Mistborn is an epic fantasy series by Brandon Sanderson. It takes place in a fantasy world called Scadrial, where people live under the harsh rule of the Lord Ruler, an immortal dictator. Spoilers Ahead.
Mistborn is a very thought out and well-rounded story. This series is very important to the plot of the Cosmere as a whole, especially since it contains Kelsier, who has been revealed by Brandon Sanderson to be the leader of the Ghostbloods.
My Favorite Elements of Mistborn: Era 1:
Character Design
Kelsier’s original squad contained Vin, Ham, Breeze, Spook, Sazed, and more. With this many characters, it can be hard to prevent repeating personalities. But Brandon Sanderson has managed to make each character original and unique. One thing that I’ve noticed with these characters is that their Speech Patterns — the way each character talks– are different from each other. These Speech Patterns can be seen in the example below. (These are exaggerated, but you get the point.)
These Speech Patterns are part of what helps differentiate each character from one other. This shows how much thought and effort was put into developing the story. The author probably has a list of speech patterns and personality traits for each character in order to keep them consistent throughout the story. The characters in Mistborn are good role models when creating new characters in any story.
Tensoon
TenSoon is by far my favorite character. The plot twist –where Vin’s own dog/ kandra was the imposter– was pure genius. OreSeur was the least likely suspect because he was the one helping Vin find the kandra spy. I actually remember reading and thinking that OreSeur could have been double-crossing Vin, but TenSoon killing OreSeur and taking his place makes more sense, and makes a better plot twist.
Allomancy & Feruchemy
Scadrial’s Magic system is flawless and consistent. Each Allomancy and Feruchemy power has their limitations and weaknesses, which are also used creatively in the story. An example of this is when Wax shot out of Wayne’s bendalloy bubble and used the altered trajectory limitation to his advantage by firing a second bullet to hit an enemy that was behind a hostage. All Allomancers are limited to the amount of metal they have ingested, which is basically the equivalent of the use of ‘mana’ in most fantasy video games, and Feruchemists are limited by the amount of power they have already stored. This Magic system is good because, like in actual physics, energy is not being created or destroyed, but converted to another form or stored away for later use.
SANDERSON, BRANDON. Mistborn. TOR, 2006.