I was in the city library, perusing for a book, when I had the idea to text my older brother for a recommendation. He suggested Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson, so that's what I got. My older brother has wonderful taste in books. So I read the first Mistborn book. The only problem with this was that it reminding me how totally awesome it is to read stuff for myself instead of just for homework. Reading is like an addictive drug, and I had to force myself to continue doing my homework instead of just reading for fun. So it was a while before I allowed myself the chance to read the second book. The reason I read the second book was that I got a mild case of pinkeye and put myself under house arrest. It was the middle of my first day stuck inside with little to do when I realized that I would be stuck in there for who knew how long. Not a fun prospect. Solution: I asked a friend to visit the library for me and get the next book. The final book followed that one soon after.When I started reading Mistborn, I had mixed feelings. On one hand, the writing was good and the characters were fun. On the other hand, practicing magic via swallowing metal was a bit weird. Sanderson is known for his skill in creating original magic systems. This was definitely original . . . and a bit weird. Eventually, I acclimatized to it and was able to enjoy the story.
SPOILER ALERT: When I finished the last book of the trilogy, I was not sure how I felt about it. I mean, the main characters died. That doesn't usually happen. I must admit that I found it funny that I read Mistborn just before I read The Chronicles of Narnia (I'm posting out of order. Deal with it.), and both series ended with the main characters dying. What are the odds? After some reflection, I decided that the ending of Mistborn is actually one of the best story endings I have ever read. I put that in bold just in case someone isn't reading this spoiler, because I still want them to know that. I wonder if it worked. Guess I'll never know. The reason it was one of the best is that it felt real to me. In real life, people die. The hero doesn't always make it, yet people move on and make the best of it. Such a reminder of reality is rarely seen in fantasy, but I thought it fit the story and was brilliantly done.
OKAY, I'M DONE SPOILING THINGS. Jeepers. Anyway, I wanted to mention that I also love how well thought-out this story was. By "well thought-out," I mean that everything just fits. The details, the characters, the storyline, it all goes well together. I couldn't guess what would happen next, but when it did happen, I would instantly see that what happened was correct for the story.
By the way, I have read Elantris since, and Mistborn is definitely its superior. Elantris is good, but I guess Mistborn set a high bar for Sanderson, and Elantris didn't reach that bar. Since E. was his debut novel, I'm not holding it against him.The one thing I didn't really like about the Sanderson books I have read so far is that his climaxes are too drawn out for my taste. Elantris's climax was around 40 pages long, I believe. I was interested the whole time, but the excitement and adrenaline didn't carry me through like it ought to have done. There just wasn't enough steam for that much climax. It's like with modern movies - these days, movies are usually around three hours, it seems. For me, two hours is a great length for a movie. With three hours, I'm getting restless, ready to turn it off, wondering when it will be over, even though I am still interested in the story. There just isn't enough adrenaline to keep the intensity level that high for that long. For me, anyway. Maybe someone else keeps adrenaline in a drawer and can inject extra when they need it. You never know these days, after all.
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