The Well of Ascension (Mistborn #2)

Synopsis

***Warning: There are SPOILERS in this synopsis! I made the mistake of reading this before I read the book and it totally spoiled***

Evil has been defeated. The war has just begun.

They did the impossible, deposing the godlike being whose brutal rule had lasted a thousand years. Now Vin, the street urchin who has grown into the most powerful Mistborn in the land, and Elend Venture, the idealistic young nobleman who loves her, must build a healthy new society in the ashes of an empire.

They have barely begun when three separate armies attack. As the siege 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 is bestows.

It may just be that killing the Lord Ruler was the easy part. Surviving the aftermath of his fall is going to be the real challenge.

Loved

• The mystery. This book is a little slower than the other two, but it's well worth it because Sanderson develops so many different threads and layers of mystery to set up an explosion of revelations in the third book. This book gives us many more questions than answers and has us second-guessing each character and many of the things we've learned. This plot is twisty and has many unexpected turns that eventually lead us to the perfect setup in the third book.

• Ah, I love all the characters and I want to write a paragraph about each one, but I won't. Let's talk about Elend- this guy is the best. Forced to be king, doesn't have any powers, just wants to save his people and love Vin. Elend is in many ways the most relatable character because he's very . . . normal. He doesn't have any powers (so far), he's not sure how to run a country, and only has experience ruling and fighting from all the books he's read. There were a few moments when Elend was frustrating because he was indecisive, but I loved that he kept trying to do the right thing, even when he was unsure of everything else. His character is very relatable and probably indicative of how many of us would react being thrown into his situation.

• Sazed. Ah, I just love Sazed. He is so steady and constant, and always has the answers. He is such a source of comfort and strength because he is so wise, fair, and accepting. I love his wisdom and constant support when everyone else in the crew seems to be suspicious and questioning.

• The different species. Sanderson's different species are so interesting- particularly the kandra, who can take the shape of anything, and the kolossos, who are brutish and terrifying. These species and races all have their own history, leaders and genealogy, which makes the world even more expansive and fascinating the more we learn about it.

• The world. I talked about this in the first review, but Brandon Sanderson's world-building just keeps getting more and more detailed and expansive. Normally after such a climax as the end of the first book, everything would be resolved and all the pieces would fall into place. But in this world, the climax at the end of the first book is only the first step to conquering and resolving all the problems. To me, this makes the world much more believable because one victory leads to a whole slew of other problems, which is what would happen in real life. Throughout the series I keep finding myself in awe of Sanderson's incredibly thought-out world, so detailed that we feel we are truly living it.

Didn't Love

• This is my least favorite out of the three because it does have some of the middle-book-syndrome. It's still exciting and has a lot of action, but it's definitely a lot slower than the other two books. We get a lot of political buildup, mythology, and character development in this book that takes the place of some action.

Content

• Language: 
• Uses of "damn," "hell," and "bastard."

• Sexual content: 
• One villain has many mistresses and forces them into his bed to produce children. Much talk of this man analyzing women's beauty and judging how sexually enticing they are, and scenes of women being seduced and raped. It gets a little graphic- mentions removing clothing, and looking at women's body parts, but does not mention sexual acts.

• Violence:
• As with the first book, there is A LOT of violence. Not quite as much as the first book, but still a lot of violence. I won't try to mention everything that happens because it would be too hard.
• The villain mentioned earlier forces women to his bed and then kills them. Lots of mentions of how the girls are taken from their families, raped and killed.
• Lots of mentions of death, corpses, stabbing, killing with Allomantic powers, and beatings.
• Giant brutish creatures raid cities and cause huge amounts of destruction and death- quite a few secondary characters are killed in this raid.
• A species called kandra eat dead bodies and then resume the form of that body, which can be disturbing at times.

Overall Thoughts

Overall, this was my least favorite of the trilogy, but I still completely ate it up and absolutely loved it. This book is definitely a lot slower because we get a lot of political buildup, we learn about mythology, and we get some solid character development. The beginning feels slow because Elend is indecisive and they are in a siege, which they have to essentially wait out. But we still have some awesome action scenes, developing romance, fascinating details about the world, and a perfect buildup to a spectacular and mind-blowing finale in the third book. Don't get discouraged by this second book because the third one is absolutely a masterpiece and cannot be missed.