A post recently came across my news feed that stories from Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere universe were going to be made into both a movie franchise and television series by Apple TV, specifically Mistborn and the Stormlight Archive. I decided to read some of the Mistborn books and quite enjoyed them. Minimal spoilers follow.

TL;DR; “Era 1” of the Mistborn series consists of three novels and a novella. The Final Empire is the first book, and I very much enjoyed it. It was excellent. The second book, The Well of Ascension was good but didn’t land with me the way the first book did. The Hero of Ages started off slow but ended strong. I almost wish I hadn’t read the novella, Secret History, for reasons I’ll explain below.

I was introduced to Sanderson’s work through The Wheel of Time series of books. The Wheel of Time was another popular series I had never read, and the length (fourteen books) was a little daunting. My friend Jason offered the advice that I should read the first three books and then stop, and in retrospect I wish I had taken that advice.

Instead, I read about a third of the way through book nine and then gave up. It wasn’t until Amazon released the third season of the TV series based on the books that I was encouraged to pick them up again.

Of course I was so lost I ended up reading the first eight books over again, albeit with a healthy bit of scanning. The excellent adaption that was the third season of the television show of course meant that Amazon would cancel it.

Anyway, The Wheel of Time was written by Robert Jordan, and he developed a terminal illness before he finished the story. Sanderson was brought in to complete the work, and I really did enjoy the books he co-wrote. This made me want to dive in to a universe of his own creation.

The Cosmere universe is based around a supernatural, god-like being called Adonalsium. In an event known as “The Shattering”, this being was killed and its body broken into sixteen “shards”, each of which grants near god-like power on their own. Those shards were taken up by “vessels” who then traveled about the universe.

Two of the vessels, carrying the shards known as Preservation and Ruin, created a planet called Scadrial, which is the setting of the Mistborn series.

Sanderson’s initial goal with the first Mistborn book was two-fold. Inspired by reading the Harry Potter books, he wondered “what would it be like in a world where the bad guy won?”

He also wanted to write a “heist” story. I’m a huge fan of heist capers like Ocean’s 11 and The Italian Job, so I figured this was right up my alley.

As with any high fantasy, the first book needs to set the stage, introduce the characters, as well as describe the magic system. In Mistborn there are three different, yet similar, ways to perform magic.

The first is called “Allomancy”. On this world, a small number of people, all descended from nobility, have the ability to consume metals in order to enhance their abilities. These metals come in pairs: a base metal and an alloy of that metal (hence Allomancy). The magic user will ingest a small amount of the metal and then “burn” it (consume it) to convert it into these new powers. The power lasts as long as they have metal left. For example, those who can burn tin get enhanced senses. Those who burn pewter (a tin alloy) get enhanced strength.

This ability is rare, and most people with it can only burn one particular metal, which limits them to one particular enhanced ability. These people are called “Mistings”.

However, those who can utilize more than one metal can utilize all of them. There are eight main metals although searching for more is part of the plot. These people are known as “Mistborn”.

There are two other magic systems. The Terris use a form called Feruchemy. Instead of ingesting and burning a metal, they can store energy by wearing a particular metal and “charging” it. In the example above, a Terrisman could go through a period of reduced eyesight in order to store up energy in tin, to be used later. It is similar for pewter, by suffering weakness they can store up strength.

Feruchemy is much more like a battery. In Allomancy the magic comes from the metal, which is consumed.

The third type of magic is Hemalurgy. This is used by the more evil characters in the books, as it is blood magic. Spikes, each of a particular metal, can be driven into a person, killing them and stealing a certain power related to the metal used. When that spike is placed in another, they can inherit the power.

In The Final Empire, Scadrial is a planet where they sun looks red, caused by constant ashfall from volcanoes. At night, a mysterious and, some say, malevolent mist covers the land. This mist is the reason for the names “Mistings” and “Mistborn” as they mainly operate at night.

It has been ruled for almost a thousand years by the Lord Ruler (an apt but uninspired name). The populace is broken up into a small noble class (descendants of those who helped the Lord Ruler come to power) and peasants known as skaa. The skaa are basically slaves to nobility.

The book introduces us to a group of skaa who are planning on robbing the Lord Ruler of his hoard of a rare metal called atium. Atium serves as the main currency among nobility. The crew includes Mistings and at least one Mistborn. Nobles are known to have affairs with skaa and while any offspring from such pairings are killed, some escape.

I really enjoyed this book. The characters are well developed and the ending is satisfying, as well as going in a direction I wasn’t expecting.

The story continues in The Well of Ascension. When a being becomes a vessel (inheriting the power of a shard) it is called “ascending”. This book focuses on the place where the Lord Ruler received his power, an actual well that refills every one thousand years.

This book was good, but I didn’t like it nearly as much as The Final Empire. It was much more focused on politics and political intrigue, which isn’t as much fun, to me, as heist stories.

The third book, The Hero of Ages, starts where the second book ended and with about the same focus and pacing. But halfway through it really picks up and delivers a satisfying ending.

After I finished these stories I read the novella, Secret History. I kind of wish I hadn’t. It fills in some backstory to the events in the books, and I felt that in doing so diminished them in a small way. It did introduce some other characters from the Cosmere, so that may make it worth it in the end.

I am eager to see how Apple TV adapts these books to a movie franchise. The content and pacing are perfect for the format, so let’s hope they don’t screw them up. Sanderson is supposed to retain creative control so that is a good sign.

There are four Mistborn books that make up Era 2, and while Era 1 took place in the usual feudal setting of a lot of fantasy, Era 2 is supposed to take place 300 years into the future, which I assume is more post-renaissance, pre-industrial. He has announced plans for four Eras, with Era 3 taking place in something technologically similar to the late 20th century, and the final one in the far future.

But it will have to wait. Taking the advice of the Internet with respect to the Cosmere universe and the order in which to read the material, I am now reading Elantris and the related novels. Elantris was Sanderson’s first book, and it shows, but I am enjoying it. Then I will read the Stormlight Archives (which are being made, also by Apple TV, into a television series) before finally returning to Mistborn.

I am hoping they are as good.