My girlfriend (now fiancé) had a gigantic pile of books, and a disproportionate amount of them were in a similar art style(the UK books). I noted the name and that he seemed absurdly prolific, knocking out gigantic books at an astounding rate. Then I realised the name matched up to one I'd heard that - about a year ago-had finished Wheel of Time. I'd gotten to book 6 before I'd hit my crem dung threshold for that series, but word from my more-patient friend was that it picked up at book 10, and that brandon ended it expertly.
I eventually picked up Mistborn 1 and was hooked. His books are huge, but read really fast, and they're fun. They are, in a way, a mystery, in that he'll lay out the rules, and seed a mystery about the magic system. There's enough during the story for you to figure it out as you go. If you work it out on your own (I was so proud for figuring out the earring early) you feel good, and if you don't (RE: snapping "Mist...born" is the name of the series, I should have caught that earlier /facepalm), the clues were there and you're compelled to try harder next time.