Let’s set the scene: a dystopian world, where ash falls from the sky daily and the nights are full of thick mist and strange creatures. Society is divided into two castes who do not overlap: the nobility and the peasant skaa. Nobles have almost absolute power over the skaa that live and work on their land, and abuse that power frequently. Skaa live in beaten-down fear and despair, sure that nothing will ever change. And why are they so sure? Because the person who leads the entire country is an immortal of immense power who is known only as the Lord Ruler. He’s ruled over the kingdom for 1,000 years and in fact refers to it the Final Empire, because he will never have a successor.
Vin is an orphan girl attached to a street gang in the capital city of Luthadel. Her role in the gang is to use her “luck” during their cons and heists, nudging people’s emotions so they do what she wants. Everything changes when they attempt to con a governmental agency, and Vin is recognized as a Misting – someone who can access an aspect of Allomancy, which gives its users supernatural powers when they consume and “burn” specific metals. Skaa Mistings are the result of a relationship between a member of the nobility and of the skaa, and if caught out are immediately executed. Luckily for her, someone else has realized her potential: Kelsier, another crew leader who is about to undertake his biggest heist yet. Under Kelsier’s tutelage, Vin comes to understand the full range of her powers. She’s not just a Misting, capable of a single act of Allomancy, but a Mistborn, able to use all ten Allomantic powers.
Kelsier, Vin, and the rest of the crew begin to plan out their next heist: stealing the Lord Ruler’s supply of atium (the rarest and most powerful of the Allomantic metals) as part of a larger plan to overthrow the government and free the Skaa from their tyranny. While parts of the crew work with the Skaa rebellion to build an army, Kelsier and Vin begin efforts to destabilize the nobility in Luthadel itself. In order to spy on the nobility, Vin poses as Valette Renoux, niece to Lord Renoux, a nobeleman who is part of Kelsier’s crew. As Valette, Vin meets and begins to fall in love with Elend Venture, the heir to the most powerful house of the Luthadel nobility, who has revolutionary ideas of his own. As the crew’s work begins to come to fruition, Vin finds herself wavering between her loyalty to her crew and the rebellion, and her growing attachment to Elend.
I don’t want to spoil the full plot, because it is full great twists and surprises throughout. But The Final Empire is a thrilling ride, with an end that leaves you begging for the next part of the story. Sanderson does an amazing job of world-building, and while Allomancy can seem a bit hand-wavy at times, it’s still a really neat and unique system of magic that he created.