Mistborn: The Well of Ascension

The second Mistborn novel tests patience: some readers find the first half a drag, and at 784 pages that is a long wait. What it does in that time is deepen the world of the first book and lay groundwork; the final stretch pays it back handsomely and sets up the last volume of the trilogy. Worth it for readers already invested in the series, but not a place to start.

Worth knowing Published in 2007, it picks up a year after the first book and turns from overthrowing an empire to the harder question of governing what is left, much of it during a siege. It is the most political of the three and sets up the trilogy’s ending, so it is worth reading the third book soon after. Each chapter opens with an excerpt from an old logbook that matters more than it first seems.

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