Book notes: The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson

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The Well of Ascension: Mistborn, Book 2 by Brandon Sanderson

Synopsis:

“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.” -Amazon

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Opening thoughts:

Mistborn immediately became one of my top favorite fiction books, so the follow-up was put on my wishlist. These stories are definitely epic-level, so they’re great to listen to during my long, 1-2 hour daily walks. Even though the love-romance aspect of this story is my least favorite, I’m looking forward to how the rest of the story unfolds.

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Key notes:

Part One: Heir of the Survivor

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

• She successfully fought off a group of 8 assassins, one of whom was a Mistborn. But she got help from the Watcher whom she had been chasing for a while

Chapter 3

• Eland was now ruling the kingdom, but had to deal with the assembly, other despots who wanted the throne, and assassins

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

• Vin was trying to figure out the right combination for the aluminum alloy

Chapter 6

• Vin and Ham sparred, and she ended up winning. Her skill in using metals is getting better

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

• She chased the watcher and had a quick and vague conversation with him

Chapter 9

• Marsh came to tell Sayzed that he was needed back with his friends to help them

Chapter 10

• Eland led an assembly to ask for more time to negotiate with his father against the pending invasion of his army into the city

Chapter 11

• Vin and Eland found evidence that there was another condra imposter in the palace, potentially replacing someone in their core group

Part Two: Ghosts in the Mist

Chapter 12

• Sayzed and Marsh explored the abandoned Inquisitor hideout building

Chapter 13

• The group discussed their daring plan with Eland to try and get the two armies to turn against each other so that they might be able to come out on top. They were eventually interrupted by the Terracewoman who was spying on them and wanted to speak with Eland alone

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

• Sayzed came across a village of 100 dead people, killed by starvation and the mists during the day

Chapter 16

• The terracewoman Tindwyl began teaching Eland how to dress and act like a real king

Chapter 17

• Vin had another sparring match with the Watcher named Zane who was very skilled with allomancy and touted their superiority over others who couldn’t possibly understand them

Chapter 18

• Zane was Eland’s half-brother and his bastard mistborn son he kept hidden for so long
• Zane knew he was insane as he had a voice in his head constantly telling him to kill people. However, he knew that a man was defined not by his flaws but how he overcame them
• Strath spoke with Zane about their plans and despite being poisoned by Zane, wanted to show strength by ingesting it anyway 

Chapter 19

• Sayzed came across a third army on the way to Luthadel and discovered there were already two other armies waiting to take over the city

Chapter 20

• Tindwyl said that he needs to be ready for the problems that will arise from his relationship with Vin, though it’s not a reason to give her up, and can be the exception

Chapter 21

• Cett’s daughter, who was infatuated with Breeze, sought asylum with them

Chapter 22

• Vin started to connect and relate to the Kandra who served her. They felt the same way, being feared by others yet used as a tool
• Vin found Sayzed and was happy to see him

Chapter 23

• Tindwyl was mad at Sayzed for always breaking the rules and commands despite being an ideal leader of their people, but he would rather follow what he believed was right and be proven wrong, plus his actions led to his people’s freedom when they overthrew the final empire. 

Chapter 24

• Tindwyl was mad at Sayzed for always breaking the rules and commands despite being an ideal leader of their people, but he would rather follow what he believed was right and be proven wrong, plus his actions led to his people’s freedom when they overthrew the final empire. 

Chapter 25

• Vin was questioned about her and Eland not being married. Also, she got fitted with a new dress for their meeting the next day

Chapter 26

• They met with Eland’s father as planned and admitted they didn’t have the Atium

Chapter 27

Reader’s notes: For the most part, I love Vin. But when she acts like this, it’s very frustrating. She’s being way too open with Zane and letting him manipulate her, and being too friendly with an enemy. Also, why did they not deal with the imposter situation before negotiating with his father? I feel like that would be a priority item because information leaks would ruin this entire negotiation. It makes no damn sense, and I don’t know why the entire crew failed to see the issue.

• Vin’s show of power and Eland’s power play worked, and now his father was scared of Vin and believed she was dangerous 
• When they returned, Eland found out all 23 members of the assembly had agreed to depose him

Part Three: King

Chapter 28

• The crew discussed how Eland could get his power back as king. Tindwyl also advised Eland again to sort out his relationship with Vin, as it will affect his ability to be an effective king if he doesn’t

Chapter 29

Reader’s note: I’m so frustrated with Vin again. He’s telling her to not trust Zane, who is an enemy and could he deceiving her, but she blindly treats him like a comrade

Chapter 30

• Vin discussed with Sayzed about the Deepness and her theory that it had to do with the mists. Sayzed also told her to not judge Tindwyl too harshly, as she had a tough life being locked up as a breeder Terris keeper and forced to have 20 children

Chapter 31

• During the assembly, Eland made the report of the meeting with his father. The assemblymen also started nominations for a new king, and three of them were nominated, including Lord Cett himself, who was hidden in the audience

Chapter 32

• Cett would stay in the city for a week with 1000 troops until they elected a king

Chapter 33

• Vin talked to the Kandra about their secret religion about hope of freedom. They also met with Dockson but Vin felt like he wasn’t the spy

Chapter 34

• Zane confronted her and with atium, but let her live and asked her to run away with him to leave the non-mistborn without their tools

Reader’s note: I hate how wishy-washy Vin is. She has no conviction for her relationship with Eland when Zane keeps proposing the idea of them two together. She should explicitly tell Zane she can’t be swayed and not even entertain the idea through her silence and contemplation. This is easily one of her worst characteristics

Reader’s note: Why would she question if Eland loves her while not more strongly questioning Zane’s attempts to sway her? It makes no sense to me and is very irritating

Chapter 35

• They had dinner with Cett to discuss their situation and what he wanted out of it

Chapter 36

• She confronted the guard whom she suspected to the imposter, but Vin felt he was too real

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

• Vin fended off an attack with 6 assassins while protecting Eland during the vote for the new king
• Eland lost the vote for king 

Part Four: Knives

Chapter 39

• Zane tried to assassinate his father again by poison, but failed. Straff decided he needed to kill Zane as well as Vin

Chapter 40

Reader’s note: I already didn’t like Eland, but now he’s being overly dramatic about having seen vin protect him by killing those assassins. He now sees her differently, and it’s infuriating as he supposedly loves her

• She talked with the Kandra about the history and origins of the Kandra being created by the Lord Ruler

Chapter 41

• Eland discussed with Tindwyl and Sayzed where he went wrong, but they affirmed he did the right thing, being true to himself, even if it cost him the throne

Chapter 42

• Eland went to the colossus army and threatened the leader. He killed a Koloss and took his pouch to figure out how they were being controlled

Chapter 43

• She went along with Zane and attacked Cett. She discovered he sent his last allowmancers against her months ago, so he wasn’t responsible for the attack at the assembly

Chapter 44

• Eland found Vin hiding in her old crew hangout

Reader’s note: I hate how Vin still trusts Zane even though he clearly used her to take out Set, and she’s still protecting him by not telling Eland about him, and which is also betraying Eland

Chapter 45

• Vin and Eland both went to Sayzed separately for advice about their relationship. Even though he wasn’t supposed to ever give advice, he did so to both of them because it felt right

Chapter 46

• Straff sent assassins to kill Zane, but they failed. He thought Zane was about to kill him in retribution, but Zane let him live and told him that Vin wouldn’t be a problem in Straff’s takeover of the city

Chapter 47

Reader’s note: Wow. I hate Vin for being so easily seduced and influenced by Zane to leave everything and everyone she’s ever loved. For someone so strong, she’s so emotionally and mentally weak, which I think is much worse

• When she rejected Zane, he attacked her. Zane also revealed that the Kandra was actually the real spy
• She barely managed to defeat Zane by overcoming his atium by not thinking, but letting Zane show her her future actions and then changing her own actions last minute

Chapter 48

• Vin told Eland her realization about Kelsier, and what made him truly great was his ability to trust, which inspired others to be even better people than they were 
• They got married while Sayzed dressed her wounds, with him as their witness. Sayzed said he knew them both and didn’t need a ceremony
• “Those who take lightly promises they make to those they love are people who find little satisfaction in life”

Part Five: Snow and Ash

Chapter 49

Reader’s note: This is probably the best character demonstration I’ve seen this whole series from Eland. No matter how crazy Vin’s journey North seems, he wholeheartedly declares that he loves and trusts Vin and what she believed in, and that she’s his wife and loves her. Finally, some unconditional love not marred by stupidity

• Eland and Vin escaped the city while the crew stayed back. Also, Straff was poisoned by one of his mistresses, who turned out to be Zane’s lover. In reality, she simply made him addicted to something that he felt poisoned when he didn’t get a dose from her

Chapter 50

Chapter 51

• Spook revealed that going north was a lie, and that the crew stayed back, knowing they would be killed. They decided to head back to Luthadel with Vin going ahead first 

Chapter 52

• Vin used up all her pewter and then used several horseshoes simultaneously to continue making progress towards Luthadel as quickly as she could

Chapter 53

• Dockson and Clubs were killed, but Sayzed barely managed to stay alive before Vin miraculously came at the last second and started to clear out the enemy at their gate

Chapter 54

Chapter 55

• Vin took control of the Koloss army and then shot into the sky and killed Straff in a single blow. Then began to lead her new army to attack his
• Vin successfully ended the war in complete victory and had all 3 sides swear loyalty to Eland Venture. She appointed Sayzed her 2nd to take care of all the details of settling everything, as he was the only one she trusted, and then she left the battlefield to rest back at Luthadel 

Part Six: Words in Steel

Chapter 56

• Eland and Spook found refugee Terris people who were fleeing after Inquisitors led an attack against their city

Chapter 57

• Eland returned, and then Vin brought him, Ham, and Spook to the Lord Ruler’s castle to find the hidden well she’s been looking for, and likely the hidden Atium

Chapter 58

• Marsh attacked Sayzed as he went into the building. But Sayzed managed to pull strength and healing from the metals that were shot into his flesh
• The mist spirit wounded Eland suddenly, then Vin realized the power to save him was within the well. So she entered the liquid
• She gained powers and clarity on the situation, the Deepness was mists that killed
• She trusted Eland’s love for her, which was the trust that she would do the right thing. Which was to let him die and give up the power to save their people

Chapter 59

• The mist spirit directed Vin to give him the small bead of metal, and a vial of metals. Then he started to burn pewter, which helped heal him

Epilogue

• Sayzed found the complete and unaltered text that explained the truth of something manipulating the lore in order to gain freedom

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Closing thoughts:

While I loved this book and the continuation of this story, my biggest qualms were with Vin and how she handled the Zane situation. She should have just had firm boundaries and kept him at arms length as he was clearly an adversary and an enemy. But she allowed herself to be manipulated into almost leaving Eland and all her friends. Thankfully she didn’t, but it was really frustrating to listen to.

Overall, it’s a great story and I am excited to continue the saga. But I’m hopefully the romance won’t be the center of the next one, or rather less so we don’t have to deal with Vin’s wishy-washy emotions.

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Nutshell:

Part 2 in the Mistborn series. Vin and Eland have to figure out how to manage a city while enemies outside and inside the city conspire to take them down.

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Similar books:

• Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson
• The Sandman by Neil Gaiman
• Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A Heinlein
• Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
• A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

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Rating:

4/5

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