I really liked this story. The characters were set up well, as was the magical universe, although the part where the 'burning' of the metals was first described was a bit overwhelming, however it worked better than if they had the part where Kelsier teaches Vin the metals first, for example. The book had all the components of a great story (for my taste, anyway); action, mystery, outsiders finding their place within a group, romance, magic and a story of uprising. There were a few twists here and there and although I consider myself quite the detective at times, I did not figure out the Lord Ruler's secret until Vin did. Excellent, made me want to start reading the next in the series straight away.