Sanderson, Brandon (Mistborn: The Final Empire)

Oh my goodness, I didn't think there could be a book that could encompass references to African-American suffering, Jesus, and Star Wars, all in one.

These references are not unnoticeable, so I'm not creating this out of thin air. In fact, at times they're somewhat heavy-handed. But! This does not detract from the power of the book. When the climax arrived, no matter how obvious or steeped in myth it might have been, it still made me gasp and tear up.

So, it's clear that I like Sanderson's writing. Sometimes he's repetitive for no reason (yes, we understand what Mistborns are, you don't have to explain it to us for each section), but he takes such time and care to build characters that we can fully understand and grow to love. This is important, since he has taken a gun-shy, people-shy, everything-shy girl and made her into something so completely opposite it would be unrealistic if he didn't take his time explaining how and why that came to be.

His plotting is excellent-- there isn't much that drags, and when it does it's because you better be paying attention to what's going on or you'll miss out later. And I would guess he's the type of author who "storyboards" his plot, or at least the structure of it, in advance. He must have built in advance the world of the Mistborn, the community that surrounds them, the evil Lord Ruler, the surprises that keep everything moving towards a (not so inevitable or recognizable) conclusion. It is that well thought out.

Onwards to the next book in the trilogy...