The Final Empire

Vin is a street thief hiding powers she doesn't understand. Kelsier, the only man to escape the Pits of Hathsin alive, recruits her into his crew, which plans to overthrow the Lord Ruler, an emperor who has been immortal for a thousand years, and steal his atium. Kelsier trains Vin as a Mistborn, and she infiltrates noble balls, where she meets Elend Venture. The plan unravels, but Kelsier spreads the legend of the Eleventh Metal among the skaa and sparks a revolt. The Lord Ruler kills him in front of the crowd, and he becomes a martyr. Vin burns the Eleventh Metal and learns the emperor is Rashek, a Terris packman. She cuts him off from his Feruchemical reserves, and he ages and dies. The Final Empire falls.

1. Behind the scenesWhat if the hero lost?

   The idea came from a question: what if the prophesied hero failed and the dark lord won? Sanderson wondered about it while reading Harry Potter. The book opens a thousand years after that defeat.

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2. Behind the scenesA heist movie with magic

   Kelsier's crew and their plan were inspired by the Ocean's heist movies. The mists came from a drive through fog in Idaho.

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3. Behind the scenesNovel number 14

   It was the 14th novel Sanderson finished. He merged ideas from two unpublished 2002 drafts: one gave him Allomancy, the other gave him Vin and Feruchemy.

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4. SetupDon't skip the epigraphs

   Each chapter opens with a passage from the logbook of a man who, a thousand years ago, believed he was the Hero of Ages. Who he was and what happened to him matter more than it seems.

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5. ReferenceA familiar informant

   Kelsier meets an informant who pretends to have bad eyesight. Sanderson readers know him: it's Hoid, who shows up in disguise across the Cosmere, the author's shared universe.

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