The Well of Ascension (Cosmere Universe) (Mistborn, #2)

by Brandon Sanderson

[Joséphine]

Initial thoughts: Such an intricate world in terms of culture, religion, politics and the natural order. It's so rich and very densely packed, that it took me 4 to 5 weeks to finish it. In truth, I spent 8 days actually reading. The 3 weeks preceding, I picked it up several times, read a page or two and then put it back down. I knew The Well of Ascension would be amazing but books with more than 500 pages aren't usually the ones I reach for, so it took me a lot time to overcome that initial mental inertia. I'm glad I got over myself and when I gained momentum, I couldn't put the book down. I read really slowly to soak in everything because there's so much detail to take in.

I welcomed the discussions on religion and politics in particular. What constitutes a religion? Does elevating a man one knew to be mortal to a deity truly make a religion? What of rituals and faith? There's also a bit of mystique surrounding epistemology — how do we know what we know and can we trust accounts that are passed down generations? I particularly found myself immersed in the deterioration of memories but that's because I wrote an extensive paper on memory and knowledge before. Hah. So yeah, the philosophical aspect amidst the epic fantasy engaged my mind a lot.

One thing that I did have gripes with were the incessant displays of insecurities from Elend and Vin. Yes, these displays of weaknesses were necessary to portray all their facets but it still got on my nerves after some time. That aside though, I absolutely adored this sequel and look forward to continuing with The Hero of Ages.