111-500: Mistborn: The Final Empire , also known simply as Mistborn or The Final Empire , is a fantasy novel written by American author Brandon Sanderson . It was published on July 17, 2006, by Tor Books and is the first novel in the Mistborn trilogy, followed by The Well of Ascension in 2007 and The Hero of Ages in 2008. Mistborn: The Final Empire is set on the dystopian world of Scadrial , where ash constantly falls from
222-562: A Feruchemist , the combination of which grants him incredible healing powers and eternal youth. Vin is almost destroyed by the Lord Ruler, but with hints from the Eleventh Metal and the unexpected magical aid of the mists, she manages to separate the Lord Ruler from his Feruchemical bracelets that provide him with constant youth, causing him to age rapidly. Vin uses a spear to execute the Lord Ruler, who with his last words ominously warns her of
333-481: A better society with his noble friends when they ascend to their respective house titles. Kelsier hopes to conquer the city by destabilizing it with a house war between the nobility and then invading with a skaa army. Once in control, he hopes to overthrow the Final Empire by stealing the Lord Ruler's hoard of atium , a precious metal which is the cornerstone of the Final Empire's economy. The crew succeeds in starting
444-533: A board game centered on the Mistborn series called Mistborn: House War . Developed by Crafty Games and designed by Kevin Wilson, House War is the first board game set in the Mistborn world and takes players on an adventure to play the role of leaders of the great noble Houses, struggling to weather the cataclysmic events of the first novel of the series. The game started shipping to backers in late August 2017. In 2018,
555-483: A chapter of his book English Prose Style (1928) to discussing "Fantasy" as an aspect of literature, arguing it was unjustly considered suitable only for children: "The Western World does not seem to have conceived the necessity of Fairy Tales for Grown-Ups". In 1938, with the publication of The Sword in the Stone , T. H. White introduced one of the most notable works of comic fantasy . The first major contribution to
666-459: A digital version of the boardgame was published on Tabletopia. Crafty Games also released an expansion for Mistborn: House War called Mistborn: The Siege of Luthadel, in which players take the role of factions attacking or defending Luthadel during the events of the second novel Forbes magazine praises all of the books in the Mistborn series, saying that "The narrative is crafted with such bloody precision, it's nearly impossible to put
777-408: A divine power at the "Well of Ascension", where he is rumored to have defeated the unknown danger called the "Deepness". With this power, he remade the world and everything in it into its state at the beginning of the first three books. After this event, he established "The Final Empire", which he would rule over for the next thousand years. Within the Final Empire, a Dominance is a territory within
888-402: A fascinating world here, one that deserves a sequel." Forbes magazine praised all of the books in the Mistborn series collectively: "The narrative is crafted with such bloody precision, it's nearly impossible to put the books down." Time Magazine listed it as one of the best fantasy books ever written in "The 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time". In January 2010, Brandon Sanderson optioned
999-480: A fellow English professor with a similar array of interests, also helped to publicize the fantasy genre. Tove Jansson , author of The Moomins , was also a strong contributor to the popularity of fantasy literature in the field of children and adults. The tradition established by these predecessors of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries has continued to thrive and be adapted by new authors. The influence of J.R.R. Tolkien's fiction has—particularly over
1110-410: A great doom. The Final Empire collapses, though Elend is able to avoid total societal collapse by uniting Luthadel under a new system of democratic government. Sanderson began work on the novel while trying to get his earlier novel Elantris published. After writing two early iterations, he shifted his focus to his Stormlight Archive series but chose to delay its publication in favor of completing
1221-432: A house war by assassinating several powerful nobles and recruiting about seven thousand soldiers to join their cause. However, about three quarters of the soldiers are slaughtered when they foolishly attack an unimportant Final Empire garrison with the hopes of divine protection from Kelsier, who has spread rumors of his "supernatural" powers. The remaining soldiers are smuggled into Luthadel by Kelsier, who intends to continue
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#17328693164391332-504: A magical discipline called Feruchemy , he helps Vin escape and recover her possessions. Marsh is revealed to be alive, having actually been made into a Steel Inquisitor; he betrays his fellow Inquisitors and slays them before being overpowered by the Lord Ruler. Vin fights the Lord Ruler, whom she recognizes as not the Hero of Ages, but his Terrisman advisor Rashek, who had killed the Hero and taken his place as an incredibly powerful Allomancer and
1443-411: A point in the body of another person for them to receive the power. The spike must be exposed to the donor's flowing blood to work (thus the prefix hema- , meaning blood). The most important factor in determining what power is transferred is the type of metal used, with the specific points chosen on the donor and recipient also having an effect. The most common method is to stab the hemalurgic spike into
1554-586: A prison, the Well of Ascension, and trapped Ruin's mind inside, preventing him from destroying Scadrial. Nevertheless, despite their mutual incapacitation, Ruin and Preservation remained aware, and possessed sufficient powers to influence events directly. Humans eventually discovered that the Metals of Scadrial could be ingested and burnt by some of them (Allomancy), granting them special powers such as enhanced strength, hearing, speed and various other abilities. Unknown to them,
1665-484: A result, they created Scadrial. To prove to Ruin that he could destroy Scadrial when the time came, Preservation created humans, modeled on humanity they had already encountered in the Cosmere, infusing a part of himself in their creation, weakening himself. The deal was that Ruin would be allowed to destroy the world one day, but Preservation was determined to prevent that from happening. Preservation used his own mind to create
1776-414: A wary and abused street urchin, is recruited by Kelsier's crew after Kelsier is notified by his brother, Marsh, that she is a Mistborn. Vin is trained by Kelsier's crew to develop her Allomantic powers, which include burning pewter to strengthen the body, burning tin to enhance the senses, and burning steel and iron to gain a limited form of telekinesis over metal. She is also given the duty of spying on
1887-459: Is called Allomancy , which allows users to gain supernatural abilities by swallowing and "burning" specific metals. Allomantic potential is a genetic trait concentrated in the nobility, though skaa Allomancers also exist due to crossbreeding between the nobility and the skaa. Normal Allomancers have access to one Allomantic power, but an incredibly rare subset of Allomancers, called Mistborn, have access to every Allomantic power. Three years prior to
1998-637: Is considered a genre of speculative fiction and is distinguished from the genres of science fiction and horror by the absence of scientific or macabre themes, respectively, though these may overlap. Historically, most works of fantasy were in written form , but since the 1960s, a growing segment of the fantasy genre has taken the form of films , television programs , graphic novels , video games , music and art. Many fantasy novels originally written for children and adolescents also attract an adult audience. Examples include Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ,
2109-462: Is considered damaging, and it is believed that this process is irreversible without powerful external intervention. Feruchemy is a genetic ability found among the people of the Terris region. A person who can use only one Feruchemical metal is known as a Ferring , while those who can use them all are called Feruchemists . Feruchemy involves the use of the same metals as Allomancy, but rather than ingest
2220-457: Is created when several Hemalurgic spikes are pounded through a Feruchemist or an Allomancer into the body of a human, usually an Allomancer or an existing Inquisitor. Most Inquisitors are mistings of the "seeker" variety, meaning that they can burn a metal to see if there are other Allomancers nearby. The term " Twinborn " was not introduced until the fourth book. A Twinborn is a person with one Allomantic power and one Feruchemical power. There
2331-489: Is killed by the Lord Ruler himself in a dramatic confrontation in Luthadel's city square. Though these events appear to leave Kelsier's plan in shambles, it is revealed that his real plan was to become a martyred symbol of hope for Luthadel's superstitious skaa population. The skaa population reacts to his death by rising up and overthrowing the city with the help of Kelsier's army. Before his death, Kelsier had attempted to unlock
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#17328693164392442-483: Is no relation between the Allomantic and Feruchemical metals of a Twinborn and most of them have different ones. A Twinborn having the same Allomantic and Feruchemical affinities significantly enhances both, even if the abilities themselves are unrelated. It also allows Compounding, where an allomancer burns a metalmind which provides significantly more feruchemical effect than the charge of the metalmind. The Church of
2553-399: Is organized into four subsections, called "Cantons". The nobility are the descendants of the early supporters of the Lord Ruler. The Lord Ruler gave them the gift of Allomancy in the early years of his reign because of their support of him. The Allomantic power has been passed down through the generations, but their Allomantic gifts have grown weaker over the years. "Mistings" have only one of
2664-522: Is planned to be a space-opera. Sanderson's first idea for Mistborn came while reading the Harry Potter series: He thought it would be interesting to set a story in a world where the " dark lord " triumphed and the "prophesied hero" failed. His second idea, originally unrelated, was to tell a heist story in a fantasy setting, an idea inspired by the Ocean's series. The idea for the titular mist came while he
2775-465: Is revealed that Allomancy originates from the power of Preservation . There are three sources (or origins) of Allomantic abilities in the Mistborn world: The Allomantic metals come in four groupings of four metals: Physical, Mental, Temporal and Enhancement. Each of these four groupings have two base metals and their corresponding alloys , which in turn have a related ability that counteracts or balances
2886-407: Is revealed that the mixing of Allomantic and Feruchemical bloodlines led to the creation of Twinborn ; people who had one Allomantic and Feruchemical ability. Twinborn also have a mysterious extra "effect" that gives them powers slightly beyond what the sum of their standard feruchemical and allomantic powers might imply. Hemalurgy is the third metallic art in the Mistborn series, and is based on
2997-440: Is revealed, which allows an Allomancer to look at what another person could have been had they made different choices. A misting who can only use atium are called seers. In The Hero of Ages , the atium-Misting Yomen appears to believe that atium and malatium are among the standard Allomantic metals - of which, at the start of the series, only ten are known to normal allomancers, including atium and gold but not malatium or electrum:
3108-426: Is too bland or simplistic creates the impression that the fantasy setting is simply a modern world in disguise, and presents examples of clear, effective fantasy writing in brief excerpts from Tolkien and Evangeline Walton . Michael Moorcock observed that many writers use archaic language for its sonority and to lend color to a lifeless story. Brian Peters writes that in various forms of fairytale fantasy , even
3219-436: Is used to turn the previously "normal" Elend Venture into an unusually powerful Mistborn. Allomancers who flare their metal intensely for extended periods of time may be physiologically altered by the constant influx of Allomantic power. These Allomancers are known as Allomantic Savants . They experience heightened ability with, and dependence upon, whatever metal they are burning in such a manner. Under most circumstances, this
3330-448: The Harry Potter series, The Chronicles of Narnia , and The Hobbit . Stories involving magic and terrible monsters have existed in spoken forms before the advent of printed literature. Classical mythology is replete with fantastical stories and characters, the best known (and perhaps the most relevant to modern fantasy) being the works of Homer (Greek) and Virgil (Roman). The philosophy of Plato has had great influence on
3441-619: The Kalevala , they compiled existing folklore into an epic to match other nation's, and sometimes, as in The Poems of Ossian , they fabricated folklore that should have been there. These works, whether fairy tale, ballads, or folk epics, were a major source for later fantasy works. The Romantic interest in medievalism also resulted in a revival of interest in the literary fairy tale. The tradition begun with Giovanni Francesco Straparola and Giambattista Basile and developed by Charles Perrault and
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3552-453: The Age of Enlightenment . Many of Perrault's tales became fairy tale staples and were influential to later fantasy. When d'Aulnoy termed her works contes de fée (fairy tales), she invented the term that is now generally used for the genre, thus distinguishing such tales from those involving no marvels. This approach influenced later writers who took up the folk fairy tales in the same manner during
3663-523: The Elizabethan era in England , fantasy literature became extraordinarily popular and fueled populist and anti-authoritarian sentiment during the 1590s . Topics that were written about included " fairylands in which the sexes traded places [and] men and immortals mingl[ing]". Romanticism , a movement of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, was a dramatic reaction to rationalism, challenging
3774-710: The Middle East has been influential in the West since it was translated from the Arabic into French in 1704 by Antoine Galland . Many imitations were written, especially in France. The Fornaldarsagas , Norse and Icelandic sagas , both of which are based on ancient oral tradition influenced the German Romantics, as well as William Morris , and J. R. R. Tolkien . The Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf has also had deep influence on
3885-588: The Mistborn series because he thought it would serve as a better follow-up to Elantris . Upon publication, Mistborn: The Final Empire was nominated for the Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Best Book Award for an Epic Fantasy Novel. A review in The Washington Post said "Sanderson's characters aren't particularly well-developed, and the allomancy sometimes feels a little like a video game trick (press X-Y-X-X to burn steel!). But he has created
3996-416: The Mistborn series, which he thought would serve as a better follow-up to Elantris . The original trilogy published by Sanderson was the first in what he used to call a "trilogy of trilogies." Sanderson planned to publish multiple trilogies all set on the fictional planet Scadrial but in different eras: the second trilogy was to be set in an urban setting, featuring modern technology, and the third trilogy
4107-529: The Romantic era . Several fantasies aimed at an adult readership were also published in 18th century France, including Voltaire 's " contes philosophique " The Princess of Babylon (1768) and The White Bull (1774). This era, however, was notably hostile to fantasy. Writers of the new types of fiction such as Defoe , Richardson , and Fielding were realistic in style, and many early realistic works were critical of fantastical elements in fiction. However, in
4218-521: The Steel Inquisitors can be controlled by a sufficiently powerful emotional allomancer. In the Final Empire, the piercings on the Steel Inquisitors were used by the Lord Ruler to gain power over them and direct them as he chose to. Sanderson published a novella, Mistborn: Secret History on January 26, 2016; it is set during the first trilogy. In early 2009, Brandon Sanderson announced he
4329-552: The "First Terrible Fate that Awaiteth Unwary Beginners in Fantasy", alluding to young writers attempting to write in Lord Dunsany's style. According to S. T. Joshi , "Dunsany's work had the effect of segregating fantasy—a mode whereby the author creates his own realm of pure imagination—from supernatural horror. From the foundations he established came the later work of E. R. Eddison , Mervyn Peake , and J. R. R. Tolkien. In Britain in
4440-605: The French précieuses was taken up by the German Romantic movement. The German author Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué created medieval-set stories such as Undine (1811) and Sintram and his Companions (1815), which would later inspire British writers such as George MacDonald and William Morris . E.T.A. Hoffmann 's tales, such as The Golden Pot (1814) and The Nutcracker and the Mouse King (1816) were notable additions to
4551-451: The Hero, who took the title "Lord Ruler" and has ruled over the Final Empire for a thousand years as an immortal tyrant and god. Under his rule, society is stratified into the nobility, believed to be the descendants of the friends and allies who helped him achieve godhood, and the brutally oppressed peasantry descended from those who opposed him, known as skaa. Magic is central to the Mistborn world. The most widely known discipline of magic
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4662-479: The Lord Ruler and were loaned to the nobility for work. There were multiple skaa rebellions over the centuries, but none ever came close to succeeding. All skaa Allomancers have some noble blood. Before the Ascension of the Lord Ruler, weapons technology had progressed to the invention of gunpowder. At the beginning of his reign, the Lord Ruler deliberately suppressed knowledge of gunpowder and most other advances. This
4773-440: The Lord Ruler may have also known about, but did not reveal the knowledge, and certainly nobody else knows). Whereas in fact, with atium and malatium not counting among the sixteen, there are in fact not two but four unknown metals (chromium, nicrosil, cadmium and bendalloy) which do not appear until later books. "Lerasium" is also not given a name in the initial trilogy, nor counted as an allomantic metal, although its last known bead
4884-761: The Lord Ruler's empire. The dominances are: Major cities within the Final Empire are: The Steel Ministry is the church and central government of the Final Empire, created by the Lord Ruler to manage his empire and church. While the Lord Ruler allowed the Noblemen to control most aspects of the empire, such as the production of resources, he used the Steel Ministry to control the Nobles. The Steel Ministry has two groups of people who are used to control different aspects of society; Steel Inquisitors and Obligators. All Obligators were formerly nobles, usually Allomancers, and are trained in
4995-501: The Metals were fragments of Preservation and Ruin's bodies. As a result, even from his prison, Ruin could directly influence people pierced by Hemalurgic spikes created by stealing a portion of a soul using a metal spike. Aware that Ruin could influence them and that his prison had a flaw that could allow it to be opened every millennium, Preservation gave humanity the Terris Prophecies, a series of predictions of what would happen when
5106-454: The Mistborn series, Allomancy is a predominantly genetic ability that allows a person to metabolize ("burn") metals, ingested by the Allomancer, for magical powers that can enhance physical and mental capacities. There are 16 metals that such Allomancers can use, with each metal granting a specific ability. In addition to these, there are two fictional metals, Atium and Lerasium , that are
5217-521: The Southwest Wind an irascible but kindly character similar to J.R.R. Tolkien 's later Gandalf . The history of modern fantasy literature began with George MacDonald, author of such novels as The Princess and the Goblin (1868) and Phantastes (1868), the latter of which is widely considered to be the first fantasy novel written for adults. MacDonald also wrote one of the first critical essays about
5328-602: The Survivor worships Kelsier, who served as its first martyr. Vin, the Heir to The Survivor and Kelsier's 'disciple', was also worshiped. Kelsier created the Church as the means of spreading hope for freedom and equality among the Skaa, so they would finally rebel. There are a number of other religions in the series, most of which are studied for historical and philosophical purposes only. In Scadrial,
5439-677: The Vampire ), a collection of various fantasy tales set within a frame story is, according to Richard Francis Burton and Isabel Burton , "the germ which culminated in the Arabian Nights , and which also inspired the Golden Ass of Apuleius , (2nd century A.D). Boccaccio 's Decamerone (c.1353) the Pentamerone (1634, 1636) and all that class of facetious fictitious literature." The Book of One Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights) from
5550-463: The Well of Ascension would start calling out to the Metalborn of the world. On Classical Scadrial, the sun and sky are red, vegetation is brown, and the ground is constantly being covered under black volcanic ash falls. Every night, the land becomes covered in an unnatural fog, known as the "mists". One thousand years before the story begins, the ruler of the Final Empire, the Lord Ruler, gained access to
5661-529: The aftermath of World War I, a notably large number of fantasy books aimed at an adult readership were published, including Living Alone (1919) by Stella Benson , A Voyage to Arcturus (1920) by David Lindsay , Lady into Fox (1922) by David Garnett , Lud-in-the-Mist (1926) by Hope Mirrlees , and Lolly Willowes (1926) by Sylvia Townsend Warner . E. R. Eddison was another influential writer who wrote during this era. He drew inspiration from Northern sagas, as Morris did, but his prose style
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#17328693164395772-516: The arts of bureaucracy and the teachings of the Steel Ministry. They are marked by tattoos which decorate their face and body; the more tattooed an Obligator is, the higher their rank. They serve as witnesses for every possible legal contract (e.g., business deals and marriages), which means that they are privy to all happenings among the nobles. This gave the Lord Ruler great control over the nobility, as any contract not witnessed by one of his Obligators, did not officially take place. The Steel Ministry
5883-585: The attribute can use it. During the events written by Sanderson in The Final Empire , the Lord Ruler hunted any and all Feruchemists he could find and it was commonly believed before The Fall that Feruchemists had been entirely exterminated. It was revealed in The Final Empire that they had not all been killed and that shortly after The Fall, they began to travel and teach the skaa the things that they needed to know to effectively live and develop on their own. All Allomantic metals can be used for Feruchemy but
5994-402: The base metal. Each metal produces an internal or an external effect. In addition to the basic Allomantic metals, there are two fictional "God metals": Atium and Lerasium and their alloys. Burning lerasium or its alloys can turn regular humans into Mistborn and Mistings respectively. Atium allows Allomancers to see into the future. In The Final Empire , an atium alloy called Malatium
6105-470: The bones of creatures they consume to their own forms. Despite this, mistwraiths are relatively harmless. Koloss are violent creatures that kill with superhuman strength and are created using Hemalurgy. They grow to a maximum height of about 13 feet, at which point their hearts cannot support their bulk and they die. They only have two emotional states: boredom and rage. Inquisitors are creatures of Ruin; their powers are gained through Hemalurgy. An Inquisitor
6216-432: The canon of German fantasy. Ludwig Tieck 's collection Phantasus (1812–1817) contained several short fairy tales, including "The Elves". In France, the main writers of Romantic-era fantasy were Charles Nodier with Smarra (1821) and Trilby (1822) and Théophile Gautier who penned such stories as "Omphale" (1834) and " One of Cleopatra's Nights " (1838) as well as the novel Spirite (1866). Fantasy literature
6327-411: The continent. Other writers, including Edgar Rice Burroughs and Abraham Merritt , further developed the style. Several classic children's fantasies such as Lewis Carroll 's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865), L. Frank Baum 's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900), as well as the work of E. Nesbit and Frank R. Stockton were also published around this time. C. S. Lewis noted that in
6438-481: The development of fantasy with their writing of horror stories. Wilde also wrote a large number of children's fantasies, collected in The Happy Prince and Other Stories (1888) and A House of Pomegranates (1891). H. Rider Haggard developed the conventions of the lost world subgenre with his novel King Solomon's Mines (1885), which presented a fantastical Africa to a European audience still unfamiliar with
6549-446: The earlier part of the 20th century, fantasy was more accepted in juvenile literature, and therefore a writer interested in fantasy often wrote for that audience, despite using concepts and themes that could form a work aimed at adults. At this time, the terminology for the genre was not settled. Many fantasies in this era were termed fairy tales, including Max Beerbohm 's " The Happy Hypocrite " (1896) and MacDonald's Phantastes . It
6660-499: The epic Mabinogion . One influential retelling of this was the fantasy work of Evangeline Walton . The Irish Ulster Cycle and Fenian Cycle have also been plentifully mined for fantasy. Its greatest influence was, however, indirect. Celtic folklore and mythology provided a major source for the Arthurian cycle of chivalric romance : the Matter of Britain . Although the subject matter
6771-509: The fantasy genre, "The Fantastic Imagination", in his book A Dish of Orts (1893). MacDonald was a major influence on both Tolkien and C. S. Lewis . The other major fantasy author of this era was William Morris, an admirer of the Middle Ages and a poet who wrote several fantastic romances and novels in the latter part of the 19th century, including The Well at the World's End (1896). Morris
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#17328693164396882-608: The fantasy genre. In the Christian Platonic tradition, the reality of other worlds, and an overarching structure of great metaphysical and moral importance, has lent substance to the fantasy worlds of modern works. With Empedocles ( c. 490 – c. 430 BC ), elements are often used in fantasy works as personifications of the forces of nature. India has a long tradition of fantastical stories and characters, dating back to Vedic mythology . The Panchatantra ( Fables of Bidpai ), which some scholars believe
6993-407: The fantasy genre; although it was unknown for centuries and so not developed in medieval legend and romance, several fantasy works have retold the tale, such as John Gardner 's Grendel . Celtic folklore and legend has been an inspiration for many fantasy works. The Welsh tradition has been particularly influential, owing to its connection to King Arthur and its collection in a single work,
7104-518: The film's development had encountered "hiccups" and was on "pause for now." In March 2012, a video game prequel called Mistborn: Birthright was announced slated for a fall 2013 release. The game had been delayed until 2015 to take advantage of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One and then delayed again to Fall 2016. Sanderson said in a November 2016 Q&A that Mistborn: Birthright is "dead". Developed by Little Orbit, Brandon Sanderson had written
7215-511: The first literary results of this trend was the Gothic novel , a genre that began in Britain with The Castle of Otranto (1764) by Horace Walpole . That work is considered the predecessor to both modern fantasy and modern horror fiction . Another noted Gothic novel which also contains a large amount of Arabian Nights -influenced fantasy elements is Vathek (1786) by William Thomas Beckford . In
7326-713: The genre after World War II was Mervyn Peake 's Titus Groan (1946), the book that launched the Gormenghast series . J. R. R. Tolkien played a large role in the popularization and accessibility of the fantasy genre with his highly successful publications The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings (1954–55). Tolkien was largely influenced by an ancient body of Anglo-Saxon myths , particularly Beowulf , as well as William Morris's romances and E. R. Eddison 's 1922 novel, The Worm Ouroboros . Tolkien's close friend C. S. Lewis , author of The Chronicles of Narnia (1950–56) and
7437-435: The genre of high fantasy —prompted a reaction. In China, the idea of fantasy literature as a distinct genre first became prevalent in the early 21st century. China has long had pre-genre stories with fantastical elements, including zhiguai , ghost stories, and miracle tales, among others. It is not uncommon for fantasy novels to be ranked on The New York Times Best Seller list , and some have been at number one on
7548-410: The heart of the donor, continuing immediately through their body to the recipient's, as the longer the spike is left out of a body, the more power it loses. Piercing critical organs of the receiver such as their heart or brain does not necessarily kill them. However, having a hemalurgic enhancement makes one susceptible to outside influence. Hemalurgic creations, like the koloss and kandra as well as
7659-532: The later part of the Romantic period, folklorists collected folktales, epic poems, and ballads, and released them in printed form. The Brothers Grimm were inspired by the movement of German Romanticism in their 1812 collection Grimm's Fairy Tales , and they in turn inspired other collectors. Frequently their motivation stemmed not merely from Romanticism, but from Romantic nationalism , in that many were inspired to save their own country's folklore. Sometimes, as in
7770-487: The latter two are "discovered" during the series, along with aluminium and duralumin, all having been previously known to the Lord Ruler but kept secret. Thus, with these four discoveries, the original ten, and the revealed importance of the number sixteen, Yomen - and later Sazed, when he ascends and leaves behind his final written message - come to the conclusion that since there are now fourteen known Allomantic metals, therefore there must be two more that are unknown (which
7881-431: The list, including most recently, Brandon Sanderson in 2014, Neil Gaiman in 2013, Patrick Rothfuss and George R. R. Martin in 2011, and Terry Goodkind in 2006. Symbolism often plays a significant role in fantasy literature, often through the use of archetypal figures inspired by earlier texts or folklore . Some argue that fantasy literature and its archetypes fulfill a function for individuals and society and
7992-482: The many Allomantic powers, while "Mistborns" have all the powers. At first there were few Mistings, but now Mistings far outnumber Mistborn. Allomancy is the main reason the interbreeding of nobles and skaa was made illegal by the Lord Ruler. The Lord Ruler had more control over the Nobles, so he didn't want the skaa to have Allomancy. During the reign of the Lord Ruler, the skaa were oppressed slaves treated brutally. While noblemen oversaw skaa workers, all skaa belong to
8103-550: The messages are continually updated for current societies. Ursula K. Le Guin , in her essay "From Elfland to Poughkeepsie", presented the idea that language is the most crucial element of high fantasy , because it creates a sense of place. She analyzed the misuse of a formal, "olden-day" style, saying that it was a dangerous trap for fantasy writers because it was ridiculous when done wrong. She warns writers away from trying to base their style on that of masters such as Lord Dunsany and E. R. Eddison , emphasizing that language that
8214-458: The metals, they can be worn or carried by the Feruchemist. Unlike Allomancy, the metal itself is not consumed but is used as storage of the Feruchemist's own attributes. Feruchemists refer to the metals that they use as metalminds . As long as a metal is in contact with the skin and the Feruchemist has stored something in it, it can be drawn upon. Usually only the Feruchemist that originally stored
8325-459: The modern image of "medieval" is more influenced by the romance than by any other medieval genre, and the word medieval evokes knights, distressed damsels, dragons, and other romantic tropes. At the time of the Renaissance romance continued to be popular, and the trend was to more fantastic fiction. The English Le Morte d'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory (c.1408–1471) was written in prose, and
8436-641: The most influential writers of fantasy and horror in the 20th century. Despite MacDonald's future influence, and Morris' popularity at the time, it was not until around the start of the 20th century that fantasy fiction began to reach a large audience, with authors such as Lord Dunsany (1878–1957) who, following Morris's example, wrote fantasy novels, but also in the short story form. He was particularly noted for his vivid and evocative style. His style greatly influenced many writers, not always happily; Ursula K. Le Guin , in her essay on style in fantasy "From Elfland to Poughkeepsie", wryly referred to Lord Dunsany as
8547-404: The nobility by attending opulent balls in Luthadel (the capital and center of the final empire), where she poses as Valette Renoux, niece to Lord Renoux, a nobleman working with Kelsier's crew. During these balls, she meets and falls in love with Elend Venture, heir to House Venture, the most powerful of the Luthadel noble houses. Elend flouts the rules of nobility culture and secretly plans to build
8658-403: The number of required spikes differs for each. Kandra are highly intelligent life forms without distinct shape, physically resembling blobs of muscle in their natural form. They are however, capable shapeshifters. The prime function of the kandra are as spies, because of their notable ability to imitate any being. They can consume the corpses or bones of dead creatures, memorizing and replicating
8769-781: The oldest recorded form of many well-known (and some more obscure) European fairy tales. This was the beginning of a tradition that would both influence the fantasy genre and be incorporated in it, as many works of fairytale fantasy appear to this day. In a work on alchemy in the 16th century, Paracelsus (1493–1541) identified four types of beings with the four elements of alchemy: gnomes (earth elementals); undines (water); sylphs (air); and salamanders (fire). Most of these beings are found in folklore as well as alchemy, and their names are often used interchangeably with similar beings from folklore. Literary fairy tales, such as those written by Charles Perrault (1628–1703) and Madame d'Aulnoy (c.1650 – 1705), became very popular early in
8880-551: The other planned trilogies. The series primarily takes place in a region on the planet of Scadrial. The events of Era One primarily take place in Classical Scadrial, specifically within the Final Empire, while Era Two and beyond take place in Post-Catacendre Scadrial. The history of Scadrial started with Preservation and Ruin, two opposing gods (Known in universe as Shards of Adonalsium, and therefore fragments of
8991-517: The physical traits perfectly. The First Generation of kandra were converted by the Lord Ruler from pre-Ascension Terris Worldbringers, the sect of spiritual leaders and Feruchemists. All kandra created after the First Generation are made from Mistwraiths, with a select amount being created every hundred years. Mistwraiths, named the Unbirthed by Kandra, are mindless scavengers with the ability to add
9102-469: The plan. However, Marsh is discovered and seemingly killed, and Lord Renoux and his estate are seized and he is brought to be executed by the Canton of Inquisition, the police arm of the Final Empire. This Canton is made up of Steel Inquisitors, seemingly indestructible Allomancers with steel spikes driven through their eyes. Though Kelsier's crew manage to free most of Renoux's group and kill an Inquisitor, Kelsier
9213-420: The potential of the "Eleventh Metal" that he had acquired, which was rumored to be the Lord Ruler's weakness. He was unable to do so before his death, and left it to Vin to finish the job. With the Eleventh Metal, Vin goes to the imperial palace to kill the Lord Ruler. She is captured by the Canton of Inquisition and left in a cell to be tortured, but Sazed, her faithful Terrisman servant, comes to her rescue. Using
9324-553: The power of creation). Preservation's nature made him want to preserve things in their current state indefinitely, whereas Ruin was destruction without malice, intent on reducing everything to a state comparable to the Heat death of the universe . While each possessed considerable power alone, they could neither create nor destroy completely. As forces of opposite intent, they could nevertheless join forces to make something (satisfying Preservation) which could also be destroyed (Ruin's desire). As
9435-403: The powers of the force Ruin (balancer of the force of preservation ; and depicted as evil ) . It allows the transfer of allomantic and feruchemical powers from one person to another, though with a net loss of power. It is the least known among the three arts. To use Hemalurgy, a metal spike must be driven through a point in the body of the power donor. The spike is then removed and placed into
9546-403: The primary difference between Allomancy and Feruchemy is the way that the metals are used. All an Allomancer needs to gain an ability is burn the appropriate metal but a Feruchemist must spend time without whatever attribute they wish to store. The Feruchemist can then tap into those stores at a later time, making themselves superhumanly powerful for a short duration. In The Alloy of Law , it
9657-474: The priority of reason and promoting the importance of imagination and spirituality. Its success in rehabilitating imagination was of fundamental importance to the evolution of fantasy, and its interest in medieval romances provided many motifs to modern fantasy. The Romantics invoked the medieval romance as a model for the works they wanted to produce, in contrast to the realism of the Enlightenment. One of
9768-430: The quartet The Alloy of Law , Shadows of Self , The Bands of Mourning and The Lost Metal . Sanderson also released a novella in 2016, Mistborn: Secret History . Sanderson plans to write a third and fourth series. The first Mistborn trilogy chronicles the efforts of a secret group of Allomancers who attempt to overthrow a dystopian empire and establish themselves in a world covered by ash. The first trilogy
9879-424: The rights to the Mistborn books to Paloppa Pictures, LLC. In Q1 of 2014, Paloppa Pictures' option ran out. In October 2016, the rights to the entire Cosmere universe, including the Mistborn series, were licensed by DMG Entertainment . On January 27, 2017, Deadline Hollywood reported that DMG signed F. Scott Frazier as the screenwriter for an adaptation of Mistborn: The Final Empire . An audiobook version
9990-456: The rights to the entire Cosmere universe, including the Mistborn series, were licensed by DMG Entertainment . On January 27, 2017, Deadline Hollywood reported that DMG signed F. Scott Frazier as the screenwriter for the adaptation of Mistborn: The Final Empire . On March 5, 2020, Brandon Sanderson stated that he was currently writing the screenplay of Mistborn: The Final Empire . Later, on December 19, 2023, Brandon Sanderson stated that
10101-483: The sky, all plants are brown, and supernatural mists cloak the landscape every night. One thousand years before the start of the novel, the prophesized Hero of Ages ascended to godhood at the Well of Ascension in order to repel the Deepness, a terror threatening the world whose true nature has since been lost to time. Though the Deepness was successfully repelled and mankind saved, the world was changed into its current form by
10212-521: The solid manifestation of the powers of Ruin and Preservation respectively. A person who is only able to burn one of the Allomantic metals is known as a Misting . Anyone who is naturally capable of burning all of the metals is called a Mistborn . In the first trilogy, only Mistings and Mistborn existed, although in the second series, interbreeding caused a new phenomenon of people with one Allomantic and one Feruchemical ability, called Twinborn . In The Well of Ascension and The Hero of Ages , it
10323-448: The start of the novel, a half-skaa thief named Kelsier discovered that he was Mistborn and escapes the Pits of Hathsin, a brutal prison camp of the Lord Ruler. He returned to Luthadel, the capital city of the Final Empire, where he rounded up his old thieving crew for a new job: to overthrow the Final Empire by stealing its treasury and collapsing its economy. At the beginning of the novel, Vin,
10434-455: The story of the game. On July 24, 2017, an official cancellation of the game was posted by the CEO of Little Orbit, Matthew Scott, on Facebook . On May 27, 2021, it was announced that Mistborn would cross over with Fortnite . Later that day, Kelsier was released in the item shop for purchase, bundled with other items from the Mistborn universe. In 2016, a kickstarter campaign raised funds for
10545-421: The villain's language might be inappropriate if vulgar. Mistborn#Feruchemy Mistborn is a series of epic fantasy novels written by American author Brandon Sanderson and published by Tor Books . The first trilogy, published between 2006 and 2008, consists of The Final Empire , The Well of Ascension , and The Hero of Ages . A second series was released between 2011 and 2022, and consists of
10656-582: The work dominates the Arthurian literature. Arthurian motifs have appeared steadily in literature from its publication, though the works have been a mix of fantasy and non-fantasy works. At the time, it and the Spanish Amadis de Gaula (1508), which was also written in prose, spawned many imitators, and the genre was popularly well-received. It later produced such masterpieces of Renaissance poetry as Ludovico Ariosto 's Orlando furioso and Torquato Tasso 's Gerusalemme Liberata . Ariosto's tale in particular
10767-566: The world where Mistborn takes place, magic is depicted as a supernatural force harnessed by three distinct disciplines: Allomancy , Feruchemy , and Hemalurgy . All three magic systems are based on metals, which are used by the Invested individual to grant them specific abilities. Their power originates in the Shards, Preservation and Ruin, the two god-like beings that are present in the Mistborn world. This power later fuses to become Harmony . In
10878-449: Was a huge success. This success pushed Sanderson to further develop his fictional universe, the Cosmere, which also includes The Stormlight Archive . Set about 300 years after the ending of the first trilogy, the second series is about the exploits of a character forced to move into the big city, and starts investigating kidnappings and robberies. The third series will be set in the early computer age with 1980s technology. The fourth series
10989-436: Was a source text for many fantasies of adventure. During the Renaissance , Giovanni Francesco Straparola wrote and published The Facetious Nights of Straparola (1550–1555), a collection of stories of which many are literary fairy tales . Giambattista Basile wrote and published the Pentamerone , which was the first collection of stories to contain solely what would later be known as fairy tales. The two works include
11100-497: Was composed around the 3rd century BC. It is based on older oral traditions, including "animal fables that are as old as we are able to imagine". It was influential in Europe and the Middle East . It used various animal fables and magical tales to illustrate the central Indian principles of political science . Talking animals endowed with human qualities have now become a staple of modern fantasy. The Baital Pachisi ( Vikram and
11211-487: Was done to prevent technology undermining his military strength and being used against him in rebellions. This left archers as the only long-range military option, and it left skaa rebellions at a disadvantage as archers require considerable training. The only major advance since the Lord Ruler's reign started is the invention of canned food . When the Lord Ruler ascended at the Well of Ascension, he created three unique species. Each of these are created using Hemalurgy, though
11322-616: Was driving through mist in Idaho , which he combined with his memories of having once seen Washington National Cathedral lit from the inside. He originally developed feruchemy and allomancy for separate stories before deciding to bring them together in one story. Sanderson began work on Mistborn: The Final Empire while trying to get his earlier novel Elantris published. After writing two early iterations of Mistborn , he shifted his focus to his Stormlight Archive series. However, Sanderson chose to delay its publication in favor of completing
11433-505: Was heavily reworked by the authors, these romances developed marvels until they became independent of the original folklore and fictional, an important stage in the development of fantasy. Romance or chivalric romance is a type of prose and verse narrative that reworked legends , fairy tales , and history to suit the readers' and hearers' tastes, but by c. 1600 they were out of fashion, and Miguel de Cervantes famously burlesqued them in his novel Don Quixote . Still,
11544-412: Was inspired by the medieval sagas, and his writing was deliberately archaic in the style of the chivalric romances . Morris's work represented an important milestone in the history of fantasy, as while other writers wrote of foreign lands or of dream worlds , Morris was the first to set his stories in an entirely invented world . Authors such as Edgar Allan Poe and Oscar Wilde also contributed to
11655-449: Was modeled more on Tudor and Elizabethan English, and his stories were filled with vigorous characters in glorious adventures. Eddison's most famous work is The Worm Ouroboros (1922), a long heroic fantasy set on an imaginary version of the planet Mercury. Literary critics of the era began to take an interest in "fantasy" as a genre of writing, and also to argue that it was a genre worthy of serious consideration. Herbert Read devoted
11766-421: Was not until 1923 that the term "fantasist" was used to describe a writer (in this case, Oscar Wilde) who wrote fantasy fiction. The name "fantasy" was not developed until later; as late as J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit (1937), the term "fairy tale" was still being used. An important factor in the development of the fantasy genre was the arrival of magazines devoted to fantasy fiction. The first such publication
11877-548: Was popular in Victorian times , with the works of writers such as Mary Shelley , William Morris, George MacDonald, and Charles Dodgson reaching wider audiences. Hans Christian Andersen took a new approach to fairy tales by creating original stories told in a serious fashion. From this origin, John Ruskin wrote The King of the Golden River (1851), a fairy tale that included complex levels of characterization and created in
11988-568: Was released in March 2011 by Macmillan Audio, read by Michael Kramer . A three-part GraphicAudio version of The Final Empire was released on February 1, 2014. Fantasy literature Fantasy literature is literature set in an imaginary universe , often but not always without any locations, events, or people from the real world. Magic , the supernatural and magical creatures are common in many of these imaginary worlds. Fantasy literature may be directed at both children and adults. Fantasy
12099-489: Was the German magazine Der Orchideengarten which ran from 1919 to 1921. In 1923, the first English-language fantasy fiction magazine, Weird Tales , was created. Many other similar magazines eventually followed. and The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction H. P. Lovecraft was deeply influenced by Edgar Allan Poe and to a somewhat lesser extent, by Lord Dunsany; with his Cthulhu Mythos stories, he became one of
12210-443: Was to be a science fiction series, set in the far future. However, this structure changed with the release of The Alloy of Law , which began a new series set between the first trilogy and the planned second trilogy. After some confusion, Sanderson decided to refer to the overall series in terms of four eras, with Era One being the first trilogy, Era Two being the four books starting with The Alloy of Law , and Eras Three and Four being
12321-526: Was working with Crafty Games to release a role-playing game based on the series. While the release date was originally placed as "sometime in 2009", it shifted multiple times before being released in December 2011 in PDF, softcover, and hardcover editions. In 2010, Brandon Sanderson optioned the rights to the Mistborn books to Paloppa Pictures LLC. In Q1 of 2014 Paloppa Pictures' option ran out. In October 2016,
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