Parents' Guide to Mistborn: The Final Empire

Exquisite dystopian world-building holds this grim series start together better than the characters and writing do. The magic powers alone take pages and pages to explain, and yeah, it's worth the time author Brandon Sanderson takes to grasp how Mistborn ingest metals to fly over rooftops, impale enemies with simple coins, achieve super strength, and soothe minds with manipulation. On that second tier of interest is the makeup of the world itself, with a god-like ruler, noble and slave classes, some truly nasty minions with spikes through their eye sockets, and an ash-filled sky with no green anywhere. And then we meet our band of thieves ready to take on the world, and things fall apart from there. Kelsier should be more likable as the hero who has endured so much. Instead, he's rash and has a big ego. And Vin, so powerful with her magic, is given such a subservient role to Kelsier's. She's "like a daughter" to him, he says. Girl teen readers will probably be disappointed that Vin continues to go along with what men plan for her, and that when she's in trouble, men save her. And she can't shut up about how much she likes the pretty dresses and a certain nobleman. What a waste of awesome magic powers.

Writing in this story could also have been much more dynamic. One "overthrow the Lord Ruler" planning session with actual writing on boards and meeting notes was more than enough, and yet there are at least three. While there is plenty of bloody action eventually, most scenes are casual affairs that lack that essential focus to move the plot forward. But if you are a reader here expressly for good world-building, the pace won't bother you. If you require that balance of story, world, and character depth, however, look elsewhere.