Mistborn

World building *and* one massive story arc in a single book. That it's part of a series and a larger universe is just icing on the cake. Friends have recommended Sanderson for years, and it's about time I dove in.

Downtrodden folk, nobles, a mysterious governmental structure led by one who claims to be eternal. Swords and... sorcery? This idea of metallic powers is all new and fully formed. While reading, I was thinking of connections to role playing games, and that's a good thing. The core of the crew, the heist, these are things I enjoy reading, and the characters are all very three dimensional. Fight scenes are well described, and could certainly be filmed - though they may not exceed the visualization in my head.

Were there any drawbacks? I can't think of any right now. The love interest felt "cute" at first, but grew - and in the end, completely made sense for the character. As Vin learned about metals, it felt a little like vignettes from video games, but it also worked well with the story. Going beyond that, it was the things she learned in those scenes that gave the best results. Well done, Brandon Sanderson!

This is a book I would happily recommend. I started as an audiobook, which was a nice taste, but far to slow for my reading tastes. The audiobook runs 24 hours, I finished reading the ebook in just under nine.