13th May, 2008
Stick Me with Needles
The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson.
A couple months ago, I noticed that Brandon Sanderson was given the nod to finish Robert Jordan’s much-loved and maligned The Wheel of Time epic after his (Jordan’s not Sanderson’s, duh) untimely death. At the time, I thought this would be a Good Thing™ as Mr. Sanderson appeared to be a talented, up-and-coming writer at the time with a couple of decent books under his belt and it would be nice to see someone wrap up WoT into a strong finish after Mr. Jordan’s rambling (and some might say, pointless) prose took the tale far from the original plot.
After having read Mr. Sanderson’s latest effort, The Well of Ascension, I now see exactly why he was hand-picked by Mr. Jordan to finalize things; because he rambles on about nothing for hundreds and hundreds of pages. An entire book about a city siege that could have easily been said in a chapter or two. After turning the final page, we are left more or less where we started when the book began, although we do get the added bonus of boredom and frustration with the story; sounds like a perfect fit for someone who is taking over the wheel behind WoT, doesn’t it?
As you can probably tell, I was less than satisfied with this book. I’d suggest giving it a read only after you’ve completed more exciting things like having a root canal or a tax audit. Or both. At the same time. While standing in a pit of vipers. Dressed as a mouse.
2/5 gogs.
Posted at 8:20 am |
