Mistborn: The Final Empire (Mistborn #1)- Brandon Sanderson

In a world where ash rains from the sky and flowers are an impossibility, the skaa toil in misery and live in fear. The Lord Ruler reigns over this world as a 'sliver of infinity', a piece of God. He is invincible and immortal, at least according to most. Hope is such a foreign concept that it has nearly been forgotten until a heart-broken, half-skaa named Kelsier escapes from the Lord Ruler's prison and decides to use his talents to overthrow the Lord Ruler. He recruits the elite of the underworld to help him in his endeavor, but it isn't until he discovers the half-skaa urchin named Vin that his plan has any real hope of succeeding. Kelsier must teach Vin to harness and master her vast powers and to learn to trust again after years of abuse have left her skittish and afraid.

Overall Merit: READ THIS BOOK. Please. Sanderson is a genius. The world is vibrant and original and I found myself incredibly attached to the characters. I had only one small gripe with the story (the romantic sequence), but that was not nearly enough to deter my enjoyment. If you are a high/epic fantasy fan and you read one book this year, make it this one. Yes, it is long, and yes it is a hefty read, but please take the time; it is well worth it. Score- 12

Characters: The characters are phenomenal. They are fresh and real and have the depth and struggles of real people. Vin is captured masterfully and you watch her grow from scared and paranoid to confident and capable. Kelsier grows too in spite of himself as he teaches Vin what he knows about allomancy and learns to care about someone again. Even the side characters have their own story and they feel real as well as opposed to cardboard cutout space fillers, which seem to be employed in so many novels. Even the villain was refreshing. The Lord Ruler was typically wicked, but I've never seen an entity like him in terms of abilities. Score-13

Blush Factor: My one gripe was this category. The romance wasn't bad per se, it was just minimal and the little I saw didn't ring true for me. The romantic leads spent so little time together and then magically woke up and were like "OMG I'm in love with him/her", which is fine, but I really would have liked to see a more realistic progression of feelings. However, I did like the coupling of personalities so this category won't get a horrible score. Score-7

Structure: Vin's perspective was refreshing. I've never met a character quite like her and I was pleased to make her acquaintance. The beginning plodded a bit, but once the action started it was non-stop and kept me reading for hours on end. My favorite part was his new type of "magic"--allomancy it takes brilliance to create an effective new superpower/form of magic and Sanderson did just that. Bravo to him. Score-11

Plot: Wow, talk about an original world and concept. Sanderson's imagination must be boundless for him to have come up with something like this. The story was incredibly complex and must have required an extensive amount of planning on his part. It was an original take on the battle of Good Vs. Evil in a world where Evil originally won out. The ending came as a surprise to me, which seldom happens so kudos for that. I can't wait to read the Well of Ascension (Mistborn #2). Score- 12

Vervain says: "Allomancy is the ingestion and internal combustion of metals. Each different metal allows the user to access a different power, for example, pewter gives the user advanced strength and agility."