I sincerely hope that Sanderson keeps writing. Even though he writes fantasy novels, his books are a lot different than I’ve come to expect from fantasy. The Well of Ascension is the sequel to Mistborn, and is basically the story of what happens after the revolution, after the evil dictator/emperor/whatever is killed and the survivors have to work out how things will be run. Unfortunately, a lot of the heavy-hitters from the previous regime have managed to scare up armies and are now fighting each other and our heroes from Mistborn. Meanwhile, there is a deeper, mystical problem brewing and our hero, Vin, has to figure out what is going on before she can solve the problem.
I really enjoy books where you get to see what happens after the heroes triumph. I’ve always been a fan of the epilogue. Probably because I’ve get really attached to good characters. I think the next book in the series is going to be fantastic. Not only do our heroes have to contend with politics, but there’s the issue with the Deepness. I don’t want to spoil the ending of The Well, but I was really surprised at the twist at the end. For those of you who have read this book and Good Omens (Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman), it reminded me of the end of the introduction, when Crowley (a demon) wonders to Aziraphale (an angel) if he did the right thing by talking Eve into eating that apple and the angel had done the wrong thing by giving his flaming sword to the first couple when they got kicked out of Eden.
What I like about Sanderson is that he can write novels where the plot just hums along, and still have some profound character development going on at the same time. I’ve said it before, but I really think it’s the characters that keep me coming back to books. And if I can get a book were the plot winds me up and I can’t put it down even though I know I really ought to go to bed, well, that’s heaven for me.
One interesting idea that Sanderson brought up in the first book, and that’s carried through into this book is what the Keepers do. Essentially, they remember cultures, histories, and religions from before the hegemony of the Final Empire wiped them out. The problem with the Keepers is that it’s been so long since there was independent culture, that nobody seems to want to know about the way things were in the past anymore. One the one hand, I think that people need to know about their heritage. On the other hand, why try to resurrect dead languages, customs, and religions if the world has moved on? Something to think about.
