A frustrating but enjoyable book. 
 Complaints first: The prose is largely lackluster. Italicized thought-asides and post-conjunction pause-commas nearly drove me insane; maybe that more a me-problem though (I am a delicate lad). Occasional POV inconsistency. The whole thing's too long. The passages detailing action via Allomancy (the world's magic system) often grow tedious. Follows a pattern of setting out the plan, building up hope, hitting a hitch, despairing, setting out a new plan, building up hope, and on and on; kind of an emotional jerking-around. Also relies on a bit of dumb luck (a chance discovery earlier) to make the plot wrap up (big realization at the end) and withheld information (plans within plans, wheels within wheel, always another secret, whatever) to make the story take its big turn; I'm always skeptical of such, and it indeed kind of rings hollow here. Just a little, anyway, as it kind of undercuts the heist motif, the planning and subterfuge, which was one of the exciting features of the premise, I thought. Everyone's manipulated, but not honestly so. As if that makes any sense. Characters tend to be rather flat, relying on stock/often-repeated descriptions and actions to fix them in place. Vin's rote frowning is insufferable and her budding romance shallowly grounded. 
 Having said all that! It's a really fun story. Lot of interesting spins on a fairly standard structure. The characters are likable, even if flat, and it's easy to become invested in the fates of the main characters. Kelsier's background is interesting; Vin's arc is nice, fairly well-developed as she grows throughout the novel. Allomancy is a cool magic system, and while the descriptions are at times tiresome they hit some moments where it's less video-game narration and more poignant. It'd look fantastic on the big screen, to be sure. The world is well-fleshed and interesting. The prose is serviceable, smooth for the most part, so that even though the book's too long it reads quickly and easily. It's in many ways a classic sort of tale, good overcoming evil as a young hero begins to discover her hidden powers; it's this in a very enjoyable way.