A new fantasy series for me and a very enjoyable one. Brandon draws a masterful picture of a segregated society with an enslaved underclass who are kept underfoot by an unthinking nobility. The whole structure is held together through the godlike powers of a malign immortal ruler. The book tells the story of a revolution plotted by a rare defiant group of downtrodden ska (the underclass) who wield the magical powers of Allomancy and art supposedly denied to their class. .
It is good stuff and a great read. The necessary magical system (Allomancy) is a bit over explained to my liking but that is a personal preference. Fantasy requires some form of magical power and you can either make it all a big unexplained mystery (as was popular with earlier writers like Tolkien) or you can try to classify and categorise the whole business turning it into an invented science. Sanderson has very much gone for the latter.
I am looking forward to the remaining two volumes in the trilogy. The only reservation I have is that if the rebellion succeeds then segregated society that formed such a core feature of the setting will collapse. I wonder will Sanderson be able to make the world which replaces it as interesting to read about.
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