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The Final Empire  By  cover art

The Final Empire

By: Brandon Sanderson
Narrated by: Michael Kramer
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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

Featured Article: The top 100 fantasy listens of all time


When compiling our list of the best fantasy listening out there, we immediately came up against the age-old question: Is this fantasy or science fiction? The distinction is not as clear as you may think. Dragons, elves, and wizards are definitely fantasy, but what about wizards that also fly space ships? (Looking at you, Star Wars.) For the sake of fantasy purity, the top 100 fantasy listens include the best audio works in all manner of fantasy subgenres.

What listeners say about The Final Empire

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Good Soup

🍲 (Phenomenal book, and a very pleasant VA. I can't wait to find the time to continue the story.)

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Worth it!

I struggled a little getting through the first chapter (it was confusing and not all that interesting to me), but I'm so glad I did! Putting the narration at 1.2x helped, but the narration wasn't bad. As the story went along, I really liked the voice acting. He managed to give distinct voices to a surprising number of characters. The speech is just a bit slow, for me. I'm eager for the next book! Awesome fantasy novel. Unique and satisfying. Loved it!

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Great magic system

Very good story with a well constructed plan tied together well in the end. The magic system and use of it was really well done too.

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what a gem

from stormlight archive to this. what a great story. glory to gory. characters ha e depth that most stories seem to leave put

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I believe the hype

I have watch many of Brandon Sanderson's talks and heard from others about the quality of his writing. I can say I was not disappointed.

The magic system is so fun to think about and the characters are fun and memorable. I typically listen to books while drawing or at the gym but I was so enraptured by the flow of the narrative that I just could not stop.

I am proud to officially consider myself a Mistborn fan.

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The magic system!

Overall this is such a great listen. excellent characters and even better magic system! Definitely looking forward to the rest of the series!

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The world building.

Just like other Sanderson books he as mislead lead me and suprsied more times the I afraid to admit.

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Keeps getting better!

I am rereading this, because my daughter has gotten into fantasy series. It has been awhile since I last read this and it is as good if not better than previously. This is a must read for anyone that enjoys fantasy series. Sanderson creates a unique system of magic and world of fantasy. If you read it and don't like it, you should just give up reading fantasy, because you are unlikely to find much better out there!

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Compelling.

The story was confusing at first, but just grew and grew until it had a hold of me before Ieven realized it!

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One more chapter

Why a great book. I have ever read a fantasy book and it was a nice change of pace from the business and self help books I usually read. I will finish this series

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