Audio Book Review: To be Skaa or Noble? Not really a question.

Mistborn: The Final Empire

Written by Brandon Sanderson.

Narrated by Michael Kramer.

Life in the Empire. Skaa are the subservient class of humans good for only farming, scut work and some skilled craftsmanship. A noble may slaughter as many as they want as long as the Lord Ruler, a god-like tyrant who has been in charge for the last millenia, is not left wanting for…anything. It is pretty daring or brash to stand up to a noble but that is something Kelsier thinks is his calling.

Kelsier the thief was sentenced to the Atium mining prison camp in the pits of Hathsend for daring to invade the Lord Ruler’s palace seeking secrets. His wife Mare was sent along too. Her talent for allomancy which means she was a Misting or a Mistborn gave them away. Sorry for anything you consider a spoiler but the entire book then trilogy is huge. If you spoil that easily better give up reading. Haha.

A street urchin girl hanging with a thieving crew, Vin, gets caught up with Kelsier and his crew once he escapes the mines. What’s the new job? Raise an army, cause a noble house war, take over Luthadel and destroy the Lord Ruler. Nothing too big. During the course of events Kelsier comes into his own as a Mistborn as does Vin. Mistborn burn metals in their innards to grant them powers such as super strength, fast reflexes, flying by pushing and pulling metal sources, soothing or rioting the emotions of others and many more.

Other creatures used in this tale include Mistwraiths that take on the form of corpses they consume, Kandra- a kind of sentient or uplifted Mistwraith and inquisitors who are formed from slaughtered humans with metal spikes where their eyes should be.

I don’t want to issue anymore potential spoilers. This work is excellent. The narrator has an outstanding mastery of voice range for the characters. The plot is not easily predictable {KEY} and there is definitely room for continuing. Five out of five stars for this out of the box fantasy.

http://www.audible.com/pd/Sci-Fi-Fantasy/The-Final-Empire-Audiobook/B002V0QCYU