Mistborn, by Brandon Sanderson

This is the first book of a fantasy trilogy that was given to me, signed and personalized, as part of a book exchange. Once I'd posted pictures of the gift online, I got comment after comment of people exclaiming how lucky I was and how fantastic the book was. Inevitably, high expectations followed.

At first, I was a little underwhelmed, I will admit: the writing and plot were interesting enough, but didn't seem very original. Once I got to the part where the "magic" (Allomancy in this series) is explained, however, I developed a new respect for Sanderson's creativity. Allomancy is the ability to ingest and manipulate different metals to different effect, and very few people have this ability. The main characters use it in an attempt to overthrow the Final Empire, a cruel dictatorship created and dominated by the Lord Ruler, a living god. Is it the best fantasy I've ever read? No, nor is it among the best, but it is definitely quite good. I'm moving right along to the second book because I love the characters and want to see where this goes. I'm definitely glad I was given this, as I probably wouldn't have picked it out on my own.