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  • The Well of Ascension

  • Mistborn, Book 2
  • Written by: Brandon Sanderson
  • Narrated by: Michael Kramer
  • Length: 28 hrs and 56 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (1,978 ratings)

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The Well of Ascension

Written by: Brandon Sanderson
Narrated by: Michael Kramer
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Publisher's Summary

From number one New York Times best-selling author Brandon Sanderson, the Mistborn series is a heist story of political intrigue and magical martial-arts action.

The impossible has been accomplished. The Lord Ruler - the man who claimed to be god incarnate and brutally ruled the world for a thousand years - has been vanquished. But Kelsier, the hero who masterminded that triumph, is dead too, and now the awesome task of building a new world has been left to his young protégé, Vin, the former street urchin who is now the most powerful Mistborn in the land, and to the idealistic young nobleman she loves.

As Kelsier's protégé and slayer of the Lord Ruler she is now venerated by a budding new religion, a distinction that makes her intensely uncomfortable. Even more worrying, the mists have begun behaving strangely since the Lord Ruler died, and seem to harbor a strange vaporous entity that haunts her.

Stopping assassins may keep Vin's Mistborn skills sharp, but it's the least of her problems.

Luthadel, the largest city of the former empire, doesn't run itself, and Vin and the other members of Kelsier's crew, who lead the revolution, must learn a whole new set of practical and political skills to help. It certainly won't get easier with three armies - one of them composed of ferocious giants - now vying to conquer the city, and no sign of the Lord Ruler's hidden cache of atium, the rarest and most powerful allomantic metal.

As the siege of Luthadel tightens, an ancient legend seems to offer a glimmer of hope. But even if it really exists, no one knows where to find the Well of Ascension or what manner of power it bestows.

Other Tor books by Brandon Sanderson:

  • The Cosmere
  • The Stormlight Archive
  • The Way of Kings
  • Words of Radiance
  • Edgedancer (Novella)
  • Oathbringer

The Mistborn trilogy

  • Mistborn: The Final Empire
  • The Well of Ascension
  • The Hero of Ages

Mistborn: The Wax and Wayne series:

  • Alloy of Law
  • Shadows of Self
  • Bands of Mourning
  • Collection
  • Arcanum Unbounded

Other Cosmere novels:

  • Elantris
  • Warbreaker

The Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians series:

  • Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians
  • The Scrivener's Bones
  • The Knights of Crystallia
  • The Shattered Lens
  • The Dark Talent

The Rithmatist series:

  • The Rithmatist

Other books by Brandon Sanderson:

  • The Reckoners
  • Steelheart
  • Firefight
  • Calamity
©2007 Brandon Sanderson (P)2009 Macmillan Audio

What the critics say

"All the explosive action any adventure fan could want." ( Locus)
"A great epic fantasy.... Fans of Terry Goodkind and Terry Brooks will find The Well of Ascension fulfilling, satisfying, and incredibly exciting." ( SFRevu.com)
"Vin's struggles with love and power inject the human element into Sanderson's engaging epic." ( Booklist)

What listeners say about The Well of Ascension

Average Customer Ratings
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Speechless

I can not believe ba book series could be so good. I'm like a crack addict fumbling over my phone trying to get the third book now...

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Ridiculous

vin's choices are completely unbelievable, the Zane character is not great either. would have been a decent book otherwise.

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The required reading between Books 1 and 3

As stated by others, the opening and closing acts (being parts 1 and 5) of the book reward readers intrigue and carry on narratives and lore that was developed in the first book, and while you can sense that a lot of things are setup for the final book, the majority of the middle feels bloated and unimportant to the larger story trying to be told. Unfortunately, this also leads to the feeling of apathy bleeding into the climax of the story (which isolated is actually quite good), but has not been built towards with proper momentum, leading to major story events feeling less interesting or hitting less hard than they should. I personally spent the middle 3/5's of the book clambering for the characters to get to the point where they finally got to in the final chapters, wondering why it took so long for them to get to that point. I understand a lot of this is to stage the final book, but I really wish it had been able to grab me more than it did.

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great

great book, loved what events happened! will read again very soon. hope you enjoy soon

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Great story!

Excellent follow up to the first book. Character growth is pivotal in this story and comes together nicely.

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Pretty good, but not amazing

The overarching story is a bit confusing, perhaps because it is book 2 on the trilogy

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good read

started off confusing without access to the prolog book, but it answers all the gaps in the sorry as the book progresses.

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Awesome.

amazing follow up to the first book. The story telling and narrator are a good fit!

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It Keeps Getting Better

I had significant doubts when I started this series because honestly, how can you top or even try to match the Stormlight Archives?? In the first book of the Mistborn trilogy, I grew to love Vin’s story and her character development. The allomancy was mind bending and difficult when I first started. But, now I can’t imagine this series without it. A major character death threw me, I didn’t know how Brandy could pull me back in after killing someone significant off in the first book. I absolutely fell in love with this trilogy because of this follow up. I didn’t want it to end! After finishing Oathbreaker a few weeks ago, this was just to tide me over and get my Brandy Sandy fix. Now, having only one book left in this series, it’s also made me purchase Elantris. And as always, Michael’s narration of these novels means the absolute most to me. Never stop writing or Lord Ruler help us all, Brandon!

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Scrumptious

I want to eat this book. Mwa chefs kiss
The only thing I dislike is that Brandon used “vin frowned” a lot

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