Mistborn and The Well of Ascension

 

Loving this trilogy!!! The concluding volume, Hero of Ages is scheduled for publication this fall and I’m looking forward to reading it.

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The setting for this trilogy is a mist-haunted, ash-ridden, barren world. Like many fantasy novels, the society is feudal. For one thousand years, the Lord Ruler has led an oppressive empire in which he proclaims himself God, the families of those who originally supported his rise to power have inherited noble status—and the families of those who did not support him are kept in perpetual servitude.

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Mistborn gets the trilogy off to a strong start—in the author’s own words, we have a gang of gentleman thieves, each of whom has his own distinctive magical power. What brings them together? A daring plan to overthrow the Lord Ruler. The author has stated that he wanted to create a heist story along the lines of Sneakers or Ocean’s Eleven—and I personally think he was successful—however, Mistborn is more than a heist story in a fantasy setting—much more.

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The Well of Ascension keeps the momentum going. What’s going on with the mists? They seem to be lingering past sunrise—something no one remembers them doing before. They also appear to be killing people—but how? And the mist-figure that seems focused on Vin—what purpose does it have? Does a journal from the days before the Lord Ruler assumed control have the answers?

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This is a fast-paced, action-packed trilogy with clever twists. I did not see the ‘ending’ of The Well of Ascension coming at all—the clues were there but I did not recognize them until it all came together. Sanderson’s character development is top-notch—I particularly love the characters of Vin and Tensoon.

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I picked up this series because I wanted to check out the writing of the author who will be completing Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series. We’re in good hands!

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For more on Brandon Sanderson, please visit http://www.brandonsanderson.com/index.php

Becky, Interdepartmental Librarian