Mistborn: The Final Empire (spoiler free review) by Brandon Sanderson
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- Опубликовано: 8 июл 2024
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I just finished the trilogy, and while I liked it, I was left so surprised with how many people have it in their top 5 series’ and I just thought it was okay. Was fun, the magic system was neat, but I didn’t really like how the action for the magic was written. Had a really great ending though.
Yeah maybe I was a bit overhyped going into it and was very disappointed. In the end I like the worldbuilding but nothing else really. Especially book 2 and the ending of it really left a sour taste in my mouth
I definitely missed the boat when it comes to Mistborn. Farthest I ever got was 200 pages in and I couldn't have cared less what happened next.
I feel like this should be given two separate ratings. One for first read through, and one for repeat reads
Agreed. There are many books I love that I probably wouldn’t have a great time rereading because the excitement of finding out what happens is gone. If it’s mainly plot driven and has good twists, I’m not gonna reread.
I'm nearly finished with The Final Empire now, and I mostly agree with your thoughts. Definitely pacing issues and heavy exposition at times, but great world building amongst it all.
I think Sanderson is at least a tad bit over-rated and most of us go into the books with preconceived notions of how good they are. And they're certainly good/great, but not all of them are going to be S tier.
This is very true. Also, I've found that the more authors I read, the more I find that some do things better than Sanderson.
Of course, Sanderson is the MCU of fantasy literature.
@@lucasacosta2104 Awful comparison.
@@Journeyman2585The comparison is pretty much spot on.
@@darthmalgus232 In what way? Specifically?
Mistborn is an accessible entry point for beginner fantasy readers. Those well-versed in complex works by authors like Steven Erikson or Ken Follett may find it less challenging. It's important to set appropriate expectations when approaching different fantasy series. It's silly to assume that it can be S tier to an experienced reader.
Any book can be an S tier novel, you just have to have correct expectations for what you’re getting, and it has to appeal to your sensibilities as a reader.
"Complexity" or how "challenging" a work is has nothing to do with its quality. Nor has enjoying one or the other anything to do with reader's experience.
The first time I tried mistborn (immediately after finishing The Name of the Wind) I DNF’d it about halfway through. Years later I revisited it and enjoyed it more but it was only ever ‘ok’. I recently started The Alloy of Law and only made it 35 pages before I realise it’s just not for me.
Similar feelings here. I've tried to re-read it multiple times but all those attempts have been DNFs. First (and only full) read was 4 stars though
Im conflicted on Sanderson works. Ive read 4 (mistborn, way of kings, tress, wizards guide) and dnf Warbreaker. I understand why people like them but i always finish thinking "it was okay i guess"
For a long while it felt like I was crazy for not loving Mistborn. Recently I've seen more and more people cool down the hype train. I wonder what changed because it's not like Mistborn was the new hot thing.
I tried Mistborn last year it's not bad but nothing special I don't understand the hype.
Even worse on book 2 with the pretty meh love story. Haven't read the 3rd.
I read the first 2 but will not continue, kinda awful in a lot of ways.
Love triangle between Zane x Vin x Elend is so cringe idk why, maybe because i just hate romance element in fantasy novel lol. But the most boring thing in the second novel is Sazed and all his thoughts about religion. Every time he's on page i was like if he's gonna have internal conflict about religion again i swear i would throw this book 🤣🤣🤣
@@sharxboybook 3 is better imo, with everything that happen to Spook and Marsh. The ending tho.. Ugh
@@rafaelblake7278I never really even thought it felt like a love triangle, Vin never seemed interested in Zane. That second book was easily the weakest for me, with third being the strongest, but I still felt the books were way overhyped
You are on the R. Scott Bakker hangover. I am too, no worries
Not the video title I wanted to see right as I was beginning to start Mistborn (for the first time) 🤣 Ah well! Still gonna read this before I get into Stormlight
Probably a good idea. I found Storm light way more enjoyable than Mistborn. But then I read Stormlight first
This was how I felt about the book when I first read it. Felt similarly about Way of Kings as well.
Good. Not great. That’s my opinion of Sanderson based on what I’ve read of his so far.
Mistborn: The Final Empire isn't beginner adult fantasy; it's just YA fantasy. The ballrooms and dresses are the most intricately described aspects of the novel, second only to the magic system. Oh, Vin is still recovering from being severely injured and struggles to walk up a staircase? Of course she still dances well; why wouldn't she? She's too busy living her best dream with that cute, emotionally distant, damaged, edgelord boy she can fix!
Pewter.
Actual question here, about who are you referring to in your last line? Elend? He is far from being an edgelord that needs fixing. Kelsier? He is a father figure to her, I'm not sure why you took him as a love interest? if anything the one who does the healing is him towards her, and I don't remember vin lusting for kelsier or trying to fix him, she defies him at times as a daughter would defy her father. The narrative even spells it out for you, kelsier says his deceased wife would have liked to have a daughter like vin. Also, emotionally distant? He is very honest to her and he always shares why he feels the way he feels. I apologize if you were actually referring to Elend, but honestly that is even more ridiculous because that character is the complete opposite to that description. That's why I assumed you are talking about kelsier and focused more on that. I agree that this book in particular is very YA and it follows a lot of tropes to a tea, but common on now you are being misleading with the last part of your comment, it's not remotely close to what you are implying.
There absolutely were moments where you could read Vin as being interested in Kelsier - I certainly did, and fully expected the comment of "I see you as a daughter" to come as a gut punch but it obviously didn't end up that way. I assume a lot of people read the interaction that way; I'd put money on that being why we had the whole tangent in Hero of Ages where Breeze brings it up for Vin to forcefully shoot it down.
This cover has the best artistic rendition of Vin IMO
Just started this today! First time I’ve seen anything slightly negative said about this series! Intrigued to see what I think.
Ed
I just started yesterday. I’m only 50 pages in(been busy) I’m liking it so far. This is also the first book I’ve read in years so I don’t have much to go off of
There's quite a few of negative comments on Goodreads
I very much enjoy watching these videos of you and others talking about fantasy, but I've realized I read books so differently from most book tubers. Pacing is almost a non-issue for me, and I'm happy to spend as much time in the world as the author allows. Other things that book tubers tend to be hyper critical of just don't matter much to me.
I really like this video, and I mostly agree with your review. I also have some advice for improving your videos you may or may not want.
I read mistborn at the end of 2020 after discovering that EVERYONE online drools over Sanderson, and I quite enjoyed my read. I was mostly let down by the ending and determined that I would not care about the sequels. I read Well of Ascension and thought it was a hard two point five stars. Acceptable and fine, but the only moment I felt anything was the climax, and was quickly bored with the way it wrapped up. Started Hero of Ages (the most bland title of all time perhaps) at the end of last year, and quit after like ten chapters. Turns out my expectation was accurate. I would never dare re-read mistborn because I know all of the problems would only be highlighted by knowing where things go.
Now my opinion nobody asked for (lol): from my work a cinematographer, I think your videos would be *heavily* improved if you framed yourself more pleasingly. If I may be so bold-- you're placed in the far lower third of the screen and it makes it really uncomfortable to watch you. Nothing wrong with setting yourself off-center, but if you try to frame yourself on the line of the middle and right third and reduce the headroom you won't look like you're trying to sneak off-screen, lol. Also you have leading lines of your bookshelf which subconsciously make the viewer feel they *should* be looking at the far upper left of the frame while you, the subject, are set in the exact opposite position. If you were often showing images or words on the left side, this would make more sense, but as it is, it creates a subtle sense of vertigo for lack of a better word. You're a really well-spoken youtuber and I just wanted to throw this out there because I think you could get even bigger. BUT! I do have compliments as well: Your lighting and coloring is great, so nailing two out of three is not too shabby. Thanks for the content, friend!
Eh, I disagree with ya on this one. Have re-read this book and still love it. IMO era 1 Mistborn is still peak Sanderson.
Good review. Yeah, I went with 4 stars on re-read. Thing about Mistborn 1 is it's like The Beatles song "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" in that it was a great intro to the genre but over time it now comes off as a bit quaint and corny. Still, probably a good gateway into fantasy for the uninitiated. But to a more experienced reader it won't hit the same.
Matt strikes again! 🤣 But in all honesty, love and respect you for this, Matt. It’s good to show that you can change your feelings about a book as time goes on. That’s one of the reasons I consider you the best in the biz! I will say, Mistborn is still in my top favorites because it jumpstarted my journey of reading epic fantasy, but I agree with all of your thoughts. Thank you for your content!
Matt pulling thru with another great take haha
I truly do not understand why The Final Empire is so hyped. I think it might be nostalgia? I read it 4 years ago and I definitely liked it… but there was a lot that could’ve been cut. 3.5 ⭐️ in my opinion too
The book is clearly in the "very good" and not "great" category for me. 4/5. The plot is not complicated but sometimes doing a simple story right can be effective. I just finished Elantris and it made Mistborn seem better by comparison.
Yeah, I agree that Mistborn is way better (albeit somewhat similar) to Elantris.
Thank god! I thought I was the only one. Maybe its because this book was so hyped for me that I ended up rating it a 3, but imo book 2 and 3 far superior in every way, Another great video.
The thing is, i started the cosmere by stormlight... And i can clearly see that his new is really but really a improvement from the older ones, even like more mistborn era2 then one
I remember reeeally liking Mistborn, especially the first book! But that was over ten years ago and I’ve only read it once. I hope my tastes have changed too if I ever decide to revisit it.
Had a simmilar experience with this book. It was the first Sanderson book i read back then, and I had read little to no adult fantasy. I felt in love with the world, magic, characters (?); but then i read almost every Sanderson book. I read Malazan, Scott Lynch, and many others, and i feel like this book has aged a bit like milk.
The characters are the same as in every Sanderson Novel: the youngster filled with angst and revolution, the witty, pretty but not too pretty underdog girl, and the noble burdened by honor and leadership. I have heard that Elend is a Brandon self Insert and i could not agree more.
I think Sanderson is not a prodigy, he is alright. He is quite good at some things (twists, worldbuilding, hard magic), but he is average to bad in other areas such as unremarkable prose, repetitive shallow characterization and awful romance. The endless praise he receives nowadays I feel like is warranted for turning a whole generation into readers but i feel like compared to other series (like Malazan for prose, Wandering Inn for worldbuilding, or Abercrombie and Hobb for character writing) it is hard to find something Sanderson is top of the league at.
Great video Matt,
I started reading Sanderson this year with Tress of the Emerald Sea, which I loved and was totally charmed by; it’s still one of my favorite books of the year…and then I read Mistborn. I think I gave it 3.5 stars. I wanted more Tress, and even though I liked Mistborn all right, it wasn’t on the level of Tress for me.
Congrats to bluenami for being the only person in the TBR contest to get this one correct!
I liked Mistborn, it was fun, Well of Ascension was a slog but an interesting ending, but I put the hero of ages in the bin (figuratively). I just struggle with the character of Elend a lot. Maybe it's me but I can't stand him. Things that happen to him don't work for me.
This book was my first attempt at Sanderson and it...did not entice me to continue. But I want to try! I have Tress now, and I am tempted to start at the other end of things and try Way of Kings, perhaps? Warbreaker? This one felt very YA-ish to me, and the magic system, while inventive, felt tedious in action scenes.
In Tress he experimented a bit with the tone of the narration and even though i enjoyed it, it's not indicative of what his others books are like.
Way of King, in my opinion, is the way to go.
@@tedelimon7 Thanks! I really hope it works for me.
Start with Ways of Kings... Life changing fr
As much as I like Way of Kings, I wouldn't start with it, personally. I will always and forever recommended The Emperor's Soul as the best jumping-on point for Sanderson, especially where I'm at right now in my first foray through his writing.
Warbreaker is not for everyone, you have to like philosophy for that one. It's a book that has little action and spends a lot of time exploring interesting philosophical ideas. It's good, but it's not a typical Sanderson book.
I need some advice, I have read the first two books of the stormlight archive and absolutely love the series. Then I was informed that it belonged to a greater cosmere universe, so in order to get the full experience I started reading mistborn book 1 as it was suggested in the recommended reading order. But the problem is I just don't enjoy this as much, I keep trying to pick up the book again and it feels like a chore. So should I keep reading mistborn or just read stormlight archive?
Sanderson does a pretty good job of letting you enjoy Stormlight all on its own. You will miss some fun tie ins if you don’t read anything else, but the overall story of Stormlight 1-4 stands on its own pretty well. Not sure if Stormlight 5 coming out later this year will though…
@@trojanfan4321 I have the mistborn trilogy physical copies so I will probably read it someday, this is why I am not reading SA 3 otherwise I would've finished the remaining 2 already 🥲.
You could definitely read Stormlight on its own.
Happy to hear this review. I've heard how great this book was (and Sanderson) for a long time. I picked it up and was really disappointed. Not a bad book, but I just found the characters so bland and the writing itself really boring. It's the only Sanderson I've read so hopefully I like some of his others more.
I’m currently rereading Mistborn Era 1 before I start Era 2, and I’m not loving it as much as I did as a teen. I liked it better as a first-time read when I didn’t already know the magic system and plot twists.
Yeah. I gotta think the 2nd and 3rd books are better than the 1st on a reread. But we'll see!
@MattsFantasyBookReviews I just finished reading the series for the first time about a month ago. Unfortunately the first was the best in my opinion. I really like the series but it is nowhere near as good as everyone told me it is. I like Vin quite a bit in the first book but she slowly devolved into one of my least favorite characters in the series as it went on. I felt that the second and third books had parts to them that were wonderful but it was just certaint parts. I found myself bored for large parts of them and the third was really hard to get through (even though the ending made it worth it and was really great).
@@samuelruppert4324 I had pretty much the EXACT same reading experience as you. First book was pretty damn good and the ending made me excited to read the rest. Then books 2 and 3 were mostly mid with moments of brilliance to keep me going. By the middle of book 3 I was skimming some, which I very rarely do. And I'm one of the people who didn't really like the ending of book 3, so I felt really down about the series in retrospect.
@@morganziegler7351 Yup. That almost perfectly sums up my thoughts with the exception that I did really like the ending of the third book. My biggest issue with books 2 and 3 were that both Vin and Sazed (especially Vin) felt super one dimensional and I just felt as though I was reading the exact same internal monolog from them over and over and over. It is sad because both were two of my favourite characters from the first book.
@@MattsFantasyBookReviews i Read the books 2 years ago and while books 1&3 are ok, book 2 is absolutely horrible in my opinion and one of the worst books I have read. Only the sazed and marsh chapters are a saving grace for me. I hated the ending so god damn much because not only did it make a big part of the „coming of age“ arc of vin useless but also made vin suffer only half of the consequences of her decision.
Wow...well I think I'm not going to win the tbr contest for sure this month. I would have thought you would have given it another 5.
I actually have the first mistborn book around the same score as yourself but I’m curious, since you had it a 5 originally and because of the tedium of the magic system it feels closer to a 3 now, do you think it’s fair to actually score it a 3.5?
I feel like it’s not fair to drop the actual score of a book because you already know the systems so you don’t enjoy re reading them. It’s almost better to have re read scores
entirely separate from the actual score of a book. Just wondering your thoughts.
My score just reflects my current feelings on it. Not an average of all my previous scores.
That makes sense good sir
I read mistborn era 1 after reading rhythm of war. I was pretty disappointed after so many people said that mistborn is on par or close to stormlight. Era 1 was decent and I don’t regret having read it, so 3.5 stars is roughly my enjoyment of it
I tried Mistborn last and couldnt get past the 40% mark. 1/5 for me. However, I'm still looking forward to reading the Way of Kings next year.
Had the same experience with my Mistborn reread. I've gotten to the point where Stormlight is really the only Sanderson I love, and even then RoW was my least favorite in that series so far. Really hoping I enjoy Wind and Truth more.
Preach! Mistborn was a 3-star for me, though I’ve only read it once (late last year). I completely agree about the characters being really weak other than Vin, the magic system and overall concept being cool, the love story being dumb, and the book dragging. I don’t remember the magic system explanations being a huge drag, just the story overall, but I’m sure I’d feel the same way you did on a reread. I also could not agree more about the novella you mentioned….. it completely cheapens that character’s story and the ending of this book. But if it had to be included, it should have at least been in the main novels and not published as a separate novella ten years later or whatever. I have a huge issue with that-actually, with Sanderson’s Cosmere rewrites in general-but it is what it is. Anyway, yeah, it was fine, but I was expecting more. Unfortunately I did not like the next two books as much.
I read this book twice. The first time I hated it so much that I couldn't finish it. It's still a poster child of bad writing for me. That scene where they literally get together in a conference room and brainstorm ideas and write them on a chalkboard. Yikes!
I also must be in the minority because I think the magic system is very stupid. Not necessarily the individual abilities. And top marks for the concept of allomancy. But the execution is not good. The idea that most people only have one of the abilities is so lame, especially when you think about the abilities. Can you imagine being the guy whose only ability is to detect allomancy in other people? Just awful. There were plenty of other ways to make the "mistborn" special.
All that being said, several years later I gave it another try (skipped a few of the worst chapters) and found that I liked the story okay. From there I was able to finish the series and still have mostly positive feelings toward it overall.
When I first started reading fantasy 4 years ago I think I rated every other book 5 stars. Now it’s like 1 out of 25. I’m kinda afraid reread those first book cuz I’ll probably feel the same as you.
I actually enjoy it more on reread. However, era 2 taints my enjoyment of era 1 a little.
My entry to adult fantasy (not including A Game of Thrones because that didn’t really hook me) was The Way of Kings so I had sky high expectations for Mistborn and it just fell as a disappointment for me so I understand your stance.
I don't think I had the same reaction to the Eleventh Metal, but I can tell you that I thought Mistborn Secret History was terrible. It's actually lessened my enjoyment of the series because I can't help but think about that story's implications on the Era 1 books.
I just started mistborn and I’m new to the fantasy genre. This is the first time I’m hearing anything negative. I’ll report back later after I finish.
Also anyone have recommendations for new reader.
I know this may not be the most helpful, but is there anything you're looking for? What are some TV shows or movies you like?
@@Alaztyr that’s a hard question. Little update tho I’m about 59 pages into mistborn and so far I’m enjoying it
Mistborn was my first fantasy series and it was a great place for me to start. I still consider myself a newbie to fantasy, I read a lot of different genre’s, but I would highly recommend Joe Abercrombie’s The First Law Trilogy and the Black Iron Legacy by Gareth Hanrahan. Then if you really want to throw yourself into the deep end of the pool (but it’s worth it) read Malazan: Book of the Fallen. Even as a newbie, Malazan is still my favorite. Cheers, and happy reading friend!
@@austinguerrero5458 I guess for a smattering then! For Epic Fantasy, people recommend The First Law, but I really think Age of Madness is better if you haven't read First Law first. Historical Fantasy, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel is incredible, and almost feels like epic fantasy but the tone is different. Southern Gothic Horror Fantasy, I would recommend Forgotten Gods by Brom. Might be harder to find not on Amazon, but it's one of the most unique books I've ever read and it's so so good. Weird Fantasy, The Castle Omnibus by Steph Swainson. Again, more obscure, but it's so good. Military Fantasy, The Black Company. Contemporary Fantasy, The Magicians Trilogy by Lev Grossman. Comedic fantasy, Good Omens.
I tried to pick a smattering of ones others might not know to recommend since the same things often get said over and over, while being popular enough that others could probably also back me up that they're worth reading. When you get a handle on styles you like, it becomes a lot easier to find more!
@@chandlerholloway3900 I’m about 80 pages in and I’m just not sure how I’m feeling about it. The whole coin flip ding blue lions, connecting the metals pushing and pulling whatever it was I’m gonna try to power through bear in mind. This is my first fantasy I’ve ever read.
What are your top 3 fantasy series in terms of world building?
Malazan, Stormlight, Second Apocalypse.
@@MattsFantasyBookReviewsalright thanks
I really wanted to get into this book, and the start was promising even if the characters were a bit flat. But after 100 pages the very, excrutiatingly explicit prose was too much for me. I got to the point where a character was trying to get somehwere, and, no exaggeration, there were 5! sentences across two pages that were either 'Character flared their (material) and did that' or 'Flaring their (material), character did this' and it was so frustrating to read because it was gratuitously repetitive.
I had the same issue when trying to read the Way of Kings; every single movement of the starting fight scence was methodically described, it was way too much information which drew me out of the scene completely. I feel like I'm being given instructions rather than being told a story.
I guess I was spoiled with Malazan being the first adult fantasy series I read, but I haven't had this issue with other authors. I love the idea of Sanderson's world, but his writing style is not for me.
„If you lay out the plot points it sounds awesome“ lol these are my exact thoughts. The pacing is so bad in this series that I rather watch a RUclips video of the plot then read the book again
It is definitely the "Fantasy 101" series. A great intro to fantasy, but maybe not much beyond that.
I need to read more Sanderson, but, with the rate he pumps out books and my struggling to get through that overly long second book... yeah, IDK.
Still 5 stars for me, but I love heists
Yeah, I kinda agree with this one. It's a bit bloated, cliche ridden and repetitive and a bit to YA oriented then I thought reading it for the first time. When I read it in late 2000s it was/seemed more fresh. Well, maybe I was overwhelmed by reading lots of epic pseudo-medieval fantasy and also too many 'New Weird' subgenre (Mieville etc). Mistborn was very different from both of them. Years later I see its shortcomings but it's still a decent series (still like first era more then second, which, apart from lasy book is okay-ish).
I had the same reaction to Inside Outside Upside Down. Not the banger i remembered.
i have never once done a reread in my life i just go through life with my first impressions and it is what it is. Quick to dnf as well lfe is to short if something isnt clicking. Just like with green bone saga the veiled r@pe scene by a certain character and him raging at everyone who didnt do exactly like he wanted was a the fastest dnf of my life
I've read SO MANY Sanderson books. After Warbreaker, he's moved off my list of automatic-read-upon-release authors, though.
Mistborn is my favorite series by him. I love the magic system. And he's got a good amount of humor in the characters, especially when it comes to era 2 mistborn.
I think he did this just to kill everyone in the TBR challenge😅
Nooo!!! My favorite book of all time 😭😭😭
My first read through of this series left me super disappointed due to the hype.
I liked the Final Empire the most of all of them. The second book I think is actually more bad than it is good.
Hey Matt! If you want something new on the reread (especially of book 2, which can be a bit of a slog at times), I'd suggest reading some of Sanderson's annotations of the trilogy. They're available for free online, and might make some of the chapters a bit more interesting on a reread.
I read Mistborn for the first time about 10 years ago. I re-read them about 3 or 4 years ago. I pretty much had the same problems as you had. I was a fantasy reader 10 years ago, but I've read hundreds more fantasy books in 7 year's time. Mistborn just didn't hit the same the second time around. I also didn't love Michael Kramer's narration. I read the physical book the 1st time, and the audiobook on reread.
As a series this one wasn't great on a first read. The story is top tier, but the characters kinda suck. Vin and Elend are about as interesting as a brick wall and have no chemistry. No matter how good a story is, if you don't care about the characters then the impact is limited. Mistborn is unique though, as I have never seen a series with such a vast difference in quality between characters and the story.
I liked the first book, but the second got a bit boring to me and I had a hard time getting through the third. I don’t really get the hype. But I do really like other Sanderson stuff, just not so much Mistborn
I found the romantic relationships cringy as well. Vin has two to choose from, fine, but she shouldn't choose either! Nowhere in there does she ever have any true agency romantically. I just figure it is because of Sanderson's overall world view and real life experience where people routinely find the "love of their lives" at 14/15 and marry them by 18/20. Also, I found the violence to be R rated and then some, but the language was about as tame as an old time disney film. If someone gets their head blown off by a few coins at supersonic speed, right next to me, no one is saying "shucks!" if you know what I mean. Again, probably a byproduct of Sanderson's real life persona. 1 star.
I found the slowness of the plot too much upon my 1st time reading the story. Which is why I never finished it.
It's a 9/10 on first read, but on re-read it's an 8/10. I can see why you gave it a 7/10 but I believe it does a lot of things right.
So it Looks like you enjoy sandersons books alot less on reread.warbreaker ,way of kings and now mistborn😁
Yeah, but at least Way of Kings was still a 5 star! 😃
It's not well written, it's crazy repetitive, and i found the magic system extremely boring, maybe because of the way things are described. I wanted to read it just for fun, i had very low expectations, but still, i couldn't continue and i DNF'd it after the first part.
Based
It took you two tries; better late than never. The book is not bad, but by any means, it's as good as many people think it is. I agree with you on almost anything you said, except the allomancy part. For me, it isn't that original. A mistborn is basically a combination of Magneto and Charles Xavier. That being said, the book is not bad either; it's an okay story with fantastic world-building.
The second book, well, thats something else; the YA is tought the roof, and the repetition of the same thing again and again is infuriating at times. They love each other; I get it; no need to remind me that every two pages.
When you read a book the second time, it won't feel as good as it did the first time. Maybe there's a few exceptions and they're just that. It will never feel better than the first time. So I don't think your tastes changed that much that a beloved book of 5 stars drops to 3.5. It dropped because you already knew the twists and surprises. And Mistborn is so full of surprises that any type of description will hold a few minor spoilers. As an example, I loved the 5-6 seasons of Game of Thrones. After that, I decided to read the books. You'd think I would love the books, right? Well I didn't. I had to stop reading them. Why? They were very boring and that's simply because I knew that was gonna happen. Who will die and who wouldn't. So whatever tension the books create felt meaningless to me. Getting back to Mistborn, a book full of secrets can't be as good once you know the secrets, I think. It will be the same experience with Lord of the Rings. Yes, the prose is amazing and poetic and you could reread that and feel great but you know what's after each corner, so it can't feel as good as the first time.
Having said all that, I think once you rate a book a 5/5, you should present it as a 5/5 to people who haven't read it yet.
It depends on the kind of book, the more it depends on surprise and suspense the less it’ll work on re-read.
I dunno how much I agree with that. It feels about 50/50 for me on whether I will like a book more or less on a reread.
Also not sure I agree that you should keep the first score. If I gave a book 3 stars first and 5 stars second, should I just keep saying it's a 3 star read?
@@MattsFantasyBookReviews Hm, good points. If you can like books more on a reread, then you're right. The latest score should be the one you tell people about. Personally, I don't see myself liking a book more on a reread and I assume everyone is like me lol, but I guess it could just be a personal thing.
I really don’t get the Sanderson thing. I read The Final Empire which I thought was only ok. Didn’t like it enough to continue. I DNF Elantris, Warbreaker & The Way of Kings. The Emperor’s Soul also was ok. I love the concept of the Cosmere but just don’t enjoy his writing. Maybe it’s because I’m not a fan of hard magic systems & the endless explanation of them. I know I’m in the minority.
Just because a ‘magic system’ is detailed does not mean it is interesting. I found allomancy to be rather arbitrary and tedious (on first and only read). I liked the series but did not love it. Above average fantasy at best.
You read too many great books lol
Also your criticism of this book, its totally a you problem
Read the comments on this video. Seems to be an issue for a lot of people.
Nah a lot of people have voiced these problems for years.