Alright, I've really underestimated my speed-English-reading, huh. Sat two days long into the night with the book and I've actually got it finished right now. Wow.
My thoughts and reactions with spoilers ahead (well, this is mostly for Sacul, and also for whoever have read it):
I liked it a lot. It was, if not incredibly fascinating and groundbreaking, at least it was satisfying.
I was apprehensive after the prologue, I didn't really like the skaa introduction through Kelsier in the skaa hut with Tepper and Mennis. After I've got to Vin part, though (I think it was chapter 1), it got all better. She was my favourite character through all the book, the one I cared about the most. I liked how Brandon sets the contrast between her previous life, actually showing us the slice of it, and her actual life throughout the novel with Kelsier crew, her doubts and all the distrust, and also all the wonders she gets to see in the noblelike world. The moment when she snapped at Kelsier and the whole crew after killing Shan Elariel was probably my favourite part of the book. Her speech was really well-written. I loved all this internal struggle between "everyone's going to leave and betray you" and "you've got to trust someone, got to have some friends" attitudes; I thought it was very poignant. Those "you came back; no one has ever come back before" lines when Elend comes to her rescue, well, it might be a bit of a cliche, but I really enjoyed it. As I said, satisfying.
About Kelsier, I was never attached to the man, so while his death surprised me a bit, I didn't feel a lot for him. Yeah, he was cool and occasionally funny, but that's kind of it. Vin's reaction, though ("he just abandoned me, like everyone did") was, again, much more heartbreaking. Though his plan was clever, got to give props for the man.
About Elend, I was genuinely worried about Vin during her meetings with him, I was convinced he's just playing this political game with her, and when I finally got his POV, I was relieved he's just a nice guy, and he turned out to be actually a decent person. (Though telling Vin about the atium was really reckless.)
While I didn't guess a lot of upcoming things, like Lord Ruler's Feruchemist abilities, or him actually being Rashek (though it makes so much sense in retrospect, huh), I totally called Marsh becoming the Inquisitor when they've found out the body on the second meeting. He seemed just perfect for the role. Also, I totally called the fact the things will be screwed as soon as Yeden gets in charge of the army.
I felt the ending was a bit rushed, but the Lord Ruler revelation paid off, I guess. I wasn't fascinated at all with this Feruchemy / Sazed business, though I appreciated the logbook text, but the ending was clever. Especially those red herrings with that Eleventh Metal, with Vin trying to stab the projection it created, then Marsh trying to find a spike on Lord Ruler's back, while the solution was actually there on the surface, and that Eleventh Metal even helped to find it. That was really clever move by Brandon.
Overall, I liked the book quite a lot, and I especially liked the setup and the pace, where the crew gathers up, sets the objectives and tries to accomplish them. Judging by the comments, I don't expect the next book to be like it, but I hope it will be even better. We'll see, I guess.
Anyway, I'm starting The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson tomorrow.
Topic: The Currently Reading Thread v. A Clash of Kings (Read 289112 times)
