Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson (2006) is the first in a series of fantasy novels set on the planet Scadrial. It follows a heist organized by Kelsier, a Mistborn with the ability to draw certain physical powers from metal. This is the second novel published by Sanderson, who earned his BA and MA degrees from Brigham Young University. Mistborn is followed by The Well of Ascension (2007) and The Hero of Ages (2008). Mistborn is a part of Sanderson’s Cosmere, a shared universe where many of Sanderson’s young adult and adult fantasy and science fiction novels take place. This guide uses the 2016 mass market paperback published by Tor.

Prior to the events of Mistborn, the planet Scadrial was threatened by a mysterious power known only as the Deepness. Philosophers predicted the coming of a Hero of Ages who would use the power of the Well of Ascension to defeat the Deepness. The Hero of the Ages arrives and traveled through the mountains with the guidance of a packman named Rashek. He kept a logbook during the journey, sections of which act as epigraphs for each chapter in Mistborn. At the Well of Ascension, Rashek betrayed the Hero of Ages and took the power of the Well for himself. He became a skilled Feruchemist and Allomancer, two of the magic systems operating on Scadrial. Assuming the identity of the Hero of Ages, Rashek rose to Lord Ruler and established the Final Empire, subjecting all nations of Scadrial to his will. When the novel begins, the Lord Ruler has subjugated the skaa people for a century while the noble class lives in luxury. Since the Lord Ruler’s ascension, Scadrial has been plagued by nightly mists and frequent ashfalls. In addition, its land lost much of its fertility.

Kelsier is a former thief from the capital city of Luthadel. He is a half-blood skaa with a father from the noble class. After being betrayed by his wife Mare on a job stealing from the Lord Ruler, Kelsier is sent to the Pits of Hathsin to mine atium geodes, one of the most sought-after Allomantic metals. Mare is killed at the Pits and Kelsier “Snaps,” or comes into his full Allomantic powers. He is a Mistborn with the ability to use every Allomantic metal. He escapes from the Pits and travels to Luthadel to gather a team of skaa thieves for his plan to overthrow the Lord Ruler.

Vin is a Mistborn, and her powers attract Kelsier’s notice. She is offered a position on his crew and the opportunity to learn Allomancy from himself and the crew’s Mistings, half-blooded skaa with only one Allomantic power. Vin learns the art of Allomancy, how to “burn” metals she has ingested, Allomancy’s dependence on the physical laws of Scadrial, and how to fight other Allomancers. Her part in the crew is to infiltrate the nobility and help Kelsier in instigating a war among Luthadel’s noble houses.

The other members of the crew—Ham, Breeze, Dockson, Spook, Clubs, Sazed, and Lord Renoux—focus on recruiting soldiers from among the skaa for a rebellion they hope to start the following year. Kelsier’s brother, Marsh, is assigned to infiltrate the Lord Ruler’s Steel Ministry and gather information about his Inquisitors, creatures with extraordinary Allomantic abilities that regularly hunt skaa half-bloods.

Vin is taught how to act like a noblewoman by Sazed. Sazed is also a Keeper, a Terrisman with the power of Feruchemy (or, storing physical ability in metals to use later). He has collected the histories of hundreds of religions that existed on Scadrial prior to the Lord Ruler’s Ascension. Often, he and Kelsier speak of what makes a religion strong, with Kelsier believing that a religion must inspire passion in its followers. He hopes to inspire the skaa to believe in him rather than the Lord Ruler.

At the noble balls Vin attends under the name of Valette Renoux, she meets Elend Venture, heir to the most powerful house in the empire. Elend detests his father and noble society; he and Vin bond over their disapproval of the treatment of the skaa. Vin is targeted by Shan Elarial, a popular lady of the nobility and Elend’s former fiancée. Vin and Elend begin a relationship. The crew comes into possession of the Hero of Ages’s logbook.

Kelsier appoints Yeden, the leader of Luthadel’s skaa rebels, to oversee the training of the recruits outside the city. The crew learns that Yeden went against Kelsier’s orders and ordered the recruits to attack a nearby city. They lose most of their soldiers and must quickly revise their plan. Furthermore, they learn that the Inquisitors are trying to track down Vin and discover who her father is.

With Vin and Kelsier working to turn the noble houses of Luthadel against each other, tensions at the nobles’ balls begin to escalate. Elend’s friends follow Vin and discover that she is either a spy or a member of a skaa thieving crew; Elend breaks up with Vin at the last noble ball before the House War begins. That night, Vin saves Elend from assassination by killing Shan Elarial, who is also a Mistborn.

Kelsier’s brother Marsh requests to meet with them, but at the designated spot, Kelsier and Vin discover a brutalized corpse. Distraught, Kelsier attacks and destroys the Pits of Hathsin, effectively stopping the empire’s atium production. In response, the Lord Ruler holds public executions of skaa and Lord Renoux’s household staff, including Spook. Kelsier fights with Inquisitors to free the prisoners, which he succeeds in doing, but is killed by the Lord Ruler in turn. The crew hides in their warehouse while the House War begins in earnest, unable to believe Kelsier’s death.

The skaa, who had come to believe in Kelsier as a godlike savior, rise in response to Kelsier’s murder; the crew quickly organizes a full-scale skaa rebellion. Lord Renoux takes on the appearance of Kelsier and further encourages the skaa people. Vin accepts the atium that Kelsier left for her, as well as the mysterious Eleventh Metal, which is said to be the Lord Ruler’s only weakness. She goes to his palace of Kredik Shaw and breaks into a secret chamber at the center of the complex; in it, she finds an old man who slightly resembles the eternally young Lord Ruler she knows. Vin burns the Eleventh Metal and sees a younger version of the Lord Ruler dressed as a Terris packman.

Inquisitors capture Vin and use her to convince the Lord Ruler to reassign control of his Steel Ministry to them over the obligators, or priests, as Vin’s father is the lord prelan of the obligators. The Lord Ruler assents. Vin is kept in Kredik Shaw’s prison until Sazed breaks her out. She immediately confronts the Lord Ruler and, drawing from the power of the nightly mists, is able to fight him. She realizes that the Lord Ruler is Rashek from the logbook and uses Allomancy to separate his Feruchemical metals from him. The Lord Ruler ages rapidly. Vin kills him. With the Lord Ruler defeated, the crew works with Elend to establish a democratic government to replace the Final Empire.