The Well of Ascension

Book two in the Mistborn series continues this the storyline directly after the climactic events of the first novel. This one is on par with that story. It may lack the more instinctually satisfying “kill the main bad guy” over-arching plot, but the characters continue to grow and the writing may even be a bit better here. The Mistborn are like Jedi, but Sanderson does a great job laying out the ground rules for how their powers work. For example, whereas in a lazy fantasy story like Harry Potter the author would just supply a cheap deus ex machina type answer for a plot complication (wouldn’t you know it, there’s an Adam West shark repellent spell for just this type of situation), the Mistborn have to work within the strict rules of their craft to accomplish seemingly impossible feats. A very compelling read, however I could do without the pages and pages of battle planning and procedural politicking.