The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

The Final Empire is a world where hope is dead - and has been for centuries. Ash falls from the skies, and dangerous mists swirl in the night. Magical power comes from allomancy - the use of powdered metals - and its use is jealously guarded by the wealthy elite who squabble amongst themselves for power and privilege. Raised to be distrustful and cautious, Vin is a young street thief who discovers that somehow she is an allomancer and she finds herself drawn to a charismatic thief who is planning the ultimate con - bringing down the Emperor himself.

I really enjoyed The Final Empire. The plot itself is not particularly original in that an orphan finds out she has amazing powers and is the only one who can defeat the big bad, but there are little deviations that I really liked. Firstly, they are not stopping the big bad from gaining power but toppling him after a reign of centuries. Secondly, allomancy is not some mysterious power barely understood. Vin is taught to use her powers, and fully understand her limitations. I like that allomancy has rules and even the chosen one doesn't get to bend them - something which is not the case in all fantasy stories. Lastly, bringing down the emperor involves robbing the aristocracy in a series of grand heists. It also goes without saying that, with any of Sanderson's books, the world-building is excellent, the characters are well developed and complicated, and the pace barely lags for 500 pages.

If you like your high fantasy riddled with a cast of thieves, revolutionaries, magic wielders and evil nemeses, then you'll love The Final Empire.

Read On: The Well of Ascension, the next book in the series, is already on my kindle and waiting to go. Another fun fantasy with a thief for a protagonist is The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch.

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

Let's start with the end of the world, why don't we? Get it over with and move on to more interesting things.

The Stillness is a world - possibly ours in the future, maybe an alternate Earth - where catastrophic earthquakes can swallow civilisations and bring humans to the brink of extinction. Orogenes, those with the ability to control the shaking are feared and reviled - but tolerated as long as they protect society. Essun is one of these orogenes. Until now, she's kept her head down but now her son is dead, her daughter has gone missing and she will rip the Earth apart to get her back.

The Fifth Season is a dark adult fantasy that gripped me from the first page and didn't let me go until I finished it, heartbroken, three days later. I cannot put into words how much I loved this book. It's beautifully written and seamless and clever and heartbreaking. It's a story about the end of the world, about a mother's guilt and sacrifice, about revenge and prejudice and the tiny sparks of hope that keep people going.

There are so many reasons why I'm gushing about The Fifth Season. The diverse characters, the imaginative world-building, a plot that twists and turns, the way it holds a mirror up to the uncomfortable realities of our society... If I had to pick one, however, it would have to be the world-building. I studied geology at university and so I got a little kick every time N.K. Jemisin made reference to plate tectonics and mineralogy.

If you love fantasy, read this book. It's dark, it's original and it holds a mirror to reflect the uncomfortable realities of our society. N.K. Jemisin has won the Hugo Award two years running for a reason.

Read On: Obviously, I downloaded The Obelisk Gate, the next in the series, as soon as I finished reading this book. Another highly rated book by the same author is The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms which is high up on my to-read pile.