Mistborn

The final book I finished reading in June 2024 represents the first entry of the highly-regarded Mistborn Saga by Brandon Sanderson, simply titled Mistborn, and the first great fantasy novel I’ve read in far too long. What’s great is, the book is fairly self-contained, so if you stop after reading this first entry in the series, you’ve still gotten the main gist of this (innovative) world’s mechanics and structure. However, for interested readers, Sanderson offers expanded world building and dynamics in its two follow-up novels.

The best way I can describe this book to others (when I’ve tried to explain it in ways any geek can understand) is this: Consider merging The Hunger Games and Fullmetal Alchemist, and out comes something half-like Mistborn. The other missing half of the equation comes from Sanderson’s clever allomancy mechanics and thoughtful character development, which truly make this novel (as the scientists say) an n=1 (pronounced n-of-one).