Synopsis

It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capitol, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to outcharm, outwit, and outmaneuver his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute.

The odds are against him. He's been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined -- every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor or failure, triumph or ruin. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute... and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes.

Recommended? Yes (See Review Below)

Rating? 2 out of 5

Review

“May the odds be ever in your favor!” It has been a while since we were introduced to those words in the original “The Hunger Games.” They were of course Spoken within the world of Panem, the world built by Suzanne Collins, where our minds were transported to in those first novels.

The suspense, action, and adventure of “The Games” and the participating “Tributes” kept us turning pages and rooting for our favorite characters. You couldn’t help but feel the full spectrum of emotions around the characters due to the fantastic job Collins did at character development. I thoroughly enjoyed those three novels and they have been re-read since my initial read.

Katniss Everdeen as a lead female protagonist was certainly the center of attention, but there was also a lot of wonder around Panem’s Government Leader, President Coriolanus Snow. I know I specifically wanted to understand more about the history of Panem and how it became what it is both Politically and Culturally during the time period detailed in the original novels.

So, I was particularly excited when this Novel was announced with the story setting being centered around the young President Snow. I was hoping for an interesting read that provided insight on the President’s upbringing and hopefully some explanation on the tensions and political climate between “The Districts” and “The Capitol”.

Unfortunately, I have to say that this novel was not what I expected. The story certainly centers around a young Coriolanus Snow, with some action and suspense thrown in due to the occurrence of the hunger games. But, I found this novel very slow on the uptake and I really had to push through to continue wanting to read through the first 2/3rds of the novel. However, things did pick up in the final third of this book.

While things picked up, I felt that it began to “over-rotate” and the story’s plot points started to pile up very quickly and time compressed. In my mind once the hunger games’ telling was over, the novel just simply “unraveled.” I was not a fan of the pacing, and felt less time spent recounting the story of the games and more time covering a greater depth of Snow’s career and history would have been more interesting.

Would I recommend this book to those fans of the Hunger Games Universe? Yes.

Am I pushing for folks to upend their TBRs and read this next before anything else? No.

This novel certainly doesn’t take anything away for me from the experience of the Hunger Games universe, but it also doesn’t fill any missing pieces. The fact that it is a quicker read is certainly a positive.

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Synopsis

For a thousand years the ash fell and no flowers bloomed. For a thousand years the Skaa slaved in misery and lived in fear. For a thousand years the Lord Ruler, the "Sliver of Infinity," reigned with absolute power and ultimate terror, divinely invincible. Then, when hope was so long lost that not even its memory remained, a terribly scarred, heart-broken half-Skaa rediscovered it in the depths of the Lord Ruler's most hellish prison. Kelsier "snapped" and found in himself the powers of a Mistborn. A brilliant thief and natural leader, he turned his talents to the ultimate caper, with the Lord Ruler himself as the mark.

Kelsier recruited the underworld's elite, the smartest and most trustworthy allomancers, each of whom shares one of his many powers, and all of whom relish a high-stakes challenge. Only then does he reveal his ultimate dream, not just the greatest heist in history, but the downfall of the divine despot.

But even with the best criminal crew ever assembled, Kel's plan looks more 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, and gotten it. She will have to learn to trust, if Kel is to help her master powers of which she never dreamed.

This saga dares to ask a simple question: What if the hero of prophecy fails?

Recommended? Yes

Rating? 5 out of 5

Review

I don’t consider myself an expert of Brandon Sanderson’s worlds just yet, however, I am already a huge fan of his work. So I am aspiring to collect as much information and knowledge as possible down the road, this is only my 3rd Sando novel read. I ask that you please bare with me on this review. Especially if you happen to be one of those “experts” I am aspiring to be. :)

First, I want to point out this Work that has been different for me vs other fantasy worlds in that it is not set in the typical “Fantasy Setting” that most paint in their minds. Your typical Kings, Knights, and Castles need not apply.

Instead the corner of the Cosmere depicted here trades those assumed fantasy qualities for a somewhat more modern city/town setting where more intricate devices and “technologies” are used instead. (That is, as long as the “Lord Ruler” approved of their use.) For me, this was a very welcome change from the typical time periods you see in other epic fantasy like Game of Thrones or The Lord of the Rings. I found it refreshing to visualize the time period through the descriptions of the clothing which the characters wore and the locations they visited or stayed in.

This world and time period also is a great time period to support the world’s magic system which is based on “allomancy,” giving those who have it’s full abilities (Mistborn), improved physical and mental qualities/abilities. The abilities are unlocked through the ingestion and “burning” of metals & alloys. If this sounds intriguing but doesn’t quite make sense to you based on how I am describing it here, you can be sure that Brandon Sanderson does a phenomenal job of introducing this magic system avoiding the dreaded “world/info dump” that turn a lot of people off. You learn about this world and it’s magical wonders as the chapters fly by. I do agree with most that this book does start somewhat slow but becomes a real page turner in the 2nd half of the book.

The characters and the character building that occurs in this work is certainly a pleasant aspect for those that strive off of falling in love with the characters in the stories. Vin and Kelsier no doubt are very intriguing from the start and quickly become a key part of wanting to keep turning the pages, but many other supporting characters provide for some welcome humor and diverse personalities. I will say that at the start of the book, Vin can be thought to be the typical “orphan turned hero” character, but for me, it was how she developed and learned about her abilities that made this somewhat “straightforward trope” interesting.

I would recommend Mistborn: The Final Empire to seasoned Fantasy readers and readers who have never thought that Fantasy was for them. I can see how this novel could be recommended as an “Gateway to the Fantasy Genre” like I have seen others mention. I for one am going to love exploring this section of the Cosmere and how the characters develop in the subsequent novels as I look to enjoy the rest of the series.

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