Akiva Reads

by Brandon Sanderson

On the upside, gripping, interesting, twisty, and very readable. On the downside, I think I've been reading too much high-quality political sci fi over the past few years: the politics are sort of unfortunate. Why does a more just government need an assassin? IDGI. They at least give over one sentence to how squiffy it is for the Revolution to put another fucking aristocrat on the throne, but that doesn't cut it. I don't even remember what the excuse was. Mistborn falls headlong into the trap of "some people are just born special and that's why they are important and should be in charge" so common in fantasy, even while trying to explore the opposite.

I also don't get why Vin is one of maybe four named female characters. The servant who shows up for two paragraphs to cut her hair, the jilted ex, the informant... am I forgetting anyone who's not also fridged?

sigh. This is some quality escapist fantasy nonsense if you're looking for that, and we all are sometimes. I'd give it a 4/5 for how much I enjoyed reading it and a 2/5 for actual content.