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 it 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.
The Well of Ascension is the second installment of the Mistborn series and it does not disappoint. The story begins about a year after the events that occurred at the end of Mistborn. The novel starts slower than Mistborn, but while Mistborn is by action, the character development of the main crew more than makes up for the pace. The loss of Kelsior however, the lynch pin of the crew, whom anchored the plot and dialog leaves the reader desiring more.
Replacing Kelsior, Zane the new Mistborn introduced, while doesn’t precisely fill the hole left by Kelsior’s death does allow the reader to see the challenges Vin faces without her mentor. In addition to new characters, Brandon introduces the Kandra added a whole new element of mystery to the story that in retrospect The Final Empire lacked and is a welcomed twist.
The Well of Ascension answers a lot of questions left hanging after Mistborn, but as any good setup book (read, second book of a trilogy) it has opened new questions, ideas, and levels of intrigue. I am eagerly consuming the climax of this journey in The Hero of Ages.
