By Brandon Sanderson

They toppled an empire, now they must build a new one.

Well of Ascension asks “what happens after the heroes defeat the villain and topple the evil empire?” Now Vin and the others work to build a new empire, learning from the mistakes of the old one, and survive the ambitions of various opportunists.

This time the heroes are on the defensive, responding to threats from besieging armies, surprise assassins, and political factions. Their victory over the Lord Ruler earned them a fearsome reputation, and now Vin struggles to live up to that reputation. As observers other characters stand in awe of Vin’s abilities, but her own perspective reveals the enormous strain that she imposes on herself, as well as the isolating effect of her power.

The story makes strong use of 6 distinct perspectives to reveal a rich character based story. Where the first novel laid out a clear moral alignment, this story explores the relativity of right and wrong. The absence of a central villain leaves the plot more fragmented, driven by personal relationships instead of a larger conflict. Each scene advances one plot a small portion, before switching to a different one. The results can feel a little slow, but artfully so.

+Relationship driven subplots
+Strong ideas
*Fragmented storylines
*Political intrigue
-Slow at times

4/5

Next Time…
Hero of the Ages-FE 03
06/09/2016