The Lord Ruler reigns over a seemingly eternal empire of ash, dust, and fear. The skaa people toil on plantations while nobleman scheme in the dark city of Luthadel. Deep in the underworld of the city, however, a glimmer of hope arises when a powerful survivor of the Lord Ruler’s personal wrath puts together a team of masterful thieves to pull off an impossible heist: overthrowing the empire. Their plan seems like a longshot even with Kelsier’s Allomantic abilities, but the addition of street thief Vin to the team might be what the team needs to accomplish a feat unlike any other. Can Vin get over her own trust issues and unlock her own powers?

Listen, I understand my buddy Brando Sando has a script and sticks to it. His books do feel formulaic, but I heard one person even describe them as “soulless” – but reading Mistborn reminded me just how much soul his books have. As an aspiring editor who just finished my first Editing in Publishing class, reading Sanderson is a great way to see story structure and planning in action, but also to see how authors can add their own character and feeling to even the most firmly plotted stories. Someone else described Mistborn as a rudimentary Rube Goldberg machine at first glance: full of simple language, elaborate setup, and random pieces cobbled together. When you see it go off, however, you can do nothing but marvel in awe and enjoy the satisfying ending – and boy, did Mistborn have a satisfying ending.

The plot was definitely a five, but I’m giving style a four. Don’t misunderstand, I personally loved the simple style. I felt that it was so different from from most medieval-feeling fantasy books, more accessible. I didn’t have to trudge through unnecessary wordiness just to get to the next chapter. However, my rating system requires an almost artistic level of writing to earn a five, and I would definitely say the language here takes a purposeful backseat in favor of Brandon’s more impressive plotwork.

What was truly memorable about Mistborn was the way everything clicks together. Brando is, as usual, a true champion of hard magic systems. It’s so refreshing how he gives a detailed outline of the Allomancy magic system very early on. I didn’t have to spend too much time and energy trying to figure out how everything works. It gives you a much more intimate relationship with the character as they try to figure out their own powers, and it allows you to anticipate and appreciate twists and new uses of the powers later on. Explaining everything just makes it so much more satisfying when he breaks his own rules later on.

Not to mention how interesting this system is in the first place. Allomancers can burn metal in their stomachs and release certain abilities as they do – burning iron or steel, for example, can “push” or “pull” against other metals and allow magic users to throw around objects and even “fly.” Some can only unlock the abilities in one metal, but Mistborn – a very rare type of Allomancer – can use all. Watching Vin learn to use her powers calls me back to that classic Chosen One experience, and I honestly think it’s better here than in Harry Potter because we actually know what’s going on with the magic.

Sanderson carries that formulaic setup and payoff throughout the whole novel, building up to a finale before twisting the whole thing and bringing an ending that’s just as satisfying. The heist novel model was so interesting in the context of overthrowing a whole empire – I’ve never thought of viewing something as impossible as toppling an eternal ruler in the same terms you see in Oceans 11 or something like that. Kelsier in the crew make such detailed plans and preparations, but you kind of know the whole time it’s not going to go the way they want. Something always goes wrong, and Mistborn is no different. Some people might be disappointed the way the plans change, but I actually thought it felt more realistic and gave the characters a chance to shine and improvise. The ending was unexpected yet brought it all together in a neat little bow.

And the action scenes! Gosh, does Brando know how to write an action scene. His command over his own magic system and the reader’s established understanding of it frees Brandon up to write such amazing fight scenes. These were the moments in the book where I felt I was truly there, witnessing every moment of choreography. They weren’t too gory, but felt perfectly high stakes. Sanderson also does a great job of making sure his characters aren’t too overpowered all the time. Not every fight is set in the Mistborn’s advantage, which makes things interesting.

It’s a fantasy novel, not upmarket fiction. There’s not really a focus on theme, but I could definitely see some deeper ideas forming with Vin and her deep suspicions against all other people when she first enters the team. Vin grew up essentially being abused by everyone around her and in constant danger, so relationships built on trust and love are completely foreign to her. Watching Kelsier try to pull her out of her shell and teach her that trust is possible was so wholesome and sweet. Vin develops a lot as a character and builds a sweet little found family even in the midst of war preparations. As a reader, I feel like that was definitely the biggest theme – find the people that can trust to know your true self.

Vin was so awesome. She’s one of those female main characters with an actual personality to go with her cool powers. Sanderson has admitted regret that she’s like the only main female character in Mistborn – I guess he was so focused on genderbending the heist movie tropes that he forgot to add actual other women – but he wrote Vin very well, so I forgive him. I loved the way even coming from a street thief background and having to hide her femininity at all costs didn’t prevent her from starting to enjoy wearing nice dresses and such later on. I hate the “I’m a strong woman so I hate dresses” trope so much, so I loved seeing Vin bloom as Valette and appreciate all the possible sides of being a woman. It was a symbol of her learning who she is and what she actually cares about now that she no longer has to live under a mask. She grows so much when it comes to relationships and understanding what it means to be part of a team – and a family. I don’t want to say much about Vin and Elend, but I did love them together and those teeny hints of romance kept my giggling throughout the book. Honestly, my favorite book couples are the ones where their relationship is extremely sidelined and I have to beg for scraps… just seems more realistic in a novel where the characters have so much bigger fish to fry.

Kelsier was a surprisingly complex character. His actions brought up questions of how far it’s okay to go in stoking your own fame for the greater good. Is it okay to lie about even your own origins if it catalyzes a people against their evil ruler? Was it all for his own ego or the sake of the skaa? I’m of the opinion that he is a truly good man but still propelled by a desire for revenge that sometimes gets the best of him. His attitude was inspiring though – gave me Lucy Grey vibes (nothing you can take from me was ever worth keeping… he retains his hope and humor because the Lord Ruler can’t take those away from him).

Sazed was such a cutie. He was like Mando watching over a less outgoing Grogu sometimes, he’s a very wholesome grandfather figure to Vin. Seeing the rest of the team train Vin in her powers was a great way to show her character arc and get to know those characters as well. I will say some of the characters felt less complex – more of a list of character traits and motivations than truly complex people (but maybe that’s because I’m too familiar with Brando’s strategies after watching his writing lectures in my editing class).

Mathematically this one should be a four for me, but the truly impressive feat of a book that this was pushed it over into “favorites shelf” territory. Definitely a five. I loved the creative magic system and setting, the unique approach to a “let’s overthrow the evil government” story, and the heartwarming character arc that Vin experiences. Despite the almost medieval setting, the slight steampunk feel thrown in there and plain-English writing gave Mistborn its own special vibe. If you’re ready to sit back and watch Sanderson pull off an incredible and creative feat of plotting, you need to go pick up Mistborn right now (preferably at your local library – support libraries!).