2025 Reading Challenge discussion

This thread is to discuss Mistborn: The Final Empire, the first book in the Mistborn Saga by Brandon Sanderson.

Pages: 541 pages

Length: 2 months (September and October)

Participants: Charlotte, Lorraine, Valerie, Allison

Everyone reads at their own pace during a Buddy Read. Because participants can be at different parts of the book at different times, it is extremely important to mark spoilers so that the book is not ruined for someone who is not as far along as others!!!

Mark spoilers by placing {spoiler} before the text and {/spoiler} after the text but use the < and > instead of the { and }.

Here are some questions to help get the conversation started! Feel free to look up discussion questions specific to this book or come up with your own. Just make sure any questions that contain spoilers are under spoiler tags.
Discussion questions are not required but may be a fun way to talk about the book and get to know each other!

Prior to starting:
What prompted you to join this buddy read?
Have you read this author before? What do you think of their other books?

Mid-read:
What character or ideas do you relate to the most and why?
Do you have any favorite quotes or scenes?

After reading:
What was enjoyable or not-so-enjoyable about this book?
Did this book change your perception about anything, either within the book (character development) or in real life?

Hey everyone!!

I'm really excited to read this book with you guys and get to know you guys throughout the read!

Prior to starting:
What prompted you to join this buddy read?
My father just read this book and really loved it, so he recommended for me to read it. I had also heard about Brandon Sanderson before, so it seemed like a good change to try out his books and see if I like his writing style. I even got to borrow his copy, so I didn't have to buy it myself lol!
Have you read this author before? What do you think of their other books?
No, I haven't read anything from Brandon Sanderson before, as I mentioned above.

Hey, Charlotte!

What prompted me to read this: It’s been on my tbr for many, many years and the Fall seems like a good time for fantasy (I will probably not start this until October as September is pretty busy). No, I have never read this author before but always hear everyone raving about him.

Hi everyone, I was prompted to read this because I just read Elantris and was very impressed by his debut novel so wanted to explore more.

Probably get to this towards the end of September. Looking forward to it.

Hello everyone! Like Valerie, I just finished Elantris and loved the universe Sanderson created. I’m hoping this one will be just as fun and captivating. I’ll be starting it soon, but I plan to read it slowly—so probably finishing sometime in October. Then again… if it hooks me right away, I might just drop everything else and fly through it in a couple of days 😅 Who knows!

I’ve finished Part 1 of Mistborn. (view spoiler)[While I’m not quite as swept away as I was with the beginning of Elantris, I’m enjoying it so far. This first section focuses more on getting to know the characters and understanding how they plan to overthrow the Empire. For now, it feels a bit like Ocean’s Eleven—but with magic! Or maybe more like Arsène Lupin—a thief stealing from another thief. (hide spoiler)]

Oooo great job! I haven't gotten around to starting it yet hehe.
How are you liking it so far?

I'll start reading it right after 2 or 3 books that are in the queue, but I'm excited, it's the first Sanderson book I'll read.

Charlotte wrote: "Oooo great job! I haven't gotten around to starting it yet hehe.
How are you liking it so far?"

Like I mentioned before, I don’t find this one as easy to get into as Elantris, but now that I’m around 60% in, I have to admit the more I read, the more I’m enjoying this universe. (view spoiler)[I’m still unsure how I feel about some characters—Vin, for instance, sometimes rubs me the wrong way—but I trust that by the end I might see her in a more positive light. I also really enjoy the short passages at the start of each chapter; they remind me of Frank Herbert’s Dune, where similar snippets helped to expand our understanding of the world and its history. My goal is to finish the book before I go away, and I’ll share my thoughts then on the rest of the series. I’m curious to hear how others are finding it and whether they’re interested in continuing. (hide spoiler)]

Lorraine wrote: "Charlotte wrote: "Oooo great job! I haven't gotten around to starting it yet hehe.
How are you liking it so far?"

Like I mentioned before, I don’t find this one as easy to get into as Elantris, b..."

It's good that you are enjoying it more now that you are getting farther into the book!
I will wait to read the spoiler until I have read the book though haha :D

I’ve finished Mistborn. (view spoiler)[Overall, it was good, but in the end I felt it leaned more toward a YA story than an adult one. Perhaps this is due to the language the author uses and certain dialogues that didn’t always match the characters’ ages. There was also a bit too much focus on dresses, appearances, and Vin’s internal thoughts, which often felt more like teenage musings than those of a young adult caught in such a dark world.

The story itself is interesting, but after a while it dragged on. Unfortunately, the further I read the more it lost my interest. For that reason, I don’t think I’ll continue with the rest of the series. (hide spoiler)]

I see that you only rated it 3 stars! That's too bad!
I haven't gotten around to reading it quite yet, so I can't comment, but that is really disappointing!