nicanical
Brandon Sanderson's bottled lightning with this one.
Mistborn: The Final Empire opens with Kelsier, a half-Skaa thief and Allomancer. With a fixed grin and bottomless optimism, he spearheads a plan that's part heist and part Skaa rebellion. Along the way Kelsier rescues Vin, a beat-down street rat with much more in common with him than he realizes. After tucking away the story's first third or so, Kelsier and Vin share the topline, with Vin joining the plan as an inside (wo)man.
The story's pacing is impeccable and the timing of story beats is just right. Events and scenes all serve a purpose like stars in a constellation. There are lots of pleasing twists, organically-crafted and foreshadowed so they don't come off like ass-pulls when they're revealed. Meanwhile, the rebellion looms heavy in the background like a mistwraith. I worried Sanderson would pull a Hyperion and close with a cliffhanger. He doesn't. You get a full ending here that respects the time you spend with the book.
Here're some complaints though:
First, the writing could be tightened up. It's dusty with filter words and other things: heard this, saw that, looked like, and then the characters are always only ever rolling their eyes at each other. The crew of the googly eyes yearns for variety in facial expressions.
Second, some of Vin's parts read like young adult literature—exhorting responsibility, and perseverance over coming-of-age problems. I dislike these parts because they clash with the rest of the story which decidedly doesn't read like YA lit. Further, given the beatings and abandonment and betrayal Vin has endured before crossing Kelsier's path, it's tone deaf and simplistic to then rebuild her confidence merely with friendly smiles and baywraps and time.
Lastly, the explicit Push and Pull during combat overstays its welcome. In Allomancy—the story's wonderful magic system—abilities have two opposed effects: a Pull effect and a Push effect. Both are used in combat, sometimes together, sometimes in rapid succession, and sometimes together in rapid succession. Sanderson always states which effect is used, e.g., She Pushed hard behind her, then Pulled slightly on the gates below. This is nice early on for clarity but later it's just clutter interrupting the action.
Brandon Sanderson's bottled lightning with this one.
Mistborn: The Final Empire opens with Kelsier, a half-Skaa thief and Allomancer. With a fixed grin and bottomless optimism, he spearheads a plan that's part heist and part Skaa rebellion. Along the way Kelsier rescues Vin, a beat-down street rat with much more in common with him than he realizes. After tucking away the story's first third or so, Kelsier and Vin share the topline, with Vin joining the plan as an inside (wo)man.
The story's pacing is impeccable and the timing of story beats is just right. Events and scenes all serve a purpose like stars in a constellation. There are lots of pleasing twists, organically-crafted and foreshadowed so they don't come off like ass-pulls when they're revealed. Meanwhile, the rebellion looms heavy in the background like a mistwraith. I worried Sanderson would pull a Hyperion and close with a cliffhanger. He doesn't. You get a full ending here that respects the time you spend with the book.
Here're some complaints though:
First, the writing could be tightened up. It's dusty with filter words and other things: heard this, saw that, looked like, and then the characters are always only ever rolling their eyes at each other. The crew of the googly eyes yearns for variety in facial expressions.
Second, some of Vin's parts read like young adult literature—exhorting responsibility, and perseverance over coming-of-age problems. I dislike these parts because they clash with the rest of the story which decidedly doesn't read like YA lit. Further, given the beatings and abandonment and betrayal Vin has endured before crossing Kelsier's path, it's tone deaf and simplistic to then rebuild her confidence merely with friendly smiles and baywraps and time.
Lastly, the explicit Push and Pull during combat overstays its welcome. In Allomancy—the story's wonderful magic system—abilities have two opposed effects: a Pull effect and a Push effect. Both are used in combat, sometimes together, sometimes in rapid succession, and sometimes together in rapid succession. Sanderson always states which effect is used, e.g., She Pushed hard behind her, then Pulled slightly on the gates below. This is nice early on for clarity but later it's just clutter interrupting the action.