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my_corner_of_the_library 's review for:
The Well of Ascension
by Brandon Sanderson
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Ultimately, I enjoyed this book. The audio version got me through three long days of driving and moving. But...I have so many...criticisms and cons that I'm not sure anything over 3.5 stars would be fair.
Let's start with the good:
Sazed:
Sazed was the star of this book. His POV was my favorite, and I love him more than I did in the first. When he was crushed and broken at the end, that was the most emotional downfall I've felt in a long time. He was wonderful and I really really hope we get to see a lot more of him in the third.
OreSeur:
OreSeur was sassy and witty and I really enjoyed him. I liked watching his and Vin's relationship grow. OreSeur made me laugh several times throughout the book and I loved his progression through the story.
Feruchemy:
One of my biggest complaints about the first book is that Feruchemy was not properly explained at all and made no sense. In this book, we got a much deeper look into the magic and it really helped make things make sense. It's actually a fascinating magic system, and I wish it had been better explained in the first book.
Elend:
I love Elend. I'm not a huge fan of the love story between him and Vin, but Elend is what every Disney prince wishes he was. A great, honest guy that wants nothing more than to be a strong honest leader for his people. I wasn't sold on him becoming king at the end of the first book. I still wasn't sold at the beginning of this one. I just don't believe anyone would have put him on the throne, and I stand by that. However, by being on the throne he grew into this amazing character that deserved it.
Now the bad:
Repetition:
I didn't feel this issue nearly as much in the first book, but in this one, we get the same information over...and over...and over again. We read Kwaan's account before each chapter, then over...and over...and over....and over....and over again while Sazed worked on it. Eventually, I got so frustrated that I didn't want to read any of it and wished there was a way to skip the bits before the chapter while listening to the book.
The Recap:
Generally, I read sequels back to back with the first because I have a terrible memory and will forget everything. However, I needn't worry about this book, because about a third of it was entirely recap. I felt like I could have skipped the first book entirely and not missed anything.
It Didn't Feel Planned:
Now, before anyone wants to come yelling at me that I'm wrong, let me start by saying I am well aware that the entire Mistborn Trilogy was planned out long before it was written and a lot of thought went into these sequels. However, that didn't change my feeling while reading this book that it didn't feel planned at all. The first book felt very final to me, with a rather...contrived ending with Elend coming to power. With this book starting a year after the end of the first and so much going on off-page without any real progress being made in the world, this book just didn't feel planned.
Unnecessary Sub-Plots:
Unpopular opinion, but I think this book was unnecessarily long due to an inordinate amount of subplots. For example, the Kandra-murder-mystery. This ended up being a COMPLETELY unnecessary subplot that kept being forgotten about that had no real consequence. This felt like something that happened with several of the subplots, such as Straff's poisoning.
The "Love" Story:
Maybe this is something Sanderson just isn't the best at in general, but...the romance just isn't there. In the first book, Elend and Vin fell in love over the course of 3 conversations and were suddenly willing to die for each other. Then they, apparently, have a lot of relationship growth off-page during the year that lapses between books. In this book, they are apparently close enough for Elend to have proposed during that lapse, yet we see nothing between the two. They hardly talk and when they do there is no chemistry. All of their time together is spent thinking about how they don't belong together. I'm sorry, but this love story consists of about 5 conversations over the course of 3 years, with no actual love shown.
Let's start with the good:
Sazed:
Sazed was the star of this book. His POV was my favorite, and I love him more than I did in the first. When he was crushed and broken at the end, that was the most emotional downfall I've felt in a long time. He was wonderful and I really really hope we get to see a lot more of him in the third.
OreSeur:
OreSeur was sassy and witty and I really enjoyed him. I liked watching his and Vin's relationship grow. OreSeur made me laugh several times throughout the book and I loved his progression through the story.
Feruchemy:
One of my biggest complaints about the first book is that Feruchemy was not properly explained at all and made no sense. In this book, we got a much deeper look into the magic and it really helped make things make sense. It's actually a fascinating magic system, and I wish it had been better explained in the first book.
Elend:
I love Elend. I'm not a huge fan of the love story between him and Vin, but Elend is what every Disney prince wishes he was. A great, honest guy that wants nothing more than to be a strong honest leader for his people. I wasn't sold on him becoming king at the end of the first book. I still wasn't sold at the beginning of this one. I just don't believe anyone would have put him on the throne, and I stand by that. However, by being on the throne he grew into this amazing character that deserved it.
Now the bad:
Repetition:
I didn't feel this issue nearly as much in the first book, but in this one, we get the same information over...and over...and over again. We read Kwaan's account before each chapter, then over...and over...and over....and over....and over again while Sazed worked on it. Eventually, I got so frustrated that I didn't want to read any of it and wished there was a way to skip the bits before the chapter while listening to the book.
The Recap:
Generally, I read sequels back to back with the first because I have a terrible memory and will forget everything. However, I needn't worry about this book, because about a third of it was entirely recap. I felt like I could have skipped the first book entirely and not missed anything.
It Didn't Feel Planned:
Now, before anyone wants to come yelling at me that I'm wrong, let me start by saying I am well aware that the entire Mistborn Trilogy was planned out long before it was written and a lot of thought went into these sequels. However, that didn't change my feeling while reading this book that it didn't feel planned at all. The first book felt very final to me, with a rather...contrived ending with Elend coming to power. With this book starting a year after the end of the first and so much going on off-page without any real progress being made in the world, this book just didn't feel planned.
Unnecessary Sub-Plots:
Unpopular opinion, but I think this book was unnecessarily long due to an inordinate amount of subplots. For example, the Kandra-murder-mystery. This ended up being a COMPLETELY unnecessary subplot that kept being forgotten about that had no real consequence. This felt like something that happened with several of the subplots, such as Straff's poisoning.
The "Love" Story:
Maybe this is something Sanderson just isn't the best at in general, but...the romance just isn't there. In the first book, Elend and Vin fell in love over the course of 3 conversations and were suddenly willing to die for each other. Then they, apparently, have a lot of relationship growth off-page during the year that lapses between books. In this book, they are apparently close enough for Elend to have proposed during that lapse, yet we see nothing between the two. They hardly talk and when they do there is no chemistry. All of their time together is spent thinking about how they don't belong together. I'm sorry, but this love story consists of about 5 conversations over the course of 3 years, with no actual love shown.