I love this review as I am also a Sanderson fan. I have read all of the Cosmere books. I think Mistborn grabbed me from the beginning as well. "Ash fell from the sky" is a very powerful phrase, it puts you in context right away.

Mistborn was the second Sanderson book I read, the first was Elantris but I must say that in terms of setting, Scandrial is my favorite planet and Alomancy is my favorite magic system. It blew me away, I didn't know you could build magic that way. It's simply spectacular.

My favorite characters are Vin, Spook and Sazed.

I'm excited for the end of the second era and anxious to see what Sanderson has in store for the third.