A review by queermothman
The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

2025 Reread:

I enjoyed this much more than I did almost 10 years ago. Brandon, when I catch you. 

I still think this thing is slow as hell, especially the first 50%, but I understand why it was written this way. The Jesus/religious paralleling was a little too on the nose by the end, but I can appreciate how it was handled overall. Especially since I found out that Sanderson is a Mormon asdfghj; 

I did get kind of lost trying to keep track of side characters, but that could also have been bc I was listening to the audiobook this time around. 

One major ick for me is Vin and her love interest. I just don't like age gaps, especially when one is a teenager. I'm interested to see how they're handled in future installments, though.
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