It's also nice to see a system with some strong limitations to it-there are only ten metals that have the effect, one is limited by how much of the metal one has, and most allomancers have the ability to burn only one metal. This magical system, a rare stroke of originality in a genre that too often lazes along with the same old tropes (oral spells, wizard's runes, etc), is one of the true pleasures of the novel. The Skaa have seemingly lost any hope of rebellion over centuries of failed attempts but this all changes with the appearance of Kelsior-a Skaa/noble halfbreed who is a 'Mistborn Allomancer', one who can 'burn' swallowed metals that fuel magical/superhuman abilities, such as greater strength and endurance, greater use of the five senses, etc. There are also ominous hints that the Lord Ruler also has been protecting the people of Mistborn from some great evil known as the Darkness. Supposedly immortal-he's ruled for centuries via his magic power and his two competing bureaucracies-the 'obligators' and the Inquisitors-a fearsome secret police who have steel rods impaling their eyes and who are near impossible to kill.

Mistborn takes places in an ashen, devastated world where the 'Skaa' are a brutally downtrodden majority who do all the work for the aristocratic minority of the Great Houses, who themselves are ruthlessly dominated (in differing ways) by the Lord Ruler, a religious godhead. I'm an even bigger fan of his follow-up, Mistborn, a book that has all the plusses of Elantris without the problems.

I was a fan of Sanderson's first novel, Elantris, though the novel had some pretty clear flaws.

Brandon sanderson books series