|Review| The Well of Ascension - Brandon Sanderson

Title: The Well of Ascension

Author: Brandon Sanderson

Publisher: Gollancz

Series: Mistborn #2

Publisher | Amazon | Goodreads 

The impossible has happened. The Lord Ruler is dead has been vanquished. But so too is Kelsier the man who masterminded the triumph. The awesome task of rebuilding the world has been left to his protege Vin; a one-time street urchin, now the most powerful Mistborn in the land.

Worryingly for her Vin has become the focus of a new religion, a development that leaves her intensely uneasy. More worryingly still the mists have become unpredictable since the Lord Ruler died and a strage vaprous entity is stalking Vin.

As the siege of Luthadel intensifies the ancient legend of the Well of Ascension offers the only glimmer of hope. But no-one knows where it is or what it can do . . . [Gollancz]

I have to admit that I don't like The Final Empire as much as everyone else. I still think it's pretty good but just not amazing. So I was definitely looking forward to The Well of Ascension even though I was a bit intimidated by the length of it and I was also a bit afraid that I wouldn't like it as much as everyone else - again. There was no need to be afraid, though.

The Well of Ascension is amazing – and I mean AMAZING! It's so, so, so good, way better than The Final Empire!

Getting back into the story is quite easy. The Well of Ascension is already at the beginning so exciting that you can't put it down. You just have to continue on with reading. 

One of the reasons why it is so exciting AND thrilling AND amazing is that there are many story lines existing parallel to each other. In every single story line happen so many suspenseful things that you sometimes don't know where to look at first or what to worry about at next. And the turning points. Yes, plural! There where so many, which I could have never foreseen, too!

Brandon Sanderson's writing style is – of course – amazing, too. It's not only gripping but also figuratively. Brandon Sanderson is not only an amazing writer but he's also able to draw pictures in your mind. You can actually SEE what he is talking about!

And let's talk about the character development. Needless to say it's amazing. Especially Vin and Elend changed so drastically that there were different people at the and of The Well of Ascension. They grow with their individual challenges.

Vin is such a kick ass character. She also thinks about her action, though. Often it happens that she does something and later on she recognises that it wasn't good. This characteristic makes her pretty reliable as a character. She is not perfect – she is actually far away from being perfect – but who in this big world is perfect? Nobody! That's why protagonists should never have a touch of being perfect or even be perfect. That would be terrible. 

And the ending! OMG! It's even more exciting than the rest of the book. I was literally jumping through my room, because I couldn’t sit still anymore. It's so heart-rending, sad, happy, frightening, thrilling and so much more at the same time. It's nearly perfect but ends with a really mean cliffhanger, which is the reason why I have to read the conclusion to this series The Hero of Ages pretty soon!

To sum it up in a few words: I love The Well of Ascension! It has got everything that an amazing book needs: reliable characters + character development, a thrilling story and a gripping writing style. You don't need more – just the next book!