Customer Reviews

The Well of Ascension (Mistborn, Book 2)

5 star:		(76)
4 star:		(48)
3 star:		(23)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

"The Well of Ascension" is the 2nd in Brandon Sanderson's "Mistborn" trilogy (The Final Empire (Mistborn, Book 1), The Well of Ascension (Mistborn, Book 2), and The Hero of Ages: Book Three of Mistborn). Unfortunately, even though the last 175 pages of the book are very good, the first 400 pages or so are mostly a waste of paper. In a nutshell, those first 400 pages amount to the repetitive documentation of all the angst suffered by the main characters over a variable number of armies sitting outside their walls, political problems, and "who am I" soul-searching. The thing that should be the focus for the book (i.e., the Well of Ascension) is ignored until the end. This makes reading the book feel more like a chore than a pleasure. If Sanderson had condensed the first 400 pages down to 50 (or even 100) pages, it would have been a very good book. But, as is -- meh. As such, the best I can rate the book is an OK 3 stars out of 5.

Brandon Sanderson's The Well of Ascension is the sequel to Mistborn, a very strong beginning to a new trilogy. Bridge books are always dicey things--many fall into a sophomore slump, meandering along trying to get from A to C with the required stop at B (because everyone knows a fantasy story can't be told in only two books, let alone one). Luckily for fans of the first book, Ascension doesn't fall into that trap.
For those who haven't read the first book, what are you doing reading a review of the second? Anyway, stop reading now, because it's nearly impossible to discuss Ascension without reference to prior events in book one. Spoiler warning. If you know Mistborn well, skip the next paragraph.
Mistborn is set in an ashen, mist-filled world whose myths tell of a time when plants were green. The world is dominated by the Lord Ruler, a seemingly immortal tyrant who had ruled for centuries, ruthlessly oppressing the majority population of Skaa, as well as the much smaller class of nobles. The Lord Ruler is also the hero who centuries ago defeated the mysterious "Deepness", saving the world from complete destruction. The magic system in Mistborn is "allomancy". Allomancers (a small percentage of the population) can "burn" certain metals to give them superhuman abilities, such as super-strength, super-senses, etc. There are only 10 such metals known and most allomancers can burn only one. True mistborns, however, can burn all. One powerful and charismatic mistborn, Kelsior, leads a group of thieves in their greatest caper--taking down the Lord Ruler. Integral to his plans is a street urchin girl named Vin, a more powerful mistborn than Kelsior. By the end (spoiler), the Lord Ruler is killed, as is Kelsior, and the Skaa are freed.
One of the pleasures of Ascension is that it picks up where most fantasy novels end. Ding dong, the Dark Lord is Dead. What's left to tell? Turns out plenty. First of all, the rebels start to learn that it's easy to carp from the sidelines but when it's your turn to actually rule, things aren't so simple. They also face the rule of "unintended consequences". Sure, the tyrannical Dark Lord is dead. But all that tyranny had a plus side--people were too scared to fight among themselves. Now civil war has broken out and young, bookish Elend Venture, the new king of Luthadel, faces three besieging armies, all trying to take his city and the rumored stockpile of treasure amassed by the Lord Ruler.
Oh, and that "free the Skaa, end despotism, move toward rule by the people" stuff that sounded so good in conspiratorial alley-meetings? Turns out sometimes "the people" aren't so smart. Or grateful. Not to mention the nobles continue to plot to find ways to retain their power, even if that means giving up the city to one of the armies.
The newly-freed Skaa, by the way, are wondering why they aren't getting regular stockpiles of food and tools etc. When they slaved on plantation estates they were horribly treated but someone fed them. Now they have to do it themselves and winter is quickly approaching.
And finally, the whole "Lord Ruler saved the world from a great evil" propaganda may, it turns out, have been right. And with the Lord Ruler gone, that evil may be back. The mists are now coming during the day and are starting to kill people.
If that sounds like a lot to deal with, it is. And that's not to mention the son-wanting-to-kill the father subplot, the brother-versus-brother subplot, the Vin and Elend romance subplot, the new bad Mistborn in town subplot, the other romance subplot, and, well, you get the idea.
Sanderson is juggling a lot here and the truth is he does it with a lot of aplomb. There's a sense of true fun in the telling of this story, despite its dark moments. It doesn't quite have the humor or Oceans 11 banter of Mistborn; it is a much more introspective, darker book in many ways, but it still feels like the author had a great time with it. And there are funny parts. The magical system remains a strength due to its utter originality and the way it gets refined and furthered, though the allomantic battles are a bit hard to follow at times. The secondary characters, with one prime exception and two other less-pronounced ones, aren't `t as strong as in Mistborn, but the focus on Elend and Vin makes up for that somewhat as they are compelling characters in their own right, if not as charismatic as Kelsior. Vin's victories seem a bit too predictable at times, but Sanderson balances that somewhat by not being afraid to have some major side characters die off. Even better is that the book sometimes spills off into very unpredictable directions, though that's all one can say about that. And the ending, though perhaps a bit rushed/abrupt, nicely closes off one story while greatly expanding the larger tale, much as happened in Mistborn.
Truth be told, the Mistborn series is one of the more original and enjoyable reads in fantasy I've had in some time. It's original in its own fashion, turning away from the typical fantasy tropes but without simply following down the path of the earlier "rebellious" fantasies, the once-new but now familiar "gritty" epic fantasies such as Martin or Erickson (both of whom I'm fans of). The series is highly recommended.

Brandon Sanderson's second installment in the Mistborn Trilogy is well worth the wait. There was quite a bit of politicking and a great deal of time spent on certain character's emotional development. Some of these sections may seem long but they are necessary for the progression of both the plot and the characters. There is still plenty of satisfying action, interesting new characters and a thrilling conclusion. With all the twists and turns of the story, I am now most anxious to read the final book. My only regret is that some secondary characters are given a somewhat superficial treatment and we don't get to see enough of them. Sanderson's novel is a well-crafted, engaging read that sets up for what should be a rousing conclusion.

With this book, THE WELL OF ASCENSION (WOA), Brandon Sanderson continues his MISTBORN trilogy. Unfortunately, unlike MISTBORN, this novel came across as more of a chore than a cheer. Here's my take on it . . .

STARTING FROM SCRATCH (FOR THE MOST PART)

Let's face it, the previous book, MISTBORN, could have nearly been a stand-alone novel. Towards its conclusion most of the plot threads had been tied up--the Lord Ruler defeated, the skaa freed, and Vin/Valette gets to hang out with Elend. About the only thing that didn't get resolved in that novel was this: What about the Mist that is still floating around the world?

As a result, WOA starts off with a situation that, while plausible, comes across as forced simply "for sequel's sake". WOA starts off with the now-free city of Luthadel facing an army outside its gates. This army is led by a nobleman (Straff Venture) that chose to leave the city in the previous book. More armies come to lay siege to Luthadel and all are led by characters who previously had small roles.

THE SADLY SLOW SEQUEL

You would think that a newly-freed city being threatened by three armies would make for quite the page-turner.
Not quite.
Sadly, a lot of time in WOA is spent just waiting for something to happen. For the vast majority of the novel, the armies do nothing but sit there, Elend Venture learns how to be a king and Vin grows a little distrustful and kills off numerous nameless assassins (which didn't pose that much of a threat anyway. To paraphrase Austin Power's father: "You don't even have a name tag! You've got no chance!")

At the beginning of the book there are a couple of maps. One of Luthadel and one of The Final Empire. Part of the reason why I think this book dragged so slowly is because the vast majority takes places in and immediately around Luthadel. There are two small excursions in the Final Empire taken by Marsh & Sazed and Vin & Elend, but that's all.
Reading about characters cooped up in a city is about as exciting as watching a movie that has only one set-piece or background--a little more variety would be nice.

DEJA VU

As I pointed out in my earlier review of MISTBORN, this series is basically ELANTRIS turned into a trilogy. Both ELANTRIS and the MISTBORN trilogy have a great deal in common. So much, in fact, that Deja Vu is almost guaranteed. In WOA, the scene with the Well of Ascension reminded me heavily of the ending of ELANTRIS.

SAVING GRACES

As much negative I've said about this current volume, there are some good things about it. One of the new characters, TINDWYL, quickly became one of my favorites, especially when she was advising Elend on the matters of "how to be a king".
Brandon Sanderson focuses alot more on religion, philosophy and prophecy than most other fantasy authors I've read, and he often has some very interesting things to say about them. In general, the way he draws parallels between Alendi and Vin is very well done.
Finally, like most novels, the last hundred pages are a quick and satisfying read, full of plot-twists and revelations.

OVERALL

Although not on par with his previous book, WOA kept me interested just enough to keep reading to the end. Also unlike the previous book, WOA ends leaving many things unanswered, paving a more obvious way for a sequel than MISTBORN did.
A sequel that I am definitely looking forward to.

First, let me say that I loved Mistborn; it was one of the best fantasy novels I've read in years, and I went to buy Well of Ascension immediately after finishing it. It was creative, fast-paced, had a lot of likable characters, and its plot was nicely self-contained despite obviously being part of a larger series.

Well of Ascension was still enjoyable, but I felt like it fell far short of the original. For one, it's much slower paced and there's a lot of filler material; it feels like the author only had enough ideas for a two-book series but wanted to make a trilogy, so the second book got stretched into two. The result is several hundred pages of ultimately pointless political bickering, and Elend and Vin spend way too much time angsting over their relationship. The author also repeatedly reiterates things he's said several times before, which I can only assume is to pad out space. The pace finally picks up near the end of the book, and then we're treated to a very predictable ending that you've probably been expecting since sometime in the middle of the first book.

Don't get me wrong, there are still a lot of enjoyable parts to the book. Vin and OreSeur's interactions are always interesting, as are Vin and Zane's, but sometimes those just feel like treats that are inserted between blocks of Elend talking about political philosophy. We also learn quite a bit more about how allomancy works and how the world is designed, but it's obvious that all of the big twists are being saved for the last book.

One thing that I can't blame on the author, though, is the numerous errors that appear in the Kindle edition of the book. It feels like a print copy of the original novel was scanned and run through OCR software, then only given a cursory once-over by a copy editor. The book is filled with numerous glaring spelling errors; some of the more obvious ones include a few instances of "Ham" to "Flam" and "We'll" to "Weil", and there was even one instance of the titular object of the book being spelled as "Moll of Ascension." "Nervous" was so badly misspelled at one point that I can't even remember how the letters were arranged. That all seems rather embarrassing for a big publisher, especially one that's bold enough to charge as much for the Kindle edition of the book as a new copy of the paperback.

I'll be vague as to avoid spoilers from either of the books. I read and loved the first book in this trilogy. The second book, The Well of Ascension just destroyed my love for the series. I would recommend the first book in a heartbeat (it's a pretty self contained novel, it has a pretty solid conclusion), and I would recommend not reading the following books.

The cast of characters in the second book are far less likable than the first. The main characters in the novel I personally found to be annoying and lacking any kind of charm. The action from the first book is gone. The action that IS in this novel feels like it was placed there at an editors request. The conversation probably went something like...

Editor: "Brandon, I noticed that nothing happened whatsoever for the last 400 pages, maybe you should stick in some pointless action scenes to liven things up a little bit."
Brandon: "Well, I feel like some action would damage the depressing, slow, monotonous tone I'm trying to achieve with The Well of Ascension. Maybe we can compromise for something actually happening every 300 pages?"

I read 440 pages of this book before I had stop from the lack of progress being made story wise. Read page 1 than flip to page 440 and basically nothing of note has happened. Much, and I mean MUCH of this book could have been stripped out. I'm sorry but I do NOT need a chapter about Vin going to buy a bloody dress. The biggest problem with this book is that it changed from a DOING book; action and kicking butt stuff... to a talking book. Holy crap, everyone in it had something to say and half of the time it was of no interest whatsoever. So much time is spent yacking and so much of the yacking is done by boring, uninspired characters.

Elend: "I don't know what to do, I feel so sorry for myself, I'm a moron"
Vin: "I dont know who I am. I am so disturbed. I wish I was a better mistborn. The mist makes me feel so special inside, I wish Elends touch was as nice as this misty goodness. No one understand me!"

Yack Yack bloody yack. You get this stuff for atleast 440 pages (probably the whole book). Holy... it's like CSPAN in novel form.

After being pleasantly surprised at the quality of the first book in the series, 'Mistborn (The Final Empire)', I was looking forward to continuing the story of Vin and company. Unfortunately, I felt the book left a lot to be desired, but does provide a good set-up for 'Hero of Ages.'

The plot picks up shortly after the last one left off, with Elend the newly-crowned king of Luthadel, who's unsure of himself and still struggling with his new-found responsibilities, all while having to deal with three separate armies who have the city under siege. A large portion of the novel deals with Elend and Vin's relationship during this period, and unfortunately this type of thing does not seem to be Mr. Sanderson's strong suit, and the reader ends up just feeling frustrated at times. Also, while Elend is decent as a main protagonist, he's nowhere near as interesting or dynamic as Kelsier, but he does eventually grow into his own, somewhat. Many of the other members of Kelsier's old crew, such as Breeze, are pushed into the background for this one. Even Vin's role is reduced quite a bit, which is quite a change from the first novel. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, just gives the book a different feel overall.

'Well of Ascension,' unfortunately, suffers from the same problem as many other middle books of trilogies. The author has the tough task of trying to maintain the interest level even after the novelty or 'newness' of the first one has worn off, plus try to set up the final novel while still having a climax in this one. To me, the book felt like TOO much set-up. The pace does pick up toward the end, but having to wade through the nearly 700-pages to get there was at times a bit of a slog, but definitely leaves you with the desire to start 'Hero of Ages' right away and, at least in that respect, I think the novel succeeds. If the last one's anywhere near as interesting and just plain fun as the first, then it all will have been worth it.

There was nothing really "wrong" with this second book of the Mistborn Trilogy. However, I found it a difficult read for a few reasons.

The first of these was that the first book ended so perfectly that I didn't see a need for a continuation. Mistborn was one of the top ten books I've ever read and the ending was perfect in my opinion. The fact that the series continued seemed...anti-climactic.

The second reason is that without Kelsier the book just didn't have the same flare. It just didn't flow as well. I never really found myself looking forward to reading any of the characters. They were all kind of...blah.

The third reason is that Vin seemed to lose her identity. She turns from an awkwardly unique (and quite endearing) character that shows real development throughout the course of a book to an unimpressive, one-dimensional girl who defines herself wholly based on the man she "loves". The chemistry between Vin and Elend vanishes and leaves a relationship that is neither believable nor particularly interesting.

All told, the second book just didn't meet my expectations. It wasn't a bad read and it was well written but it left me thoroughly disappointed.

I continue to think about The Well of Ascension long after I read it. That is what makes it a great book. It is a clever, provocative, and entertaining sequel. I like how Sanderson grounds it in simple ideas and emotions: love, duty, religion, trust, etc. This novel should be read carefully; the author is precise with his words and creates a riddle that is both hard to solve and satisfying once it is resolved. I can think of no other fantasy author who compels me to think about what I've read--to the extent of rereading pages--as much as Sanderson does.

As good as this novel is, it is not without its shortcomings. I still think that the Allomantic action is hard to follow with its Pushes and Pulls. I also think that the romance between Vin and Elend lacks passion. They behave more like best friends than lovers. Not only is there is a notable absence of sex, but their attraction seems to stem from respect and curiosity more than physical desire.

If you are looking for a new fantasy series that lives up to the hype, I recommend Sanderson's Mistborn novels.

The Well of Ascension begins and ends with intense blood spattered action scenes, but the middle 400 pages are chock full of the most insecure angsty emo angst you've ever read.

If you haven't read Mistborn (5 Stars), stop reading this review now.

Story:
This book does an excellent job of recapping the events of Mistborn as you progress through the story. Some of it may seem a bit extraneous, but it's better than having those moments where you think: "Who's that guy again? He's a what-now? That's important why???" This book takes place a year after the events in Mistborn. The Lord Ruler is dead and Elend is an idealistic king who wants to create a fair government. Just one year into his rule, the kingdom is threatened by the arrival of Lord Straff's army. To make matters worse, the mists are behaving strangely as if the very fabric of nature has been corrupted. It's up to the heroes to save the kingdom and solve the mystery of the Well of Ascension.

Characters:
All of the characters are back and they're a lot less likeable. It's like they all lost 8 points of Charisma and 5 points of Intelligence when they killed the Lord Ruler. From page 65 to page 465, all of them become incredibly insecure to the point where it strains your suspension of disbelief. These people killed a god in the last book!!! If that doesn't inspire confidence in a person, I don't know what does! In most stories, one character may become insecure or worried before a major challenge. From Luke Skywalker, to Rocky, to Frodo, to Avatar the Last Airbender, to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, to Harry Potter, heroes can always gain support from their friends and mentors. But in this book, nearly every character becomes insecure about every story arc at the same time!!! Vin wonders if she's girly enough for Elend. Elend wonders if he's smart enough to be king. Spook things being a Tin-eye isn't cool enough to be a fantasy super hero. The shapeshifting kandra feels disrespected... The self pity and angst go on for 400 pages with no character development at all. It would have been fine if Elend was worried about being king for 50 pages and his friends helped him through it. The angst was so bad, I honestly thought there was some new kind of undiscovered allomancy that caused a cloud of insecurity over the kingdom. Because of the angst, you lose interest in most of the characters. The climactic battle scenes at the end feel like mindless action.

Action:
The action in this book is better than the action in Misborn. The Allomancer battles are great and fun to read. There are duels, sieges, battles, and skirmishes.

Maturity:
There's violence with head exploding gore!

Overall:
The book begins and ends strong, but the entire middle of the book will exhaust the patience of most readers. I can honestly recommend skipping pages 100 - 430. Because of the enormous amounts of introspection, the book doesn't feel epic. It's one thing to be riding into the Temple of Doom, thinking, "I've got a bad feeling about this..." But when most of your book features characters sitting around moping, it's never a good thing.

If you loved the first book and you have a high tolerance for angst, then I can recommend this book.

If you can't stand insecure characters, you either need to skip this book or skip pages 100 - 430.