The Final Empire

Mistborn Book 1

By: Brandon Sanderson

Narrated by: Michael Kramer

Length: 24 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

From number one New York Times best-selling author Brandon Sanderson, the Mistborn series is a heist story of political intrigue and magical, martial-arts action.

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.

This saga dares to ask a simple question: What if the hero of prophecy fails?

Other Tor books by Brandon Sanderson

• The Cosmere
• The Stormlight Archive
• The Way of Kings
• Words of Radiance
• Edgedancer (Novella)
• Oathbringer

The Mistborn trilogy:

• Mistborn: The Final Empire
• The Well of Ascension
• The Hero of Ages

Mistborn: The Wax and Wayne series:

• Alloy of Law
• Shadows of Self
• Bands of Mourning
• Collection
• Arcanum Unbounded

Other Cosmere novels

• Elantris
• Warbreaker

The Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians series:

• Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians
• The Scrivener's Bones
• The Knights of Crystallia
• The Shattered Lens
• The Dark Talent

The Rithmatist series:

• The Rithmatist

Other books by Brandon Sanderson

• The Reckoners
• Steelheart
• Firefight
• Calamity

©2006 Brandon Sanderson (P)2009 Macmillan Audio

Wow!

The Final Empire is an amazing, original story. Brandon Sanderson is an accomplished storyteller. He uses every element of writing to pull you into the story. His character development also is masterfully done. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves fantasy. The narration performance was stellar by Michael Kramer. He has a wonderful voice, and is quite accomplished at portraying each character.

Phenomenal!

I absolutely loved it. A truly imaginative world and plot. I wanted to get back in to books and I'm glad this is where I started.

This book is beautiful

I loved everything. The plot with all its twists and turns, the narrator with his impeccable voice and accent changes, the characters, especially the characters. Each one of the leads made me think as if they were my friends with whom I went through all the challenges, sorrow and happiness. Now excuse me, there are still more. Mistborn books.

A Compelling Read and Great Bedtime Narration

From the little I've come to know Sanderson's work, I've learned that he is fantastic at setting the foundation for sprawling narratives filled with ample amounts of mystery. This book was no exception.

I love that I was never really sure what was going to happen next as I listened to these books. I often listened much longer than intended because I was completely swept away in the story.

The narration was also fantastically done. My only complaint (which is more of a compliment) is that his voice is so smooth and soft that it sometimes sent me to sleep when I was determined to stay awake for the next chapter.

In short, don't forget to set your sleep timers if you're going to listen in bed!

Stellar!

Fabulous performance of an amazing fantasy novel!

One of my favorite reads took on new life in audiobook—it was definitely worth the credit!

A stunning and unique world

Sanderson creates a stunningly detailed and unique world that is unlike any I've read before. This is a long and dense book that will leave you with a ton of questions at the end. However, the compelling characters keep you along for the ride. The book takes unexpected twists that feel entirely rational. This series (like all of Sanderson's work) is going to take some dedication, and maybe a bread between each installment, but it will be worth it.

Amazing story, terrible narrator

I love this book and the entire Mistborn series. Unfortunately Michael Kramer's monotonous narration almost ruins it. I recommend reading the story for yourself rather than listening to him.

Simply the best

One of the best books I have read on audible. Great performance and plot. A must read

Amazing Story but Narrator Doesn't Do It Justice

Story:
I absolutely LOVE the Mistborn series. It's unique and grounded take on "magic" are refreshing and thought provoking. I love that Brandon Sanderson chose to have a strong female lead character without hyper-sexualizing her. All of the characters in this book are so unique and interesting that I found myself caring for each of them as if they were old friends. This book definitely left me needing more and luckily for me the trilogy is complete so I immediately brought The Well of Ascension, despite my dislike for the narration.

Narrator:
Pros- he has a very unique and gravely voice. Overall his voice quality is very nice.

Cons- Loses his character's voices often mixing character voices together, not much dynamic range, his general narrations sound dismissive and rushed like he's bored of reading the book and would rather be doing something else. Perhaps it's all due to poor direction but I would prefer to find a different recording if possible; unfortunately that's not an option with this series.

My next obsession

Narrator has a wonderful array of infletions and accents, distinguishing each character so easily.
The story itself was wonderful.