I bet no one’s ever told you that you can obtain super powers by ingesting metal. Well, that’s possible in the Mistborn universe, a trilogy of novels by Hugo Award nominee Brandon Sanderson. It’s a phenomena that is rapidly becoming an art of Divination classified as Allomancy.
Allomancy involves the act of using pure metallic alloys to gain abilities that one might find common in a fantasy world. Abilities such as moving objects telepathically, seeing in the dark, or manipulating time itself. An Allomancer does this by “burning” the metals that they’ve stored inside them through ingestion. How it works is no different than burning the calories in food to get energy. The ability to use Allomancy is a genetic trait that is passed down through generations.
The typical Allomancer is called a Misting, and they are only allowed to burn a single type of metal, limiting them to a specific ability and role. For example, an Misting who can burn Tin is known as a “Tineye,” because they have the ability to enhance all five of their senses. These people are great for scouting and spying.
But there are anomalies, or special cases, where some are born with the ability to burn all types of metals without limit, garnering them almost God-like characteristics having the capability to use all the powers. These types of individuals have come to be known as the Mistborn.
The Mistborn series tells the tale of a young girl named Vin who has been recruited by a band of rebels led by Kelsier, a powerful allomancer in his own right, as they plan to overthrow the ruling of an evil immortal, known as the Lord Ruler.
Vin has lead a troubled life and up until she meets Kelsier; she was just a simple street urchin doing chores for a slave driver. She later discovers that she is Mistborn, much like her employer, but from a pure lineage. Thus, making her more powerful than other Mistborn. This made the people believe that she is to be the hero of ages, the one to set them free of evil.
If you’re a fan of fantasy stories, or just enjoy reading in general, don’t miss out on this epic journey. Published by Tor Fantasy between 2006 and 2008, go out there and pick up copies of the trilogy today.
Capa is the mild-mannered, culturally-confused English major of The Prospector. As an aspiring novelist he thrives to write simply for the sake of writing. Other than writing he spends most of his free time on music and video games, sometimes even combining the two. Also likes to think he’s up in the-know with technology. No, not really. Reach him at prospector.clo@gmail.com for comments and/or suggestions.
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