By Brandon Sanderson
Read by Michael Kramer
Get the Well of Ascension on audiobook here
The Well of Ascension Overview:
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.
Book Name Audiobook Review:
STORY
The Good:
The second book in the Mistborn series continued to amaze and excite me. It is fun, fast paced and full of mysteries. I love the twists that Sanderson throws in and the way he ties up all the loose ends so neatly towards the end. He really is a brilliant writer. He slowly feeds you clues throughout the novel and then finally will give you the final pieces of the puzzle and it’s a huge ‘oh my god now I finally understand why this is all happening’ moment. His magical systems and characters are all extremely detailed and very well thought out. It’s believable and realistic. One aspect of the story that I have found interesting is that the characters sometimes refuse to accept the idea of magic or a higher power. This amused me considering Alamancy is magic of a sort and was bestowed by some kind of higher power. So a bit of a contradiction there in my mind, but I guess what Sanderson was trying to emphasise was how much Alamancy is part of normal life in the Dominances. The shifting perspectives served this story very well. It’s pleasant not to be stuck in Vin’s head all the time and see through the other characters eyes. Breeze is enjoyable, he’s not particularly interesting but I did like learning more about how he manipulates people through soothing.
Sazed is as clever and reserved as always but represents a much more complicated, subtle sub-plot. His struggles with is feelings and his determination to solve the mystery of the Well of Ascension through scholarship reveal him to be much more than a religious servant. Sazed plays a major role in solving the main puzzles of the story and it’s great to see issues being resolved through scholarship rather than fighting. I feel this is where Sanderson really excels. By revealing little clues with extracts from passages, or from the very thoughts of the characters, it makes it all the more satisfying when everything fits together. And he’s so good at doing it. Most of the time I can’t guess what the next twist is going to be. I’m always on my toes and it’s refreshing.
The Bad:
Sanderson has this habit of dragging things out for about 80% of the book and then suddenly bringing every single little thing to a climax in the last 20%. This was really frustrating because whenever the story dragged (e.g Elund complained about how he was not a good king, Vin felt insecure in herself and her relationship) I knew that Sanderson was just holding back. If he had dropped a few more teasers in of intense action then the rest of the book would have been just as exciting. I’m not saying he doesn’t have lots of fight scenes. It’s hard to explain, but the fight scenes for me have now become like car chase scenes in movies. You know how it will end, eventually Vin will will and save the day, shoot some coins. It’s become repetitive and cliche. There’s no sense of danger. But. Towards the end, things get interesting. Because we have new characters who come in, ones who aren’t so evenly matched. New revelations, new places. It’s not the usual, ‘Vin fought, with the mists swirling around her, steel pushing etc etc.’ The pace is faster and everything is more intense. Sanderson needs to put more of that into the story and less of the car chase style fight scenes. We get it. Vin can fight. Elund is a wet biscuit.
Moreover, the story didn’t go in the direction I wanted it to. I would never tell an author how to write their story, but I just didn’t want to hear about the intrigue and the politics and the siege of Luthadel because I didn’t really care. Did I have any emotional investment in the city itself? No. So why would I care about Elund and the crew trying to save it. Just go on a magical journey to the Well of Ascension already! I really got sick of the poorly executed love triangle. Zane was super creepy. Especially in the masochistic way he kissed her. I never at any point thought that Vin had feelings for him. Just that she was curious. In saying that, I never truly got the feeling Vin was in love with Elund. Sure she said it all the time.’ He was kind and that was why she loved him’ or ‘Elund didn’t understand her, but she still loved him’. We are given all these reasons why Vin loves Elund, but they never really manifest in the way they act towards each other. Elund doesn’t always give Vin the time of day. Vin avoids Elund sometimes. They were like 13 year olds trying to decide if they ‘liked’ each other or ‘like liked’ each other. Sanderson is not so good at the whole romance things. In Way of Kings you have to wait a decent 15-20 hours before there’s even a kiss. He’s an action writer, but doesn’t really give time for tender moments. That’s ok though because most of the time i’m not looking for that in a fantasy anyway! I like the grittiness and the realism. Sometimes it’s nice to have a bit of passion too though.
IDEAS
The Good:
Oh. OH. *groan of pleasure*. Sanderson’s ideas and world building satisfy me in ways others don’t understand. I love how big his ideas become. The world building isn’t just focused on the main city in the central dominance but it’s everywhere. Moreover, he’s playing with the idea of higher powers and religious beliefs and the universe itself! The man knows no bounds. His ideas for different species are astounding and unlike any I’ve come across before. The closest thing to a Koloss I can think of is an Ork. The Kandra are an amazing idea and I loved the concept of them, so mysterious! Round of applause for originality. Sanderson seems to provide answers to almost every question I have about the world. Except what’s over the sea. Did the Lord Ruler conquer that too? Overall, his ideas are incredible, I talked about the magical system of Alamancy a lot more in the first book review. Nothing much has changed in terms of Alamancy so if you’re interested you can find the first Mistborn book review here.
The Bad:
I don’t really have anything bad to say about Sandersons ideas. One of the reasons the Mistborn series is so popular is because it’s so different. No elves and dwarves here! My main complaint would be that Sanderson doesn’t really have any idea about how to make love interests interesting.
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CHARACTERS
The Good:
I kind of prematurely guessed Vin’s character revelations early on in my review of the Final Empire. I said that Vin was a great character because she could be both warrior Mistborn and beautifully made up noblewoman. Unfortunately Vin didn’t really come to that conclusion until the end of this book. Oops. So all in all it wasn’t an amazing character development for me, because I already thought she’d figured out who she was. A lot of this book revolves around Vin’s insecurities with herself and her place in the world. This results in a lot of problems with her relationships. Even though this isn’t the most exciting part of the book, I felt it was necessary. Vin has, after all, led a life of hardship and abuse. Suffice to say she should be pretty fucked up. Major trust issues. It would be extremely unrealistic if some of those insecurities didn’t manifest itself in her everyday life and how she related to people. She didn’t want the burden of being a religious figure for the Skaa because it didn’t feel right to her. She never felt like she deserved Elund and began to think of herself as a tool. Vin coming to grips with herself is simultaneously a relief and a triumph. So even though it’s hard to listen to her fretting about her relationship and who she is, it’s kind of necessary when you actually think about what she’s been through and the burden placed upon her.
I really like Elund. He’s not a fighter, he’s a scholar (hilarious how he becomes so ‘dreamy’ in the next book) apparently all guys need to do is grow some beard and muscles. But in this book he’s a weedy bookman. Even so, he tries so hard and has a good heart. He’s also incredibly brave and for some reason has this blind faith that everything is going to turn out alright. He’s really a very loveable character.
Sazed is brilliant. He’s such a problem solver and so selfless. He really get’s hit hard in this book. Not a lot seems to go right for him, but he perseveres. I love his little bits of advice and words of wisdom. He’s a great therapist and seems to be the main lifeline for most of the crew. He’s so much more than a scholar and incredibly passionate about his work and his beliefs. Sazed is one of the few characters that doesn’t get bogged down in all the doom and gloom of the world.
Zane was a superb character, very creepy and a complete nut job. He didn’t really succeed as another love interest for Vin, i really hope that Sanderson wasn’t aiming for us to believe they had any chemistry. Because they didn’t. But Zane was a great antagonist, even if it wasn’t always clear. Sanderson is as always, master of misdirection. Zane came across as a character who has endured a lot of abuse, but is also sadistic, cunning and masochistic. So on the one hand we pity him, on the other hand we disdain him. I wonder what would have become of him if he had not grown up in poverty and under the influence of *SPOILER certain evil forces that ultimately led him to believe that he was insane *END OF SPOILER. Because despite everything, despite the fact that he wanted Vin and he felt the need to kill, he showed remarkable restraint. Zane just wanted to find peace and he believed Vin would help him.
The Bad:
Vin was very frustrating in this audiobook. Not only is she incredibly insecure about herself and her place in the world, but she’s always questioning her relationship. So often she would think about all the reasons why the relationship wasn’t working with Elund, why she didn’t deserve him and what was wrong with it. But not once did she try and solve the issues or even communicate with Elund about them. It’s clear that Elund has no relationship experience and even is even more naive than Vin in some cases. But at least he tries! Granted, Elund doesn’t exactly communicate his feelings, but he still decides to roll with the relationship and take it as it comes, rather than questioning it every step of the way. I wanted to scream at Vin to just talk to him about how she’s feeling. She says she loves him so often, yet can’t communicate with him about her emotions? What the hell? The relationship between Vin and Elund was definitely the weakest element to this whole story. Although I grew to love what they had to together and in the later audiobook they become much closer, their whole relationship seemed very uncertain and weak to me.
NARRATOR
The Good:
Kramer has become so familiar to me now, he’s like an old friend. His gritty and rough tones are perfect for all of the characters, but he also does a great job of voicing the pampered and spoiled noblewoman Orianne. (Fairly sure that’s how it’s spelt, I can’t for the life of me find it online at any rate). Anyway, he does a great girly voice for her. Breeze of course is always magnificent with his drawling voice and I thought Kramer did an excellent job of Elund’s voice. He really projects the uncertainty and insecurity Elund feels. Even when Elund is trying to be kingly his true emotions still show through in the way Kramer voices him. Elund became a much more authentic character for me in that regard because of this.
The Bad:
Kramer does a great job and absolutely no complaints here!
I hope you enjoyed our ‘The Well of Ascension’ Audiobook Review, come back soon!