REVIEW: MISTBORN - THE WELL OF ASCENSION

MISTBORN: The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson

MY EXPERIENCE

Never before had I finished the first book in a series and more hurriedly picked up book two. I dove straight in. And that’s very unlike me. When I love a new book I like to go back and reread a few choice chapters that I really enjoyed the first time. I also love to go back to the first chapter and see all the foreshadowing I was oblivious to the first time I read.

With Mistborn, once I finished The Final Empire, I loaded up The Well of Ascension and started reading.

I cannot put these books down. They’re so good. Even as I write this, I’ve already finished reading book three. Yeah. It’s that serious. Look, here’s the thing: I used to only read the traditional way. It’s all I knew. And the few audiobooks I’d tried in the past hadn’t sold me on the format yet. But my job giving me lots of headphone time, coupled with this story, in concert with this narrator consistently throughout, was the winning combination I needed. There are plot twists that the narrator’s character-voice performance plays a part in pulling off.

Truly astounding stuff. I honestly don’t know if this book series is my new favorite. I’m still a stan for A Song of Ice And Fire. But this audiobook trilogy is by far my favorite for the medium. This was a winning combination.

If you’re into audiobooks, pick these up asap. If you’re not, still read this in whichever format you prefer but read the series. At least the first Era of Mistborn, which is these first three novels. Thrilling, fun, exciting, mysterious, ominous, imaginative, subversive of expectation, and overall just well-written as hell.

I’m a little intimidated by the rest of the Cosmere. But it’s too late to turn back now.

A WORD OF SPOILERY WARNING:

This is a review for a sequel. If you haven’t read book one yet, get out of here. Go read my review for that, or go read the book. If you have read book one but haven’t read book two, get out. Go read book two. You know you want to. You know you’re going to. Why are you here pretending you need to read a review to make up your mind?

Once those two groups are gone, the only audience left here should be those of us who have read books one and two. Good. Let’s talk about ALL OF IT!!! (I won’t spoil anything here about book three! But FULL SPOILERS for books one and two!)

You’ve been warned.

Dope ass cover.

SO, LET’S TALK ABOUT IT

I initially had trouble getting fully into this second book. It happens to me quite often with the first sequel book of a series. I wish it were more like the first, but deep down, I also know I’d be bored and disappointed if it were the same. So there’s no way to win with me in these first few chapters of a sequel novel. I will always need a few chapters to accept that this book is different. Especially, having jumped straight into it after finishing book one. (In fact, I expect to have a hard time adjusting to Era 2 when I start that.)

That being said, it won me over quicker than most. From the mist behaving strangely, even causing death and madness, to the thumping Vin heard in the distance and the watcher stalking her. The Watcher was later revealed to be Zane, and entirely different from the mist-based entity stalking Vin, which is a stand-in for Preservation.

There’s so much intrigue in all of that. Throw in all the political stuff, including the armies at their gates and the threat of Koloss, and you’ve got a hell of a problem.

I was glad for the growing cast. Elend went from a side character to co-lead with Vin. Sazed became the third leg of that stool, rounding out the cast as the third official main character. New villains and threats came through; my favorite was Zane, the psychotic Mistborn assassin working for Straff Venture. 

The slow reveal with him had me doing double takes. He was the watcher. Then he’s revealed as Straff’s man. Then he’s a Mistborn. Then we learn he’s psychotic, walking around and hearing the voice of God command him to kill every person he encounters. Then we realize he’s Straff’s bastard and Elend’s half-brother. And all the while, he’s getting increasingly wrapped up in Vin, wanting to take something away from his brother, who had everything Zane didn’t. What a character! Arguably, he's my favorite character of the entire Era 1 Trilogy. (Yes, I’ve already read book three, but this isn’t about me and my lack of self-control; this is about ART!) As a half-brother to Elend, Zane provided Vin with an interesting temptation. “Dark Elend!” Hard to resist!

As for the action, it felt less showy and more grand in this one. Taking things to the battlefield changes the dynamics of Allomancy in action. So when Vin solos a shit-load of Koloss, it’s crazy.

This book also has my favorite segment of the era one Mistborn trilogy. That’s part 4, “KNIVES.” 

Ho. Ly. Shit.

Seeing Vin UNLEASHED was wild. A Vin with nothing to lose, a devil on her shoulder, a goal in mind, virtually unlimited power, and a moment of weakness where she sets all morals aside to get it done.

Hide. Hide and hope she never finds you.

Beginning the attack of the Mistborn from the POV of some regular joe-schmoe guards at the gates getting merc’d in two seconds flat was a brilliant stroke of artistry from Sanderson.

And what might be my favorite thing about it all is that when Vin gets to the top of the keep and is face to face with her target, having dropped COUNTLESS bodies on the way up, THE WALL BURSTS OPEN! And on the other side, like River from Serenity, Zane stands covered in blood that isn’t his, surrounded by bodies he’s felled. We didn’t get to see his POV of the attack, and his monstrosity and ferocity is left to our imaginations.

What a sequence! It's my favorite sequence of the series thus far.

WORLDBUILDING

The world may be familiar, but strange happenings change it before our eyes into something more threatening and sinister than before. Not only are the mists killin’ folks, there’s a mist spirit, and the beating drums in Vin’s head—That’s only the beginning! Several kings show up to Luthadel with armies chomping at the bit to invade. One of those armies is full of Koloss, another race mentioned in THE FINAL EMPIRE but not shown until now. Strange creatures wore loose, floppy blue skin atop their ever-growing bodies, stretching and tearing the skin when they grew too large. And while Reneux was revealed as a Kandra at the end of THE FINAL EMPIRE, here we get to spend lots of time with a Kandra. And not just any Kandra, but one more inclined to share information about their culture.

We leave Luthadel and visit far-off places with Sazed, including the Inquisitors’ super creepy abandoned hideout, and the log entries at the beginning of each chapter enrich the history and lore of the world. My only complaint is that we didn’t visit MORE new places.

STORY

As for the Story, this is my least favorite book of the Era 1 Trilogy. I know that doesn’t make much sense when it houses both my favorite character AND my favorite action sequence. But here’s the thing: Being the middle of the story for Vin, this book wraps up many hanging threads from book one while establishing the end game for book three. But that leaves this book feeling like a bridge rather than a castle, if you catch my meaning. 

Book One was such a discovery and had such a climactic end that it could’ve stood alone without sparking a series. I’ll review the third novel next, but rest assured, it’s outstanding. This book feels like that scene in SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING, where he’s holding the webbing stretched between two halves of the splitting ferryboat. This book is Spider-Man in that scene. The “I AM FREE!” moment alone drives that home. And yet… there were some serious gut punches.

MAGIC SYSTEM

Hemalurgy.

‘Nuff said? 

Who hurt you, Mr. Sanderson? Tell me. Let’s pay them a visit together. Because THIS is not okay! WHERE DO YOU GET THESE FUCKED UP IDEAS?! WHAT MIXTURE OF METH AND AYAHUASCA DO I NEED TO TAP INTO THAT ENERGY, SIR? MY BOOKS NEED THE SECRET!

CHARACTERS

Vin is still an engaging MC to follow, Elend grows into his role, and Sazed leaps up a few stairs three steps at a time in preparation for big things in book three. But it’s the memorable scenes, chapters, and sequences following the pov of secondary characters that shine for me in this one.

Two in particular come to mind.

The first is a chapter in which we follow Breeze’s point of view and realize that the character we’d seen as the most self-absorbed, egotistical, pompous, and, by all evidence, selfish of the cast was the most instinctually selfless of them all. Breeze walks around, soothing everyone. At first, the thought of a soother being so flagrant with his power is off-putting. But it turns out, if Breeze took a day off, the entire empire would likely have fallen apart around him.

From helping Vin and Elend heal their relationship, calming the troops during battle, and helping inspire men during speeches to helping Sazed navigate his feelings for Tindwyl. The list goes on and on. And the irony that the only woman who can handle him is a Rioter who never stops Rioting people is just the best.

The other scene that comes to mind is the one where we’re put in the point of view of a few guardsmen when Vin and Zane (but particularly Vin in this scene) attack in full Mistborn assassin mode, and it takes her all of .2 seconds to kill everyone around her. Unbelievable being in their POV for that attack. What a choice!

VILLAINS

Look, this is a book with Straff Venture being a fuckin’ megalomaniac, Cett trying to make his mark, that one idiot with the Koloss, Marsh falling to the dark side, AND THE MUTHA-FUGGIN’ RUIN, and yet it’s Zane who steals every scene he’s in. Zane runs away with this book. In fact, I can probably say that entire re-reads will occur out of a desire to read Zane's scenes again.

KILL HIM!

“No.”

WHY NOT?

“Because he’s my father.”

KILL THEM!

“No, not them either…”

Terrifying. Fuckin’ terrifying.

CLIMAX

“I AM FREE” was a moment that made my jaw drop. The audiobook kept reading, but my brain just echoed “I AM FREE!” repeatedly as if it were an anvil slamming into the top of my head again and again. I rewound and listened again in disbelief. But just as Vin was fooled, so was I. And the result… wow. WOW. 

Everything after that was icing on the cake. Elend’s Empire being born, Elend becoming a Mistborn (something I immediately hated inexplicably but came to love in book three), Sazed losing the love of his life and his faith along with her… All of these moments were shouting at me from behind the speaker system, blasting “I AM FREE!” in my ears. I swear to The All that moment will live on in my nightmares for decades to come. Sanderson, you magnificent bastard.

ROMANCE

There was romance in this. Sazed fell in love. Elend and Vin got their shit together. Sort of. I don’t know. I’m not here for the smooches. I’M HERE TO WATCH VIN SMASH KOLOSS WITH A SWORD BIGGER THAN HER BODY!

DELIVERY/EXECUTION

This book is so fucking well written I’m looking up all of Sanderson’s writing classes online and learning. A LOT. To improve my own next novel.

Look, this whole trilogy is a five out of five. So I don’t know what else to say. I’m flabbergasted.