I can see why many enjoy this book, but overall it wasn’t for me. The writing style is overall good quality. However, the storytelling was uninteresting most of the time. The characters and scenes feel surface level rather than providing true depth. One exception is Sazed — I truly loved Sazed and thought his character had wonderful depth.

The main group would have been much better described as revolutionists rather than thieves. I think the “heist group” theme was forced when most of the time they were planning a revolution. Their thieving is a minor part of their revolution plan. However, they are predominantly described as a heist group both in the book and by fans.

I think describing the main group as revolutionaries would have been the perfect avenue to provide more depth in the book. Sanderson could then have more emotional moments on why each character feels passionate about the movement. It also could help with world building to describe the various inhumane conditions for skaa that the group is passionate to assist. Dockson is a good example of emotional depth while also adding to the world building/skaa conditions. I want more of that in the book.

Instead, it was written like “leader bad, leader power comes from money, so steal money.” 😴 Boring. Did they even need to steal money for their end goal? I’ll leave that question open ended to avoid spoilers.

Finally, I want Vin to have at least one woman as a friend. Other than Vin, there are no positive women characters. Sanderson already addressed this concern in an interview. I’m curious to know if he actually improves his writing on women characters in the series, but I’m not sure if I’ll pick up the next book to find out.

This was my first Sanderson book. I had high hopes for him because I heard great things and I love Sanderson’s involvement with his fans. This was written 20 years ago and he’s been receptive to feedback. Maybe I’ll try a newer book to see how his writing has improved.

One of my new favorite books. It was thought provoking, demonstrating the parallels between the worst and best of humanity. Interestingly, the worst acts of humanity were discussed with neutrality and curiosity.

At first, I was disappointed that the author gave spoilers throughout the book. It’s set in a dystopian world where you constantly wonder how this dystopia came to exist. The author would lead up to a big question about this world or what will happen with the main character in the future, and then end it with a single sentence “spoiling” what we’ll find out later in the book.

However, I realized at the end of the book that those “spoilers” didn’t interest me anymore. It became more interesting to experience this world with the main character. Trying to understand what it would be like to grow up as the main character. The spoilers also made me read these specific events with the same calmness as the main character, which adds to the experience of walking in their shoes.

I’m going to think about this book for a while. Definitely will be read again soon.