The Well of Ascension
Ratings1,675
Average rating4.3
A very entertaining read that is only 3 stars in comparison to everything else I've read from him. Also the dramatic ending is spoiled by how hard he had to stretch to contrive the last-minute drama, which kinda sums up this series.
Sanderson really got out all his cliche-demons in the Mistborn series before figuring out his own style in Stormlight.
Damn... that was definitely not what I expected.
Every time a bit of information about the so-called Hero of Ages was revealed, the curiosity was killing me. And then, when the real situation unraveled, it left me speechless. That twist!! That was so clever!
The things about Terris religion, Hero of Ages and the mist spirit...👏🏻
I didn't get that into this book as I did the previous. That said it really picked up in the later half of the book. The character development is great in this one, but I'm missing some of the interactions between minor characters.
It feels like a filler between the previous and the next book, perhaps a bit dragged out, but well worth the read due to the characters you've learned to love.
Talking about character you love, I really felt like the deaths in ending were too rushed. I wanted more reactions and consequences before the book ended.
Can't wait to read the next one!
The second book certainly drags a lot but it still wins out in the end with what happened in the last part.
There were a lot of surprises that should have been obvious but I was quite hopeful nonetheless wishing for the opposite to happen.
Either way, this book may feel dragging due to the political intrigue and for the people on the other end it just might be what they wanted, but it's a good read both ways I feel.
Whoa... this was freaking perfect! I'm in love with the Mistborn series, these characters have my heart and I'm in awe. The emotional journey is amazing... My heart stopped at times and I want to pick up The Hero of Ages asap.
Brandon Sanderson is one of the most talented fantasy writers EVER.
If you love fantasy, you NEED to read this series.
No suelo abandonar libros, pero este ha sido uno de ellos. La repetición de expresiones muchas veces innecesarias y otros factores en la redacción han hecho que, al menos de momento, deje de lado la saga.
While the first two thirds were probably a 4/5, the last third was a 6/5, so I can only give the book as whole a solid 5 stars. What an experience.
This was fantastic. Just finished reading and still absorbing it.
This sequel to The Final Empire (and book number 2 in the Mistborn series) takes place shortly after the events in the first book and takes most of the same characters through the consequences of what happened there, after the death of Kelcier and the Lord Emporer at Vin's hands. It is extremely well plotted and written. The characters are fantastic. There is intrigue, plot twists, surprise, battles and adventure.
...And loss.
The siege of Luthadel. What a slow-moving, grand and investigative second chapter in this trilogy. 763 pages is undoubtedly a lot, but it seemed to just fly by. After what I thought was a rushed conclusion to The Final Empire, Well of Ascension picks up almost a year later and we find our team of heroes facing a wealth of new problems. The A-plot regarding the capitol's seige by the various noble factions filling the void left by the Lord Ruler did not have much action, but there was a lot of political intrigue and interesting isolated battle moments. The B-plot follows the more magical side of things with the book's namesake, and its ending in particular left me shocked and amazed at Sanderson's subversion of genre tropes. This book is definitely carried by its characters, Vin's doubts, Elend's growth into a king, the new Mistborn Zane and trusted kandra Oreseur. There are definitely some powerful moments in the conclusion and I was left extremely satisfied, but also wanting to take a break before tackling the huge final book. And the tragic action in that conclusion, my goodness. I was hooked.
4.5? So far with the two Mistborn books, I've trudged through about the first half or so and then breakneck finished them. There has been a spot in both of them where its about 11pm, I'm 75% done and I realize, I'm finishing the book tonight, tomorrow be damned. With that being said, I wish we could get to that point in these a little faster.
I haven't come so close to not finishing a book before. It's staggering just how worse it is compared to the Final Empire which was pretty damn great. Honestly I wanted to give it 2 stars but nope.
First, to get it out of the way, the sexism is disgusting but not surprising given the author has problematic views about LGBT people. I hated it. (Three female characters. Mary Sue, servant, stupid princess that likes shopping and pretty things... the end.)
Vin, the main POV of the book, turned from a bad-ass to an eighteen year-old with the mental stability of a teen going through puberty. The subplot with her love for Elend was awful and poorly written.
Another part that was poorly written, plotted, and conceived was the political intrigue. It's like a teenager read Game of Thrones and wanted to do something similar with none of the charm. The political machinations make no sense and could be easily removed altogether.
There is one side-plot involving the kandra and a new mistborn character that I very much enjoyed.
And the main plot was interesting. Shame that it is given as much focus in the early chapters as Vin's trouble deciding if she'll wear dresses or not. For a book called the WELL OF ASCENSION the WELL OF ASCENSION is surprisingly pointless and unlike the first book, this one had a stupid ending. It didn't end on a huge plot twist. The final chapters pretty much hammered home a huge spoiler for the next book (I presume so but I doubt I'm mistaken).
Anyway, I hated reading this. This could have been 300 pages shorter with the whole political side-plot rewritten and it'd be much better. This is honestly a consequence of killing the most likable character in book one and having Vin the Mary Sue (I hate using that but here it is so true) and Elend (the beige wall of a character) lead instead. Spook should have been the POV.
OK, this probably won't be much of a review because I pretty much just skimmed through 500 pages of this book.
I started skimming through because by about page 200, or around Chapter 20 or so, I was getting really bored. I'm usually extremely spoiler-sensitive, but this time I felt like I needed to know something to spur me on. So I just kinda skipped through huge chunks of the book to intentionally spoil myself about something to motivate myself to continue.
But nope, basically nothing new happened. So I just skimmed all the way to the end, and precious little has changed from the beginning.
I did, however, appreciate the characterisation of Vin. I don't think she had a ton of character growth in this instalment, but I like that she's both strong and vulnerable at the same time. I liked Sazed and his plotline. I was deliciously creeped out and on edge with Marsh and really wanted to know where his allegiances are going to lie.
But I think the problem with this book is that we get hooked by a lot of questions posed in the beginning, but nothing happens to resolve almost any of those big questions by the end. Such as who was the apparent spy or kandra amongst Vin's friends? Because I skimmed, I have no idea whether this was resolved or not but it seems that all the old hands are still well and alive and apparently not a spy - Ham, Dockson, Breeze, Clubs, Spook. So I can only assume that it was either not answered explicitly, or that it was resolved without taking any casualties from the band. What happened to Marsh? We don't know. He tried to kill Sazed but then got hammered (but non-fatally) over the head by Ham, and basically nothing happens. It seems like we're asked these big questions, we just uncover like 30% of the answer and the book ends that way.
Thankfully, I'm also reading Way of Kings at the same time by Sanderson. Although it's a 1000-page instalment of another series, there's something happening in every chapter. Not so much this one. I'm starting to think I just maybe gravitate towards Stormlight more than Mistborn.
Continues on from where Mistborn: The Final Empire left off. Elend and Vin are left to deal with the aftermath of their defeat of the Lord Ruler, dealing both with internal politics in Luthadel and besieging armies.
Sanderson introduces more information about the Feruchemical powers that Sazed had. We learn more about the way that the power differs from Allomancy, as well as Vin's experiments with new Allomantic metals. Fighting and movement are as fluid as ever; the novel concept of Pushes and Pulls makes almost cinematic fight scenes possible. The level of excitement in the book is kept at a high, as the mysterious mists equivocate between help and danger and ancient legends of the Hero of Ages and the Well of Ascension are investigated.
I think that more so than in the first book, Sanderson displays his willingness to tackle more complicated issues than capers, albeit magical. We see the conflict of love and duty between Sazed and Tindwyl, and the importance of trust between Elend and Vin. Each member of the crew is given a distinctive story that deals with family, friendship, rebellion and deception. We also are prompted to consider aspects of politcal theory and theology as Elend and Sazed respectively try to tackle their respective challenges.
The Well of Ascension is a thrilling sequel to the first in this trilogy. I normally pride myself on working out plot twists while reading, but this book invites only pleasurable mystery. Highly recommended.
I don't what to do. This book struck me. Harder than anything I've ever read.
I am trembling.
After struggling to get through the first book I binged this In 2 days! Well written and he really fleshed out his characters... especially with Vin and Elend. another book to add to my favourites !
Comme le premier, ce deuxième roman de la série joue avec les stéréotypes de la fantasy pour nous balader, nous enfumer, et nous surprendre à la fin. C'est parfois long, mais c'est très bien fait. Un mot m'est venu en tête en lisant les dernières pages : brillant !
Vivement la suite, avec le troisième tome que je vais entamer dès aujourd'hui.
great ending, but most of the book was a slog to get through. here's hoping #3 closes this trilogy out with a bang
Ijzersterk vervolg met een ontzagwekkend einde. Wow.
“It's easy to believe in something when you win all the time...The losses are what define a man's faith.”
Misschien wat traag met momenten, maar het heeft geen moment tegen gestoken.
Fantastische personages, met geweldige ontwikkelingen. Fascinerende wereld en magie. Bloedstollend spannend. Verbijsterend goed verhaal.
I loved this book! It got me in the feels quite a few times. I am just so invested in these characters. I love this series and I can't wait to read more!