The Final Empire is an audiobook by Brandon Sanderson, narrated by Michael Kramer. The unabridged Audible edition runs 24 hrs 39 mins.
Publisher’s Summary
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson, the Mistborn series is a heist story of political intrigue and magical, martial-arts action.
For a thousand years the ash fell and no flowers bloomed. For a thousand years the Skaa slaved in misery and lived in fear. For a thousand years the Lord Ruler, the “Sliver of Infinity,” reigned with absolute power and ultimate terror, divinely invincible. Then, when hope was so long lost that not even its memory remained, a terribly scarred, heart-broken half-Skaa rediscovered it in the depths of the Lord Ruler’s most hellish prison. Kelsier “snapped” and found in himself the powers of a Mistborn. A brilliant thief and natural leader, he turned his talents to the ultimate caper, with the Lord Ruler himself as the mark.
Kelsier recruited the underworld’s elite, the smartest and most trustworthy allomancers, each of whom shares one of his many powers, and all of whom relish a high-stakes challenge. Only then does he reveal his ultimate dream, not just the greatest heist in history, but the downfall of the divine despot.
But even with the best criminal crew ever assembled, Kel’s plan looks more like the ultimate long shot, until luck brings a ragged girl named Vin into his life. Like him, she’s a half-Skaa orphan, but she’s lived a much harsher life. Vin has learned to expect betrayal from everyone she meets, and gotten it. She will have to learn to trust, if Kel is to help her master powers of which she never dreamed.
This saga dares to ask a simple question: What if the hero of prophecy fails?
Other Tor books by Brandon Sanderson
The Cosmere
The Stormlight Archive
The Way of Kings
Words of Radiance
Edgedancer (Novella)
Oathbringer
The Mistborn trilogy
Mistborn: The Final Empire
The Well of Ascension
The Hero of Ages
Mistborn: The Wax and Wayne series
Alloy of Law
Shadows of Self
Bands of Mourning
Collection
Arcanum Unbounded
Other Cosmere novels
Elantris
Warbreaker
The Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians series
Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians
The Scrivener’s Bones
The Knights of Crystallia
The Shattered Lens
The Dark Talent
The Rithmatist series
The Rithmatist
Other books by Brandon Sanderson
The Reckoners
Steelheart
Firefight
Calamity
Audiobook Details
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 24 hrs 39 mins
- Publisher: Macmillan Audio
- Release year: 2008
- Audible category: Science Fiction & Fantasy / Fantasy / Action & Adventure
Listener Ratings
The Final Empire holds an average listener rating of 4.8/5 from 98440 Audible ratings.
On Audible, ratings for this title break down into narration performance and story separately:
- Performance (narration): 4.8/5
- Story: 4.8/5
- 5-star ratings: 83% of all ratings
What Audible Listeners Are Saying
5/5 stars — “Prepare for sleepless nights”
You will feel like you need to pull all-nighters. Your social life will suffer. If you use audio books while at the gym, you’ll reach your goal weight as you easily lose track of four hours on a treadmill. You will be tired and dependent on coffee. This was me and it was worth it.Enter Sanderson’s Cosmere at your own risk. I regret nothing.
— tercia, Audible listener
5/5 stars — “Engaging Read”
My first experience with Brandon Sanderson didn’t disappoint. The story of the Skaa rebellion, led by Kelsier with serious backup from Vin, the female Mistborn, is entertaining, engaging, and slightly different from other fantasies. At its foundation is good versus evil. And then Sanderson throws in some fantasy, magic, conflict and sprinkles in just a bit of romance. Thieves, Dark Rulers, Obligators, Secret Keepers, and even Inquisitors are supporting characters that keep the plot moving forward without causing confusion to the reader. Kelsier, also known as the legendary Survivor of Hathcin, is a nearly mythical being to the Skaa and he is the mastermind behind the rebellion. But Vin, the newest of his thieving crew who joins their network to infiltrate the nobility, begins to learn she has quite a few Mistborn powers of her own. By the end of this first of three books she becomes legendary in her own right. The book may have benefited from a little additional editing because there is repetition of things the reader knows. We learn how the power of the metals and they work over and over again. We even get a recap of previous action in the book multiple times. It’s almost as if Sanderson believes his reader can’t remember from one chapter to the next. While this can be somewhat annoying, it doesn’t really detract from the overall good plot and well developed characters. There is foreshadowing that is critical to the plot, so the reader has to pay attention. And in fact, some foreshadowing in Book One comes into play in Book Two, The Well of Ascension. But the book keeps the reader pretty riveted, so this isn’t too much of a problem. Michael Kramer is an apt reader and once you learn the timbre of his voice, there is no problem differentiating among the characters, including the reading of someone’s diary which is inserted between chapters. His pace is good and enunciation excellent. I highly recommend the book.— Holly Helscher, Audible listener
5/5 stars — “Solid Fantasy”
This book is exactly what fantasy should be and often isn’t. Rather than trying to write the most unique mysterious gritty violent book ever this author sets up a good solid fantasy world with easily understandable rules and proceeds to tell an excellent and exciting story. The magic system is refreshingly understandable and usually sticks to its own rules. The action scenes are extremely well choreographed (think The Matrix in a fantasy setting) For a first book in a series the conclusion is remarkably conclusive for a change. Rather than leaving a bunch of loose ends this author nicely ties up the original questions the story starts with while still leaving enough of the world unexplored to make you want more. The narration is first class.— Aerindel, Audible listener
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