The Cosmere is a collection of fantasy books by Brandon Sanderson which as of today contains nearly 4 million words total. 

These books and series are all connected MCU style with a lot of individual books/series that later on converge in a central plot. Despite the first book in the Cosmere coming out almost 20 years ago, we still are only in the very early stages of the universe. 

I am going to avoid spoilers in these reviews however I will reveal the most basic aspects of the story. I recommend that for most of these books that you go in completely blind as that makes the reading experience a lot better.

The World of Mistborn

Welcome to Scadrial, where ash falls from the red sky like rain. Upon the scarred terrain, the godlike Lord Ruler has reigned supreme for a thousand years. 

Those who aided in The Lord Ruler’s rise to power became the Nobles, and were granted magic called Allomancy, which has been passed down to their descendants. 

The people who worked against The Lord Ruler became the Skaa, and all their descendants became slaves to the upper class. Many Skaa are considered property, and even the most well-off are subject to the whims of the Nobles. 

The Final Empire

Vin is a Skaa street urchin in Luthadel, the largest city in the world and home to the Lord Ruler. She has only survived this long thanks to her brother’s harsh teachings and a little bit of what she calls Luck. It turns out Vin’s “Luck” is actually her Mistborn abilities. A Mistborn named Kelsier discovers Vin and decides to train her in her abilities. 

Though Kelsier has plans of his own, after years of thievery Kelsier was betrayed and sent to torture camps alongside his Wife. After she dies he discovers that he is Mistborn. Kelsier then sets his sights on vengeance and taking down The Lord Ruler himself. 

The book follows Vin as she learns about her abilities, and infiltrates the Nobles to aid Kelsier in his quest. Brandon Sanderson describes the plot of this book as a “fast-paced, high fantasy heist”.

The plot of this book is without a doubt the strongest of the series, it has a clear ending and, ignoring a few loose ends, could be read as a standalone. Because of this it is one of my favorite books of all time. The humor, the characters, the action,  the story, it all works together to create a phenomenal experience. 

The Well of Ascension & The Hero of Ages

I can’t summarize the plots of either of these books in any detail because sadly it would contain massive spoilers for the first book, however I will share my thoughts on aspects that do not contain spoilers.

The second book (The Well of Ascension) has one of the best antagonists of any book I’ve ever read. Zane is insane, for reasons you discover in the third book. He is a perfect foil to Vin, he represents all of the darkness inside of her. The conflict between them is written amazingly, if the entirety of The Well of Ascension was just Vin and Zane interacting I would be satisfied.

For better or for worse, Zane is not the only part of The Well of Ascension. There’s a lot of politics, and to a certain extent that can be interesting, but since there’s not a singular antagonist or problem in the book that needs to be fixed, the pacing can be a bit inconsistent. 

The Hero of Ages has a lot of similar issues, with pacing being a bit inconsistent, and often the characters feel like they are running around in circles. 

However, Vin is in her prime throughout almost the entire book. I felt proud watching this scared little girl grow up into the powerhouse she is in this book, and notably, she is still distinctly herself. 

Often in stories where characters undergo drastic character arcs by the end they seem like completely different people. Whereas Vin still feels and acts as we would expect, but the reasoning behind her actions and her attitude towards certain things has changed.

One issue though with having Vin complete her main character arc by the end of the second book is it can be hard to keep a reader engaged with her character in the third. Brandon Sanderson deals with this by focusing a lot on the remaining side characters from the previous books. Many side characters from the second and third books become protagonists in the third book.

I loved the ending of this book series. It perfectly wrapped everyone’s character arcs in a nice neat bow. A few tears may have been shed as well. It was by far one of the most impactful series I had ever read.

The Magic System

All magic on Scadrial is based on metal (The Metallic Arts). Different metals grant different abilities, and they are used in all 3 of the world’s magic systems. 

Allomancy, Feruchemy, and Hemalurgy are all complex in their own ways and it’s incredibly satisfying the natural way the reader discovers how they work.

Often I was so impressed with how well the Magic fit within the world and the medium in which the story is told. Many aspects of the magic system just wouldn’t easily work in a visual medium, however they are perfectly portrayed in the book.

 I will save the more in depth talk about the magic system in the review for Mistborn Era Two, as those books focus a lot more on the interactions of the 3 magic systems.

The Characters

Mistborn as a whole has some of my favorite characters of all time. 

Vin is an extremely captivating protagonist to follow throughout the three books. Her character arc is so incredibly satisfying and you can’t help but root for her.

Elend is a bit of an ambitious Nobleman introduced as Vin’s love interest in the first book. Now I am not someone who typically likes romance in the books I read, and I don’t think I have ever genuinely liked a love interest. 

That was until I met Elend. The chemistry between Vin and Elend is the best I’ve ever seen. Their personalities perfectly complement each other and it’s so fun watching them interact. Elend in the second book can be a little annoying, however he makes up for it for his absolute badassery (for lack of a better term) in the third book. 

Another part of the book I have yet to talk about is the Terris people. Though that’s because for the majority of the series we only know one. Sazed is the sole Terris protagonist and the only Feruchemist in the Era one cast. 

His arc throughout the series is one of the most heartbreaking and captivating, for reasons I can’t get into. Though his final moments in the third book are so satisfying to see him come so far. Don’t worry, I will talk more in depth about him in Era 2.

There are so many other characters I feel I need to mention but I can’t let this go on forever.

In Conclusion

Mistborn Era 1 has some of the strongest characters and stories in all of the Cosmere. I will continue to look back and reread this trilogy many times over.

There are so many things I left out of this review that I just hope you can discover on your own! It is an excellent introduction to the Cosmere and I highly recommend that if it interests you at all, you should check it out. 

I rate The Final Empire a 9.7/10 

I rate The Well of Ascension an 8.8/10

And I rate The Hero of Ages an 8/10

See you next time when I review Warbreaker!