as an epic fantasy? What was it?
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Mistborn: The Final Empire
By Brandon Sanderson
Publisher: Tor
Year: 2006
Ages/Themes: Young Adult Books, Fantasy, Epic Fantasy
