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- Book written by Brandon Sanderson
- Published 21 August 2007
- Part 2 of the Mistborn Trilogy
“You don’t understand what I did for mankind…You have doomed yourselves” was not what Vin expected the Lord Rulers final words to be, and they keep hanging ominously in the air as chaos spreads over the land in the wake of his passing. Elend tries to rule (and defend) Luthadel, putting his theories to practice, while Vin goes looking for the power in the Well of Ascension, hopefully to rid the land of the ash, mist and rampaging Koloss that plague it.
Many of the things I wrote regarding The Final Empire still hold true for The Well of Ascension. The setting Sanderson has created is very original. His magic system is interesting. His prose is solid. His plot works, there are a number of interesting and well-foreshadowed twists. It is lacking somewhat in soul and feeling. However, where The Final Empire was carried by the force of its premise and a fascinating central conflict, The Well of Ascension just doesn’t have the same things going for it.
There are two main things that go wrong. Firstly, with The Final Empire, Brandon Sanderson wrote himself into a corner. For if the crew beats the arch-villain in your first installment, what happens next? The Well of Ascension could have been an amazing opportunity for Sanderson to show that he is a true trope-breaker. Instead, we get a book full of lacklustre administrative challenges and personal doubts, featuring the same characters that murdered a literal god in the previous book. It is unimaginably jarring reading about Vin listening to petty politics in a parliamentary assembly, or Elend worrying about the next speech he is about to give. There is some charm, of course, to asking the question – what do you do after toppling the evil emperor? Most stories don’t venture there. But the complete collapse of the scale of the series makes the whole thing seem banal. If Vin and the crew were out of the picture, heroes of legend to look up to, and The Well of Ascension was just about Elend, it might have worked. Then again, Elend…
That neatly leads into the second problem. Vin and Elend. One of the core questions of the book is whether Vin can learn to trust Elend. The book is supposed to be about their relationship. But there just never seems to be a reason for Vin to actually like Elend. It feels like they should hardly be able to stand being in the same room. Instead, their love never really gets questioned (this is a theme that runs through to the next book as well).
Overall, with the collapse of the story’s scope and the regrettable choice to focus on Vin and Elend’s poorly written relationship, The Well of Ascension ends up being quite a lot worse than The Final Empire was. I’m in the final chapters of part three of this trilogy as I’m writing this review. We’ll see if the ending to the whole thing makes it worth dragging yourself through the second installment…
This book, just like the rest of the trilogy, had its ups and downs for me. The political plot is not particularly strong and (unfortunately for me) the story also contains an evil imposter mystery subplot. The plot twist at the end annoyed me at first, but gets more context in the final part of the trilogy.
Once again, it is undeniable that Sanderson’s prose reads easily. Action scenes, dialogue, exposition, it is all smoothly written. In addition, the worldbuilding and most plot elements are well thought out.
The thematic focus in this book is on identity. Normally, I would cheer at this theme, but in this book it was poorly executed. Vin’s inner conflicts felt completely forced, a disservice to her character. In that respect, the identity crisis worked better in Elend’s story, but was not particularly inspiring.
All in all this sequel is a fine read, but not as good as The Final Empire.
Tagged:
- Book written by Christopher Paolini
- Published 8 November 2011
- Part 4 of the Inheritance Cycle
The Varden are slowly conquering their way across Alagaesia, taking Galbatorix’ cities one by one. But even if his hold on Alagaesia is loosening, his lieutenants are many and his power undiminished. Soon, Eragon will have to face the dark lord himself – but does the young dragon rider stand a chance against the ancient king on his own?
By the point I reached Inheritance, the only reason I was still reading was because it felt like Paolini would somehow have beaten me if I didn’t finish the Inheritance Cycle… again.
Inheritance feels somewhat disconnected from the previous books in the Cycle, mostly because the story seems to have rounded a corner – the Varden are now winning, Murthagh is no longer interesting enough as an antagonist, and Eragon can’t claim to be inexperienced. However, the previous books have failed to lay the groundwork for the climactic events of the final installment.
As a result, Inheritance has a wandering plot that feels like Paolini was groping in the dark as to how he should end the whole thing, trying to fit in pieces of story he wanted to include without knowing how to bring them together properly. It feels a bit like a D&D campaign where the players have run away with the story and the DM is just along for the ride. The results are sometimes jarring. New antagonists are introduced and dealt with in a short space. Loose ends from the previous books are tied up neatly but unsatisfactorily, making the reader feel like the ending was overhauled compared to Paolini’s original intention. There is another sub plot in Dras Leona where Eragon nearly meets his maker fighting previously unmentioned enemies, making you question whether anyone in their right mind would let him anywhere close to Galbatorix. Eragon travels to Vroengard for the second half of the prophecy, but the whole thing seems shoehorned in to make it remotely believable that Eragon would stand a sliver of chance in the final confrontation. The final confrontation, when it comes, has such a ‘gotcha!’ as its resolution that I genuinely wanted to throw things in frustration.
The final installment of the Inheritance Cycle makes the whole series worse, for it doesn’t deliver on either the buildup or the set up of the previous books. Having finally powered my way through the whole thing, it is frustrating to look back at Eragon, which I didn’t think was awful, and think back to when I enjoyed it, knowing now that none of it would lead anywhere.
There is a lot of generic high fantasy out there, and the Inheritance Cycle is not near the top. Even if you started Eragon way back when and never finished – keep it that way. There is no satisfaction to be had in Inheritance.
Tagged:
- Book written by Christopher Paolini
- Published in 2008
- Part 3 of the Inheritance Cycle
Reunited with his brother Roran after the Varden’s first battle with Galbatorix’ armies at the end of Eldest, Eragon and Roran go on a quest to save Katrina, Roran’s betrothed, from the clutches of the Ra’zac. Meanwhile, all nations of the land make ready for war, and both Eragon and Roran will have to earn their respective places among the Varden rebel armies.
If you’ve gotten through both Eragon and Eldest and you are still interested in reading Brisingr, it is unlikely that my opinion will sway you either way. For me though, Brisingr is where the Inheritance Cycle started to slip from mediocre to bad.
In the first place, I think Brisingr and Eldest aren’t fundamentally different stories (I keep forgetting in which order events occurred), and should probably have been a single book, as was originally planned. There is a lot of extra plot in Brisingr – especially the Ra’zac quest, most of Roran’s story line, and the sub-plot with Galbatorix’s supersoldiers – that add to the page count without bringing the story much further. There are some reveals in this book that feel like they should have occurred in the second installment, and Eragon moves all over the world to be places the plot requires him to be. Brisingr feels ‘inefficiëntly’ written, and maybe an editor should have cut most of it.
Secondly, there are a couple of questionable choices that drive the rest of the Cycle – such as Roran’s superhuman killing power, the waste of the first part of Celembum’s prophecy, and the reduction of dragons to Pokémon through the Eldunari system. It may be that I wasn’t as positively disposed towards the series at this point, but these kinds of decisions took away the hope I had that the series would improve with Paolini’s age. It sadly didn’t, and I would discourage most readers from spending their time on Brisingr.
Tagged:
- Boom written by Christopher Paolini
- Published in 2005
- Part 2 of the Inheritance Cycle
After the battle of Farthen Dur, the dwarven city, Eragon and Saphira must travel to the elven city of Ellesmera in the north,where they will be apprenticed to an unexpected master to continue their training as rider and dragon. Meanwhile Nasuada leads the Varden into an uneasy alliance with the scattered independent factions of the land to take the great armies of Galbatorix head on.dangerous adventures that will take him and Saphira and all over the Empire, all the while growing their strength and strengthening their bond.
Eldest, the second part in the Inheritance Cycle, is similar to Eragon in many ways: its world, plot and characters are generic and its prose isn’t particularly good. Sadly, I felt like the bad parts stand out more in Eldest, and the good bits are fewer and further between. Where Eragon still feels somewhat fresh – like any fantasy book, it offers a new world to explore, new magic to learn – Eldest feels a bit stale right from the start. Paolini tries and fails to set up a politics-plot with the dwarves, and when Eragon arrives in Ellesmera, Paolini’s age at the time of writing starts to shine through again. Both the life lessons taught by his mentor and Eragon’s love for Arya feel very much like they’re written by a teenager – which, admittedly, they probably are. Roran, Eragon’s adoptive brother, has a plotline of his own that is better written, but feels a bit tacked on, maybe because it was suggested by an editor? The final battle where it all comes together has a decent stand off between Eragon and his nemesis, but I don’t think it’s worth the trouble of reading through the book to get there.
Overall, Eldest merits a two-star rating because it is a functional, comfortable fantasy book and I know that there are people out there that enjoy this simpler take on the fantasy genre – but it is not for me and I wouldn’t generally recommend it either.
Tagged:
- Audio drama produced by Fool & Scholar Productions
- Written by Kaitlin Statz
- Released in 2019-2021
- Starring Siobhan Lumsden, Tanja Milojevic and others
The Bifrost was meant to transport its passengers to a yet-to-be colonised solar system, but when Dr. Nolira Eck wakes up from stasis, the ship’s systems are malfunctioning and the rest of the crew has disappeared. Assisted by the ship’s AI, Nolira fights to survive and to find out what fate has befallen her crewmembers.
(This review relates to seasons 1 and 2)
VAST Horizon is a very high-quality podcast. The story is very tense and keeps you at the edge of your seat the whole time while listening. Combined with superb voice-acting and very realistic soundscapes, you truly believe you are listening to someone fighting for her life on a spaceship that is falling apart around her. Episode by episode you slowly gather more information about what is going on, and by the time you find out the truth you are fully invested in the characters and their struggles. The podcast raises some pretty intense moral questions, which are brought to life by the complex and interesting characters and their backstories. I can’t wait to find out where the story will go in season three.
(This review relates to season 1)
VAST Horizon is an audiodrama focussing on the classic sci-fi scenario of a lone crewmember that wakes up in a damaged interstellar colony ship, and needs to save themselves and, potentially, the ship or face a harsh and lonely death in the galactic void. The first season of VAST Horizon is (apart from the absolute classic that is Orson Welles’ The War of the Worlds) the first dedicated audiodrama that I listened to, so take that into account when considering my review.
From the very beginning, VAST Horizon manages to set up an immersive soundscape, with great foley and good voice acting. As a result, you are invested in the story right from the start. Aggressive beeps and spoken warnings create an atmosphere of tension that has your heart racing before the story has even properly begun. The interactions between Nolira, our plucky survivor, and Ally, the AI, are fun, but because they are relatively limited as a medium for storytelling, their conversations are interspersed with flashbacks and dreams slowly revealing Nolira’s background and reasons for being on the colony ship in the first place.
The first handful of episodes feel a bit like fetch quests in a simple videogame, seeing the main character move from one place to another in the ship to solve a problem that appears just before the previous episode ended. The story is glued together by the flashbacks, but while the back-and-forth between the present and the flashbacks is a good solution to the limited format, the perspective changes feel a bit forced. The story of the flashbacks is actually the more satisfying one, because while the soundscape of the slowly decaying space ship is really cool, the story is all over the place, seemingly hamstrung by its format. I’m curious to find out whether this is a more common feature of the genre – though the audiodrama is not so different from some full cast audiobooks (like the Themis Files) I have listened to.
Overall, because of the relatively limited time investment for an audiobook (only about 5 hours for the first season at 1.2x speed), it is not particularly difficult to recommend, so if you’re interested in the format I would encourage you to give it a shot. However, I’d expect there to be audiodramas out there with better quality writing – I’ll update this review if I ever listen to one that I feel would be a better introduction to the genre.
(The review relates to seasons 1, 2 and 3)
Alright, season by season. A little warning: I give no spoilers about story-elements, but I do discuss the development of the kind of story that is told.
1: Wow. I have listened to a couple of Fool and Scholar’s audio drama’s, but this one is definitely the best. What an acting job of Siobhan Lumsden for main character dr. Nolira Eck – amazing! The audio design is also great, with a lot of depth when Nolira is climbing through the spaceship and when characters are moving through a room. Another great thing is the inclusion of other native languages than English, which seems to be of importance to more Fool and Scholar Productions – and which I love.
The story gripped me from the start. Although at first sight a relatively unoriginal story about a stranded space passenger, every episode painted a new layer on the characters and story-arch. I was thrown between empathy for the characters and disgust of their actions, but when the gunshot sounded, I literally stood still, waiting, hoping for a sign of life.
2: In the second season, the story moves from morally comprised personal histories and survival to living with the consequences of that history and a mystery to figure out. Although less emotionally gripping than the first season, it expands on the earlier set themes and follows the characters further on their journey. It does get a little talky, less showy (or let heary?). The story is less dynamic and slowly transforms from a survival story to a diplomatic conundrum.
3: The third and last season had me a little disappointed. It was fine, but only because I had gotten to know the characters in previous seasons. It has become a full -fledged political tale with a lot of characters and (therfore) more emotionally distant. There are no flashbacks anymore and character development or plot twists are limited. It felt as if this season was rather resolving the situation than providing fresh story. There was, however, way more technical worldbuilding. Not something I am overly interested in, but I do know some that love that kind of storytelling.
In all, I started in love and ended with a ‘let’s stay friends’, arriving at an average of four stars.
- Book written by David Mitchell
- Published in 2004
- Stand Alone
Cloud Atlas is a collection of six intertwined short stories spanning across different times, settings, genres and styles, sharing themes and references, forming a single tale told through six beginnings and six ends: a pacific explorer, a novice composer, an intrepid journalist, a struggling editor, a factory clone and a survivor of the apocalypse share a single stage in their struggle against the systems of power in their respective times.
Cloud Atlas is one of those books that I think truly deserves to be called a masterpiece. The six storylines are all written in such different styles and voices that it is almost hard to believe they were written by the same author. And yet, different as they are, they do speak to each other.
All stories share a theme of rebelling against oppression, and through the repetition of this theme throughout different ages and contexts the stories seem to amplify one another. Together with the original settings, complex characters and beautiful language, I found Cloud Atlas to be an extraordinary reading experience.
While each story has its merits, I found the first one not the easiest to get through. Set in 1850, it is written in an older writing style that can be a little dense. Don’t let this deter you from persevering through to the next stories, because it is absolutely worth the effort you will put in.
The way I see it, instead of writing several potentially good books, Mitchell wrote one mediocre book. I hesitate to call it a novel.
For me, this entire book was leading up to a climax that just… did not come. From the very first switch of characters and setting, I assumed that at a certain point we would see a clear connection between the stories – a eureka moment that ties it all together with a neat little bow. Imagine my disappointment when such a moment never came.
This book is very popular, so clearly this format does work for a lot of other people, but I Just Don’t Get It. If you enjoy books with a beginning, a middle, and an end – this may not be for you. If you love short stories, this might well be your vibe. I don’t really enjoy short stories, unless they end in a way that’s really smart (as far as I’m concerned, Cloud Atlas does not). Perhaps the most frustrating thing about the book for me, is that it would have been relatively easy to connect the stories in a way that makes sense and feels satisfying. Mitchell just chose not to. Why??
Review: The Well of Ascension – Brandon Sanderson
Part two of the Mistborn Trilogy – Vin must find a way to defeat the Deepness, and Elend must find a way to rule Luthadel without letting go of his principles.
Review: Inheritance – Christopher Paolini
Part four of the Inheritance Cycle – As the Varden gain ground the inevitable clash between Eragon and Galbatorix looms on the horizon. But how can the young rider defeat the ancient king?
Review: Brisingr – Christopher Paolini
Part three of the Inheritance Cycle – Reunited with his brother Roran, Eragon must take on old enemies to save Roran’s betrothed – and both brothers must earn their place in the Varden for the upcoming war.
Review: Eldest – Christopher Paolini
Part two of the Inheritance Cycle – After the battle of Farthen Dur, the dragonrider Eragon must go to the elves in Ellesmera to continue his training. Meanwhile, the Varden rebels prepare for all-out war.
Review: VAST Horizon – Fool & Scholar Productions
The Bifrost was meant to transport its passengers to a yet-to-be colonised solar system, but when Dr. Nolira Eck wakes up from stasis, the ship’s systems are malfunctioning and the rest of the crew has disappeared. Assisted by the ship’s AI, Nolira fights to survive and to find out what fate has befallen her crewmembers.
Review: Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell
Cloud Atlas is a collection of six intertwined short stories spanning across different times, settings, genres and styles, sharing themes and references, forming a single tale told through six beginnings and six ends.
