The Final Empire, Part 1 (Mistborn GraphicAudio #1, 1/3) by Brandon Sanderson

The Final Empire, Part 1 (Mistborn GraphicAudio #1, 1/3) Reviews

• 
  Eric Allen

  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.
• 
  Linguana

  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...
• 
  Nanu

  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.
• 
  Karishma

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

  
  

  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.
  
  
• 
  Phoebe Jeziel

  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!!!
• 
  Amarinske

  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
• 
  Joe

  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

  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.
• 
  Anna [Bran. San. Stan]

  RTC, once I'm done with all three parts of this amazing GraphicAudio adaptation.
  
  Click to find my review of
  The Final Empire.
• 
  David Willder

  The magic system was original but the book just failed to grip me, which was a surprise as so many people rave about it. Wondering whether to give book 2 ago or not...
• 
  Diogo Nascimento

  Graphic Audio is the best thing I've discovered this year. It's so exciting!
• 
  Romaric

  Forgot how good this was...
• 
  Victor

  Great book!
• 
  Ions

  I always prefer the GA versions of Sanderson's books! Great cast work!
• 
  Nai Wang

  I loved it so much I went back and read the Graphic Audio version of this book!
• 
  Jake

  Sanderson takes an intriguing magic system in a disquieting world and lets large characters play out a battle for the freedom of a slave class. The magic was well written with well thought out action, physics and strategy. The politics was intriguing. The history before the book was a nice surprise compared to what most authors write, and the story kept a great pace for such a long read. I'd give it a 4.5 if I could. (5's are reserved for books that blow my mind.)
• 
  Tey Shi

  The beginning was rather slow but thankfully the book starts to pick up pace after the first few chapters. The story tends to get rather melodramatic whenever it comes to describing the inner feelings of Vin. Although I understand that might be natural given her background of growing up, sometimes it almost feel like a nervous breakdown. Nonetheless, the story plot was great and I am looking forward to the next book of the trilogy.
• 
  Dave

  Bit of a slow burner to begin with but once it gets going it grips hold of you and doesn't let go.
  
  Sanderson ability to create believable fantasy worlds is second to none, this book is as good as The Way of Kings.
  
  But it has left me with one question:
  
  Who would win between a Radiant and a Mistborn?
  
  
• 
  Milan Žila

  Wow, I am impressed. The world, the story, the Graphic Audio production. It all blends together to form a thrilling experience of listening to this book. I barely even noticed how the hours of content passed.
  This audiobook can make you look forward to cleaning out the garage just so you have an excuse to listen to it :)
• 
  Abhisek Dash

  We do NOT need a Mistborn movie anymore.
• 
  Rupa

  Excellent. I cannot think of any aspect of this book I did not like. Great character development, excellent story, and wonderful writing. I had to begin book 2 as soon as I was done with book one.
• 
  Carl

  Sanderson shines again.
• 
  Joseph

  If you like fantasy and sci-fi stop what you are doing and read this right now. Nothing else I can say.
• 
  Paular Bear

  ***Audiobook*** part 1 of 3. I'll review this when I actually "read" all three parts.
• 
  Edisa

  I am clearly in love with the Mistborn series so I had to check this one out too. This was gold!! GraphicAudio made sure they live up to their tagline - "movie in your mind".
• 
  Amy

  A phenomenal adaptation. Extremely well done, well acted. with amazing music.