Spoiler warning. Worst is concealed or skirted, but if the slightest spoilers bother you and you just want to know my recommendation, don't read past the second second sentence of the next paragraph.
Finished The Well of Ascension. Outstanding book, even better than the first. I really enjoyed some of the themes Sanderson explored in this novel. I always enjoy a fantasy story with some political stuff tossed in, but the book took it to the next level with an interesting look at leadership and what makes a good leader. I also particularly enjoyed the relationship of Vin and the kandra, which again, took some interesting looks at the relationship of master and servant. On the note of relationships, I liked Vin's and Elend's. Sanderson wasn't afraid to explore the impacts of what each is doing on their relationship, including areas such as Vin worrying about being perceived as a violent assassin, the differences between Mistborn and normal human and the tension it creates, and the more mundane but still interesting effects of duty and maturation on the relationship and the need to be needed. There is also the theme of religion and faith, and I'm not quite sure what to make of how the book handles it, that will require further reflection.
The ultimate plot twist was rather clever. As Sazed observes in the epilogue, we're hit with a big clue as to what has happened ( Nothing not written in metal can be trusted ) and we ignore it as rambling, just as the characters do. Or at least I totally fell for it. Cute. I also liked how the destructive force abused Zane; the taunt it leaves him with was one of the most memorable scenes in the book (whole fight was. There's something about Mistborn; their fights are cooler than any other I've seen in fantasy, and I enjoy them where I gloss over most fantasy action).
Character-wise... on the one hand, nobody could replace Kelsier, so Vin very much stood on her own as the book's best character. The flipside of this is that there are quite a few more good characters. Elend was handled generally well, although I'm not as sold on him as his plot importance suggests I should be. The kandra, as mentioned, I ended up liking a lot, and I didn't expect to since he just seems rude and stand-offish at first. Interestingly, turns out it is TenSoon who is the interesting character, not OreSeur. In hindsight, that was the biggest clue that a switch had happened. Breeze got some minor point of view stuff which I really liked; he is a bastard manipulator but has such a good heart, and the dichotomy is fun, not to mention he gets good lines in both word and thought. Zane was solid, a nice subversion of the mysterious badass trope. You don't expect him to be so fucked up, yet his raw charisma and planning lets him almost succeed in his plans. Lord Cett is minor but randomly badass (an honest tyrant is still a tyrant). Straff is at least a total douche and is fun to cheer against. Jastes Lekal fails more than the likes of Charmles. Sazed I still need to figure out my opinion on.
Vin, of course, remains admirable, a delightful combination of emotional strength and weakness, a total badass who is also a teenaged girl from a broken home. Sanderson doesn't shy away from exploiting just how impressive a person she is, and he doesn't shy away from the problems her personality and temperament create. She is exactly what I like in a main character and undoubtedly one of my favourites in fiction. Also, let's not overlook it: Mistborn are cool. They just are.
Sanderson is pretty much a master of plot twists. It can be argued he likes them too much, but he is really damn good at plotting them out and pulling them off. As I've mentioned, quite a few scenes are going to really stick with me.
My only real complaint, and this part does involve some general spoilers (so be warned!), is that I don't like the setup for the third book. Well had an awesome setup. The chaos in the power vacuum created by the destruction of the hated Final Empire is a wonderful setting for a sequel (as a quote on the book says, I did always want to know what happened after the good guys won...). By comparison, I am less excited going into the final book. "Now we must do battle against the ultimate evil" isn't nearly as intriguing. Also, I didn't figure it out until I started writing this post, but Elend getting the gift he got at the end of Book 2 bothers me, because it feels like it just tosses out all his character development as this combat-shy man who has tension in his relationship with a Mistborn because of their differences (already touched on the multiple ways that was interesting in the first paragraph). And I never liked the Steel Inquisitors as villains. Oh well.
Of course, less excited is no insult. I am still eager to read, because I know that Sanderson can take some mundane things and add his own interesting twists and themes and make them very much worth my while. He's surprised me enough already that I expect him to surprise me here.
Brandon Sanderson is officially one of my three favourite modern fantasy writers. Perhaps this should come as little shock, given that my other two apparently both think extremely highly of him (i.e. Robin Hobb has some extremely glowing praise for him quoted on the book jacket, and Robert Jordan liked him enough to have him finish his own prized work).
