Book Review: Mistborn – The Well of Ascension

Title: Mist born – The Well of Ascension
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Published By: Tor Fantasy
Published Date: 2008
ISBN: 978-0-7653-5613-0
Length: 763 Pages
Purchased From: Amazon @ $7.99

Additional Information:

Mistborn is a Trilogy written by Brandon Sanderson. The three books which make up this series, in order, are The Final Empire, The Well of Ascension, and The Hero of Ages. These books were originally published in 2006, 2007, and 2008. This review covers a later publication in the form of Mass Market Paperback. This publication of The Well of Ascension took place in 2008.

The Story:

The Well of Ascension begins one year after The Final Empire ends. In the previous book, Vin has defeated the Lord Ruler and rocked the dominance as it has change thrusted upon it. During the years time between books, Elend Venture is named King due to his beliefs of freedom to the Skaa.

In an attempt to please all the people, all the time, Elend creates an Assembly to be the voice of the people. As the story progresses, Elend’s Nobleman father, who fled the city during the battle with the Lord Ruler, has decided to come back and seize Luthadel from his son. Killing him in the process, if need be.

Before Straff Venture can attack the city, two more armies arrive with the same intentions, to seize Luthadel and claim it as their own. In an attempt to buy time, Elend begins to play political games with the armies in an attempt to make them kill off one another. All the while, Elend’s Assembly is attempting to remove him as King so that they may surrender the city over peacefully and fall back into the routine of slavery.

While the politics are in full swing, there is a greater danger awaiting the world. With the Lord Ruler dead, the Deepness has returned to threaten lives of the entire world. With Vin believing that she is The Hero of Ages, she assigns herself the task of saving the world and destroying The Deepness.

My Thoughts:

Even though I found this book quite interesting, it couldn’t hook me and keep me reading. I found myself reading a chapter per night, several night per week, then putting the book down to attend to other things. Because I read the book in so many small pieces, it took me a tremendously long time to finish. By the time I turned the last page, nearly two months had elapsed, where other books have taken me only two weeks.

Despite taking a long time to read, I enjoyed the storyline and found myself thinking all the way through the book. With a few twists and turns along the way, Brandon Sanderson kept me thinking about what was possibly around the corner for Vin, Sazed, and Elend.

Just like the first novel in the series, Mistborn – The Final Empire, the magic system revolves around the use of metals and allomancy. This system alone makes the Mistborn Trilogy worthy of a consideration. Unlike many other fantasy books, allomancy does not require elaborate hand gestures and chanting to make amazing things happen. The magic system, at least to this new-to-fantasy reader, is a refreshing change of pace.