Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson (Book 1)

For a thousand years the ash has fallen and no flowers have bloomed. For a thousand years the Skaa have slaved in misery and lived in fear. For a thousand years the Lord Ruler, the “Sliver of Infinity,” has reigned with absolute power and ultimate terror. Until a terribly scarred, heartbroken half-Skaa rediscovers hope in the depths of the Lord Ruler’s most hellish prison. When Kelsier, a brilliant thief and natural leader, finds in himself the powers of a Mistborn, he turns his talents to the ultimate caper, with the Lord Ruler himself as the mark.

Kel’s plan looks like the ultimate long shot, until luck brings a ragged girl named Vin into his life. Like him, she’s a half-Skaa orphan, but she’s lived a much harsher life. Vin has learned to expect betrayal from everyone she meets. She will have to learn to trust, if Kel is to help her master powers of which she never dreamed.

BRANDON SANDERSON grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska. He lives in Utah with his wife and children and teaches creative writing at Brigham Young University. He is the author of such bestsellers as the Mistborn trilogy and its sequels; the Stormlight Archive novels; and other novels, including The Rithmatist, Steelheart and Skyward. In 2013 he won a Hugo Award for The Emperor’s Soul, a novella set in th