Brandon Sanderson, The Well Of Ascension

The Well Of Ascension

Brandon Sanderson

Tor, August 2007, $27.95, 592 pp.

ISBN 9780765316882

The battle to take the Lord Ruler down is over and the rebels won although it was Vin who struck the decisive lethal blow. Now that the empire is destroyed kingdoms with petty rulers as their monarchs want to take his place. Two such rulers are besieging the Central Dominance's largest city Luthadel, where Vin's lover Elend rules as a benevolent king who insisted on having a council with real powers help make the laws.

Vin is one of the most powerful Mistborns in the former empire who burns all the metals in her body, each giving her an incredible power. She is her lover's bodyguard because she knows his enemies from within the city and without will try to kill him. She loves him dearly but isn't sure she is good enough for him because he was raised as a noble and she was once a homeless street urchin who went from one gang to another for protection. One of the kings taking part in the siege is Elend's father who has a Mistborn ally Zane who is enchanted by Vin and makes her question her role in Elend's life.

Readers will be fascinated by what takes place in a city under siege and root for Vin and Elend to live through this dangerous time. Although there is as much introspection as there is action in THE WELL OF ASCENSION readers will become so absorbed in the plot that they will be unable to put the book down because the characters fascinate them. Told in the third person viewpoint by many characters, this epic fantasy is a stand alone book although a clear successor to Book One MISTBORN

Harriet Klausner