Title: Well of AscensionAuthor: Brandon Sanderson
Publisher: Gollancz
Published: December 10th 2009
Pages: 763
Rating: 4 Stars
Goodreads Synopsis:
The impossible has been accomplished. The Lord Ruler – the man who claimed to be god incarnate and brutally ruled the world for a thousand years – has been vanquished. But Kelsier, the hero who masterminded that triumph, is dead too, and now the awesome task of building a new world has been left to his young protégé, Vin, the former street urchin who is now the most powerful Mistborn in the land, and to the idealistic young nobleman she loves.
As Kelsier’s protégé and slayer of the Lord Ruler she is now venerated by a budding new religion, a distinction that makes her intensely uncomfortable. Even more worrying, the mists have begun behaving strangely since the Lord Ruler died, and seem to harbor a strange vaporous entity that haunts her.
Stopping assassins may keep Vin’s Mistborn skills sharp, but it’s the least of her problems. Luthadel, the largest city of the former empire, doesn’t run itself, and Vin and the other members of Kelsier’s crew, who lead the revolution, must learn a whole new set of practical and political skills to help. It certainly won’t get easier with three armies – one of them composed of ferocious giants – now vying to conquer the city, and no sign of the Lord Ruler’s hidden cache of atium, the rarest and most powerful allomantic metal.
As the siege of Luthadel tightens, an ancient legend seems to offer a glimmer of hope. But even if it really exists, no one knows where to find the Well of Ascension or what manner of power it bestows.
As Kelsier’s protégé and slayer of the Lord Ruler she is now venerated by a budding new religion, a distinction that makes her intensely uncomfortable. Even more worrying, the mists have begun behaving strangely since the Lord Ruler died, and seem to harbor a strange vaporous entity that haunts her.
Stopping assassins may keep Vin’s Mistborn skills sharp, but it’s the least of her problems. Luthadel, the largest city of the former empire, doesn’t run itself, and Vin and the other members of Kelsier’s crew, who lead the revolution, must learn a whole new set of practical and political skills to help. It certainly won’t get easier with three armies – one of them composed of ferocious giants – now vying to conquer the city, and no sign of the Lord Ruler’s hidden cache of atium, the rarest and most powerful allomantic metal.
As the siege of Luthadel tightens, an ancient legend seems to offer a glimmer of hope. But even if it really exists, no one knows where to find the Well of Ascension or what manner of power it bestows.
REVIEW
27/01/2015
My feelings for this book are quite mixed. For the first half of this story I was actually fairly disappointed. I trudged through the first, at least, 200 pages of the book hoping that something, ANYTHING would happen. This part of the book was pretty void of all action and was more concerned with the planning stages, discussing problems and how they would solve them. 200 pages of this was excessive and rather boring and this is the reason that I simply could not give this book 5 stars as I did for the Final Empire.
I am glad that I continued on with the story as the last 2/3 of the book were significantly better. The action scenes were exactly how I expect them from Sanderson, epic and detailed. The battle scenes are so fantastically vivid and believable - it is so easy to fall into this world and believe in it and that is a truly rare feat of genius that only a handful of authors can achieve. The fantastic world-building and simple, yet effective descriptive writing that I came to love in the Final Empire were all evident in this book also.
However, and this is a big however, the character development (or lack there of) of one of the characters was very disappointing. For anyone who has read the story I am sure they know who I am talking about, and that is Vin. I was so disappointed with Vin's character in this story. She became so needy, constantly wanting Elend's attention and doubting herself.Throughout Vin's POV we hear how worried she is about Elend leaving her and if she isn't thinking about Elend she is either thinking about pretty little dresses or what a shit-hot Mistborn she is. The independent and feisty Vin of the Final Empire is a distant memory. At one point Vin discusses cutting her hair with Elend but when he tells her he likes it longer that is all she needs to hear and is happy to keep it long. GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER VIN. Gawwwd cut your damn hair if you want to cut your hair....SIMPLE.
The most pointless and irritating scene of the entire book was perhaps the dress shopping scene - what in the name of all that is holy was that about except portraying Vin as a shallow TWIT. I want the Vin who enjoys flying threw the mists not mourning over pretty dresses and fancy balls. Bring back the old Vin.
The last half of the book was by far my favourite and I flew through that part of the book. The action, suspense and plot twists were fantastic and it made me excited about the story again - I was not expecting that ending. The last half of this book deserved 5 stars but the slow start means I could only give it 4 stars.
I was not expecting the ending...
I am glad that I continued on with the story as the last 2/3 of the book were significantly better. The action scenes were exactly how I expect them from Sanderson, epic and detailed. The battle scenes are so fantastically vivid and believable - it is so easy to fall into this world and believe in it and that is a truly rare feat of genius that only a handful of authors can achieve. The fantastic world-building and simple, yet effective descriptive writing that I came to love in the Final Empire were all evident in this book also.
However, and this is a big however, the character development (or lack there of) of one of the characters was very disappointing. For anyone who has read the story I am sure they know who I am talking about, and that is Vin. I was so disappointed with Vin's character in this story. She became so needy, constantly wanting Elend's attention and doubting herself.Throughout Vin's POV we hear how worried she is about Elend leaving her and if she isn't thinking about Elend she is either thinking about pretty little dresses or what a shit-hot Mistborn she is. The independent and feisty Vin of the Final Empire is a distant memory. At one point Vin discusses cutting her hair with Elend but when he tells her he likes it longer that is all she needs to hear and is happy to keep it long. GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER VIN. Gawwwd cut your damn hair if you want to cut your hair....SIMPLE.
The most pointless and irritating scene of the entire book was perhaps the dress shopping scene - what in the name of all that is holy was that about except portraying Vin as a shallow TWIT. I want the Vin who enjoys flying threw the mists not mourning over pretty dresses and fancy balls. Bring back the old Vin.
The last half of the book was by far my favourite and I flew through that part of the book. The action, suspense and plot twists were fantastic and it made me excited about the story again - I was not expecting that ending. The last half of this book deserved 5 stars but the slow start means I could only give it 4 stars.
I was not expecting the ending...
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