Mistborn Liveblog 1

Mistborn - Porlogue

I know very little about this world right now. It's been a long time since I dove into an epic fantasy. Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time would be the most recent, and I've been working my way through that series for over a decade, it feels like. I've actually never read any of Brandon Sanderson's work before, so this will also be a new style for me.

As I said before, I only know that burning metal is involved in the magic system, but there is one other thing I know, and I seem to recall hearing this from Brandon himself on his podcast or at a writer's conference-- the premise of robbing the Dark Lord.

I think the premise sounds good, though I'm not much of a heist-story reader, so I doubt that alone would have convinced me to read it. A two-hour movie-- sure. But a 600 page book? It was only after multiple recommendations and a recent increase in my available reading time that I decided to give it a go. My sister and her husband spoke very highly of it, giving me their paperback copy. But I decided for the Kindle version instead. Here's hoping it's as good as I've heard, and I decent use of my $8, though my sister's got good taste, so I'm pretty confident there.

Now, on to the story.

Fair warning-- There will be spoilers. I'll try to keep all spoilers after the break, and hopefully I'll be able to label the biggest spoilers as such, when I find them. But be warned, I will discuss the book openly, though I don't know what's coming, so I can't spoil any of the foreshadowing and such.



The story opens with Tresting; yeah I figured pretty early on that I wasn't supposed to like him. Pretty obvious with some skaa slaves and concerned with finery as he was. Besides, he freaked out over the one skaa who looked at him and decided to have his way with one of the young women. So, I had no hard feelings when Kelsier killed him.

I really liked Mennis. He's the grandfatherly guy who just knows the way the world works and even though it sucks to be a slave, it's not worth the energy and risk to do anything about it. He's resigned, but still thoughtful. He had a glint of wisdom that I really enjoyed, like when he nearly smiled back at Kelsier, but didn't.

Kelsier is an odd character. I'm hoping he shows up again-- though it seems he's the one inciting and forcing rebellions, so I'm sure he will. For someone going about with some heavy tasks, he is remarkably jovial. Clearly, he loves his job. But I'm left to wonder how successful he actually is with it. I mean, he didn't try very hard to convince the skaa of anything-- he just fed them and saved the girl. Then he left all those skaa who weren't particularly interested in rebelling to worry about being blamed for the destruction. Don't know how I feel about that. Of course, sometimes you've just got to force someone into a situation that will make them act, eh?


I don't quite see how this will tie into the 'heist' premise, but it's only the prologue, and so it's all about backstory, probably.

Agree or disagree? Have you read Mistborn? Are you reading it right now? Reading something better? Just keep comments spoiler-free for those of us who've not read it. Thanks!

Jameson