COMMENTARY: The Well of Ascension (2007)
The following are thoughts and reactions I had while reading The Well of Ascension (2007) by Brandon Sanderson. They do not reflect my overall post-reading opinion of the work.
⚠️ SPOILER ALERTS AHEAD ⚠️
- You know what Sanderson is? After doing the whole snobby thing of looking down at his mass market fiction and now having experienced it… he’s RELIABLE. That’s what he is. It’s not as bad as Netflix-not-bad-enough-to-regret-watching-it-but-not-good-enough-to-recommend-it. It’s not bad as “good enough” either. It’s just really solid, good fiction. It’s like Friends. It’s just reliable. You want a well-told story that doesn’t try super new things or experiment artistically? This is it. Nothing tragic or depressing happens. Nothing serious or harsh happens. Nothing heavy with social commentary happens. It’s just solid reliable fiction. It’s a well-told story.
- Once you’ve gone through his writing classes, it’s hard not to see he does what he teaches. In each scene: State the goal and stakes early, show progress by counting down (bodies, time, resources, whatever), and move through it.
- 4% - Elende needs to learn about the Overton Window.
- 6% - when elende asks vin who protects her and she immediately says Kelsier 😢
- ch 6 - missed the banter of Kelsier’s crew.
- Ch 11 - it’s interesting listening at 2.3X speed and seeing how Sanderson adds so many subplots to create a 780 page novel. We’re at the 13% mark and every chapter is simply adding more complications. A second army just showed up.
- Breeze is awesome. It’s a Cold War play. What was the word Gaddis used when a smaller country leveraged the tension between the USA and USSR?
- 15% oh Geezus. He’s throwing in a “who’s the Cylon?” subplot in here too?
- 20% So we get a mentor-student subplot too now with Tindwyl… and also a fate of the world plot with the titular “Well of Ascension”. So many things happening in the first 20%.
- 23% - I guess when you don’t have control F, you tear up books
- 27% - holy cow. A third army. The Koloss. This is crazy. Also… Sanderson loves Helm’s Deep. This is his Helm’s Deep isn’t it?
- theory. Vin will figure out the well of ascension and then control the Koloss army to destroy the other two
- 33% - awwwwww Vin and OreSeur are connecting over their traumatic pasts!!!
- 38% - It’s like the first season of The Crown. She’s stepping into her destiny.
- 39% - because you’re a boy Kandra. How can you tell? I just can. Ha ha ha ha.
- 43% - vote of no confidence after the showdown with Stratford. Nice
- 49% - Cett was in the audience the entire time!!!!!! Whaaaaaaa!!!!!
- 57% - it’s not Demue. It’s too obvious
- 60% - use the church. Clever
- 61% - wait. So… ham and elend didn’t set up this fight on purpose? And side note: Apple’s predictive text just turned elend into Zelenskyy….
- the fact that vin and Elend keep misinterpreting each other is annoying but also very effective at creating tension.
- 80% - “what made Kelsiar great was his ability to trust people” 😭
- this is one of the most unique marriages I’ve read/seen in a long while
- 81% - lol wut? Is Sanderson including Allrianne in the final leg of the book for purely comedic effect? Why is she coming along?
- 87% - how dare they die? 😭
- wait a minute. I’m just now realizing Sanderson sent Vin and Elend away just so we can have a “run to the airport” sequence. Goddamit.
- ooooooh. It’s his Gandalf saving Helm’s Deep moment. That’s why he’s doing it.
- 92% - ha. I my theory of the koloss being controlled by Vin came true… But it still is very satisfying. That’s good writing.