The Final Empire is
a world during a medieval-type era ruled by an immortal
self-proclaimed god. It is a society consisting of nobility, slaves
(Skaa), and those slaves brave enough to break free to become thieves
and black market merchants. Some of the nobility and those with the
mixed blood of Skaa and nobility can “burn metals,” which allows
them to have powers that enable them to control the emotions of
others, increase their strength, push or pull metals, heighten their
senses, or shield those whom are burning metals from the prying eyes
of those who can sense it. Most do not have any powers, of those that
do, the majority only have one; then there are the Mistborn, who can
burn all the metals and, thus, make the perfect assassins.
The Final Empire is
a world shrouded in nightly mist and falling ash. A world whose sun
is veiled, where the plants are brown and only the oldest legends
hint at their once being green. Most are scared of the nightly mists,
but that is where the Mistborn like to live and go about their work,
for they can more easily hide their identities and the mist seems to
embrace them as they use their powers.
Sanderson does an
excellent job of creating a world a little different from our own, a
world containing mists with things shrouded there that are different
than anything we know. He does a good job of creating interesting
characters that continue to deepen as you “get to know them” and
who continue to better get to know themselves, as well. The fact that
I cannot really come up with another story to compare it to speaks to
its originality, for I have read quite a few stories.
Though Mistborn
and The Well of Ascension have a main character who is a
teenage girl, I would not consider them “young adult” books
(though young adults would probably enjoy them, too). I guess they're
a little deeper than most young adult books.
Mistborn is
about Kelsier, a madman bent on overthrowing the Lord Ruler, the god
who killed his wife and enslaved his people. He may be mad, daring,
and reckless but he trusts his thieving crew, his friends, those he
loves; even though his wife may have been the one who betrayed him.
Even though the one he loved the most may have betrayed him, he
chooses to trust, for he knows life is better that way.
It's also about
Vin, a girl who tries to stay in the shadows and go unnoticed, who
grew up on the streets and drifting from thieving crew to thieving
crew with her brother who, above all else, tried to instill in her a
sense of distrust, because he thought that was the best chance of her
staying alive. To instill this lesson even further, he would beat her
and finally abandoned her in a thieving world dominated by men of
less than noble character. Kelsier finds her, suspects she is
Mistborn, and takes her under his wing. Even though Vin thinks
Kelsier is mad and that his plan will never work, because Vin is all
about survival and Kelsier can show her how to be stronger, she
decides to accept his mentorship. Also, Vin is attracted and
bewildered by this thieving crew who seems to trust each other, she
wants to wait around to see if it's real.
Mistborn is
about a girl discovering her powers, it is about overthrowing a god,
and making a 1000 year empire fall to the ground.
The Well of Ascension is
about Vin growing up a little more, stabilizing a newly born society,
and fighting off previously unknown enemies. It's about help from
unlikely places and betrayal from others. It's about changing
perspectives and trying to befriend others who are very different
from ourselves.
What are these two
stories most deeply about? Trust. Learning to trust and how a life
filled with trust, though it makes you more vulnerable in some ways,
is a better and more fulfilling life. In Mistborn Vin learns
to trust her friends, to trust those she comes to view as family. In
The Well of Ascension she continues to learn of this trust and
also the trust which must accompany a more exclusive love.
These stories are
about how trusting relationships can allow you to grow, discover who
you are, to laugh freely, and let your guard down both physically and
emotionally. They are about overcoming a very dark past, full of
mistrust and valid reasons to distrust. They are about questioning
whether we are being used, whether we can be loved and be useful, and
being willing to be used because we love the one who needs us.
Here are two of my
favorite quotes from The Well of Ascension concerning love
(unfortunately I don't have access to Mistborn, because it was
a library book):
“Honestly,
Saze, sometimes I just think we're too different to be together...”
“At
first glance, the key and the lock it fits may seem very different,”
Sazed said. “Different in shape, different in function, different
in design. The man who looks at them without knowledge of their true
nature might think them opposites, for one is meant to open, and the
other to keep closed. Yet, upon closer examination, he might see that
without the one, the other becomes useless. The wise man then sees
that both the lock and key were created for the same purpose.”
Another
qoute by Sazed (one of my favorite characters):
“I
simply offer counsel. Those who take lightly promises they make to
those they love are people who find little lasting satisfaction in
life.”
Both
books are a decent length, but if you enjoy reading, I think they are
enjoyable and worth the read. I would rate them PG-13 for violence,
gore, sexual references (it doesn't go into details, but a lot of the
nobility take mistresses from the Skaa) and some disturbing elements
(Vin gets beat up a few times and the Skaa mistresses, by order of
the Lord Ruler, have to be killed before they can have mixed blood
children). Because of the violence, I would maybe place it between a
PG-13 and an R.
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