So, from what I can remember, when the first era came out, the YA genre wasn't as...uh...huge as it currently is, and the same types of tropes were not at play. There wasn't even a YA section at my Barnes & Noble yet. :cheeseeni:
The cover art that Ignis and I have is the original Tor cover...
I just finished Mistborn (the whole first trilogy, anyway), and it kinda...seems like it's in the middle, I guess? It was also written before the whole YA trend took off in a big way, if I remember my book trends.
What really sets it apart from other YA series is the developed magic system and...