Fantasy Book Club Series discussion

Vin is really progressing in her training, we're learning a lot more about the crew, Sazed is becoming very intriguing, and so is this new Elend....


I do have to comment that I expected this book to be a little more dark because of how it was promoted about Evil had won the battle. But since it is so long in the past, I do not feel like it is that dark, and the plot is frankly kind of typical (albeit with a really interesting magic system).

Were any of you expecting something different???

I am of mixed emotions regarding this series; I'm well into the 2nd volume. I find the plot twists intriguing and I like the cast of characters, but for some reason I'm having trouble seriously connecting with any of them. The banter sometimes feels falsely light to me, and I feel that there's excessive and repetitive detail regarding the use of the metals for allomancy. I do keep reading it, though.

I first read it without any expectations. So to answer your question I wasn't expecting different. It does remind more of steam punk, or even urban sci-fi, more than epic fantasy at times. Or maybe sword and sorcery.

Sazed is my favorite character. But you get more of Marsh here too who I loved.

I really do feel like I am re-reading this, even though I never have. The familiarity with the story and the generic characters really aren't keeping me up at night reading just one more chapter.
In saying that, I am certainly enjoying the read for what it is, it wont make my top 10 books of all time, but I am happy in reading it.

It is very similar to Brent Weeks, Way of the shadow. Young thief from the slums, is trained to infiltrate a noble house. There is a mentor that seems to be more than he is, the plot of trying to collapse the regime from within etc etc
I am positive there will be a love interest for Vin from one of the houses, which she will push away from, but Kell will tell her she has to play along as it gives them access to blah blah blah

I like how it is written though, it is easy to read, doesn't repeat itself, the pace is fine and I am happy to read it.
I hope that some of the crew characters develop as there seems to be some good opportunities there for humour and good character growth.

@ Maggie, I had no expectations, I didn't even know what the books were, I just knew I didn't want to read WoT.

I will say there are surprises upcoming...but I don't remember when. Lol. It is very similar to Brent Weeks but I read these first but...yeah I get that.

Ok finished book two, and I am starting to get a sneaking suspicion there is a slightly darker side to this, that the author is sucking us into. It's kind of like te frog in boiling wAter.
Vin is starting to do things that she probably wouldn't have done so compliantly before, like killing guards with a flick of the wrist, with the reasoning of "if they work for the empire they are evil" speech from Kell. I think he slowly in doctoring her to that thought, not one of, they are also victims of society, if they don't hold their job at the keep as a guard, then their family starves. If this is e case, then this book will become deeper as it is quite clever, if not, the Sanderson missed a huge opportunity.

I was surprised at the turn of events at the end of book two, the debacle at the keep so soon after the ball, was a shock. I was expecting some crappy romance bit to start, with the crew telling her to fake interest, but no, they go gung ho and nearly get themselves killed. That surprised me. I like being surprised, it doesn't feel as predictive as before.

What do you think the passages beginning each chapter are? I have a feeling they could be early writings from this lord ruler guy.

The one thing that's holding this read back for me is the lack of points of view. I don't know if Vin and Kell are enough to hold me for 2000 odd pages. Ham and Breeze are prime candiates. Someone on the other side would be nice (but please not a love intrest).

Also, how old is Vin? Did I miss this. At thirst I thought around 12 or 13. But no she has to be atleast late teens. Her character seemed to progress from hard egde street urchin to typical teen hero pretty quickly.

I agree with the POV issue. The narrative tends to slip into omniscient, and that rarely works real well for me. As far as the identity of whoever it is that writes those little blurbs at the beginning of each chapter, I kinda doubt it's the lord ruler. I'm wondering if it might be a future Vin? But that seems a little too predictable, so maybe that's just what I'm supposed to be thinking...

I think Vin is seventeen?....maybe.

Maggie wrote: "...I do have to comment that I expected this book to be a little more dark because of how it was promoted about Evil had won the battle. But since it is so long in the past, I do not feel like it is that dark, and the plot is frankly kind of typical (albeit with a really interesting magic system).

Were any of you expecting something different???"

I didn't know what to expect when I first read this one. I wanted to be familiar with Sanderson's writing style so I could pick it out in his WoT volumes (which failed utterly... I think he's done a masterful job of writing in the same tone for those). By the time I was this far, I was expecting a decent, average fantasy story. I was glad to be proven wrong.

I also had a hard time latching on to Vin as a character at the beginning, but she grew on me by the end of the book.

I like how the book doesn't go the easy route of us vs them. Kell has good intentions but he can be ruthless. And through Elend we see not all the nobles are villains.

Confused! Is this if you've read until the end of book 2 (Well of Ascension) or the end of part 2 of book 1 (Final Empire)?

Oh - looked at other threads, so the latter, then. Got confused because Luke in this thread, is taking about book 2, and the thread about part 1 is called 'bk 1'. I guess it's all a bit obvious really as we don't start reading book 2 until next month...

Luke wrote: "What do you think the passages beginning each chapter are? I have a feeling they could be early writings from this lord ruler guy.

The one thing that's holding this read back for me is the lack of..."

I am getting the same feeling about the blurbs at the beginning. Seems like whoever it was, they were destined for something great and it just did not work out. Do you think it might be from the book that Vin found?

I agree with Luke that my suspicion is that the chapter blurbs are from the Lord Ruler. My feeling is that he is/was the Hero of Ages that "failed". How or why... I dunno. But I keep reading!

It seems like the Lord Ruler is a good guess for the chapter blurbs. They are telling a story of their own! I'll be interested to see what is in the book Vin found. And I'm curious about Sazed - he used some kind of different magic to get to Vin, and its implied he easily took care of the Inquisitor. But we sure don't know much about him!

I think Sazed's story is probably the most interesting! I hope we see some other folks with his abilities as well.

Maggie wrote: "I think Sazed's story is probably the most interesting! I hope we see some other folks with his abilities as well."

I agree I think Sazed was one of the better characters in the book.

I think the comments are the Lord Ruler, especially since it said the 'person' went to a place that has the same name as the language the book's written in -can't remember what it's called! Interesting that lord ruler does seem immortal. I do like Elend.

So far, I'm glad the story does not follow the gritty road. Vin seems a bit too over-powered character so far. I can understand she is good at keeping tabs of people, is highly suspicious of people and very slow to trust, eavesdropes at every opportunity. But she seems to be way too much of a quick-learner.

Sazed has a different ability than Allomancy, other than it is quite powerful and useful, we don't know any specifics about it.
I didn't expect part two end at the point it did. Story and part pacing seems like rushing here and there with no apparent reason, quite like Kelsier goes into random trouble headfirst, taking unnecessary risks.

I assumed, at the end of the book, we will read the consequences of the attempted revolution, at this point I'm not sure even preparations will be half-done at the end of the book.

i am going to have to agree with some of you on some things like for example i to thought that this book would be much, much darker
and the guss that the lord ruler was the "hero of ages" back and is the one reponble for the blrbs at the begining of every chapter i think is a very good guss

That battle with the inquisitors sure had me on the edge of my seat... and now I am super curious to find out what is the deal with Sazed!!!