This reminds me of Ursula K. LeGuin's "A Wizard of Earthsea," in which all things had a name, and knowing a thing's name granted power over it. At the same time it also seems weirdly suggestive of The Matrix.
Holy wow. I just finished reading the first of the Kingkiller Chronicle books, The Name of the Wind. I did not realize this central theme was so similar (and/or derivative). My exposure to sci-fi and fantasy is more deep than broad, a lot from the same authors instead of several from many. I think I must be somewhat blinded to how common this probably is.
I have read a lot of sci-fi and fantasy fiction. A lot. Very few stories surprise me regarding the broad strokes or philosophical system / theme as it relates to magic and world building. I always enjoy when an author teases a new perspective on a known theme or system. Sanderson is great at taking a "known" system and bounding it tightly and thus making it a great story telling device.
I always enjoy an author with a deep understanding of a subject like game theory and they weave it into the magic and story giving a view into something new. So "everything is derivative". And nothing is :)
I also just finished the first Mistborn book. I REALLY enjoyed that, much more than Kingkiller Chronicles (of which I've read two books). I'm moving onto the next one and am excited that there are a number of them I can consume in this same series/world.
I thought the magic system in Kingkiller was pretty neat, and I think the same of Mistborn. It really exposed further my narrow scope because I am very used to conventional, plain magics and they were both different and unique, and well-crafted.
This may be a little like cheat codes for fantasy fiction, but look up Sanderson's creative writing course lectures. It is meant for aspiring fantasy fiction authors but it has also made me a much more critical sci-fi and fantasy reader.
I pulled it up: 2013 Lecture 1: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8YydnShI45jSbRdMeyQ-S... start here. This YouTube account has all of the lectures. As an avid fanfic reader these lectures were immensely enjoyable especially as it is essentially one of the preminent authors of this era sharing his secret sauce freely.
Sanderson doesn't write deep stuff, but he has moments of incredible depth. In between, despite the word count of many of his longer series, he is immensely readable. It is easy to discount his work as pulp fiction from a distance, but underneath he tickles the tropes of fantasy fiction and gets right to the heart of the trope and its philosophy by the end.
I will say to avoid his latest short stories anthology it is best after reading everything else first.
