Buying the first book in a trilogy is always a gamble – what happens if you don’t like it? Can you start a story and abandon it just like that? It feels like a waste of time, almost a betrayal if a trilogy hooks you then doesn’t deliver.
The Mistborn series has a great hook. It asks a simple question: “What if the Dark Lord won?”. I was really looking forward to reading it, especially since Brandon Sanderson is an author I’ve wanted to check out for a while. He’s finishing the Wheel of Time series (of which I’ve read at least eight) so I couldn’t wait to see what his own books were like.
There’s a really cool map at the start of The Final Empire, and I was intrigued by the time I started reading. Being completely honest (and the Bookowl always is) I almost gave up ten pages in. The language didn’t seem right, the writing style felt sloppy, and the scene was set using clichés that made me cringe. I had to force myself to keep reading to see if it got any better, and luckily, the story took over.
The Final Empire concerns Vin, a young Skaa urchin with vast hidden powers. She lives on an Earth either parallel to ours or far in the future, where a battle was fought long ago and Evil won. The Skaa are an enslaved underclass, and the nobility are those people who remained loyal to the evil overlord. In this first volume, Vin learns of her powers and becomes part of a plan (lead by the charismatic Kell) to overthrow the empire.
At over 600 pages this is a chunky book, but the story is fast-paced, with enough explanation for everything to make sense. There’s also some cool world-building, with a whole system of “supernatural talents” and lots of weird and wonderful creatures – some of which have been left for the sequels to explain. After the awkward first chapter I really enjoyed this book, and a girl being the central character makes a really nice change.
Even so, certain things jarred. Sometimes the language was really formal, with a random Americanism thrown in. The text didn’t always feel polished, and I don’t know if that’s simply because Sanderson’s American and American English reads differently. I’m probably being pedantic but every so often I’d read a sentence and think “I’d have re-written that”.
Almost all of the characters have one-syllable names, making them seem interchangeable. Maybe that’s just the way things are in that world, but it felt a bit lazy. I also know people called Vin and Kell in real life, but that’s just unlucky 
I know I sound really critical, and apart from a few niggles I genuinely liked The Final Empire. It’s a page turner – a great idea backed by strong writing, good characterisation and attention to detail when it comes to the setting. I can see why Sanderson was asked to finish the Wheel of Time series, and if The Final Empire is anything to judge by he’ll have done a good job. I’ll definitely be reading the sequels, and I would definitely recommend this book.