The Well of Ascension, by Brandon Sanderson

As most of you know, I expressed concern at the outset of this book about what I perceived to be a noticeable lack of polish and focus and quality, as compared to the first book in this trilogy (The Final Empire), which I raved about until I almost fell out of my chair. There were several typos, which always bothers me (I'm anal like that), and there were scenes early on that just didn't really feel like they served a purpose other than filler. And the rehashing of the events from the first book seemed a little too much.

But once I got past (say) the 100-page mark, things settled in and then took off like a dart. The Lord Ruler is dead! Freedom from tyranny, right? Wrong! You don't break free from a thousand years of cruel leadership and transition seamlessly into utopia... there will be hiccups. Elend Venture, heir to the Venture Estate, is now King in Luthadel, the capital city of the Final Empire, and the place the Lord Ruler called home. It may sound like a happy situation for Elend and Vin, the Mistborn heroine from the first book that found the way to defeat the Lord Ruler... but it isn't. Problems within and without.

Without, other kings have sprung up in the vacuum left by the Lord Ruler's death, and laid claim to whole sections of the Final Empire that are beyond Elend's ability to reach at the moment. In fact, armies are moving against Luthadel itself, to lay siege and conquer it. What is Elend and his crew doing at this point? Well, King Elend has poured himself into creating a system of government that grants equal say and protection to all citizens, be they nobility or commoners. Rather than simply proclaim himself King and rule with an iron fist, he felt it more noble to try and give birth to a true representative republic, with himself as the figurehead. Needless to say, confusion abounds, as the somewhat naive King struggles to find out why his ideal form of rule is having such a hard time taking hold.

And to make matters worse, the mists are returning stronger and malevolent, lasting into the daylight hours now, and even randomly killing those caught out in it. Vin is concerned, especially because of the last words the Lord Ruler said before he died...

"You don't understand," he wheezed. "You don't know what I do for mankind. I was your God, even if you couldn't see it. By killing me, you have doomed yourselves."

As events unfold in The Well of Ascension, Vin begins to realize just what the Lord Ruler meant when he said that. But her powers are increasing as well...

I read on Sandersons website a quote; I'm not sure how recent it was. He said that this particular book was the most difficult book he's ever written. There was so much he wanted to do with it, making it work was daunting, he said. I believe it. I could see his struggle in places... slightly forcing an outcome here, tweaking a scene a bit too far there, it definitely had some bumps here and there, including occasional eye-rolling dialog. BUT overall, the story was great, the action non-stop, the twists and surpirses legit and satisfying, and the ending Grade A, setting up the third and final book of the series perfectly.

In spite of its hiccups, this is a worthy successor to the highly-recommended first volume. If you read and enjoy the first one, then you will enjoy book two as well. Although if you fit in that category, then you are skipping this review and not reading these words!

Summary: Recommended 4/5