“It's easy to believe in something when you win all the time...
The losses are what define a man's faith.”
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Well, I have finished my very first novel of 2018! No… I did not read it in 5 days… yes, I suppose when 2017 started I only had about 100 pages of the 600 novel to go, but I finished it and I’m counting it as my first read of 2018. The Well of Ascension is the second novel in Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn Trilogy, a series recommended to me by my boyfriend, MOSTLY because he wanted someone to nerd out with about Mistborn. The Well of Ascension picks up a year after Mistborn and the fall of the Final Empire. Vin, the leading character of the series, is adjusting to her new life as the mistress of King Elend Venture, a kind and gentle man who has taken over leadership of the city Luthadel and freed the subjugated peasant human population known as the skaa. But Elend struggles to keep control over his new kingdom as three armies march on Luthadel for it’s resources and internal strife threatens his crown. Vin, on the other hand, works to keep Elend safe from potential assassins, while struggling with a deep, internal calling from some mysterious source - the Well of Ascension.
In this novel, Sanderson continues to build his intricate and very different world through sweeping description and detailed passages akin to great world-builders like J.R.R. Tolkien, Robin Hobb, and even George R.R. Martin (even though I do not like Martin's books or writing style). And once again, the world-building is where Sanderson excels. He really paints this mist shrouded world and the steam-punk themed architecture and culture with detailed flare. His magic system also continues to impress. In this series, characters classified as “Mistborn” have the ability to enhance their attributes like strength, senses, and a sort of telekinesis through the ingestion and “burning” of metals (a practice called Allomancy). It’s a unique system of magic, one that Sanderson expertly uses to illuminate and set apart his action scenes from other authors. However, once again, his characterization left me a little torn. On the one hand, the characters are well developed and their struggles are highlighted and featured even more in this book than the first; Vin’s emotional damage from past relationships often leads to her questioning the sincerity of Elend’s feelings for her; similarly Elend’s lack of Allomancy often leads to feelings of inadequacy when it comes to his relationship with Vin; Breeze struggles with his own mask of flippant joviality and character flaws that he amplifies in order to hide his true feelings; and Sazed experiences love and loss, on both a personal and religious level. And while I really enjoyed the character’s personal arcs and individual growth, I was let down (once again) by Sanderson’s dialogue. Sanderson is an incredible world-builder, he can conjure complete worlds with his descriptive writing, but as soon as the characters open their mouths and interact with one another, they fall incredibly flat. They are constantly contradicting themselves, they all ramble on in the same voice, and with the exception of Breeze, they all have the same vocal quirks and tone. This was something that bothered me about the first book. I’m sort of the opposite of Sanderson when it comes to writing. I do enjoy world-building my own fantasy world, but I don’t describe it to the details that Sanderson does, instead, I concentrate more on character development, voice, and style. That’s just the kind of author I am, and I’ve heard it said before that you’re either an excellent world-builder, or an excellent character-builder, and I’m discovering that to be true the more I read, especially when it comes to fantasy. Is Sanderson’s disappointing dialogue enough to keep me from reading and emoting with the characters? No. I will continue to read his work, and I am incredibly invested in both Vin and Sazed’s stories (mostly because I am Vin, and my boyfriend is Sazed, almost eerily so).
I have to say that I liked this book a lot more than the first. Even though I’ve been left with a lot of questions, I loved both Sazed’s and Vin’s personal development. Sazed slowly begins to question his faith, and eventually looses it after discovering his entire religion had been corrupted and twisted over the years by a malevolent force, while Vin finally puts the past behind her and accepts both Elend’s love for her and puts aside her own insecurities and feeling of inadequacy… something that was very important for me to read.
That all being said, I am generally enjoying this series. I love that I dove (was forced) into it when I did, because watching Vin’s character progression and growth has been so personal and in alignment with my own. It’s been incredibly beneficial, and a few times I’ve been shocked at how closely what I’ve read mirrors my own thoughts or feelings at the time that I read it. I am really excited to enter into the final chapter of this trilogy, and can’t wait to see where Sanderson takes these characters… hopefully there’s lots of pain and suffering and death in their future. Gotta love a powerful death!
