Mistborn (Jesus is a badass named Kelsier)

One thing Brandon Sanderson does well is get inventive with magic. It's not "Expelliarmus" nor poofs of giant light. It's no fairy flights of fancy or using your "imagination." He uses metal. Not the hairbanging rad kind of way (although it'd make an excellent soundtrack for the book) but his characters ingest metals, giving them access to certain abilities. The book is a microcosm into this world through a small band of rogues who are determined to take down an evil ruler/god. Everything they do is flashy and more awesome than a unicorn fart. What really makes the book though is the character of Kelsier (Jesus) who throughout the book rallies the battered citizens and sparks a rebellion so huge that even though it seems ridiculous, you actually believe he might be able to pull it off.


***SPOILER ALERT***



Wine into Water Moment #1 Kelsier takes on a disciple named Vin. She's a little scrapper with an attitude and a people problem. But he's so flippantly ridiculous that she naturally starts wondering what the hell kind of clown show she stumbled into. And they put on quite the show. She's a Mistborn though, like Kelsier and rare at that. So he takes her under his wing and trains her in all her metallurgical magic so she can be a badass and fly through the Mists like he does. (on a very irritating side note, this book is afflicted with the capitalization complex where Sanderson randomly capitalizes words to make them fancier rather than coming up with a new term entirely)

Wine into Water Moment #2  Kelsier performs a miracle and explodes all of the geodes in the Pits of Hathsin that these poor skaa (peasants) have been mining out for centuries. He's known as the Survivor of Hathsin because he's the only one who ever escaped. Everyone else dies down there, either stuck in the Pits or killed for not bringing back atium. The miracle he pulls off while exploding the object of his torment for so long is not only extremely gratifying to him on a personal level, but nothing sheer of amazing to everyone else. It pretty much solidifies his position as this almost untouchable persona.

Wine into Water Moment #3 The sacrifice. In any Jesus parody, it has to happen. Kelsier faces a Steel Inquisitor and takes it down, only to die as well. But in this power play, he reveals these god-like creatures can be killed, giving hope to the skaa. More importantly, he becomes a martyr for his cause, something the people can truly rally behind and immortalize in their own way.

Beyond that, the growth of Vin's character is extremely enjoyable to read and the way she takes up the mantle after Kelsier's death is nothing short of epic. The final faceoff with the Lord Ruler is like a spot on crotch-kick to his failing empire, because in the end, this mighty man is taken down by a pint sized girl.

Rating: 4