Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.33 AVERAGE
4.33 AVERAGE
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
hopeful
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
What The Well of Ascension does so well, in my humble opinion, is constantly build tension. And because you're so focused on the tension within the given scenario - whether that be the armies outside Luthadel, a betrayal within Vin's inner circle, or the titular Well of Ascension - you don't notice all the tiny details Sanderson has laid, which hint at or outright point to the big twist at the end of this book.
Sanderson has always had a talent for making 500+ page stories blow by in the blink of an eye, but I think that was especially on display here. The first half of the book is mostly a chess game, with a few main characters moving pieces around a board. And then, on a dime, everything happens and it's a tense and almost non-stop sprint to the finish line.
A great sophomore entry to the series. I can't wait to see how this all wraps up.
Sanderson has always had a talent for making 500+ page stories blow by in the blink of an eye, but I think that was especially on display here. The first half of the book is mostly a chess game, with a few main characters moving pieces around a board. And then, on a dime, everything happens and it's a tense and almost non-stop sprint to the finish line.
A great sophomore entry to the series. I can't wait to see how this all wraps up.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The ending of this book was just another whiplash, like the first book did, but this time, it was greater. It swept me from my feet and left me both confused and awestruck at the same time. Makes me want to read the next 700+ pages book in this series as quickly as possible but also makes me dread at reading it!
adventurous
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The worst Cosmere book is still better than most fantasy books.
REREAD OCT 2024
I hate to say it, but this is my least favorite thing I've read from Brandon Sanderson, and I didn't realize that until the re-read. 2 stars is super low for me, and honestly, this would be 3 or 4 stars if it was written by anyone but Sanderson. He's probably my favorite author right now (daring opinion, I know), and there's just some weirdness in this book that left me disappointed and with a bad taste in my mouth. I'm going to have a decent amount of spoilers going forward.
We'll start with the stuff that irked me the least and move up. So first is just the sorta week political stance the Ska take, this is a people who has been pressed for thousands of years and once the status quo is changed they just resort to (in my opinion) a very tame and moderate government. I get that Sanderson is not a political commentator with his stories, but I would've loved to see the rage of an oppressed people seeking freedom be displayed.
Next is just the age difference stuff. I'm no stranger to fantasy, age gaps aren't uncommon and they can be tasteful but they feel a bit out of place in this book, there's really no reason Elend couldn't be a few years younger but they're relationship bothers me the least, Orianne and Breeze's relationship is the weird and yucky one for me. I just don't get why it was necessary to include like a 20+ year age gap with a BARELY 18 year old girl and then make it okay by just saying that she initiated it. It's still weird and just seems like a bizarre soapbox to normalize age gaps. It really left me feeling weirded out.
Next up is related and made me really mad, and that is the weird inclusion of implying that Kelsier and Vin had any sort of romantic chemistry during the first book. Like hello?! What are you talking about, members of the crew talk about Vin like she was pining for Kelsier the entire first book? I get that this was to amp Elends insecurities and personal comparisons but it just felt gross considering Kelsier thought of Vin as the daughter he never had. It genuinely made me like the crew less and feel grossed out by the way they talked about it. (Especially because they joked about it to defend Breeze and Orianne's age gap).
My last gripe is something I've dealt with as a reader before and I'm glad isn't super prevalent in the rest of Sandersons writing or even in this book too much, and that is the overuse of rape and sex, to show how evil and controlling a character is. This is used in this book when talking about Tindwyls's past and also to show how evil Straff Venture is, and I get it, it's an easy way to show how evil someone is and it's more alluded to then shown directly but it feels like a tired concept and it grosses me out to lean on it too much. I'm no stranger to it, Berserk by Kentaru Miura is one of my all-time favorites, but maybe that's why I'm just numb from seeing it so much.
This book totally isn't all bad. Like always it was a fun read with interesting characters and awesome world building, I love seeing more ferrochemy and scadrial Is very fun to explore. Overall I love the tight pace of these first 3 books and I enjoyed reading it, its just not my favorite from Sanderson. Overall I would give it a 2.5
ORIGINAL REVIEW EARLY 2023
Another good entry in the series, has a strong start and finish, and I really enjoyed most of the new characters introduced in this book. The middle was a bit slow and had some plot points I didnt feel were either necessary or wrapped up very well. Overall an enjoyable read.
I hate to say it, but this is my least favorite thing I've read from Brandon Sanderson, and I didn't realize that until the re-read. 2 stars is super low for me, and honestly, this would be 3 or 4 stars if it was written by anyone but Sanderson. He's probably my favorite author right now (daring opinion, I know), and there's just some weirdness in this book that left me disappointed and with a bad taste in my mouth. I'm going to have a decent amount of spoilers going forward.
We'll start with the stuff that irked me the least and move up. So first is just the sorta week political stance the Ska take, this is a people who has been pressed for thousands of years and once the status quo is changed they just resort to (in my opinion) a very tame and moderate government. I get that Sanderson is not a political commentator with his stories, but I would've loved to see the rage of an oppressed people seeking freedom be displayed.
Next is just the age difference stuff. I'm no stranger to fantasy, age gaps aren't uncommon and they can be tasteful but they feel a bit out of place in this book, there's really no reason Elend couldn't be a few years younger but they're relationship bothers me the least, Orianne and Breeze's relationship is the weird and yucky one for me. I just don't get why it was necessary to include like a 20+ year age gap with a BARELY 18 year old girl and then make it okay by just saying that she initiated it. It's still weird and just seems like a bizarre soapbox to normalize age gaps. It really left me feeling weirded out.
Next up is related and made me really mad, and that is the weird inclusion of implying that Kelsier and Vin had any sort of romantic chemistry during the first book. Like hello?! What are you talking about, members of the crew talk about Vin like she was pining for Kelsier the entire first book? I get that this was to amp Elends insecurities and personal comparisons but it just felt gross considering Kelsier thought of Vin as the daughter he never had. It genuinely made me like the crew less and feel grossed out by the way they talked about it. (Especially because they joked about it to defend Breeze and Orianne's age gap).
My last gripe is something I've dealt with as a reader before and I'm glad isn't super prevalent in the rest of Sandersons writing or even in this book too much, and that is the overuse of rape and sex, to show how evil and controlling a character is. This is used in this book when talking about Tindwyls's past and also to show how evil Straff Venture is, and I get it, it's an easy way to show how evil someone is and it's more alluded to then shown directly but it feels like a tired concept and it grosses me out to lean on it too much. I'm no stranger to it, Berserk by Kentaru Miura is one of my all-time favorites, but maybe that's why I'm just numb from seeing it so much.
This book totally isn't all bad. Like always it was a fun read with interesting characters and awesome world building, I love seeing more ferrochemy and scadrial Is very fun to explore. Overall I love the tight pace of these first 3 books and I enjoyed reading it, its just not my favorite from Sanderson. Overall I would give it a 2.5
ORIGINAL REVIEW EARLY 2023
Another good entry in the series, has a strong start and finish, and I really enjoyed most of the new characters introduced in this book. The middle was a bit slow and had some plot points I didnt feel were either necessary or wrapped up very well. Overall an enjoyable read.