Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Wednesday Reviews



This book, Brandon Sanderson's The Well of Ascension, is the second book in the Mistborn trilogy. I started reading this series originally because Brandon Sanderson is going to be the key speaker at a conference I'll be attending next week. But I continued reading it because I really enjoy the books.

These are true fantasy. I realize I use that description a lot. To me, true fantasy is a book that spends almost equal amounts of time building a government and a world as they do with the plot and characters of the book. So as a reader you find out every nuance of the world they've created. In a YA fantasy or contemporary fantasy, I've heard it say that as the author you should know every detail of your world, but that doesn't mean your reader has to know. In a true fantasy, like this one, the reader knows a lot.

Anyway, with that description in mind, this book might not be for you if you don't like to be weighed down by all the details. I personally think the book could move along at a faster pace if some of the unnecessary details were left out, but I only say that because I read way too much YA and I've been spoiled. :) But, having said that, I really enjoy this series. The idea is unique and the twists are brilliant. His main characters are something he calls Allomancers, which means they can burn metals (that they swallow) and do all sorts of really amazing things with these metals--influence people's emotions, strengthen their muscles, push objects, etc. Which makes for some really cool fighting. And Brandon Sanderson is the King of writing a fight scene.

So, if you like a good fantasy book, with plenty of action, and even a little romance, you'd really enjoy these books. (That was my Reading Rainbow line. Do you remember the book reviews on Reading Rainbow?)

15 comments:

  1. You forgot to say, "but don't take MY word for it..."

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  2. Oh man, you're so right. Obviously you remember Reading Rainbow even better than I do. :) Loved that show.

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  3. I did too! I actually have an autographed picture of LeVar Burton. It's awesomesauce! :-)

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  4. This sounds like a great one for my son. Thanks, Kasie! :-)

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  5. I thought Sanderson got a lot more character work than most hard fantasy books! I'm totally spoiled by YA though, I find myself not caring so much about the big picture if I'm not interested enough in the players.

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  6. I think this sounds like a good book!!!! I'll have to check it out!!!

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  7. Shannon, I'm sure your son would love it (depending on how old he is....it is fairly gruesome in parts. Especially as he gets further into the series).

    Nick, I would completely agree with that. He did a good job right away with making me like Vin (and Kelsier for that matter) and therefore I cared about her world. I read another hard core fantasy recently where he (a different author) went into too much detail about the world before making me like the MC and I was not invested. That's a great lesson for me to remember. Thanks for pointing that out.

    Jen, I enjoyed it. I'd love to hear if you feel the same way.

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  8. What happens if a week goes by you didn't read a book because life may be a little insane with two times the kids I have. Then what will you talk about on Wednesday?

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  9. Oh Jessie, you funny little girl. I don't know when that would ever happen. :) Are you trying to thwart my Wednesday plans. Are you trying to put doubts in my mind? Actually, I have a few books that I haven't reviewed that I've read this last year that I can easily plug in just in case that happens. Or, I might actually talk about writing or something like that (heaven forbid I actually try to be helpful on my blog). :)

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  10. All I have to say is:

    "Butterfly in the SKYYYY, I can go twice as HIIIIIgh!"

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  11. Ooooh. I'll have to read this one! I love me a good high fantasy.

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  12. Have you read Sanderson's Elantris. It is an excellent standalone novel that he wrote before Mistborn. He utilized another creative magic system based on light symbols. Great stuff!

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  13. Renee, yes, I love that song. :) It takes me back.

    Carrie, if you like high fantasy, you can't go wrong with this series.

    John, I haven't read Elantris. I'll have to give it a try.

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  14. "Reading rainbow..." That is going to be stuck in my head all day! I went to the book store last night to try and find the first book in the series without luck. I'm going to try again today.

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  15. I couldn't get Mistborn at the library so I read his "Elantris" book and it was AMAZING! It established characters, world, government, and a plot all in one book, not a series. Someone told me it was better than Mistborn. I'm not sure since I haven't read that series yet, but I was completely sucked in to the world of Elantris!! You MUST read it!

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