The Mistborn Trilogy

I liked parts of the series, but overall the main character was so bland it really dragged the whole series down. I still read the entire thing, and I don't regret reading it, but it's certainly not something I'd pick up again.

The main character's growth path should be seamless, not shoved in your face again, and again, and again. We get it, she's scared. But stop telling us she's scared and insecure, make her actions infer it. Whenever the book wasn't waxing poetic about the girl, it was pretty good. Unfortunately we're given a very unoriginal character development path that the author can't stop talking about:

1) Start weak and helpless
2) Her insecurities will remain with her through most of the series
3) She will gradually grow show more stronger until...
4) She'll triumph!

Again, that's great and all, but you cannot repeatedly write out step 2 and expect me not to want to punch someone in the face! You're doing it wrong! Whew. Sanderson's getting better though, I loved The Way of Kings and will be reading Words of Radiance soon. He churns out books like a mad man so it's fair he doesn't hit them all out of the park.

The magic system's quite nifty, but again the writing about the magic system got in the way of telling an actual story. When a story was being told, or cool things were happening with the magic system, it was a solid 4 star book. The character development was two stars. show less

Second time through this amazing trilogy.

My only complaint is that Vin, Elend, Sazed and the rest of the crew deserve a full epic fantasy series. I was, once again, beyond disappointed to reach the trilogy's conclusion. Because the characters are so well-written, I find myself wishing the plot would slow down and let us enjoy them a bit more. Instead, reading the trilogy is more like Dorthy's infamous ride on an unstoppable tornado.

Still... there's no place like home - and Sanderson is home for me.

4½**** for the first book, with outstanding world-building and a great character in Vin. Generously, 3*** for the other two, in which Vin turns into a bit too much a cartoonish "wonder woman" character who goes into competition with Bruce Lee types for the WAM-BAM-BIFF-SOCK-POW. Overall, therefore, for the series, 3½***

I honestly had fun reading this. "Brando Sando," as my brother calls him, writes an immersive, exciting trilogy. The characters find themselves and pull the world from mortal peril at the last minute, with a few great twists. 3 stars since I couldn't give a 3.5.

A large, solid, world-spanning epic fantasy series, with interesting politics and clever - if implausible - magic systems.

Sanderson’s literary journey is not unlike my own, although I suppose mine is the fartier version.

I've always been interested in creative writing since I was 9 years old. I'm an old geezer now. I've written three novels and several poetic novellas as an adult, in-between various jobs and responsibilities. None have been published and the world should be grateful for that. My writing veers between postmodern lunacy full of time travelling doppelgangers, and standard novels with characters cut out from cigarette papers. However, over the last few years, I have been working to meld the postmodern and standard novel with a view to creating something an intelligent reader might be interested in, but that gives me space to write about show more things I care about. The trick has been research - familiarising myself with a place/period in history, re-imagining it as a mythopoetic reality, creating characters that might credibly inhabit this new world, and then constructing a narrative likely to best evoke the aforementioned. Now I've done that, I am writing playfully around that structure. Will it work? I'll let you know in about 12 months.

I’ll bet “Mistborn” didn’t take so long to see the light of day…Can I express my procrastivious contrafibularities about this set of novels? Perhaps what helps explain much of Sanderson’s writing is the ostentatious literary equivalent of inserting your head up your own anus. Post-modern? Nope. Contrived, contorted, self-indulgent (naturally) and ultimately, signifying not very much. Granted, Sanderson is an acquired taste. But it is a taste that does not appear to improve with age. show less

I read the original Mistborn Trilogy as my second Sanderson work, the first being the first two Stormlight Archive books. I love the original Mistborn Trilogy. One of my top three characters in all Cosmere books is in Mistborn, Kelsier. The story is fast paced and reasonable in length. The trilogy is one of the best cohesive trilogies I have ever read. The plots of each book wrap up and yet overall carries over to the next books in the series.

If you are looking for Epic Fantasy, with Magic and a little bit of everything else the Mistborn Trilogy is a must. Sanderson is a master world builder and even though each of the books that are part of the full Cosmere that has many works in it, the Mistborn Trilogy can standalone as a fully show more wrapped up series.

If you enjoy this Trilogy there are many other books out in the Cosmere, including more books and compilations that take place in the Mistborn world. show less