Recommendation
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
GLF Books highly recommends Mistborn. Though this is my first Brandon Sanderson Book, it is clear that he loves his books and puts great care and thought behind every sentence. I give this book 5 stars and for anyone who loves fantasy, I’m sure you’ll love this book too.
Reading Level
10th-12th grade
Review for Parents
This book is what is considered clean fiction meaning there are no sex scenes. This however doesn’t mean that there aren’t other things parents should know about. This book does have a lot of death, destruction, and despair.
With that being said, I would let my kids read this book as the storyline is about overcoming these things.
Plotline: Spoiler-Free
Vin, a poor street thief, and her crew have teamed up with another crew in an elaborate plan to defraud the government and secure a huge payday. During the execution of this plan, Kelsier and his crew take notice of Vin.
Vin has been using her “Luck” to influence others, to soothe their emotions to get what she wants. Kelcier shows her what she is. She is an allomancer who can burn metals in her body which provides her with certain powers. Not only is she an allomancer, she is a rare allomancer who can burn all allomantic metals, She’s a mistborn.
Kelcier, a charismatic leader, has been contracted by the leader of the skaa rebellion to deliver them an army. The skaa are the slaves and the poor that keep the empire running. They are those born to nonnoble families. Even though Kelcier is contracted to deliver an army to the skaa rebellion, he has something bigger in mind. He wants to overthrow the government.
Vin joins this new crew and helps them overthrow the government while overcoming her problems of abandonment and distrust. As she grows into her power as an allomancer, she also becomes close to the crew, she has friends.
Vin plays her part in the plan well. She infiltrates the nobility and attends balls and parties. In her work as a spy, she falls in love with a high nobleman. This love causes her to do things that put the plan in jeopardy.
My Thoughts on Mistborn
This book has it all. It’s got action, it’s got character development, it even has a little bit of romance if that’s your thing. I find the whole concept of allomancy brilliant and creative. That there could be energy stored up in metals and then used when called upon is a super cool idea. Not only is it a great idea, but Brandon Sanderson also does a fantastic job of bringing the idea alive with his well-thought-out characters and intricate storyline.
The first book follows Vin, a lonely teenage group who has been broken down her entire life. Vin has never been fully accepted in her previous thieving crews because she has been the only female. Vin has been betrayed repeatedly by everyone in her life. This book spends a great deal of time building her back up and helping her get through her lack of trust in others.
When Vin meets Kelsier, she doesn’t trust him, or his crew, but she sticks around to see if they can succeed in their goal of toppling the current empire. An empire that has survived nearly one thousand years. An empire led by a near god, the lord ruler.
The oppression of the skaa leads Kelsier to assemble his crew under the pretense of delivering a skaa army to the rebellion. It’s challenging to get the skaa to rise, shake off their oppression, and fight for freedom due to the previous one thousand years of oppression.
This book is a story of redemption in many ways and Kelsier is just one example. Kelsier was once the most successful thieving crew leader in the entire empire. He was extremely successful and wealthy. With his success came arrogance.
Kelsier was so good that the Lord ruler himself set a trap to catch him. When caught, the lord ruler threw Kelsier and his wife Mare into the pits of hathsin. The pits were brutal and terrible as they forced the slaves to search for rare beads of metal called atium. If you find one, you get to live another week. Mare gave Kelsier her bead telling him that she had found two that week.
When Mare was killed as Kelsier watched, he “snapped” gaining his allomantic powers. As a mistborn Kelseir escapes and gathers his old crew.
Kelsier is a good man. He makes those around him better even though he is often arrogant. He assembled his crew not just because they were the best, but because they were honest men, men who wanted those being oppressed to be free. He chose them because they are good men.
Kelsier spends his time training Vin to use her powers as a mistborn. Not only does he train her in allomancy, but he also teaches her that many people are worth trusting. He shows her that she has friends. Friends who care for her and want what’s best for her.
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