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The Well of Ascension (Mistborn, #2)
by Brandon Sanderson (Goodreads Author)
by Brandon Sanderson (Goodreads Author)
I feel here as if I ought to apologize to my friends who love these books. The first was okay but I found the pacing a bit slow and had a "my interest comes and goes" experience. Sadly if I compare the pacing of the first volume of the series to the pacing in this one (the second volume) the story in volume 1 moved like the wind.
I know that some are very involved here and love these, and I can see why. The characters have depth and you get an "in depth" view of their lives. Not only their lives but their conversations, their internal struggles, their dietary preferences...the kind of clothes they like, on and on and on.
I found myself slowly getting involved in the story but then we'd hit a spot where we had to go through an internal dialogue concerning doubts, paranoia...or possibly psychosis ("no one will ever stay with you, everyone will leave you". This should have been followed by a "bwa-ha-ha" when it popped into Vin's mind).
When I was reading as I said I was mildly interested but when I'd laid the book aside I didn't think about it. I was hard pressed to get back to it there were just things I'd rather read. I finely got "re-interested" about the end of part three as the story of the throne moved on and plots started to come to light only to get thrown back into (view spoiler)
So in the end, two stars for my recognition of the writer's ability and the story telling I can see buried under what seems to me a lot of excess verbiage. If it's your cup of tea enjoy. I doubt I'll finish the trilogy. I mean how many 800+ page tomes do we need? Don't get me wrong, I love a good long epic fantasy, it's just that so often any more, people choose to tell a story in 1000 pages that could be told in 250.
My opinion throughout of course.
I know that some are very involved here and love these, and I can see why. The characters have depth and you get an "in depth" view of their lives. Not only their lives but their conversations, their internal struggles, their dietary preferences...the kind of clothes they like, on and on and on.
I found myself slowly getting involved in the story but then we'd hit a spot where we had to go through an internal dialogue concerning doubts, paranoia...or possibly psychosis ("no one will ever stay with you, everyone will leave you". This should have been followed by a "bwa-ha-ha" when it popped into Vin's mind).
When I was reading as I said I was mildly interested but when I'd laid the book aside I didn't think about it. I was hard pressed to get back to it there were just things I'd rather read. I finely got "re-interested" about the end of part three as the story of the throne moved on and plots started to come to light only to get thrown back into (view spoiler)
So in the end, two stars for my recognition of the writer's ability and the story telling I can see buried under what seems to me a lot of excess verbiage. If it's your cup of tea enjoy. I doubt I'll finish the trilogy. I mean how many 800+ page tomes do we need? Don't get me wrong, I love a good long epic fantasy, it's just that so often any more, people choose to tell a story in 1000 pages that could be told in 250.
My opinion throughout of course.
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Stephanie
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rated it 4 stars
Mar 11, 2011 08:38pm
Hope you enjoy it! I did. Sanderson is an amazing author. One of my favorites. And I especially love Vin. Strong female characters aren't done very well too often but I think that the human flawed Vin is perfect. Enjoy.
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Well, you can see I ran hot and cold for a while on the first (http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...) but in the end I liked it. I wasn't dying to get on with the story necessarily, but this came in at the library...so it goes to the head of the "queue" as they say. :)
Totally understandable not to love it! I actually have multiple friends that were incredibly frustrated with Vin this time around, one who gave up on the series halfway through this and one who finished and enjoyed book 3. I can tell you, though, that book 3 does actually give some explanation on all the crazy internal monologue.It does get pretty bogged down in details like the first two, and the ending seems to be one that people either love or hate because it's so unconventional.
I like the plotting and the way the characters are built. The problem comes when it seems that he gets so involved in the details that the story spins away from what's actually part of it and on to trivia. For example Vin and her concern over wearing a gown. Part of that is the story, but then it moves on almost into the obsessive.Again I realize this may be just me and my own taste, and given time I may roll back and pick up the third volume. At this point I just don't have the interest in it.
By the way, I really like The Alloy of Law. It is a much lighter read but it's also more compact and tighter.
This is my second read of this series and I have to say I'm less than in love with it this time. I don't hate it. But Vin is really annoying the heck out of me. Will she ever get to wear a pretty dress again? Will she ever chose between Elend and his evil, and crazy, brother Zane? And what will she do if she just isn't the chosen one? Yeah. She's really not a favorite. But if you liked the other characters I will promise that the last book is worth continuing. And it does have a surprsing conclusion. I liked The Alloy of Law more too. But I like old fashioned sword and sorcery which it reminded me alot of.
