The Well of Ascension

Brandon Sanderson continues to amaze me with his ability to create unique fantasy worlds and magic systems that you rarely find anywhere else in the genre and not only that, but populate it with amazing characters that you care about and want to follow - it's not just about the world-building. The second book in the Mistborn trilogy starts out really well with some interesting directions and ramifications from the previous book - not all of them good things. Then I found the story kind of stalls in the middle for a while. I really struggled in the middle of the book to see where it was going. There is no travel and no sense of moving forward, just a lot of internal monologues, and I had a tough time wading my way through it. BUT, and there is a big BUT, it is worth getting through that stall in the middle to get to the end where some action finally kicks in, some revelations you've been waiting to find out about are revealed and a huge unexpected revelation takes place that propels the story in a heart-breaking and yet interesting direction. If I'm honest, it surprised me and made me think back on a lot of stuff I'd read earlier in the book.The clues are there and when put together you wonder how you didn't pick up on them, but it is a fun twist that had me thinking on it long after I closed the book. I'm really excited to see where this takes the characters in book three and how it will effect them and the world they live in. I'm sure it will be epic and unexpectedly surprising, as both books have been able to pull off so far. As always, top marks to a top notch fantasy that goes against expectation, while remaining true to what fantasy fans love about the genre - a hard balance to accomplish, and one I'm glad Brandon Sanderson has been able to give us.