The Well of Ascension (1 of 3) [Dramatized Adaptation]

Mistborn [Dramatized Adaptation] #2, part 1

by Brandon Sanderson, Thomas Keegan (narrator), Gregory Gorton (narrator)

Evil has been defeated. The war has just begun.

They did the impossible, deposing the godlike being whose brutal rule had lasted a thousand years. Now Vin, the street urchin who has grown into the most powerful Mistborn in the land, and Elend Venture, the idealistic young nobleman who loves her, must build a healthy new society in the ashes of an empire.

They have barely begun when three separate armies attack. As the siege tightens, an ancient legend seems to offer a glimmer of hope. But even if it really exists, no one knows where to find the Well of Ascension or what manner of power it bestows.

It may just be that killing the Lord Ruler was the easy part. Surviving the aftermath of his fall is going to be the real challenge.

Genres: Fantasy, Audiobook, Magic, Fiction, Epic Fantasy

Audio CD

First published August 21, 2007

About the author

I’m Brandon Sanderson, and I write stories of the fantastic: fantasy, science fiction, and thrillers.

The release of Wind and Truth in December 2024—the fifth and final book in the first arc of the #1 New York Times bestselling Stormlight Archive series—marks a significant milestone for me. This series is my love letter to the epic fantasy genre, and it’s the type of story I always dreamed epic fantasy could be. Now is a great time to get into the Stormlight Archive since the first arc, which begins with Way of Kings, is complete.

During our crowdfunding campaign for the leatherbound edition of Words of Radiance, I announced a fifth Secret Project called Isles of the Emberdark, which came out in the summer of 2025. Coming December 2025 is Tailored Realities, my non-Cosmere short story collection featuring the new novella Moment Zero.

Defiant, the fourth and final volume of the series that started with Skyward in 2018, came out in November 2023, capping an already book-filled year that saw the releases of all four Secret Projects: Tress of the Emerald Sea, The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England, Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, and The Sunlit Man. These four books were all initially offered to backers of the #1 Kickstarter campaign of all time.

November 2022 saw the release of The Lost Metal, the seventh volume in the Mistborn saga, and the final volume of the Mistborn Era Two featuring Wax & Wayne. Now that the first arc of the Stormlight Archive is wrapped up, I’ve started writing the third era of Mistborn in 2025.

Most readers have noticed that my adult fantasy novels are in a connected universe called the Cosmere. This includes The Stormlight Archive, both Mistborn series, Elantris, Warbreaker, four of the five Secret Projects, and various novellas, including The Emperor’s Soul, which won a Hugo Award in 2013. In November 2016 all of the existing Cosmere short fiction was released in one volume called Arcanum Unbounded. If you’ve read all of my adult fantasy novels and want to see some behind-the-scenes information, that collection is a must-read.

I also have three YA series: The Rithmatist (currently at one book), The Reckoners (a trilogy beginning with Steelheart), and Skyward. For young readers I also have my humorous series Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians, which had its final book, Bastille vs. the Evil Librarians, released in 2022. Many of my adult readers enjoy all of those books as well, and many of my YA readers enjoy my adult books, usually starting with Mistborn.

Additionally, I have a few other novellas that are more on the thriller/sci-fi side. These include the three stories in Legion: The Many Lives of Stephen Leeds, as well as Perfect State and Snapshot. These two novellas are also featured in 2025’s Tailored Realities. There’s a lot of material to go around!

Good starting places are Mistborn (a.k.a. The Final Empire), Skyward, Steelheart, The Emperor’s Soul, Tress of the Emerald Sea, and Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians. If you’re already a fan of big fat fantasies, you can jump right into The Way of Kings.

I was also honored to be able to complete the final three volumes of The Wheel of Time, beginning with The Gathering Storm, using Robert Jordan’s notes.

Sample chapters from all of my books are available at brandonsanderson.com—and check out the rest of my site for chapter-by-chapter annotations, deleted scenes, and more.

Reviews

[Anna [Bran. San. Stan] · Rating 5 out of 5]

I NEED TO DECLARE MY UNDYING LOVE FOR THESE DRAMATIZED PRODUCTIONS! THERE IS JUST NO BETTER WAY TO EXPERIENCE SANDERSON. (Pardon my shouting.)

[Halcyon (sadly in hiatus) · Rating 4 out of 5]

My heart just exploded. I'm not ashamed to say that I might switch to dramatized adaptations for every book if possible. This takes it all to an entirely new level of crazy.

[Nanu · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a review for all three parts of The Well of Ascension

Let me start by saying, the performance is brilliant! Thank you so much Graphic Audio for another great book.

Now onto the review itself:
Book 1, The Final Empire ended with Elend as king, Vin as the most powerful Mistborn around and Kelsier's crew now in charge of a whole kingdom. It was a great ending. This one built on it in a way I didn't expect. Sure, there are less battles, and there's a ton more political intrigue, but it was the next logical step. We knew there were more powerful men who'd want the throne and of course they'd come to take it.
I really enjoyed seeing our beloved characters grow as people and into their new roles. The relationship between Vin and OreSeur and their growth was one of the high points of the book for me. Same with Elend and his role as King as opossed to just being an idealist.
I don't know how to praise it without going into spoilers, so I'll just say I am really sorry I paused my reading on the middle of the seconf part and I took soo long to pick it back up. I should have known it would get so much better.
My only complaint with the story, and why it only gets 4 stars is Vin and Elend's relationship, I understand it's relevance to the story, but I still found it a bit annoying and put me off parts of the book.

[Anya · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel this part was a bit too much sitting 🦆

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read-along notes: (Spoiling everything)

Set one year on from the first book.

Who’s the watcher? IS IT KELSIER!? That would be pretty cool.

The romance might not be as heavy compared to the other fantasy books I’m used to reading but I’m enjoying the current situation and I’m glad they’re covering it more in this second part. Interested to see it how it plays out; the conflict she has with loving Elend but not feeling like she deserves him or to be loved. And I liked the scenes where she dressed up again and naturally remembered all the tricks she learnt while pretending to be noble, as though part of her misses it as much as she tries to deny it. Also is Zane going to be a new interest since she can probably relate with him more?

I thought the meeting with his father was intense and cool. So far the politics of it all has been pretty interesting especially potentially being overthrown by his own elected government. Will be cool to see how he’ll resolve this and probably manage use it to his benefit.

Interesting trying to figure out who the spy is!

ZANE IS ELENDS HALF BROTHER!? Oh dang, surely they can’t hook up now? Would be too awks 😂

The assassination attempt / fight sequence was cool, she fully head-butted his head off 😂😂

Dang, surprised they actually voted Elend out. Wonder what will happen next for the kingdom and for Elend.

Oof will this be the end of their relationship? Some things can’t be fixed!

Hmm can’t tell if Zane is a good or bad influence. I suppose he is trying to help her find herself but it’s a bit like she’s turning to the darkside. She’s super violent when she ‘snaps’.

Both Vin and Elend going to Sazed to ask for advice like he’s a relationship therapist 😂
I mean I can see why she would feel Zane is a better fit for her but she barely knows much about him, they’d need a whole book together to grow their relationship if they’re actually gonna end up together.

YOOOOO ZANE’S A MADMAN!!!
I was not expecting him to turn on her like that at all….
TRAITOR ORESEUR OMG IT WAS HIM ALL ALONG WHAT!!!!!
ZANE DED!!
Well at least Oreseur isn’t all bad and was just following commands. I’ve grown to like the talking dog.

Yayyyy she chose Elend.
Daaaang Sazed is so smart. I completely forgot that he and the others were making a plan to get them to leave the city.

“DO NOT SPEAK TO MY WIFE IN THAT MANNER” Ayo that gave Rowan vibes. Go on lad.

“We don’t want you along, we don’t trust you, and we don’t like you” 😂😂

Vin travelling with the horseshoes was very cool! Dope action & battle. Vin is badass.

Dang who is this mist spirit!? I wanna knowwww!
Whaaa what’s Marsh doiiin??
“I wish I understood why I have to kill you” huhhhh
WHOS VOICE IS THAT!? That sounded like Kelsier!?

Huuuhhhh what is happening!?!? why did the mist spirit hurt Elend I thought it was friendly!?

‘Apparently Gods could cry’

“I am free” ??? But whooooo are youuuu ???

Whaaaa he’s a Mistborn too now!? Well at least now they’re perf for each other! 🤣

Man that was a bunch to process.. I have more questions than answers! Hopefully things will be explained a bit better in the next book so I don’t have to look up any explanations online. Also slightly disappointed we didn’t get Kelsier returning in some way in this book, only through echos of memories, I guess he really is dead. Such a shame because I thought his voice actor in the graphic audio was amazing and that his character absolutely carried the group, I still miss him a lot. I don’t really have a clue what the next book will bring now, I guess they’ll be needing to hunt down whatever escaped but then who knows what will happen…

[Dani · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a review for the Graphic Audio version of the Mistborn Trilogy.

Review of The Final Empire
Review of The Well of Ascension

I listen to audiobooks all the time. I enjoy them a lot, even if I'm reading along, while listening. When I discovered that Graphic Audio produced these magnificent audios for the Mistborn Trilogy, I decided that I had to listen to them while reading my copies of the books.

For those who don't know what's the difference between Graphic Audio and common audiobook productions, the former has music, sound effects, and a whole cast (Yes! A narrator and one actor per character!)

The cast was great, they matched the character's voices I had imagined pretty well.

I can assure you, they are amazing. I can't explain it with words... just go and try them. They will change the way you think about audiobooks.

[J. Griff · Rating 4 out of 5]

The middle installment of the 1st Mistborn trilogy is just as great as the first book. Taking place a year after the end of The Final Empire as Vin & her former thieves fight to form a government putting Elend on the throne. There's a lot of relationship drama between Elend & Vin that I could've done without, but I understand the need for character development. There are new characters introduced while seeing old characters comeback.

[Bobby Ngu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must. Read. OMG.

[Mohamed El Mourabite · Rating 5 out of 5]

قررت أن تكون مراجعتي بالعربية لعل القراء العرب ينتبهون لهذه الجوهرة المخفية عن أنظارهم, و لعلي أجذب انتباه المترجمين لكتب هذا العبقري براندون ساندرسون.
يوجد الكثير ليقال عن هذا الجزء.
أولا فهو الثلث الأول من الكتاب الثاني من الثلاثية الأولى "ميستبورن" من أصل ثلاثة ثلاثيات أسماها ساندرسون ب"ثلاثية الثلاثية".
بعد الأحداث الشيقة للجزء الأول "الإمبراطورية النهائية" و التي نجا منها أبطالنا بأعجوبة, بل نجى معظمهم منها بأعجوبة.
يجدون أنفسهم في لوتاديل مركز الإمبراطورية تحت حصار جيش يفوقهم عددا.
ثم ينظم جيش آخر له.
ثم جيش ثالث يتكون من 2000 كولاس, الكولاس هم قوم متوحشون ينمون بدون حدود حتى لا تستطيع قلوبهم تحما ضغط أجسادهم.
ثم تردهم أنباء عن حالات وفاة غريبة بلا تفسير في وضح النهار.
ثم ينتشر وباء فتاك في الآبار
ثم أخبار عن تحركات مشبوهة لوزارة الحديد.
ثم تبدأ شكوك عن عودة شر قديم و مجهول و فتاك يدعى the deepness.
و تتسارع الأحداث في منحى تصاعدي.
لكن المدهش أن أبطالنا مهما ساءت الأمور فدائما ما يجدون طرقا مدهشة لتحويل منحى الأحداث لصالحهم.
بعد حديثي الغامض لا بد بأن من أكملوا المراجعة لهذه النقطة اعتقدوا بأن هذه إحدى قصص ما قبل النوم.
إذا ماذا لو أخبرتكم بأن البطلة "فين" قد هربت من أمها التي حاولت قتلها, لتعيش هاربة مع أخيها الذي يعنفها و لا يكل يكرر لها بأنه سيتركها و هو آخر من تبقى لها. ينتقلان من نقابة للصوص لأخرى, ثم هجرها, لتعيش في خوف دائم لا تثق بأحد و لا تستطيع أن تنام الليل خوفا من أن يعتدي عليها أحد اللصوص.
و لا أحتاج أن أحدثكم عن معاناة كالسيو في مناجم هافسون, و لا عن سيزاد, دوكسون, زين, أوراسان.... و القائمة تطول.
هي رواية من أدب الفانتازيا المظلمة, و الشخصيات قد عانت كثيرا, و خلف كل شخصية مأساة.
و هي رواية تناقش قضايا مهمة كالاستعباد, و الظلم, و تصف البشاعة التي يتعامل بها النبلاء مع العبيد.
كيف يتم ضربهم, تعذيبهم, و قتلهم لأتفه الأسباب. و كيف تسلب نسائهم و بناتهم من أجل متعة ليلة واحدة لنبيل خنزير, ثم تقتل بعد ذلك.
تتحدث عن الجو المضطرب التي تعيش فيه الطبقة النبيلة حيث يدس كل واحد المكائد لأخيه من أجل إرضاء الحاكم الأعلى.
تتحدث كذلك عن التمييز العنصري التي تعاني منها الجماعات بسبب اختلافها مثل قوم تيراس الذين هم أناس مسالمون يعيشون لنشر العلم و رغم ذلك فهم يتعرضون لسياسة ظالمة لتنظيم النسل بحيث يتم إخصاء ذكورهم إلا قلة ممن شفع لهم خنوعهم لأسيادهم.
تتحدث الرواية كذلك عن كيف يجب على الحاكم أن يكون, هل يجب أن يمسك بالسلطة بيد من حديد ؟ أم عليه أن يترك بعض الحرية لمجالس انتخابية.
و الرائع هو أن الكاتب لا يعرض هذه القضايا في مناقشات طويلة و إنما يحكي الأحداث كأنه طرف محايد و يترك للقارء حرية صنع رأيه الخاص.
و هنا تتمثل عبقرية براندون ساندرون.

[erebus K Rushworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewing parts 1, 2, 3 of the Graphic Audio publication of this title.

This is a much lauded publication, in part because of the stellar voice work, but also the music and sound effects. The GraphicAudio motto: "a movie in your mind" is apt. Some detractors dislike that the GraphicAudio presentations are abridged, but much of that is removing particles of speech that have been illustrated in the performance (she said, wryly).

Unlike the first book in this set, The Well of Ascension focuses a little more on the bloodshed and trauma of battle. For a book ostensibly about the fall of a nation, the first book was limited to some flashy fights (similar to action movie-trailers or glitzy videogame FMV cutscenes) and stayed peripheral to the horrors of war, but this second book is not all duels and boss-fights. There is strategy, and mass bloodshed, and siege warfare, and not everything is pretty. I wish I were more into battle descriptions, but as per usual for me, they nearly put me to sleep.

The slaughtering is contrasted with three or four(?!) love stories, mystical mist stuff, spying and trust, yet more prophets and sophistry, and more monsters. I like the dog scenes.. but no spoilers ;)

A pedantic stylistic niggle I had was the tendency to use tautology: "continuing on" is a minor niggle but also "reclining back" as so on ... yes, my mother was an English teacher, and yes, it is just aesthetics.

I enjoy Sanderson's habit of deliberately misleading the reader/listener by providing almost all the information but having a completely logical twist to it, and this is evident in a few places in this narrative. I quite liked the repetition of parts of the prophecy and how they are thematically related to the current events of the book, but only in an ephemeral sort of way. By the end of the book we are quite familiar with the prophetic writings and understand a great deal more of what is going on.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

(This is a review for all three parts of "The Well of Ascension")

I very much enjoyed this continuation of the "Mistborn" series. Although I like Sanderson's worldbuilding, it's a nice change to not start from scratch and rather continue / extend what has already been established (compared to the standalone books of his I recently read).

Even though the first book works quite well as a standalone story, it was satisfying to explore the consequences for the world and characters and get a strong motivation for the third book in the series.

A few aspects of the book didn't resonate with me, but overall I liked it.

[Audio Athena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Graphic Audio review:

The graphic audio struggles with the same flaws the first book's had. It is so "pow! bang! zoom!" sounding during all the fight scenes that it is distracting. Otherwise, the voice acting and music is great. Perhaps this is just how the books are written, and it is staying true to the source material.

As far as the story goes, it had less action and more politics than I was expecting. Some characters grow, some get pushed to the background. I'm still convinced this series is all one big romance for men who like to deny that they read romance novels.

[Amarinske · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars.
review after I heard all three parts of the Well of Ascension.
Tension is build in a nice way and characters as well as the political system are build with increasing strength.
I love the writing style and the atmosphere in the story and the way these graphic audio books are made.

[Sheccid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Problems everywhere 🙃

Disaaaaaassssteeeeerrrrrrrrrrrr 💃🏻

I had some qualms about the way things were progressing, peoples "motivations" and so... but still
We are moving forward... let's see where we go

[Basil Burger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful portrayals from ever voice actor as usual. Again, only complaint is pronunciation. So weird

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

a little slow

[Bookish Satty · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a mediocre read for me. Frankly I don't get the hype for this trilogy. Nothing much happened in this installment. In the middle of a siege Vin is busy with a non sensical love triangle and Elend is just boring. I guess when you don't connect with your main characters then the story about what will happen next in their lives becomes unimportant.

The only thing I liked about this story is the magic system and the world building as it's quite unique in my opinion. I hated the insta love romance in the first book and I still can't stand the teenage angst in this book and the addition of a totally unnecessary love triangle just made me dislike the characters even more. I liked the ending though so I'll continue with this trilogy.

P.S. - I enjoyed the Graphic Audio production very much. That's the only reason I even finished this book.

[Milan Žila · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wanted to give this 4/5 stars and if I considered this part as a separate book I would. But the whole book is so much more than this part. The first part is slow paced but it will all be worth it in the end.

Compared to The Final Empire this book has a larger scope of things. The crew has different roles now and it takes a while to set everything up which makes for a slow start. However everything picks up throughout the book as more and more things start happening all around and the ending is filled up with so much action, emotion and twists that it is well worth the initial setup.

A very good sequel and an amazing Graphic Audio production. I am looking forward to The Hero of Ages. If you liked The Final Empire I can't imagine you won't like this one as well.

[Phoebe Jeziel · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOOVEEEEE. Phenomenal show as always <3

I love this book in the series bc we get so much of ELEND <3 <3 We reallyyyyy dig into Vin and Elend's character development (Vin's development throughout this series is incredible) and it's so great. Kind of a slow start, compared to the Final Empire. But in no way does this diminish the story, or feel unexciting. I LOVE this book and I was completely addicted and couldn't stop listening.

[Mya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the cast, loved the work they did for this dramatised version. They are the reason I could finish this book.
Sadly, I just couldn't get into the story. I couldn't feel anything for the characters. It took me months to finish this book 🥲 I'll listen to the 3rd one because of FOMO, but after that, I think I'll DNF every novel related to Scadrial...

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars
I did not see that coming. Jumping into the next book immediately

I soft DNFed it so many times but something kept making me come back. That was a very well executed last 1/3rd.
Really grew to liked the characters in this one
Sazed is my favorite

[Steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super fantasy series!

[Countess Athena · Rating 5 out of 5]

فعلا که اتفاق خاصی نیوفتاد

[Todd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still up there as an all-time fave. This time around re-reading the Cosmere, I'm thoroughly enjoying doing so via the excellently produced Graphic Audio books.

[Muhammad SH · Rating 2 out of 5]

الكتاب الثانية من ثلاثية أبناء الضباب.

مشاكل الكتاب الأول ما زالت مستمرة, لكن أعجبني تطور علاقة الشخصيات ببعضها.

[James Sawyer]

Bloody unreal. Maybe not quite as good as the first one but I could read these all day long