Don’t even bother reading this review of The Gathering Storm if you haven’t read the previous books in The Wheel of Time series. This is the twelfth book, and spoilers about the previous eleven will crop up in this review.

Blood and bloody ashes!

At long last, and two years after the tragic death of the original creator of the epic and much-loved series, fans have the next book in The Wheel of Time in their hot little hands, after it went on sale last week to great acclaim. No doubt there are tens of thousands of people right around the globe poring through the pages of the book this very instant. And the web forums are running hot.

Thankfully, those fans have much to be grateful for. Considering that Robert Jordan is no longer around, it is remarkable that The Gathering Storm is so true to the vision of the series’ original creator, and a worthwhile 12th book in the series that scores on a large number of levels. It’s simply thrilling to be thrust back into the world of The Wheel of Time.

God, I’ve missed it so much. I had a very emotional reaction to this book.

The question of whether Jordan substitute Brandon Sanderson is up to finishing the series has been answered. He is.

Thank you, Brandon Sanderson. Not only did we enjoy your stellar Mistborn series, along with the rest of Team Jordan, you have already gone some way towards realising the dreams of likely hundreds of thousands (millions?) of Wheel of Time fans who have been dying for this series to be finished in a way that will honour Robert Jordan, arguably the best fantasy author of our time. Keep up the good work.

That’s not to say that Sanderson has done as good a job as Jordan could have. There are many places in The Gathering Storm which make it clear that its delivery has suffered from Sanderson’s smaller vision. But the book is perhaps as good as it could possibly have been, without Jordan himself to write it.

For those of you who have lost patience with, as some call the series, The Waste of Time, this is now the time to jump back in and get up to speed on all things Rand Al’Thor and his merry band of Two Rivers folk. The end will come in the next few years, and The Gathering Storm is the first step in that journey. For anyone still wavering keep reading this review as I outline the book and provide some criticism.

If you are lost (and who can blame you) as to where the plot stands before The Gathering Storm, we recommend you read Dragonmount‘s plot summary (PDF).

As the book begins, the countries of the world of The Wheel of Time are in chaos.

Many are still reeling from the invasion of the Seanchan, the returned armies of Artur Hawkwing’s son from across the oceans. Others have suffered extensive upheaval due to the machinations of the Dark One’s top lieutenants, the fallen channellers known as the Forsaken.

The White Tower, the home of the female Aes Sedai, is suffering its own frosty civil war, with Tar Valon besieged by a rebel cadre of Aes Sedai, and even the Aiel have suffered their own discord, with bands of the Shaido clan still scattered across the land.

The situations of the heroes we have come to know and love so well over the past eleven books are no less chaotic.

Rand Al’Thor, the Dragon Reborn, appears to be spiralling downwards as he wraps himself ever closer in his steel cloak of mercilessness and – at times – indifference to the suffering of others. The Lord of the Morning, it appears, has been pushed too far and been forced to kill too many women. His heart has turned to blackest night.

Fellow Ta’averen Perrin and Mat are scattered around the world, leading disparate bands of armies that they plan to eventually meet with Rand’s forced to take on the forces of evil in the Last Battle. Elayne is consolidating her power as the new Queen of Andor, while Nynaeve is by Rand’s side, as are Min and Aviendha.

Perhaps the most interesting situation for one of the main protagonists in the story is that of Egwene Al’Vere. Raised Amyrlin by the rebel Aes Sedai who had congregated at Salidar but then marched on Tar Valon with an army led by one of the great generals of the time, Gareth Bryne.

After being captured by the White Tower Aes Sedai, Egwene is continuing within its own walls her resistance against the unstable rule of the Tower’s Amyrlin, Elaida. The only caveat is that she is doing so after being reduced to novice status again and while suffering repeated beatings and other indignities at the hands of Elaida’s underlings.

The Gathering Storm primarily follows the individual storylines of Rand and Egwene. As the book goes on, the difference between them becomes starker and starker. Rand’s problems mount, and he begins to fail to keep on top of them, or even to function normally when relating to those around him.

By contrast, Egwene takes on an almost Gandhi-like determination and stance towards her own suffering. She increasingly forces herself to rise against her pain and act for the unification of the warring Aes Sedai factions.

The choice to focus on these two central characters in the pages of The Gathering Storm was a wise one, whether it was made by Jordan or Sanderson. Finally, after several books worth of getting lost in twenty different character viewpoints, the series settles on some rather large questions and resolves them. And some of the climactic scenes involving the pair are highly dramatic – the kind of stuff the first few books in The Wheel of Time were filled with.

The Dragon Reborn taking the Stone of Tear kind of stuff, or claiming the Aiel.

The downside of this approach is that, as many other reviewers and fans have pointed out, we see relatively little of the popular Ta’averen Mat, or other major characters like Perrin. And we see nothing of Elayne at all.

This problem is made worse by the fact that Sanderson pretty much fluffs the Mat chapters completely, missing the constant yet understated humour found when Jordan writes from Mat’s viewpoint and hamming it up big time. Yet again, Mat doesn’t get any limelight, and his escapades could have been entirely removed from the book – that’s how little importance they have in the wider scheme of things.

In terms of the writing in general, it is normally spot on and ‘feels’ like Jordan writing, especially in the minor tension-building scenes. Sanderson gets almost all of the characters down pat, especially Egwene, Rand, Siuan Sanche, Cadsuane, and Perrin.

However, there are several problem areas in the book that Sanderson fails with. The first is the Mat sections. But I was also disturbed by how downplayed several of the major, major plot resolutions are that fans have literally been waiting decades for.

Without going into the details, I was shocked at how quickly ongoing mysteries such as Verin Sedai’s secret were solved and then written out of the plot. These things should have been more major focuses of the book. They needed to have more drama and more build-up. People have been constructing theories about these mysteries for the past ten years online. One chapter to deliver the solution is just not enough, when Jordan himself had been feeding the debate for years and years. Especially when many nuggety chapters like this are surrounded by fluffy almost-filler.

In a similar vein, although the climactic battles and confrontations of the book are ultimately satisfying and give you a certain thrill, they are broadly too short and Sanderson didn’t go into enough detail when describing them. These things are BIG events. They should have been treated as such. They shouldn’t be over within several chapters. The repercussions should have been felt.

Ultimately, these are minor quibbles, of the level that you could level at any of the previous Jordan-penned books in The Wheel of Time. And there is no doubt that many (including myself) will consider The Gathering Storm a cut above the most recent few books in the series, where Jordan simply seemed to get bogged down with the size of the world he had created, struggling to bring it all together for the big conclusion.

The one question fans have been debating (OK, to be honest, they’re all still debating who killed bloody Asmodean) over the past few years is whether Brandon Sanderson would be up to the task of finishing Robert Jordan’s masterpiece in a way that is true to the author’s vision.

That answer is yes. If you are a Wheel of Time fan and have not already bought it (what, are you insane?!), run, do not walk, run out to your local bookstore and buy a copy of this book, read it, re-read the entire series, then watch and wait feverishly over the next few months for even a small tidbit of news about when the remaining two books in the series will come out and we finally enter Tarmon Gaidon.

The Last Battle is drawing near, The Wheel of Time is back on track for completion, and things are well in the world again. Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time.

Note: I’m not the only critic who has written a review of The Gathering Storm. Here are similar reviews from some of my favourite writers:

• OF Blog of the Fallen
• Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist
• Neth Space
• The Wertzone

Excitement around the impending release of The Gathering Storm, the new book in Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time series, has hit fever pitch, with the book hitting online retailer Amazon.com’s top 10 list based on pre-release orders.

The last three books in The Wheel of Time are being written by established fantasy author Brandon Sanderson, who was selected by the widow of the original author, Robert Jordan, after tragically passed away in September 2007 to finish Jordan’s masterpiece. The first book, The Gathering Storm, will be published internationally on October 27.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, The Gathering Storm just broke into the top ten on Amazon,” Sanderson wrote on his Twitter account today.

According to Amazon.com, The Gathering Storm has been in its top 100 list for 61 days, based on pre-orders. Number one on the list is Stephen King’s new book, Under the Dome, a sci-fi thriller that is slated to be released on November 10. Dan Brown’s new novel The Lost Symbol is number four on the list, and has spent 188 days in the top 100, based on pre-orders.

Over the past few weeks, a number of reviews and early comments have been posted online of The Gathering Storm, based on advanced reading copies that publisher Tor Books has issued.

Larry at OF Blog of the Fallen writes that he enjoyed the book, but it wasn’t a perfect novel:

“It was better … than several of the more recent entries in the novel.  It is not a perfect novel (reasons I’ll explore on Tuesday), but it reminded me of the elements of the series that I did enjoy when I began reading it in 1997.  While not likely to be considered for the best 2009 novel that I’ve read, I do think it is one of the best epic fantasies novels that I’ve read this year.”

Writing on Tor.com, Leigh Butler posted a very enthusiastic review of the book, concluding:

“The main problem is that I have a lot of feelings about this book, in a way that’s very difficult to encapsulate with any kind of coherency. However, if I were absolutely forced to come up with one succinct phrase that sums up my reaction to The Gathering Storm, it would have to be this: Holy shit.”

We borrowed that awesome image of boxes of The Gathering Storm from Suvudu.

Speaking of the amount of background material Jordan had to the series, Romanczuk said “this translated in his filing system into something I’ve never encountered before. He had what I can only describe as a maze-like hierarchical system of files.”

The last three books in The Wheel of Time are being written by established fantasy author Brandon Sanderson, who was selected by the widow of the original author, Robert Jordan, after tragically passed away in September 2007 to finish Jordan’s masterpiece. The first book, The Gathering Storm, has already been finished and will be published internationally on October 27.

There is also a previous video in the Tor series, featuring Jordan’s widow Harriet McDougal and Sanderson.

Note: This review of the conclusion to the Mistborn series contains spoilers about the first two books. You probably don’t want to read The Hero of Ages or this review before you read the first two books, The Final Empire and The Well of Ascension.

Wow, what an amazing ride!

Hold on tight in the final book of Brandon Sanderson‘s stellar Mistborn trilogy … there are so many revelations and dramatic events coming thick and fast that you’ll be keeping your eyes glued to its pages. I couldn’t stop reading and literally stayed up past 1AM in the morning on several succeeding nights to finish it.

The Hero of Ages is the best possible conclusion to what has become one of modern fantasy’s best trilogies. Looking back over Keeping the Door‘s reviews of the previous two books, it’s clear that I enjoyed reading the first two books greatly. They were highly satisfying to read and contained a very good mix of character development, action and revelations in the magic system and world history.

But The Hero of Ages really ratchets everything up a massive notch. If you thought you knew the Final Empire, if you thought you knew the background to Allomancy, its system of magic, if you thought you knew what forces were behind it all, well you were wrong. You’ve got another, massive, think coming. If you have started reading Mistborn at all, keep going to this fantastic conclusion. It’s worth it.

At the conclusion of The Well of Ascension (book two in the series), Vin inadvertently released upon the world one of the primal beings behind everything. And it’s not a benevolent force, as long-time readers of fantasy might have guessed.

Dubbed ‘Ruin’, the basic reason for the entity’s existence is to destroy things. Ultimately, if it had it’s way, everything.

It’s not hard to understand, when you start reading The Hero of Ages, that Ruin is not too far away from getting its way. The mists so prevalent in the first two books have started killing people again, earthquakes are leveling buildings all over the place, and ash is falling from the sky in increasing quantities, even piling up to people’s waists in some places.

Vin and her husband, the now emperor Elend, have a lot of allies on their side. The Terrisman Sazed, keeper of the world’s knowledge. Various allomances with powerful skills. And perhaps most importantly, armies. With most of the empire now under Elend, he has necessarily to focus on how best to use his sheer manpower.

But as events gain pace throughout the book, it’s not clear whether it’ll be enough to keep The Final Empire running.

What I really found amazing about The Hero of Ages is that the book’s constant revelations about the real nature of events in the Final Empire over the past thousand years make clear just how much planning Brandon Sanderson put into this remarkable series.

It’s no exaggeration to say that even very small details from the opening pages of the first book, The Final Empire, are mentioned and finally put into their worthwhile context in the last pages of the final book. I was left stunned at times as I realised the subterfuge that the author had been undertaking in order to slowly reveal, like an onion, layers upon layers of his world.

The genius of Brandon Sanderson’s work is that even though I now know the full context of the first two books in the Mistborn series, when I was reading them, I didn’t feel as though I lacked context. The series has just gradually deepened throughout its length, without losing any of its dramatic tension or sacrificing its action-packed scenes.

After reading the final Mistborn book, it’s easy to see why Robert Jordan’s widow Harriet McDougal was keen for Sanderson to finish Jordan’s epic The Wheel of Time series following his untimely death. Sanderson’s world-building and revelation skills are similar in style to those of Jordan himself.

Finishing the Mistborn trilogy is like finishing Battlestar Galactica, for those who have watched the landmark sci-fi TV series. You awaken slowly from a dream, unsure as to where you really are or what just happened, but knowing that you’re in a place far, far distant from where you began, and stunned by the remarkable journey.

J. K. Rowling

Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling has joined Twitter, signing up for a verified account with the social networking and micro-blogging platform.

The British author joins other science fiction and fantasy writers such as Kevin J. Anderson, Brandon Sanderson and William Gibson, who all use Twitter to various degrees. William Gibson has become a prolific Twitterer over the past six months.

Rowling has only made three posts on the service so far, writing:

“I am told that people have been twittering on my behalf, so I thought a brief visit was in order just to prevent any more confusion!

However, I should flag up now that although I could twitter endlessly, I’m afraid you won’t be hearing from me very often … as pen and paper is my priority at the moment.”

The author is not following anyone on Twitter, although more than 60,000 Twitterers are already watching her every move.

Rowling is known to currently be working on several books after her completion of the seven book Harry Potter series, including a ‘political fairy tale’ for children and another book for adults.

Note: This review of the second book in the Mistborn series contains spoilers about the first. You probably don’t want to read The Well of Ascension or this review before you read the first book, The Final Empire.

There really isn’t much to say about Brandon Sanderson‘s The Well of Ascension, the 2007 follow-up to his highly satisfying 2006 novel Mistborn. If you liked your first venture into the Mistborn universe, and our review suggests that you probably did, you’ll love the second instalment.

In fact, you’ll probably snarl at anyone – for example, your boss, the bus conductor, your spouse – who tries to get you to stop reading it and pay attention to the real world. It’s that good. It’s simply a little nugget of fantasy gold that we couldn’t put down for the week it took to read it.

The narrative of The Well of Ascension kicks off a little after the events of The Final Empire. Arch-rebel Kelsier has died after successfully lighting a fire under the government and nobility of the city of Luthadel, at the heart of the empire. But then the Lord Ruler, that virtually immortal emperor who took the power of the legendary and mysterious Well of Ascension millennia ago and has been abusing his power ever since, has also been knocked off.

His killer, the street thief turned powerful Allomancer Vin, is now hanging out with her boyfriend, the noble Elend Venture, who has taken the reins of power and kingship in the city of Luthadel at the centre of the empire. Allomancy, if you remember, is Mistborn‘s magic system. Its practitioners can ‘burn’ certain metals after swallowing them, gaining amazing powers of strength, sensory enhancements and metal manipulation in doing so.

It all sounds hunky dory. Ding dong, the Lord Ruler is dead, let’s dance happily on the ashes of his grave and end the servitude of the Skaa, the peasant class in the world of Mistborn. But of course, nobody ever got to live happily ever after in the second book of a trilogy.

As the book’s back cover notes: “Evil has been defeated. The war has just begun.”

One of the refreshing things about the Mistborn series so far is its focus (thus far) on just one location. This is no quest series, where a legendary magical item has to be returned to the receptacle from which it was stolen 2,000 years ago by the Dark Lord and his evil minions etc.

Far from it.

In fact, as with the first book, almost all of the events in The Well of Ascension take place in the city of Luthadel. We follow Vin around most of the time as she deals with those attempting to kill Elend Venture and starts to realise that even though she’s one of the most advanced Allomancers around, she really doesn’t know that much about the real history of her powers and the world she lives in.

As the book wears on, it takes a turn for the disastrous. As its blurb notes, no less than three separate armies arrive outside the city walls and dig in for a siege.

But that’s not all. The Lord Ruler might be gone, but there are other supernatural forces out there, and some of them begin to pay Vin regular visits. Hints begin to arrive that Vin and Elend Venture’s problems might not just restricted to the political chaos following the Lord Ruler’s death, but might extend to instabilities in the deep structure of the entire world and its magic system.

Brandon Sanderson

There is plenty of action in The Well of Ascension, and plenty of “aha” moments where small or large secrets and plot elements are revealed to the reader for the first time. Normally the middle book in a trilogy is the toughest one to get right, but Sanderson’s work fires on all cylinders.

The author never makes the mistake of letting his characters get too powerful or too ahead of themselves. The minute they do, some larger problem arrives to cut them down to size and put a realistic cap on their abilities.

I have but two criticisms of The Well of Ascension, and they are minor ones.

Firstly, the political maneuvering is a little bit naïve and simplistic. Most of the time it simply contrasts the idealism of Elend Venture with the crass greed and powermongering of the other powerful players. However, real-world politics is a great deal more complicated often plays different sets of ideals against each other.

Most of the Mistborn world is coloured in shades of grey, but its politics is simply black and white.

Secondly, I would argue that certain aspects of Sanderson’s plot in general is predictable. That doesn’t mean it’s not enjoyable to take in, but the more experienced fantasy reader will pick up the more obvious signs he leaves scattered throughout the book as to the real story behind the surface events in The Well of Ascension.

But these two minor quibbles won’t keep anyone continuing their journey in this highly enjoyable series. If you liked The Final Empire, you’ll want to pick up The Well of Ascension quick smart and block out a sizeable chunk of space in your diary for “personal time”.

Publisher Tor Books has made the second chapter of the next Wheel of Time book, The Gathering Storm, available for free in audio format only.

The last three books in The Wheel of Time are being written by established fantasy author Brandon Sanderson, who was selected by the widow of the original author, Robert Jordan, after tragically passed away in September 2007 to finish Jordan’s masterpiece. The first book, The Gathering Storm, has already been finished and will be published internationally on October 27.

Tor has already released Chapter One of the book for free online, as well as the prologue for a charge of US2.99, although it immediately leaked to the BitTorrent peer to peer file-sharing system.

The second chapter of The Gathering Storm is entitled “The Nature of Pain”, following the first chapter, “Tears from Steel”. The full audio of The Nature of Pain runs for almost 48 minutes.

Fans have praised the first chapter in The Gathering Storm.

Over the past weeks, Wheel of Time fans have posted no less than 582 comments on Tor’s site about the new chapter. The overwhelming response has been that Sanderson writes in a slightly different and less descriptive style than Jordan, but that fans were immediately able to re-enter the Wheel of Time universe and were incredibly excited to be doing so.

Commentary
Jeez, Tor is really laying on the publicity for this book; two chapters and a prologue released even before the book comes out!

But does it really need to? The Gathering Storm is one of the most anticipated books in fantasy literature in 2009 and is virtually guaranteed to be a best-seller, even if it ends up being panned critically (which I highly doubt).

As for Chapter 2 being in audio format only … I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before someone transcribes it and posts it on the internet. Not that I would encourage that sort of behaviour; after all, it’s plagiarism.

The thirteenth (and second-last) book in the Wheel of Time series will be formally titled Towers of Midnight, the series’ new author Brandon Sanderson revealed last week, with the fourteenth and last to retain its original title A Memory of Light.

The last three books in The Wheel of Time are being written by established fantasy author Brandon Sanderson, who was selected by Harriet McDougal, the widow of the original author, Robert Jordan, after tragically passed away in September 2007 to finish Jordan’s masterpiece. The first book, The Gathering Storm, has already been finished and will be published internationally on October 27.

Last week Sanderson wrote on his blog:

“After a long round of conversations with Tor and Harriet, we settled on TOWERS OF MIDNIGHT as the title. There are various reasons for this, which I’ll go into more once the book is out next year. I’m pleased, however, as this was the title I suggested. It’s actually appropriate in an interesting way. Harriet was the one who came up with the name for the first of the three, and the second one gets the title I proposed. And so, we will (as I’ve been saying for a while) use Mr. Jordan’s title for the final of the three, A MEMORY OF LIGHT.”

Towers of Midnight's working title had been Shifting Winds, but Sanderson had stated several times that it wasn’t the book’s final name. Before he passed away, Jordan had passed on a desire for the final book to be called “A Memory of Light”, although once the book was split into three, a debate began between Tor, McDougal and Sanderson about the exact titles of the three.

The final book, A Memory of Light, for example, had a working title of Tarmon Gai’don, referring to the final battle planned in The Wheel of Time universe.

Speculation has already begun online (more here) about what the title Towers of Midnight refers to, with some highlighting the fact that there is an action location in the Seanchan Empire named The Towers of Midnight, and others wondering if the title refers to a possible corruption of various towers in the books; for example the Aes Sedai White Tower and the Asha’man Black Tower.

]]> http://www.keepingthedoor.com/2009/09/21/towers-of-midnight-wheel-of-time-book-13/feed/ 206 http://www.keepingthedoor.com/2009/09/20/new-wheel-of-time-prologue-hits-bittorrent/ http://www.keepingthedoor.com/2009/09/20/new-wheel-of-time-prologue-hits-bittorrent/#comments Sun, 20 Sep 2009 02:15:34 +0000 Renai LeMay http://www.keepingthedoor.com/?p=600

The Gathering Storm Chapter 2: Listen for free

The Gathering Storm hits Amazon top 10

Next Wheel of Time book: Read chapter one

]]>

The prologue to the next Wheel of Time book, The Gathering Storm, was released in e-book format last week and immediately leaked to the BitTorrent peer to peer file-sharing system.

The last three books in The Wheel of Time are being written by established fantasy author Brandon Sanderson, who was selected by the widow of the original author, Robert Jordan, after tragically passed away in September 2007 to finish Jordan’s masterpiece. The first book, The Gathering Storm, has already been finished and will be published internationally on October 27.

Last week, Wheel of Time publisher Tor Books made the prologue to The Gathering Storm available for sale in various e-book formats for US$2.99, from sites like Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, iTunes and audible.com. The publisher had already released the first chapter to The Gathering Storm online for free and plans to gradually release all of the existing series as e-books.

However, on BitTorrent site Mininova, several dozen people are sharing The Gathering Storm prologue for free, with another dozen downloading it, although Keeping the Door has not downloaded the file to verify if it is accurate. There are also many more people downloading the previous Robert Jordan books in the series, in PDF and audio forms.

On his blog last week, Sanderson wrote that he had received complaints about the prologue being sold with digital rights management attached, or about it being in limited e-book formats. However, he pointed out that at least one seller was providing the prologue as a simple PDF file.

“To be honest, I’m not sure what I think of selling the prologue ahead of time,” he wrote. “I’m not a fan of charging people multiple times for the same content. But it’s been established practice for the WoT for a while now, and the length of the prologue makes it worth the money.”

The BitTorrent leak follows a similar situation with Dan Brown’s highly anticipated book The Lost Symbol, which has already been downloaded tens of thousands of times on BitTorrent.

Commentary
This was always going to happen; any time someone asks people to charge for content, the internet is going to find a way around it.

In today’s digital age, the morality of downloading pirated content from BitTorrent and other peer to peer file-sharing systems is a highly debated topic. I’m reluctant to go into it here, beyond noting that many authors see the practice as depriving them of remuneration for their work, while some, such as Paulo Coelho, author of the best-selling The Alchemist, see it as free publicity.

]]> http://www.keepingthedoor.com/2009/09/20/new-wheel-of-time-prologue-hits-bittorrent/feed/ 7 http://www.keepingthedoor.com/2009/09/12/mistborn-the-final-empire-a-review/ http://www.keepingthedoor.com/2009/09/12/mistborn-the-final-empire-a-review/#comments Sat, 12 Sep 2009 01:46:57 +0000 Renai LeMay http://www.keepingthedoor.com/?p=546

The Well of Ascension: Review

The Hero of Ages: Review

Gardens of the Moon: Review

]]>

Brandon Sanderson‘s Mistborn: The Final Empire is a thoroughly satisfying beginning to what I expect will be a great trilogy. The book contains a well-thought-out system of magic and a good degree of complexity to the plot and character development.

The Final Empire demonstrates that Sanderson is an accomplished writer who knows his craft well. Plot revelations and significant events that progress the likeable and intriguing characters are doled out at regular intervals and make the book quite suited to the modern reader. There’s just enough in a chapter to make it to your bus stop every morning and leave you wanting more.

And the book’s meaty conclusion brings its various threads together well.

The copy of the book we reviewed was simply entitled Mistborn, but there are two more books in the Mistborn series: Mistborn: The Well of Ascension, and Mistborn: The Hero of Ages. Online, the first book seems mainly referred to as Mistborn: The Final Empire. The book was first published in mid-2006.

The world of Mistborn is a troubled one. During the day the main slave class, known as the skaa, works its bodies into the ground in mind-numbing servitude while ash perennially falls from the sky upon their heads. Nothing about the skaa is considered sacred; not their possessions, their lives, even their women. Their whole world belongs to the noble class which sits above them.

In contrast to the skaa, the noble class spends most of its time living a life of luxury; attending and hosting splendid balls, conducting trade and playing politics against its own members in an attempt to gain advantage.

At night, however, things change. The mists come out, covering the world in a blanket of fog, and any sensible skaa remains cowering indoors, away from the things which roam abroad; things, it’s rumoured, that can steal your soul. The noble class is a bit more willing to go out at night, due to its higher levels of education and protection, but even nobles aren’t completely sure what the mists hold.

The only ones who do are those called Mistings and Mistborn; humans with special powers that are generated by using the energy found in various metals. Speed, more powerful senses, strength; it’s all there in one form or another. Using such techniques is known as Allomancy. And Allomany is strictly forbidden to the skaa; it’s a magic the noble class keeps for itself.

The arch enforcer of these strict societal rules is the Lord Ruler; the thousand-year-old emperor who rules the world through a combination of Allomancy and bureacracy. But not all are happy with the order he maintains.

Into this world comes Vin, a skaa street urchin who seems to have a knack for surviving by having more luck than those around her. The pages of Mistborn: The Final Empire will see her swept away from her pathetic life of thieving and cringing away from those more powerful than her and into a revolution that aims to topple the noble class and even the Lord Ruler himself from his milennium-old throne.

Brandon Sanderson

I love several things about Mistborn: The Final Empire. The first is the Allomancy magic system Sanderson has created. Creating a good magic system is probably one of the hardest tasks in writing fantasy literature.

Authors have to tread a careful path between the extremes of making their system too powerful, too weak, too esoteric, or too mechanistic. Critics generally praise the One Power system found in Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time books because it sits in between all of these extremes, and I would say Sanderson’s Allomancy system is pretty good as well (if more limited than Jordan’s vision).

You really care about finding out more about how Allomancy works as the book goes on, and its practitioners are constantly coming up with innovative ways to use it, especially in combat, which delivers a degree of punch to Sanderson’s action scenes. Sure, the characters can fly. But in a limited, controlled way that respects the laws of physics. Fascinating stuff.

The other thing I love about Mistborn: The Final Empire is Sanderson’s sense of pacing. Just as you’re getting tired of one character’s viewpoint, he switches to another. Just as you think you understand the world he’s created, he pulls the rug out from under your feet. Just as a character begins to get comfortable with the world around them, Sanderson puts them through a plot test so they can grow and develop.

Now, I won’t say that Sanderson’s accomplishment verges of the sublime. It doesn’t. The book comes across as very, very workmanlike. This is the vision of a journeyman writer; not a master. There’s no doubt that Sanderson has all the rules of fantasy writing down pat; but at least in Mistborn: The Final Empire, he hadn’t started breaking them yet.

Nevertheless, this workmanlike attitude which constantly satisfies the reader is what most readers are looking for, and I would argue it would be a rare fantasy reader indeed who didn’t get a great deal of pleasure from Mistborn: The Final Empire.

Sadly, I found it hard to buy Mistborn: The Final Empire in Australia. It wasn’t stocked in either mainstream or specialist speculative fiction book shops. I had to order it online from Amazon.com.

Given the amount of poorly written books that are available on shelves, this goes a long way to indicating that Sanderson’s books are probably not as well-known as they should be, given the quality of the author’s prose. It’s a situation I hope to see rectified with the publication of The Gathering Storm, the next book in the Wheel of Time series that Sanderson has penned following the tragic and untimely death of series creator Robert Jordan.

If you haven’t read any Brandon Sanderson yet, pick up this book. You won’t be disappointed.

]]> http://www.keepingthedoor.com/2009/09/12/mistborn-the-final-empire-a-review/feed/ 0