No, this blog post is not sponsored by Audible. I’m legitimately talking about their service. But, firstly:
The following review contains no specific spoilers, though as always, if you wish to enter into a series completely blind then I recommend you skip this review. If you’re interested in the Audible portion of this blog post, scroll until you see the header text.
When casting around for something to read after Harry Potter some time ago I discovered that a series of books I’d kept my eye on – namely, the Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson – was on sale on Kindle for £1 per book. Being the eager beaver that I am, I almost dived right in and bought all seven available books, but I decided on this one occasion to hold back and buy only the original trilogy, in case the series wasn’t to my taste and I wasted my money. Boy, was that a mistake. I need more. Not that the conclusion to the trilogy wasn’t satisfying – it was, and it was brilliant – and that’s all I’ll say on the ending.
I’ve seen Sanderson’s works described as avoiding fantasy stereotypes expertly, and I can only agree with this notion. The method of magic in the Mistborn novels isn’t something I’ve ever read about before. Not to spoil too much, I’ll stick to saying that it’s very logic-based and contains limitations which reach a balance of not being too restricting, whilst avoiding any deux-ex-machina type plot holes. If I was to write a self-indulgent piece of fantasy, I admit that I’d likely base magical power on will rather than skill. Skill-based abilities, however, make your characters more admirable when they’re badass. And Vin is certainly that.
I’ve always said that written works are inferior to other platforms of fiction when it comes to scenes of action. One notable moment when I’ve found myself wrong on this has been when reading the novel Stormrage. This is another one of those moments. Allomancy allows for very momentum based combat, with the ability to pull yourself onto and push yourself off of various metals, as well as being able to enhance your strength. One of the first fight scenes in the first book, The Final Empire, sees Kelsier facing off against a group of soldiers who are trained to kill allomancers. Limited to what he can use his powers for, he finds a metal paperweight at his disposal, and the way in which he manipulates its trajectory to attack these soldiers is something that you have to read for yourself.
The world is as unique as its magic. The premise presented on the blurb of the first book is of a world where the bad guy has won, and ruled for a thousand years. This is what drew me into it. Sanderson creates a world of mists, ash and little colour without making any of it feel drab or overly depressing. Flowers are a forgotten legend. Stars are known only to those with the power to enhance their vision, to part the mists. And the world makes do. Any action against the Lord Ruler is typically more to do with stopping his tyranny than with fanatical dreams of revitalising the world, for this is the world that mankind has known as home for a thousand years.
My favourite thing about this series is how intricately plotted it is. The powers, races and state of the world all add up together towards the end of the trilogy in multiple moments of revelation. You’ll race alongside the characters to the truth as they discover deception, lies, and world-changing secrets dating back a thousand years or more. And without giving away too much, I feel like it’s important to praise the ramping up in scale of events over the three books that’s both impressive and believable, right up to the climax of the series.
Branderson (that was a typo but I’ll leave it in) has written more Mistborn novels set some centuries after the original trilogy, around the time of industrial revolution with trains being made popular, skyscrapers being built and electricity being discovered. These are the next novels I need to read – I’m very interested in what a more modern world would look like in a world where metals can be manipulated by allomancy. What really excites me is that Sanderson has stated that he also plans to write more Mistborn novels set even further in the future, in a time further ahead in technology than our own. The prospect of a series graduating from medieval setting to a futuristic one is something I’ve never seen done before – unless you count the narrative in World of Warcraft slowly become more sci-fi-esque – and I greatly look forward to reading more.
And that’s the review. If you’re skipping this bit, you can read on from here.
I’m kind of hoping that the other Mistborn books go on sale again. In the meantime, I found myself casting around for something to read again, and decided to finally use my Audible trial. Now, I could have used my free book to obtain The Alloy of Law, the next book in the Mistborn series, but I’d rather not own a continuation of a series in a different format. Brandon Sanderson has won my attention, though, and I decided to use my free Audible book token to grab The Way of Kings, the first book in the Stormlight Archive series. Well… more like the first two books, as in the UK it’s typically split into two 500 page paperbacks. So that’s 1,000 pages and 45 hours of listening I’ve just obtained for free. Except that when I went to cancel the subscription, they bribed me to stay with a second book token, so I claimed the sequel, Words of Radiance, which is equally as long. And then I cancelled my trial to no charge.
I’m going to be good for fiction for the next 94 hours of listening, then. I only hope that this still counts as a purchase on the author / narrator’s side of pay.
I’m like, 3 chapters in, so I have nothing to say about the story yet, other than it seems familiar and good. I’m here to discuss audio as a mode of listening. My first impression is that I have to pay attention. Not that it isn’t captivating, but if I’m on the edge of sleep and my mind begins to wander I have to either rewind by 30 seconds to catch the names of new settings, characters and powers I’m not yet accustomed to, or decided to switch it off for the night. I’ve also found that when reading, I’ll pause after being introduced to a new name – be it place, character or power – and go back and turn it over a few times in my head. You can’t control the pace so easily in an audiobook. I’m not sure how I feel about that yet.
I have listened to audio dramas before, though, and whilst it’s a bit different hearing everything being read by just one person, it’s also a welcome return to the experience of listening to fiction. There’s something about being able to lay back, close your eyes and allow your imagination to fully take over whilst hearing the story narrated to you. And at the end of the day, when I look back on the first three chapters and compare them to other reading experiences, I can honestly say that I’ve enjoyed them just as much as any other book. I look forward to enjoying these two long-ass books, and seeing how they compare to the Mistborn series.
Perpetually Perturbed 