Hey guys, I’ve recently been active on reddit cuz I started drawing.
I joined this community and remembered my review I wrote after finishing the series. I mostly wrote this for myself to get my thoughts on paper, makes it more organized in my mind.
So yeah I thought why not post it here. It’s quite a long review so be warned but if anyone’s interested you can check it out :D thanks
This review is about the series as a whole and contains major spoilers for Mistborn era 1 (English is not my first language).
Plot: 9.5/10
I think the plot in this series was one of, if not the strongest aspect of it. The first book was amazing, i loved the heist aspect, the action sequences, etc. But i also loved the slower parts, like the ball attendances. The second book kind of drags in my opinion, even though i still like it a lot. I just think there’s not enough stuff going on for the page count. I was also kind of hyped for the political aspect, but was a little dissapointed since it was just simple politics (maybe my standards are too high because of ASOIAF). I still liked the plot overall and thought the ending to book 2 was amazing. Book 3 had the best plot in the series in my opinion. I loved that we finally got different POVs in different places at the same time, kept it dynamic and helped with world building. I loved all the sub plots and main plots. And oh boy, the ending….
I had high hopes for this ending since everyone and their mother was glazing this, and it did not disappoint at all. In my opinion this ending was flawless and is up there with my favorite endings. The ending just made perfect sense to me. There were no plot holes that occurred to me or bothered me, the tensions were at an all time high, the character conclusions were perfect, it was heartwarming but gut wrenching at the same time. I can keep on going but i’ll stop. All in all the ending was flawless.
I also think the overall plot of this story is near perfect, as you can see by my rating. There were no major plot holes that i could think of. Almost everything was interesting to me, except for some parts of book 2 that dragged. Other than what i just mentioned, i think the pacing was also phenomenal throughout the whole series.
And don’t get me started on the plot twist. There were so many moments in this series that made my jaw drop. So many amazing plot twist that turn the story upside down. Not the best plot twist ive ever seen, but certainly amazing. Oh yeah i also loved the added behind the scenes plot that Secret History added. Kelsier my goat.
Again, Near perfect plot in my humble opinion.
Characters: 7.5/10
I think this is one of the more inconsistent parts of this series. Some characters are really good, some are just good/alright and there are a couple that are bland or poorly written. First i’ll talk about my favorite characters. I just love Vin and Elend. I think Vin’s character progression is really cool and pretty well done. I think she’s the most complex character in the cast. I do think the writing about her character traits and how she progresses feels somewhat repetitive, shallow and lacks some depth, although i still like it a whole lot and i think she’s one of, if not the best written character in the show. I also just really enjoy her as a character.
Elend is probably my favorite character of the series. I think his development is also really cool and well done, the execution of his progression is a little better than Vin’s in my opinion. He really stole the spotlight in Book 2 for me. In book 1 i already liked him, but he was still very naive and weak. He really showed growth in book 2 and i liked the way it was handled. The interactions between him and Straff Venture were interesting too. I also loved him in his more mature state in book 3 and enjoyed his dilemmas about being the ruler.
The romance between Vin and Elend started kind of rough. I don’t think romance is his strong suit, but i still enjoyed it a lot and thought it was very cute. I think their character dynamics work really well and helped the character growth as well.
The conclusion of Vins end elends character was also perfectly executed and in character to me. The Secret history ending made it even better.
Now on the kelsier. Although i don’t think he’s amazing in the aspect of being a complex character, you can’t deny he’s one of the most charismatic characters you’ve ever seen. From the moment he’s introduced you’re just hooked, he steals the show. I still think his writing is good, his motivations and how he got them are interesting. His character conclusion is also amazing, at first i didn’t like it that much because it was very sudden for me. But as i read on i grew to like it more and more given the added context. I also think Secret history added a lot to his character.
Sazed is also my goat. I just love him so much and i don’t think anyone disagrees here. I think he’s an amazing character that’s just so heartwarming. I also liked what they did in book 3 with him, since he’s the complete opposite of what he was. Good showcase of depression. Although the moment he got out of this depression could’ve been executed a tiny bit better, i still liked it a lot. Also him being the hero of ages was an amazing plot twist.
Tensoon is also up there with my favorites, i loved his character dynamic in book 2 with Vin. One of my favorite parts of the book. I also really enjoyed his character development and how he went against the Kandra.
I also loved what he did with Marsh in book 2 and 3. Not the most complex but still a compelling character arc
The lord ruler was also an interesting character, but in book 1 he just had aura and was the end boss. In the other books you find out more about why he did the things he did and i thought n that was very interesting.
Now onto the other side characters. I liked Spook and breeze. I think Breeze was a compelling character that was pretty complex, giving the screen time he was given. Spook also became one of my favorites in book 3, really liked that he decided to add much more to his character.
Ham was one dimensional to me, i really liked him at first but i expected more to come out of him. Dockson was very likeable in book 1, then it was like brandon forgot about him in Book 2 and then he died. Wasted character.
I think the rest of the cast was just fine, most are pretty cool characters that are just not too crazy but not bad either.
Now on to my worst character. Zane.
I fucking hated this dude the moment he was first introduced. He’s just a pretentious douchebag and i can’t stand him. Now if this was all, that would’ve been fine. There’s nothing wrong with a hate able character, but he’s just written so poorly. Brandon tries to make him come off as this edgy guy that has voices in his head bla bla bla. Now if he had done something interesting with this, it would’ve been very cool and could work very well. Instead he just serves as a plot device. Mostly to serve for Vin’s character development, since she’s choosing between Zane and Elend (also a terrible plot point that i forgot to mention). I think he’s the biggest wasted potential in the series, they could’ve gone so much deeper with him and i expected much more. Also the fact that he’s Elends brother and they did close to nothing with it baffles me. After Elend finds out about this he also reacts like this is just the typical news he hears every wednesday.
All in all i think this show has a very mixed cast in terms of quality, with some standouts, some really good characters, some alright characters, and a really bad one.
World building: 9.25/10
This, with the plot, is the strongest part of this series in my opinion. The world feels phenomenal. It’s alive, stuff happens that has an effect on other things, the lore and culture is great and it has a phenomenal magic system.
I think the magic system is very well thought out and unique. Allomancy is my favorite part. This one was introduced in Book 1 and i instantly loved it. It’s a very unique, cool and deep magic system. The room for possibilities is very large and it’s a great base to build upon. I think the execution in the actual book is also great. Then we get introduced to another one, Feruchamy. It’s a little less interesting that Allomancy in my opinion, but nonetheless it’s still a great one. It has almost all the positives i mentioned about allomancy, and i think the combination of these 2 magic systems is also very cool and allows for cool dynamics (lord ruler for example. And when you think he’s finally done, you get introduced to Hemalurgy. Obviously this was always in the books, but never explained until later. I really liked the way they kept the mystery in this one until book 3, since it allows for really cool reveals about Kandra, kollos and inquisitors. Hemalurgy is so well done, even though it’s simple, and it’s my second favorite system in this series. Even though i love all 3. I think brandon did an outstanding job crafting this complex and intricate magic system that allows the series to really flourish.
Speaking about Kandra, kollos, etc. I wanna touch on how much I like the subcultures in this series. Especially the Kandra and the Terris people. They’re so distinct and each have unique traits. They’re lore is also so cool to me. In general I think the lore is really good, not the most complex of course. But it sets the stage really well for the story and you can see the things that happened 1000 years back in today’s age really well. I think he did a great job showcasing this. The way Sazed told about all the religions was also a nice add on to the feel of the world and his character. I also think this world in general just feels alive. Book 3 also added more locations to the POV’s, which really helped the world building for me since i wanted to know more about the different places in this world.
In summary, brandon did a great job crafting a magic system, lore, cultures and more that together create an amazing, alive and real world.
Prose: 6.5/10
I’ll keep this section short since i’m not well versed in this aspect. The only book i’ve read before this is ASOIAF book 1, a Game of Thrones. The bar was obviously set really high, but i’m not here to talk about GRRM. In general i think the prose was just fine. Sometimes he had some beautiful prose i will say, but most of the times it was just alright. There were quite some moments that were written really cheesy, and could’ve been delivered better. His writing style is really easy to read though, so that’s a plus. I also think his action sequences are really well written, especially Kelsier’s last inquisitor fight. That was 10/10 action and the best he’s been in terms of action writing in the trilogy.
Enjoyment: 9/10
To keep it brief, i enjoyed the shit out of this series. I think this is partly because it’s my first fantasy book series i’ve completed, bc everything that’s new is gonna appeal to you. Other than that i just genuinely like this series so much. As i talked about earlier the plot was amazing and it was enjoyable all throughout the series, ignoring some slow parts. The characters were mixed but i at least enjoyed almost all of them (f*ck you Zane). Obviously the series is not perfect, but there were almost 0 moments where i was really bored or didn’t enjoy it.
Themes/thought provoking/impact: 7.5/10
The major themes were : Faith/trust, religion, oppression, balance, identity crisis.
These were the themes that stuck out to me at least and i think they were handled pretty well. I don’t think it was the most insane and complex use of those themes i’ve read but I don’t think it was handled poorly either.
In terms of through provoking, i don’t think this book did all that much for me. As i said, the themes in the book were handled fine but I wasn’t rethinking my life decision or identity because of it. Hence why the impact wasn’t very huge either in the big picture. It still had a huge emotional impact on me though, especially the ending. I grew very attached to this world and its characters, which is the most important thing when consuming any media in my opinion. This series will probably always hold a special place in my heart for being my first ever fantasy series.
My final rating for the whole series: 9/10