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 masterpowers of which she never dreamed.