Thankfully he is lucky enough to take a chance on rescuing a young orphan girl, the super-special hero mentioned above, who becomes essential to his plan succeeding. We have the slightly sinister mentor, Kelsier, who, it turns out, has a few dark secrets in his past. For example, Breeze can soothe people’s emotions, Clubs can hide their allomantic activity, and Ham is incredibly strong. Luckily each member of the group has one specific talent that adds to the plan and pretty much defines them as a character.

Sort of like a million-to-one shot that works nine times out of ten. We have a scrappy group of super-talented rebels (or quest group for those that are familiar with RPGs) faced with an impossible task that you know that they are somehow going to pull off. Not to mention a secret bloodline that has ramifications for the upper echelons of society. We have a young hero who it just turns out has incredibly and unbelievably rare super-special magical powers, and not only that, but has an uncanny affinity for them and learns how to use them absurdly quickly and to an extent that puts all others to shame. On the face of it Mistborn has all the markings of a walking fantasy cliché. It follows the adventures and coming-of-age narrative of young street urchin Vin, and her participation in a rebel plot to overthrow the ostensibly immortal god-emperor of the land, the Lord Ruler.

Mistborn: The Final Empire is book one of the Mistborn series, and part of Sanderson’s expanding, and increasingly intriguing, Cosmere universe. Review: Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

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