Hitting the
TOR Top 10 of the Decade again, I turn to Brandon Sanderson. This is my fifth book from the TOR list, my second book from Sanderson (the first being
Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians), and my first adult book by Sanderson ... possibly working myself up to finishing the
Wheel of Time series sometime in the next few years.
I finally got around to picking this up last year after reading some Game of Thrones and that gosh-awful One Second After, and Sanderson's writing style is like good ice cream. It's fun and easy reading, cutting to the chase, and providing some very good plot. Being the second book he published, it has a couple of quirks in the prose, but overall, very impressive, difficult to predict what comes next, very captivating, and somewhat relaxing.
Kelsier is Mistborn, meaning that he can do magic of all kinds through burning metals in his belly. Yep ... you read that right. It took me a little getting used to the idea. Depending on what type of metal he swallows, Kelsier can perform feats of strength, sight, emotion, and even controlling time. By manipulating metals below him, he can even fly.
He comes across Vin, a teenager thief who exhibits potential, and something else ... he can't quite put his finger on it, but he decides to take her on as a protege and teach her Allomancy -- doing magic with metals.
Kelsier then puts together a team of lively characters to try to take down the evil Lord Ruler, who has been ruling the kingdom for a millennium, keeping himself alive with whatever magic he's using. This leader favors the aristocracy, and treats the lower class, the skaa, terribly, killing them at his whim.
But it's not easy. Many have tried to dethrone him, and many have died. Can Kelsier do any better?
I love the convoluted plot, the amazing means they use to push through slowly, getting closer to the Lord Ruler a little bit at a time. The twists and turns are fun. The description of everything is clear.
Well ... there was one point I was confused. The Steel Inquisitors imbue themselves with immense power by impaling themselves with spikes through the eyes. The way Brandon worded it the first time, I pictured the pointy parts of the spikes coming out of their eye sockets. But then almost done with the book, a friend of mine showed me a picture, and I was all ... what?! But turns out the picture was right. The pointy parts come out at the back of the head, and the flat parts make the eyes.
Yeah ... I'll blame Brandon for my confusion.
But such a little thing to complain about!
I strongly recommend reading this book. It deserves to be on the TOR top 10 list, and it sets up the next two books in the series, which I'll write about shortly.
