Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Mistborn Trilogy: The Final Empire, The Well of Ascension, The Hero of Ages (The Mistborn Saga)

Reviewed in the United States on September 13, 2017

One of my favorite fantasy collections. If you are reluctant to commit to Sanderson's mega sized epics in the Wheel of Time series or the partially completed Stormlight Archive, then start with the Mistborn trilogy. The books are fairly short and the series had been completed so you can read the full story end-to-end in a few weeks without waiting months or years for the next installment.

My favorite part is Sanderson's take on magic. There is a realistic element similar to Patrick Rothfuss that makes the reader think that some of the tricks just might be possible under the right conditions.

I highly recommend this series.

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Marissa Baker

International Trade Paperback Edition

Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2021

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This is a review for the print quality of the International Trade Paperback Edition of the Mistborne box set to help those who are trying to decide with edition to purchase (like I was last week).

The paper for book one is different than books two and three. Book one's paper feels like the sort of cheap paper used in Mass Market Paperbacks, whereas the paper used in books two and three is higher quality. I'm not sure if that will be the case in every set. I thought it strange enough to mention, but not enough of a reason to send them back.

Text is printed clearly and readably. There is some ink transfer on a few of the pages, as if the books were bound when the ink was still wet, but not enough to interfere with reading. Overall, if you want to save some money by not purchasing the hardcovers and avoid the YA-style cover art (like I did), this set seems like a decent choice.

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Adam Albee

Great Books, Bad Packaging

Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 2018

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I'd read these before purchasing this set, I just wanted to have a copy for myself and so I could lend it to others and spread the Sanderson addiction. Seriously, if you like hard magic and gritty fantasy, get these books. What do I mean by hard magic? Do you like when magic has a strict set of rules? Think "Avater: The Last Airbender" as hard magic, with a set logic, versus "Lord of the Rings" as soft magic, which can do pretty much anything needed by the story. That's the backdrop of these books, and they allow for an incredible story. If you're like me, you'll look around trying to find out more about this world and discover that Brandon Sanderson has created an immense universe, called the Cosmere, in which this story and many others are just small parts. And all of these worlds share that common thread of having a magic system with hard rules. They play a greater or lesser role in each of the worlds, and half the fun in each is figuring out the rules they follow. The best part is, each of the worlds, they are all connected, and once you start recognizing those connections, you're jaw will drop. Get ready, though, there are a LOT of books, and the Cosmere is still growing. Its very much worth it. For all that and more, I had to give it a 5 star.

However, the packaging was bad. Just, really bad. The set was delivered in an Amazon box with no bubble wrap or anything inside. When I opened the box, the plastic wrap on the set was torn and the top two corners of the set's sleeve were torn badly and the included poster map was a bit wrinkled. The books don't appear to have any damage, thankfully, and the poster map wrinkles don't seem to be too terrible. It is a shame the sleeve was ruined, though, as I do like to keep those on my shelf. I'm not angry enough to return it, as the important parts are fine, but I am a bit disappointed. I hope in the future Amazon takes the same care packaging my precious books as they do with any other type of item I purchase.

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Tracy Dye

These pages are falling out

Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2020

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I'm not sure if the binding in my particular set of books is faulty, but as I am reading along in the book pages are falling out - sometimes as little as two or three or as many as ten pages at a time. I've never had a problem reading book before where the pages are just falling out of the binding. If you don't like having your book pages fall out as you read them, this is not the product for you.

33 people found this helpful

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Justin Bunn

Pages Falling Out

Reviewed in the United States on August 20, 2020

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As many have said, the book is awesome but the pages fall out. It started before I even made it to chapter 1 and even being super gentle pages keep falling out. It looks like I’ve tried reading the book with hooves instead of hands. Wish I had ordered nicer copies because the book has been a good read so far.

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Daryl

Great series and awesome entry into modern fantasy

Reviewed in the United States on June 19, 2021

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My first experience with Sanderson was The way of kings after all the hype it was gaining. While I do enjoy stormlight archive, I’ve read many comments mentioning his mistborn series. Luckily for me, this paperback trilogy existed.
The story is overall really good the world and magic system is A+. Some of the best I’ve ever read. If I have any “negatives” It would be he might not have known how to end this series and it feels a little “lesser”. I mean it is still a B- ending to me. So it’s not like it’s ruined.
Overall I’d suggest reading mistborn as an entry point into sandersons cosmere. I found it much more digestible than stormlight. So I see a wider audience appreciation for it.
Now the books themselves, quality is for sure not the greatest. These are mass market paperbacks and I wanted all three for cheap. So it is what it is. But these do seem rather cheap. I fortunately did not experience other reviewers issue of pages falling out. I do suspect tho these copies will not hold up a long time and may only survive a reread at most.

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Joval E. Rama

A thoughly engaging read, the plots twists and turns have me wishing I could read this for the first time all over again.

Reviewed in the United States on August 31, 2015

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The Mistborn Trilogy is the series that got me reading Brandon Sanderson's books. As to how I even heard about it, I think I read it in a blog somewhere promoting it as the story of a fantasy world where the "Dark Lord" who is called the Lord Ruler had won. As a fantasy reader who is so used to the story of fighting the "Dark Lord" it came as a refreshing break to read a story of what comes after if the heroes failed, so I felt that I just had to read this book.

Setting:
Fast forward 1000 years into the future and we are treated to a world where ash regularly falls from the sky lit by a red sun over a land covered by brown plants. It is not really a very pleasant place. Unlike the places in other stories I've read, this is not one I'd like to visit. What impresses me about it is that it is quite a departure from the usual fantasy setting that essentially boils down to Medieval Europe + Magic = Fantasy World. What's even more impressive is that Sanderson has really made all these unique aspects of his setting fit into the story. No, the world is not just dark and gloomy for the heck of it, there is actually a reason that is revealed in the third book along with a twist that had me shifting my opinion on the Lord Ruler.

Mood:
The world and the people as portrayed could have easily made this trilogy a dark/grim-dark tale. The lives of the skaa, the common people, have little value and you get to see how they are killed dismissively by the ruling class. There is actually a rule that nobles and skaa cannot interbreed so what the nobles did was that they were actually required to kill the skaa women that they bed. Also, one of the magic systems used involves a ritualistically torturous process to work properly. For all that, this is actually a hopeful story. The dead bodies tend to pile up, but it is never the focus of the story. I guess the difference is that we don't get to look through a cynic's perspective like we do in books like George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire. For all their personal struggles, the heroes are still heroic.

Characters:
Looking into our characters, the first two books of the trilogy can actually be seen as a coming-of-age tale for the main protagonist, Vin, who struggles with the idea of trust as she learns to understand what it means to have friends. It is about her empowerment as she learns to wield the powers of a mistborn. And finally, there is also her struggle with identity. Her powers, while making her powerful, also makes her very useful, which creates conflict in that she finds herself wondering if she is simply valued for what she can do as opposed to her being valued as a person. For all the world altering events taking place in the books, what I really like with the books is that it is grounded as a character-driven story.

Magic:
Sanderson is known for his magic systems. He tends to build them from simple concepts to create some really incredible effects through their varies interactions. The approach is along the lines of "magic as a science" so people who favor the idea of magic being dark and mysterious would dislike his systems. In Mistborn, there are three magic systems all tied to metals. In Allomancy, an Allomancer can use metals to wield powers the simply allow one to push or pull at something. That's it. The other systems are equally simple. What's really interesting is that Sanderson is clever enough to surprise me with the different ways the various magics are used. From a simple push or pull, we have people 'flying' around in the night.

Verdict:
Though the premise of the first book, that of the Dark Lord having triumphed, along with his clever magic system that deviates from the trope of complex spells and mysterious ways would certainly set this trilogy apart from other fantasy, that should not be the reason to pick up this book. You should read this because it is a well-written and well-executed piece of literature. There are those who call Sanderson out on using simple, transparent prose, but I really think it necessary that such a writing style is used to depict the fast-paced, action-packed sequences that are spread around in the books. Fancy wordcraft would just get in the way. In the end, are novels about finely constructed paragraphs or are they about exquisitely crafted stories?

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Phil North

Great series!

Reviewed in the United States on May 10, 2020

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Loved the series! Read it with our whole family (ages 8 to 14) during quarantine. It was very well written and unique, which is refreshing in this day and age.

8 people found this helpful

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Chelsee

Great series that has a lot to offer it’s readers

Reviewed in the United States on April 28, 2021

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Light (spoiler free) review on the books first and then I’ll review the seller as well.
The series is fantastic and I would say this is a fantastic starting point if you are new to reading Sanderson. The plot is fast paced, the characters interesting and the magic system is unique and really stands out in the fantasy genre. But hands down the best part of this series the action scenes. The fights feel real and are just the right length and pace. The only thing I was able to put my finger on that felt a bit off to me was the dialogue but it wasn’t bad by any means. I highly recommend this series to those that are avid readers who like the fantasy and even sci-fi genres.
As for the shipping process, my set arrived earlier than expected and was in perfect condition.

One person found this helpful

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Ladybug

Great buy

Reviewed in the United States on December 12, 2021

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No pages have fallen out like other reviews stated, and I like the boxed set.
As far as content, this series is better than expected, though I’m not finished reading. At first I thought 1. this was geared for a younger audience 2. the modern English would prevent immersion into this fantasy world, and 3. the hard magic was too anime for my taste, as I prefer spells or mysterious conjuring, or even The Force to this metal-in-your-stomach pushing and pulling. BUT...1. there’s enough history, world building, complexity, and, well, gore, for this to pass the adult content litmus test. 2. I’ve adjusted to the language. There are no “Where art thou”s but it is easier to read this way. 3. The magic system might take some getting used to, but it is concrete, therefore having boundaries and limits, and a few slowly unraveling, yet-to-be-revealed elements.
I’m not the type of reader to memorize each magical function, but the story is interesting enough for me to overlook, or perhaps tolerate, the magical aspects which I find a tad juvenile.
A somewhat slow start, but the action scenes are very well written, the characters are dimensional without getting overly involved, a cool world of ash and mist, and enough plot intrigue to keep me turning the pages.

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5 star		83%
4 star		12%
3 star		3%
2 star		1%
1 star		1%

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