Mistborn: The Final Empire (Mistborn, #1)

by Brandon Sanderson

I’ve never understood men who have trouble with their skaa—I find the creatures easy to control, if you show a properly firm hand.”

“You ask why I smile, Goodman Mennis? Well, the Lord Ruler thinks he has claimed laughter and joy for himself. I’m disinclined to let him do so. This is one battle that doesn’t take much effort to fight.”

A collection of metal flakes floated in an alcohol solution within. Iron, steel, tin, pewter, copper, bronze, zinc, and brass—the eight basic Allomantic metals.

Gentlemen, this will be no ordinary job. It’s going to be different from anything any crew has ever tried to pull. We’re going to help Yeden overthrow the Final Empire.”

“What are you really planning, Kelsier?”

There’s always another secret.”

There’s always another secret,

“What’s there to earn?” Kelsier said, pulling out his own cloak. “This is who you are, Vin.”

Mistborn are descendants of the only men who remained true to the Lord Ruler during the days before his Ascension. Other legends whisper that we are something beyond the Lord Ruler’s power, something that was born on that day when the mists first came upon the land.”

“I am Lord Elend. Lady Valette Renoux, might I have the pleasure of sharing this balcony with you whilst I read?”

Religious rites were not the only things that Keepers stored in their uncanny memories; their metalminds contained vast wealths of information on culture, philosophy, and science.

“One Keeper. What I do is similar to Allomancy, but not the same. You draw power from metals. I … use them to create memories.”

“My brother said that anyone would betray you, if they had the right chance and a good enough motive.” Sazed frowned. “Even if such a thing were true, I would not want to live believing it.”

“This book tells of his life just prior to his final battle at the Well of Ascension a thousand years ago.

do you stop loving someone just because they betray you? I don’t think so. That’s what makes the betrayal hurt so much—pain, frustration, anger … and I still loved her. I still do.”

Now, sometimes I wish that I had a piece of her with me. A child. A daughter perhaps, with Mare’s same dark hair and resilient stubbornness.”

He’s probably not here—he said he avoided balls when possible. Even if he were here, he’d be off on his own. You won’t— A muted thump sounded as someone dropped a stack of books onto her table. Vin jumped in startlement, turning as Elend Venture pulled over a chair, then sat down with a relaxed posture. He leaned back in the chair, angling toward a candelabrum beside her table, and opened a book to begin reading.

sagaciousness.

Thugs, Coinshots, and Lurchers

“No, Ham,” Kelsier said. “It isn’t right. This isn’t right. I know it’s hard to see—things have been this way for so long—but something very serious is wrong with the way skaa live. You have to believe that.”

“Yes, yes,” Sazed said, speaking with uncharacteristic enthusiasm. “Did you see what he said, how he described Terris as a place of ‘green fertility’? Keeper legends speak of this. Terris is now a tundra of frozen dirt—why, almost no plants can survive there. But once it was green and beautiful, like the text says.”

I will have the ability to fulfill any wish of my heart. “He will take upon himself authority that no mortal should hold.” Yet the philosophers warned me that if I am self-serving with the power, my selfishness will taint it.

Marsh’s

What if Marsh betrays them

“Once maybe I would have thought you a fool, but … well, that’s kind of what trust is, isn’t it? A willful self-delusion? You have to shut out that voice that whispers about betrayal, and just hope that your friends aren’t going to hurt you.”