The Final Empire (1 of 3) [Dramatized Adaptation]

Mistborn [Dramatized Adaptation] #1, part 1

by Brandon Sanderson, Nathanial Perry (Narrator), Terence Aselford (Narrator)

Brandon Sanderson, fantasy's newest master tale spinner, author of the acclaimed debut Elantris, dares to turn a genre on its head by asking a simple question: What if the hero of prophecy fails? What kind of world results when the Dark Lord is in charge? The answer will be found in the Mistborn Trilogy, a saga of surprises and magical martial-arts action that begins in Mistborn.

For a thousand years the ash fell and no flowers bloomed. For a thousand years the Skaa slaved in misery and lived in fear. For a thousand years the Lord Ruler, the "Sliver of Infinity," reigned with absolute power and ultimate terror, divinely invincible. Then, when hope was so long lost that not even its memory remained, a terribly scarred, heart-broken half-Skaa rediscovered it in the depths of the Lord Ruler's most hellish prison. Kelsier "snapped" and found in himself the powers of a Mistborn. A brilliant thief and natural leader, he turned his talents to the ultimate caper, with the Lord Ruler himself as the mark.

Kelsier recruited the underworld's elite, the smartest and most trustworthy allomancers, each of whom shares one of his many powers, and all of whom relish a high-stakes challenge. Only then does he reveal his ultimate dream, not just the greatest heist in history, but the downfall of the divine despot.

But even with the best criminal crew ever assembled, Kel's plan looks more like the ultimate long shot, until luck brings a ragged girl named Vin into his life. Like him, she's a half-Skaa orphan, but she's lived a much harsher life. Vin has learned to expect betrayal from everyone she meets, and gotten it. She will have to learn to trust, if Kel is to help her master powers of which she never dreamed.

Genres: Fantasy, Audiobook, Fiction, Magic, Adult, Epic Fantasy, Epic

6 pages, Audio CD

First published July 17, 2006

About the author

I’m Brandon Sanderson, and I write stories of the fantastic: fantasy, science fiction, and thrillers.

The release of Wind and Truth in December 2024—the fifth and final book in the first arc of the #1 New York Times bestselling Stormlight Archive series—marks a significant milestone for me. This series is my love letter to the epic fantasy genre, and it’s the type of story I always dreamed epic fantasy could be. Now is a great time to get into the Stormlight Archive since the first arc, which begins with Way of Kings, is complete.

During our crowdfunding campaign for the leatherbound edition of Words of Radiance, I announced a fifth Secret Project called Isles of the Emberdark, which came out in the summer of 2025. Coming December 2025 is Tailored Realities, my non-Cosmere short story collection featuring the new novella Moment Zero.

Defiant, the fourth and final volume of the series that started with Skyward in 2018, came out in November 2023, capping an already book-filled year that saw the releases of all four Secret Projects: Tress of the Emerald Sea, The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England, Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, and The Sunlit Man. These four books were all initially offered to backers of the #1 Kickstarter campaign of all time.

November 2022 saw the release of The Lost Metal, the seventh volume in the Mistborn saga, and the final volume of the Mistborn Era Two featuring Wax & Wayne. Now that the first arc of the Stormlight Archive is wrapped up, I’ve started writing the third era of Mistborn in 2025.

Most readers have noticed that my adult fantasy novels are in a connected universe called the Cosmere. This includes The Stormlight Archive, both Mistborn series, Elantris, Warbreaker, four of the five Secret Projects, and various novellas, including The Emperor’s Soul, which won a Hugo Award in 2013. In November 2016 all of the existing Cosmere short fiction was released in one volume called Arcanum Unbounded. If you’ve read all of my adult fantasy novels and want to see some behind-the-scenes information, that collection is a must-read.

I also have three YA series: The Rithmatist (currently at one book), The Reckoners (a trilogy beginning with Steelheart), and Skyward. For young readers I also have my humorous series Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians, which had its final book, Bastille vs. the Evil Librarians, released in 2022. Many of my adult readers enjoy all of those books as well, and many of my YA readers enjoy my adult books, usually starting with Mistborn.

Additionally, I have a few other novellas that are more on the thriller/sci-fi side. These include the three stories in Legion: The Many Lives of Stephen Leeds, as well as Perfect State and Snapshot. These two novellas are also featured in 2025’s Tailored Realities. There’s a lot of material to go around!

Good starting places are Mistborn (a.k.a. The Final Empire), Skyward, Steelheart, The Emperor’s Soul, Tress of the Emerald Sea, and Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians. If you’re already a fan of big fat fantasies, you can jump right into The Way of Kings.

I was also honored to be able to complete the final three volumes of The Wheel of Time, beginning with The Gathering Storm, using Robert Jordan’s notes.

Sample chapters from all of my books are available at brandonsanderson.com—and check out the rest of my site for chapter-by-chapter annotations, deleted scenes, and more.

Reviews

[Twila · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The Hero of Ages shall be not a man, but a force. No nation may claim him, no woman shall keep him, and no king may slay him. He shall belong to none, not even himself.”

It’s been a very very long time since I finished a book in tears. I feel incapable of describing or explaining exactly why this book is so fantastic, but I’m going to try anyway. But, it probably won’t do it the justice it deserves.
It is without a doubt one of the most creative and enthralling books that I have read.

Too many skaa have died already, he thought, flaring his metals. Hundreds. Thousands. Hundreds of thousands. Not today. No more.

Right off the bat I saw why everyone loves this series. The world is both complicated and entertainingly complex. From the history and mythology to the magical system, I spent a lot of time being equal parts blown away by how cool Allomancy is and confused by how complex it is. What I really liked about it is that usually in Fantasy novels the magical system is either something internal like being able to do spells or something external like being able to control the elements but with Allomancy it was both. You can both be all Magneto like and control iron and you can do other stuff like controlling people’s emotions. Also, to do Allomancy, not only do you have to have the innate or inherited ability but you also have to have the physical metals to burn. If you’re looking for unique magical systems, you’ll find it here in Mistborn.

And boy, did Mistborn have some amazing, fantastical characters.

I was immediately attached to Kelsier and his strength, determination, bravery, strong leadership, and humour. He is easily one of my favourite characters EVER.
He is the Obi-Wan to Vin’s Luke Skywalker, along with a bit of a Han Solo-ish personality. And oh is his past a tragic one. He was betrayed by one of his teammates, his one and only wife Mare and sentenced to a harsh life of labour in the mines of Hathsin by the Lord Ruler himself. But Kelsier “snapped” and escaped the inescapable. Having lost everything, including the love of his life, Kelsier is a man with nothing to lose, yet he’s not bitter or cruel. Rather, he finds as much joy and cheeriness in his life as he can, if only to show that the Empire has not beaten him down. He is determined to bring down the Final Empire, to destroy the Lord Ruler, at any and every cost.

I adore him.

Then, of course, there’s Vin, who by the way was written rather masterfully. When Vin sees people, she only tries to find how they will eventually betray her. She never expects anything more from people. She’s lived her life in a rough crew of thieves who beat her and see her as more trouble than she’s worth. She can only see the worst in people and struggles to keep herself safe.

“You still have some things to learn about friendship, Vin. I hope someday you realize what they are.”

It is her journey that is one of the Hero’s tale in Mistborn – and it is quite a tale of self-discovery. The gang and Kelsier’s tutelage change her life. She grows from a quiet, distrusting young girl to a powerful Mistborn over the course of this novel. I must applaud Mr. Sanderson for this pretty near flawless execution. She begins to learn from Kell what true friendship is like and that love is one of the greatest things there is.

“Vin closed her eyes, simply feeling the warmth of being held. And realized that was all she had ever really wanted.”

She was occasiouanlly very annoying, but she is a heroine worth rooting for.

And the ACTION! Oh, it’s any adrenaline junkie’s (like myself) dream. The fight scenes are brilliant, enhanced as they were with allomantic properties of metals. They were enthralling, vivid and entertaining. I couldn’t have been happier with them.

A don’t get me started on the heart-wrenching feels. Everything throughout the book built to something truly amazing. I didn’t even get to mention anything about Terrismen, Obligators, Feruchemy or the political aristocratic house warfare. There’s just too much to this book to mention it all. Every time I thought it couldn’t get any crazier, I was proven wrong. Mistborn kept me entertained and surprised to the very last page.

I give Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson a whopping 10 out of 10

Please do yourself a favor and pick up this book!

I have fallen hard for the series and I am officially declaring my allegiance to the Sanderson Army!

[Eric Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mistborn: The Final Empire
Book 1 of the Mistborn Trilogy
Graphic Audio Dramatization

A Review by Eric Allen

I am a professional book critic. I define this as someone who, with regularity, is paid to write critiques, reviews, or any other sort of opinionated article about books. Unfortunately, unless you make it big with a well known newspaper, magazine, or website, or your articles are sold in syndication, this job does not exactly pay very much. Therefore, it is not my primary source of income. I have a day job. I'm a mailman. A typical day for a mailman is 2-3 hours of unsupervised mail sorting, followed by 4-6 hours of unsupervised mail delivery. That's 6-9 hours a day when there's no one looking over your shoulder. It is also an extraordinarily boring and repetitive job once you get it down. Several years ago, I began listening to audiobooks while working, and have found that it is really the only way to find any real enjoyment in my day job, and keep myself from going insane from the monotony. I own several hundred audiobooks, and about 90% of the reviews I write are from the audio versions of the books.

And along came Graphic Audio.

Graphic Audio will take a book, and edit the text with the author's permission and approval, to remove such things as dialog tags (he said, she said, etc). They will then get a full cast of actors for all of the characters, and have them act out all of the dialog, as well as things like grunts while fighting, or heavy breathing while running and other such things. And a narrator to read all of the non-dialog text. They will then add in sound effects and music, to make something very like those old-timey radio shows. Their tag line is "a movie in your mind." I, for one, find these audio dramatizations of books to be extraordinarily entertaining, and quite a bit of fun, and I highly recommend that you check out their website Graphicaudio.net if you are at all interested. Their prices for MP3 downloads are very reasonable, and they turn some of your favorite books into a very fun and exciting experience.

Several years ago, one of my favorite authors, Brandon Sanderson, sold the audio rights for two of his books, Elantris and Warbreaker, to Graphic Audio, and the resulting audio dramas were quite good. I have been waiting ever since for them to get around to his Mistborn Trilogy, my favorite of his works, but there were some problems getting the rights away from Tor books and McMillan Audio. Finally, with those issues resolved, Graphic Audio is releasing the entire Mistborn Trilogy, and the first book has just been finished in its entirety. So, let's take a look at what I thought of the book itself, and of the Graphic Audio production.

A thousand years ago, the Lord Ruler defeated the Deepness, saving mankind, but at the same time, enslaving it. The Skaa work as subhuman slaves to the nobility, who are, in turn, much like slaves themselves to the Lord Ruler. Many Skaa have formed into small bands called thieving crews, living slightly better lives than slaves, but still downtrodden by the system. Vin is a member of one such crew. She has always had a special power that she calls Luck, which allows her to influence others to do as she wishes. When a man named Kelsier comes looking for her, she discovers that she is what is known as a Mistborn, with all of the powers of Allomancy at her command.

Kelsier asks Vin to join his crew, and lays out plans for the overthrowing of the Final Empire, and the liberation of the Skaa at last. With nowhere else to go, and a strong desire to learn from him how to use her powers, Vin reluctantly joins in, finding herself impersonating a noblewoman to act as the Crew's spy. Vin and Kelsier, and the rest, build up a rebellion that will topple an empire and reveal the Lord Ruler's secrets. But, of course, there's always another secret.

The good? Brandon Sanderson has always been praised for his ingenuity in inventing magic systems, and of all of the systems he has created, I think this one is, by far, the most interesting. Not only is it well put together with very realistic limitations put on its use, but he also continually surprises me with what he is able to do with it, while remaining within his previously established boundaries. Allomancy gunfight, anyone?

The world is very well put together and thought out. The class system is very good as well, with the Skaa as inhuman property to the noblemen. Sanderson gives a very, very harsh look at slavery, and, if anything, I think he may actually have pulled a few punches. He could have been a lot harsher than he was. However, that would likely have made for a very uncomfortable book to read, so I'm glad he showed some restraint.

The mystery of what happened to make the Lord Ruler who and what he is today is very well played out through chapter epigraphs from a journal of the times leading up to his ascension. I, for one, didn't guess what happened until Vin figured it out herself.

I found a lot of the characters to be very well written and entertaining. Vin has times where she acts more like a boy than a girl, however, she has spent her entire life trying to be as masculine as possible to protect herself from rape so it fits her character. I see a lot of people complaining about her acting far too masculine, but I felt that it was appropriate given her history, and how and where she grew up.

Sanderson did a couple things with this book that I found very interesting beyond all of the history, mystery, and magic. Firstly, he asked the question, what would happen if the Dark Lord won? I never really thought about that much before I read this book. This is a book that takes place a thousand years after the Dark Lord defeated the Hero, and remade the world in his image. The second was that he took a story, the Heist plot, and applied it to the Fantasy genre. I think this may have been the first Fantasy book I ever read to do something like this. Sanderson has been pretty well known for bending and blending genres on occasion, and this book is a very good example of it paying off well. I always describe this book when recommending it to people as being "Ocean's Eleven, meets Star Wars, in Victorian Era Europe."

The Bad? Brandon Sanderson is a writer who plans out every single teeny tiny little detail of his books before he even starts writing them. As such, some of his dialog, and some of his characters, tend to be a little stiff at times. He outlines so heavily that there isn't much room for characters to stretch outside of the lines a lot of the time, and this can lead to characters giving stiff speeches to deliver the needed dialog and emotion that sometimes seem a little more like either infodumping or slightly out of character for them. There's only a couple of places where its really noticeable in this book, but it does happen. He's a big one for characters giving grand, inspirational speeches at moments of doubt, and sometimes they really just don't fit, again, coming off as stiff and out of character.

The Graphic Audio Recording? The music and sound effects used in the Graphic Audio production are great, and really enhance the story to an epic degree. I found the entire voice cast to be well suited to the characters that they play, and they seemed to be having a lot of fun with the material as well, which always makes something more enjoyable in my opinion. The acting itself was pretty good. No performances really stood out to me as sucking. The narrator did tend to sound as though he was rushing every now and then though. All in all, they took what is one of my favorite books, and made it even more entertaining.

In conclusion, Mistborn: The Final Empire, is a great book. It's probably my favorite book by one of my favorite authors. It has a lot ingenuity in the magic system, and in employing stories and ideas not usually seen in a fantasy setting. The characters do feel a little stiff sometimes, giving grand, emotional speeches that don't always seem strictly in character for them, but these are minor issues that can easily be ignored in the face of everything else that this book has going for it. I highly recommend it to any Fantasy reader, and I also highly recommend giving the Graphic Audio production of it a try. I found it to be a high quality production, and extraordinarily entertaining.

Check out my other reviews.

[Nanu · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a review for all three parts of The Final Empire

This has been a magnificent experience. Not only is this my first Sanderson book, it's my first Graphic Audio book and I am amazed by the quality of both. I don't have much to say that hasn't been said before by others better than me at this, but I just want to share how much I loved this book.

First, the atmosphere created by the audiobook felt perfect for the book (I know, duuh, but I've tried to listen to audiobooks that didn't feel like they embodied the work so I've learnt to appreciate it). This is one of my first experiences with a full cast book, since I usually prefer a sole narrator, I thought it would be bothersome, but I really enjoyed the acting. All in all, now I want to listen to all Graphic Audio books.

Second, the story. I think Sanderson is brilliant at describing character's motivations and thoughts and waving a story through them. Vin and Kelsier and all the secondary characters had really distinct personalities and motivations and they were fascinating. The way the story went with its twists and turns until we get that final reveal was fun. I may have spoiled myself a couple of key elements about this universe but I am still very curious to know how what happens next happens.
I know I am new to "serious" fantasy books, but this one felt original and exciting, the worldbuilding was cool and I am really curious to know more about allomancy and feruchemy work. What I most excited about though is reading any more books from this author. If this is was his first trilogya nd I am enjoying it this much, I can't wait to get to his latter work.

[Linguana · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW!
I'd read the book before but the cast and music and sound effects really make it come to life. I kind of never want to listen to regular audiobooks again now...

[Vernice · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought I had lost my love of reading. Turns out I just needed this book.

I literally had to remind myself to breathe at points. I wish I could do it all over again. I honestly haven't felt like this about a story/book in years.

Wow

[Karishma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fantastic - the book as well as the cast reading it!!

[Dani · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a review for the Graphic Audio version of the Mistborn Trilogy.

Review of The Final Empire
Review of The Well of Ascension

I listen to audiobooks all the time. I enjoy them a lot, even if I'm reading along, while listening. When I discovered that Graphic Audio produced these magnificent audios for the Mistborn Trilogy, I decided that I had to listen to them while reading my copies of the books.

For those who don't know what's the difference between Graphic Audio and common audiobook productions, the former has music, sound effects, and a whole cast (Yes! A narrator and one actor per character!)

The cast was great, they matched the character's voices I had imagined pretty well.

I can assure you, they are amazing. I can't explain it with words... just go and try them. They will change the way you think about audiobooks.

[Anna [Bran. San. Stan] · Rating 5 out of 5]

RTC, once I'm done with all three parts of this amazing GraphicAudio adaptation.

Click to find my review of The Final Empire.

[RexusprimeIX · Rating 5 out of 5]

No point in reviewing each Graphic Audio separately so this is a review for the entirety of Mistborn Era 1 (Books 1, 2, and 3)

As always, there is nothing more I can say than I said in the Elantris Dramatisation: Voice Acting, Music, and Sound Design make this story 30 times better than reading. This is as close as you can get to a movie adaptation without losing any of the original material. I highly recommend this. It's expensive, yes, but it is WORTH it! Get the entire set during a sale or something, I doubt you'll regret it!

[Ssayaxx · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved that the action strarted right away. No long and boring explanations, everything is explained as we go.
The MCs are great and very interesting, I can't wait to see what's going to happen next

[Ain · Rating 5 out of 5]

10/10.
No notes.

[Jitesh · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first graphic audio experience, I wanted to start with something I have read before, thus The Final Empire. It was awesome. I had great time listening to it on treadmill. And it adds up as I love the story so much. Excited for part 2 of the Final Empire.

[Bookish Satty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally I was able to listen to the fabulous Graphic Audio production of Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson. I really loved the audiobook but the story not so much.
I'm not going to go into any details because I feel like I'm the last person to read this so late considering the hype regarding this series on social media.

I liked the world building and the magic system a lot but that just the only thing I loved about this story.

Firstly I would like to mention that this book being so overhyped worked against it as I went into it expecting a masterpiece without any flaws but when I started noticing the flaws it left a huge negative impact on my reading experience because of my too high expectations from the get go.

Secondly I didn't like the characters much. I liked and connected with Kelsier but the other characters were not fleshed out well enough to have any connection with. I simply hated Vin. Being in my 30s I just don't vibe with the teenage drama and insta love attitude at all so I didn't expect that to be the case while going into an adult fantasy book, so I was shocked when Vin just falls in love head over heels with the first guy showing the tiniest bit interest in her and treating her like a human being rather than a slave. She even jeopardized Kelsier and her crew as well as the Rebellion to help her love interest which was just plain stupid and don't get me started on the teenage angst at all. Moreover Ellend (the love interest) couldn't do anything and just keeps asking everyone where Vin is and just running around gossiping with his friends.

The pacing was off and the middle portion just kept dragging. The overall story was quite boring barring the scenes when we learn more about the magic system. Vin just spend all the time in balls dancing, gossiping and pining for Ellend. I wanted to see the Ska Rebellion in action but all we got are planning sessions for said action and a lot of telling not showing.

The last 2 hours of the audiobook the story improved a lot. We got a lot of action scenes as well as the plot moved forward a lot. We finally got to meet the dreaded Lord Ruler for a whole of 10 minutes and it was very underwhelming. Ellend proved to be just a generic love interest only there so that our heroine could pine and angst. Vin proved to be too stupid but lucky enough to be born with too much power and the only character whom a cared about a little just got the short end of the stick.

Overall a very underwhelming experience. I would have DNF'd the book but I really liked the Graphic Audio production so I finished it at last. Hope the next book would be better. I'm intrigued enough about the remaining mysteries regarding Lord Ruler and the Deepness as well as the fate of Kelsier so I will continue with the series.

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars. I can see why this book is a modern fantasy classic. Takes a bit to get into with the world building but it’s a unique magic system and political system in a dystopian fantasy world (although I wasn’t expecting it to read as YA especially following Vin) but it also meant it didn’t feel dense and was relatively easy to follow the magic system straight up

[erebus K Rushworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a pretty critical reader when it comes to stories that are packed full of action scenes so I'm only giving this 4 stars, but if spectacular strategic magic battles with loads of sneaky tricks and flashy bits are your thing, then that would easily nudge it up to a 5.

The story centres around a teenage girl who has been brought up on the streets, but who has some uncanny abilities. She is with a band of thieves when she is stumbled upon by those who can mentor her and develop her strengths, but her dangerous upbringing makes her very slow to trust anyone, even those who seem kind. Employed by her new mentors as a spy, she is chosen to infiltrate the nobility as a spy, but even she doesn't know what lofty and bizarre schemes her patron has planned.

There is a bit of romance, but nothing really physical. The is some definite world building flex in having a supporting character who is a lore master, and who is tasked to remember ancient creeds and histories. The thing that really sells it all though, is the style of magic and the religions of the world. Having cruised a bit of YouTube afterwards, I agree with Brandon Sanderson that Mistborn has the potential to be a really good city based, open world type, exploration videogame, and the magic system would be relatively easy to game-ify. While I was in the story I was struck by how cinematic it all felt and the similarities to game movement and fast travel from things like Spiderman, and Assassin's Creed. Having everything based in a polluted world with ashfall gave the impression of omnipresent distance fog.

My biggest pet peeve of the whole world building thing was the idea of trees that never grow green and never have flowers, and yet the nobility still eat fruit, or know what fruit juice is. If you don't have working flowering trees, then you don't get fruit... so that was a little annoying.

The ending of the story is really satisfying, but to say more would be epically spoilerific. It certainly feels like a chapter in Great Historic Happenings of the world, and a nice base for further tales to come.

[Tahyun · Rating 3 out of 5]

I missed reading Sanderson when I was deep into reading fantasy at an earlier time in my life (except for Elantris, which I recall loving), so this was my first experience with his writing as an adult, and my only experience with the Mistborn novels. Actually it's really excellent fantasy (you might say, "obviously", but whatever); I love the magic system in particular. The MC just drove me completely batty the entire time and that's a me thing, but it's my unprofessional rating, so I get to factor in "me things".

The thing I actually want to talk about here is that the Graphic Audio was really interesting! I started listening as a regular audiobook, but switched versions about 1/3 of the way through. Although, it took a moment to get used to it (with all the different voices and sounds, it was a bit jarring at first, so I want to warn others who may get sensory overload if unprepared; we listened in one hour or so chunks on two very, very long car rides and that was great!).

That being said, there were many great voice actor performances and the sound effects were fun for ambiance, even if sometimes I found them and the random vocal interjections/exclamations a bit goofy? In an endearing kind of way. It all added a lot to the experience, so I would recommend it.

[J. Griff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I decided to reread this amazing series before I started on Sanderson’s new book in the Mistborn series. I’m not sure if I can add anything that hasn’t already been said about this book. Sanderson does a beautiful job with world building & the alomancy powers a balanced with characters that are rich, deep & develop throughout the book.

[Phoebe Jeziel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal radio show of one of my all time favorite books!! I'm glad it's broken up into three parts, it makes it easy to go through.

Seriously. AMAZING show. I've read the physical copy, listened to Michael Kramer's beautiful rendition of the series and now this graphic audio??

A must listen for every Mistborn fan!!!

[Teraesia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wau, tak toto bol neskutočný zážitok… nemám vo zvyku počúvať audioknihy, ťažšie sa viem sústrediť než pri čítaní. Avšak toto prevedenie bolo úžasné, skvelé výkony… živo som si vedela všetko predstaviť. Verím, že aj pokračovania budú takto geniálne.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really don't know what to say right now besides that was an amazing book. I will have more for you once I collect myself off the floor.

[Countess Athena · Rating 5 out of 5]

My heart ♥

[Audio Athena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Graphic Audio review:

This book has a magic system of allomancy, or getting powers from specific metals. I've never read a book with allomancy before, so it felt unique, although I'm sure others exist. Despite this uniqueness, it also drew a lot of influence from God Emperor of Dune. Vin reminded me of Siona, the Lord Ruler as Leto II in his worm-god form, atium was spice, Vin/Siona broke into a facility and stole parts of the Lord Ruler/God Emperor's private journals, he'd been a tyrant for hundreds/thousands of years to "save humanity" and people were constantly trying to figure out how to assassinate him, etc etc.

The voice acting of the graphic audio was great. I don't think I would have enjoyed the book as much if my first experience with it had been reading the physical book. However, every time there was a mistborn using their allomancy, the scene seemed to be more intense than it needed to be and seemed to drag on far longer than it should have. I don't know if the book was like this too, or if this was due to decisions by the audiobook production team. It felt a big hokey after a while. They over did the grunts and punch sounds and allomancy sound effects during the fights.

[Amarinske · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is amazing.
Not only a great story with nice characters. I really, really like Kelsier and it is nice Vin is a quick learner. It would have been nice if she understood a little less quick, because even this 1/3.

The full cast of voice actors and a narrator are very nice. I didn't really like the narrator of the original audio books, but the narrator of this one as well as the voice actors did an amazing job.
Together with all the cinematic sounds and effect it really creates an illusion of sitting in the cinema for the hours you listen to it and do other stuff as well.

Loved it.
When I have listenen to all three parts, I will write a review of all three parts at the goodreads page of the book itself, but this audio book deserves its 5 star rating, it absolutely does :D

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

(This is a review for all three parts of "The Final Empire")

As usual, good worldbuilding by Brandon Sanderson, with a nice heist story. The setting and "magic system" are interesting, with lots of potential for the following books. It left me curious for the next books, while also being a satisfying story in and of itself.

As someone who was somewhat overwhelmed when diving into The Stormlight Archive, this feels like a good series to get started with.

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Took me forever long since I chose the audiobook and only listened to it once in a while. But I enjoyed it very much and can't wait to get into ALL of the books in this universe. This is the first book in the Mistborn series, and I wished I had read it a long time ago. I'm not going to talk about the book, I'm just telling you that I immensely enjoyed it.

[Jazzlyn Abbott · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little slow of a start for me to get really interested, but once the crew came together I was hooked. This book is riddled with secrets, keeping me on edge to find out more. I love the insight into noble life as well. Best audiobook I’ve listened to, having a cast, music, and sound effects really makes it a better experience.

[Sdheffron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good world building and interesting rules surrounding its form of magic. Fairly routine characters and none that really struck out, but I wasn't reading this for character development, but rather world development. It's an interesting and fun read.

[Anshika · Rating 4 out of 5]

The audiobook is amazing!!
The world, the characters, the magic system is all so good and amazing and even more exciting to listen. It is truly an experience!
Also this is my first brandon sanderson book and I am truly enjoying it.

[Sai Manish Rao · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic production. Kelsier’s voice is not quite what I had imagined. Nothing against the VA. Michael Kramers take on it was better for me imo.

Sanderson really hit a lottery with his Graphic Audio adaptations. Hope his Live Action adaptations in the future will stay of same quality.

[Ponytaorponyboy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This universe is so interesting?
I really like Vin, she's such a resourceful character without being... a Mary Sue? If that makes sense. Or at least, you learn to like the character before you can see all her skills being deployed. At least, that's how it feels like for this part of the book.