The Well of Ascension

Mistborn, Book 2

By: Brandon Sanderson

Narrated by: Michael Kramer

Length: 28 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

From number one New York Times best-selling author Brandon Sanderson, the Mistborn series is a heist story of political intrigue and magical martial-arts action.

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.

As Kelsier's protégé and slayer of the Lord Ruler she is now venerated by a budding new religion, a distinction that makes her intensely uncomfortable. Even more worrying, the mists have begun behaving strangely since the Lord Ruler died, and seem to harbor a strange vaporous entity that haunts her.

Stopping assassins may keep Vin's Mistborn skills sharp, but it's the least of her problems.

Luthadel, the largest city of the former empire, doesn't run itself, and Vin and the other members of Kelsier's crew, who lead the revolution, must learn a whole new set of practical and political skills to help. It certainly won't get easier with three armies - one of them composed of ferocious giants - now vying to conquer the city, and no sign of the Lord Ruler's hidden cache of atium, the rarest and most powerful allomantic metal.

As the siege of Luthadel 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 it bestows.

Other Tor books by Brandon Sanderson:

• The Cosmere
• The Stormlight Archive
• The Way of Kings
• Words of Radiance
• Edgedancer (Novella)
• Oathbringer

The Mistborn trilogy

• Mistborn: The Final Empire
• The Well of Ascension
• The Hero of Ages

Mistborn: The Wax and Wayne series:

• Alloy of Law
• Shadows of Self
• Bands of Mourning
• Collection
• Arcanum Unbounded

Other Cosmere novels:

• Elantris
• Warbreaker

The Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians series:

• Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians
• The Scrivener's Bones
• The Knights of Crystallia
• The Shattered Lens
• The Dark Talent

The Rithmatist series:

• The Rithmatist

Other books by Brandon Sanderson:

• The Reckoners
• Steelheart
• Firefight
• Calamity

©2007 Brandon Sanderson (P)2009 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"All the explosive action any adventure fan could want." ( Locus)
"A great epic fantasy.... Fans of Terry Goodkind and Terry Brooks will find The Well of Ascension fulfilling, satisfying, and incredibly exciting." ( SFRevu.com)
"Vin's struggles with love and power inject the human element into Sanderson's engaging epic." ( Booklist)

It keeps getting even better

I am writing this after having finished the entire trilogy. While this was an incredible book and stands alone just fine on its own, I wanted to reserve judgement on each book till I finished the trilogy in order to put each one into perspective. This was my first Bandon Sanderson book and I loved it. At first, it was challenging to get into the whole concept of Allomancy but I eventually did and appreciated every aspect of this masterpiece. The books moved quickly, the story is rich in its treatments of many aspects personal character, politics, government, philosophy and religion. And each character is fully developed to the point where we probably care about all of them including some of the bad ones. The world created by Brandon Sanderson and stunningly narrated by Michael Kramer is not like any one I or probably any of us could have possibly imagined. As long as this trilogy was, I am so sorry to have it finally end.

ehh. Too much for so little story movement...

7-8 hours into this one... I realized that the story (so fascinatingly hinted at)... was moving at a snails pace. Why? Because we are learning SO MUCH about EVERY single character remaining from the Mistborn book....and we are spending SO MUCH time... reiterating what has passed. People. Not interested in the soap opera angle. And...maybe a short chapter at the start synopsizing everything would have been kinder. Ugh. Had to loose the book after 8 hours. That sucks. I REALLY ENJOYED the first book. Bigtime. Anyway. Form your own opinion. This is just mine.

Lots of Fighting; Unsatisfying End

This installment in the Mistborn series was a disappointment. For one thing, I can’t stand when a book in a series ends with a cliffhanger, as this one does. I was also frustrated with the amount of fighting in the book, which seemed to be used as a substitute for actual plot, character development, and storyline. The drawn-out fight scenes became boring and uninteresting for anyone who doesn’t enjoy carnage as entertainment. But most of all, several characters the reader has come to care about were killed or ruined, not in the quest for good, but in a deception after deception. It was an overall depressing bloodbath. I would rank the book lower, but still admire the creativity of this unique world and creatures that inhabit it.

Good, but god damn it...

These enraging plot points get right to the center of my core and shake me. Sometimes i wish things would just go the way i want them to.... Buuuut great book none the less. Very enjoyable despite the frustrating twists of fate and a perfectly paired narration to go with it.

A Great Second Book

I enjoyed this. It was long, it was epic and it was fun. Generally I get bored with titles that are this long unless they have a great storyline to back it up. This book DEFINITELY had the storyline to back it up. I was pleasantly surprised throughout the entire journey of this book. There was nothing truly irrelevant in this and it had a good combination of reality and fantasy to make it believable and enjoyable. There is definitely growth in all the characters in this book when comparing it to the first book in the series (this is something I always look out for in books I read). You can also see that it was well thought out... The entire plot and the entire book itself. A+ all the way.

New Favorite Book and Author

Listened to the first, with a credit, 2nd book, I bought, and I just bought and downloaded the third book in the series. I have not been this transported by a author since the RINGs or DUNE. Amazing story....

Keeps getting better!

Book 2 cements the Mistborn series as an epic tale well worth your time and investment. I strongly believe Brandon Sanderson has become the J.R.R Tolkien of our era as he not only delivers book after book in enormous detail, but has also succeeded in creating a Cosmere that connects all his seemingly independent series into one cohesive universe (which you only get small hints of here in book 2). Vin absolutely comes into her own here in book 2 and is a great listen.

Best Book

This book skyrocketed to the top of my favorites list. I don't know how I've been missing out on this all these years, but I'm so glad I read it. The development is amazing. Characters are incredibly written, the world so thought out. Nearly every moment has been vivid in my mind and was entertaining throughout.

If you like fantasy, read this!

a-maz-ing

if you enjoyed the first book then this is an absolute must buy. The story gets even more advanced and there are so many things to learn about this entire universe that the author built. the ending is such a twist and I can't wait to start book 3.

I hope the next book is better

I got hooked with the first book of the series , this one went very slowly but I am hoping it is background and info for the next book