Name: Hannah Bateman's review of The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson
Item: The Well of Ascension
Rating: 4
Author: Hannah Bateman

Brandon Sanderson

Charged with the task of rebuilding the world after the defeat of the brutal Lord Ruler, former street urchin Vin finds herself worshipped for her Mistborn powers and worries about the strange behavior of the mists since the death of the Lord Ruler.

Book Two of Mistborn

The Well of Ascension

Hannah Nugent

“At first glance, the key and the lock it fits may seem very different,” Sazed said. “Different in shape, different in function, different in design. The man who looks at them without knowledge of their true nature might think them opposites, for once is meant to open, and the other to keep closed. Yet, upon closer examination, he might see that without one, the other becomes useless. The wise man then sees that both the lock and key were created for the same purpose.”

Annabelle Gauthier

Vin looked down at the pile of bones, feeling a sickening sense of unease. There was a very good chance that someone in their core team—a member of Kelsier's former band—was now an impostor.

Fatiema 

He was probably the best man she had ever known. Earnest, determined, clever, and caring. And, for some reason, he loved her. At times, that fact was even more amazing to her than her part in the Lord Ruler’s death.

Hope14 

Sazed sat back. It was the final blow, the last strike that killed whatever was left of his faith. He knew at that moment that he would never believe again. 

And yet, something felt different to her now. She had accepted her place as a knife. But what was a knife, but another tool? It could be used for evil or for good; it could kill, or it could protect.

Now this is just painful, god, Brandon is the king of plot twists wtf is this. Whyyyyy.

My servant.. And suddenly, it clicked. She'd suspected everyone Dockson, Breeze, even Elend -but she'd never Connected the spy to the one person that made the most sense. There had been a kandra in the palace all along. And he had been at her side. 

“I'm sorry, Mistress," OreSeur whispered. 

“How long?" Vin asked, bowing her head.

Perhaps it was simply because they were both friends of his, and he wished to see them happy. Or perhaps there was something else.

 Those two were the best Luthadel had to offer. The most powerful Mistborn of the skaa underground, and the most noble leader of the aristocratic culture. They needed each other, and the Final Empire needed them both.

“Just because he is our Father does not mean we accepted everything he did, Mistress" OreSeur said. "Cannot a human man love his father, yet not believe he is a good person?"

"Stay," Sazed said. "Please." Tindwyl smiled. "Very well you have persuaded me. Let us return to our studies, then."

“As long as I can think about them from a distance, Hammond, I shall be happy to engage in the activity" 

Perhaps, in the end, he would realize that there was no ghostly threat facing the world—that he had simply returned because of his own selfish desire to be with his friends. In fact, he hoped that proved to be the truth.

The Well of Ascension (Mistborn, Book 2)

emmanuelle major

After deposing the godlike being whose brutal rule had lasted a thousand years, Vin, the most powerful Mistborn in the land, and Elend Venture, the idealistic young nobleman who loves her, must build a healthy new society, in this second novel of Mistborn.

Jolien De Landsheer

Hannah Bateman

The coins stopped. Silence in the air. Men lay dying or groaning at his feet.

Then they came. Two dark shadows of death in the night. Ravens in the mist. They flew over Wellen with a rustle of black cloth.

And they left him behind, alone amid the corpses of what had once been a squad of forty men.

Bala

The coins stopped. Silence in the air. Men lay dying or groaning at his feet.

Then they came. Two dark shadows of death in the night. Ravens in the mist. They flew over Wellen with a rustle of black cloth.

And they left him behind, alone amid the corpses of what had once been a squad of forty men.

This was a different book.

I could see the Well of Ascension becoming the Two Towers of the Lord of the Rings triology. Epic in every sense but felt like a bridge between what has happened in the past and what is going to happen in future, which although is not a bad thing at all. The Final Empire felt like a complete story in itself, on contrary the ending of this book feels like a set up for something grander that is going to take place in the Book 3.

What I loved about this book is the kind of suspense it creates throughout. The shift that Sazed puts in to study and investigate the old books, the mystery surrounding Well of Ascension, the bond between Vin and OreSeur, the politics of Luthadel and of course the Magic System.

Vin is a fine protagonist to follow along but not in the top tier of Fantasy Protagonist. I honestly enjoyed Sazed and Elland’s chapters more than Vin’s. The void that Kelsier left can be felt but in a good way because the other characters react accordingly. The only thing that stopped me from putting this in my “Masterpiece” shelf is the anticlimactic ending which for me felt slightly abrupt. However, which also means that the entire buildup is going to get paid off in the final book that is appropriately titled - “Hero of Ages”.

Adwait Kulkarni

I could see the Well of Ascension becoming the Two Towers of the Lord of the Rings triology. Epic in every sense but felt like a bridge between what has happened in the past and what is going to happen in future, which although is not a bad thing at all. The Final Empire felt like a complete story in itself, on contrary the ending of this book feels like a set up for something grander that is going to take place in the Book 3.

What I loved about this book is the kind of suspense it creates throughout. The shift that Sazed puts in to study and investigate the old books, the mystery surrounding Well of Ascension, the bond between Vin and OreSeur, the politics of Luthadel and of course the Magic System.

Vin is a fine protagonist to follow along but not in the top tier of Fantasy Protagonist. I honestly enjoyed Sazed and Elland’s chapters more than Vin’s. The void that Kelsier left can be felt but in a good way because the other characters react accordingly. The only thing that stopped me from putting this in my “Masterpiece” shelf is the anticlimactic ending which for me felt slightly abrupt. However, which also means that the entire buildup is going to get paid off in the final book that is appropriately titled - “Hero of Ages”.

As with the first, this is around 200 pages too long at least

˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶

Very good follow up to Mistborn. Loved the different perspectives and the character development. Action packed and entertaining.

Kyle James

hana

I love this world and the writing, but not as much as I did in the last book. The majority of the book is about Vin and her internal struggles, questioning morals and perspective. I think it brought out some interesting angles of the situation that a lot of other books would have failed to include. With the majority of the plot being centered around Vin’s personal development, the external factors felt like a daunting weight that sat there almost the entire book. The waiting armies, assassins, and Counsel filled the scene with dread and tension that escalated the plot’s development. The uncertainties kept me on my toes, wondering what will happen or what would be the right decision for them to make. Although I didn’t like the waiting, it made the scene more authentic and ultimately came together beautifully in the end. Speaking of the end. Oh. My. Goodness. THE PLOT TWIST. I never saw it coming, it was so creative, and I can’t help but wonder how the last book will pan out.

Izzy 

So good. Needed a bit of fantasy to clear my head and this did the job more than well. 

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson, the Mistborn series is a heist story of political intrigue and magical, martial-arts action. 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. Other Tor books by Brandon Sanderson The Cosmere The Stormlight Archive The Way of Kings Words of Radiance Edgedancer (Novella) Oathbringer The Mistborn trilogy Mistborn: The Final Empire The Well of Ascension The Hero of Ages Mistborn: The Wax and Wayne series Alloy of Law Shadows of Self Bands of Mourning Collection Arcanum Unbounded Other Cosmere novels Elantris Warbreaker The Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians series Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians The Scrivener's Bones The Knights of Crystallia The Shattered Lens The Dark Talent The Rithmatist series The Rithmatist Other books by Brandon Sanderson The Reckoners Steelheart Firefight Calamity

worst installation of mistborn by far. did not enjoy :/ the politics were tedious and sieges are boring stuff.

azza

Incredible. Such a good change of pace to read about rebuilding a society after war, loved the character development, the lore is crazy. The ending!! what’s going on!!!

Caroline Piephoff

A slow paced yet fantastic sequel to Mistborn. This novel was filled with intense battles and politics. The ending was a true cliffhanger.

Anna

Idk how I completely feel about the end of this one. Less devastating than Final Empire but much more interesting.

Sierra Scanlan

Way to keep me on my FUCKING TOES BRANDO

Idk how I completely feel about the end of this one. Less devastating than Final Empire but much more interesting.

I keep getting into the middle of Sanderson’s books and getting nervous of his intentions for certain tropes only for him to bamboozle me and remind me that he knows what he’s doing. This whole series and his ability to take such a large trope as the chosen one and turn it on its head the way he does is brilliant 

Florence

I'm so glad I decided to switch to audiobook for this book, but damn Sanderson did it again 

Quinnie

Sunny

I forgive the rambling and boring political chit chats and still give WoA 5 stars because UH THE TWISTS??

Nick Perronteau

5/5
And with that, I think Sanderson is my new favorite author!

akynn 

I usually don’t like being in the dark with the characters but damn, that was good

Ana Luiza

** spoiler alert **
           4.5⭐️
Esse é um segundo livro MUITO bom. A história foca principalmente em intrigas politicas, o que faz sentido depois do primeiro livro. Tivemos a oportunidade de conhecer mais o Elend, que se tornou meu personagem favorito. Gostei muito de ver ele crescendo como rei, sem esquecer dos seus ideias e principios. O resto da crew está muito diferente do primeiro livro, não vemos mais tantas interações entre eles, piadas, conversas. Claramente vimos que fio condutor do grupo era o Kelsier em todos os aspectos, e agora eles não sabem que papel desempenhar.
A leitura se torna um pouco lenta por causa disso, principalmente por volta do meio do livro que as coisas parecem se repetir infinitamente. Mas ao mesmo tempo acho que foi esse o sentimento que o autor quis passar. De qualquer forma tirei meia estrela por isso, por achar que a leitura não foi tao fluida nos meados do livro, e porque a Vin está INSUPORTÁVEL!
A Vin ta muito chata e muito burra, foi manipulada do começo ao fim desse livro e nao percebeu, o que pra mim é estranho considerando como ela viveu toda a vida dela. Aquele Zane NUNCA pareceu confiavel, era obvio que ele estava mentindo!! Fora que ela ia descobrindo as coisas e nao contava pra ninguém, parecia que ela nem tava do lado de Luthadel. E os dilemas na cabeça dela, meu Deus insuportável. Mas acho que tudo isso foi proposital da parte do autor. Serio ela só fez merda nesse livro, perdeu o lugar de favorita
O segundo plot desse livro é a questão do Well of Ascension. Começa de forma muito devagar, com algumas sugestões que tem algo de errado na névoa, e isso vai crescendo com o passar do livro. Realmente senti medo em algumas descrições da névoa, como se estivesse lendo um livro de terror. 
Até que tudo culminou nas ultimas 100 paginas, tanto a questão política quanto a magica. E foi INCRIVEL. Brandon Sanderson escreve finais de livro como ninguém. Os ultimos 30% desse livro são impossiveis de abandonar, simplesmente sensacional.
Eu esperava que algo muito grande seria revelado quanto a essa questão do Hero Of Ages mas sinceramente nao achei que seria o que foi, nem se passou pela minha cabeça.
Achei essa ideia de um ser mistico que é capaz de alterar memórias e documentos, moldar religiões e criar profecias, para no fim ser libertado GENIAL. INCRIVEL!!! Preciso ler o terceiro logo pois quero muito saber como eles vão derrota-lo, se é que vão conseguir.

➺ 
  3.5/5 🌟


I felt like an outsider after seeing so many high ratings of this book, but I just couldn't give this higher than this. It was actually already generous of me to give this 3.5 rating. I was about to give this book maybe a 2.5 or 3 stars, but the last 150 pages bump up the rating for me. It was exactly that part where I genuinely enjoyed this book for the first time.

For the first 600 pages, I felt like only two things are repeatedly happening. First, Vin's internal struggle: whether she deserves to be Elend's woman, or wondering if she's really just a tool being used, or if it would make her a different person if she wears a dress, or if Elend would see her as a monster because of her power, or if eloping with a mistborn like her is the right thing to do, blah blah blah. I know her insecurities and I can sympathize with her. Girl went through a lot since childhood, I am clear of that. But spending that amount of pages going on about it is frustrating for me. 

Second, Elend trying and failing to secure his position as the emperor. I appreciate every effort he makes and it's clear that he's sincere in making the empire better, but I felt like every decision he made didn't really achieve anything. The more he decide something, the more his throne is slipping away from him. It was absolutely true that he's a good man, but not necessarily a good king. Maybe for now. Watching him struggle to fight for his kingdom in his own idealistic way without changing anything is exhausting me. 

I'm more invested in exploring the truth about the mist and the Well of Ascension, and we got to that part eventually, but for the most part, all I can remember is that most of Vin and Elend's decisions only made things worse. The whole situation declined the more I continue reading and I know that should make this more exciting to read as it would make one look forward to what will happen next, but I think what frustrates me the most is that this middle book of a trilogy only served as the accumulation of the characters' failures and introduction of more problems, stretching it so much to make this thick book. I don't even know if my complaints make any sense to other people but all I know is that I'm not a big fan of this book, not until the last 150 pages. 

I felt slightly disappointed that I didn't like this the way I wanted to and I felt genuinely sad about it, but I still have high hopes for the last book. The last part of this book actually did a good job in making me anticipate what will happen next.

Brandon Slays Again. i’m reeling still and want to start the next book immediately but unfortunately i have to sleep and just went through the wildest sequence of emotions 

Daphne Li-Chen

Tatiana

The Well of Ascension: 4/5


  “It's easy to believe in something when you win all the time...The losses are what define a man's faith.”

OKAY, this book took me about A MONTH to finish... but it was so worth it

Premise:
The Well of Ascension is the second book within the Mistborn trilogy. After the Lord Ruler is defeated, Vin must develop a way to build a new world. Not all is well, though, as the mists start creeping up during the day and behaving strangely, especially towards Vin. As political tensions rise, Vin and her crew must find a way to protect Luthadel, and the crew may find the one way to do it within an old myth that contains The Well of Ascension. Nobody knows what power the Well of Ascension holds, and it may provide more destruction than salvation. 

Writing and Plot:
This book is SLOW. It took me a whole month to get halfway through. It is full of political intrigue and the intricacies of court politics. For someone who doesn't care about politics, like me, this could not be easy to get through. The second half, though, is excellent. The plot starts to pick up, and the action scenes are incredibly entertaining! The subplots and small romances as well had me gripping the edge of my seat!

The saving grace of this book is the writing. Brandon Sanderson always has a pretty straightforward writing style, making the complex parts easier to get through since you don't need to decipher what is happening.

Finally, the last 100 pages of this book are five stars. I gasped, cried, laughed; it was a whirlwind of emotions that was simply phenomenal. 


  “...A man can only stumble for so long before he either falls or stands up straight.”

Characters:
Vin, Elend, and Sazed are probably some of my favorite characters ever. They are such fantastic characters to read from, especially when it is their point of view. They're complex and are so distinct from one another that they single-handedly propelled the story forward.

Besides those three, there are A LOT of side characters. The characters can be challenging to keep straight, but Sanderson provides a character list at the back of the book. I very much appreciated that guide and constantly referred to it.

Conclusion:
Although this book took me eons to complete, I am very grateful that I got through it. It vastly improves as the story progresses, and I am excited for what's to come in the third book. Overall, I do think The Well of Ascencion is a bit too long. I wish the beginning were about 100 pages shorter, but overall it was a solid book with a fabulous ending and cliffhanger.

Nate Niederkorn

nina 

Rating: 4.5 stars 

somewhere in the haze, got a sense i’d been betrayed. it’s me, i feel betrayed.

Hannah Bateman &
The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson

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