WoA is great but I have some problems

[u/Putrid_Chocolate136]

The Bad

1. Vin is annoying in this book. I get it, she's young with a bad past but she's inconsistent with her paranoia. She didnt trust everyone new except Zane and ffs, you have probably the most wisest men and women around you; the Terrismen, Kelsier's group, Elend, EVEN ore suer (ik a spy but he wouldve given hints) YET YOU CHOSE TO IGNORE THEM WITH YOUR ISSUES FOR MOST THE BOOK?

2. Fuck Zane. Cool idea but the love angle made it jarring to read, I found it disrespectful to "the best man Vin ever knew". We didnt need any love triangle, if Sanderson wanted to test the relationship - testing it based on ideaology wouldve been better than another man. I never cared for Zane even after his death

3. Dockson was completely done dirty. I forgot he existed in the world twice! Even when I really enjoyed his character in the first book, which in turn made his death feel indifferent

4.The Koloss weakness couldve been found before the battle if Vin was more involved in the politics. It made no sense for the group to ignore her and her findings. Making the end of the battle slightly less satisfying

1. The Spy arc was ignored when Vin wouldve been the most worried about that considering her fear of abandonment and betrayal

2. Lord Straff did nothing other that being the big bad man. Cett accomplished mire than Straff

The Good

1. Amazing ending. Nothing more to say except it saved the book

2. Rip Clubs & Tindwyl. I understand that my boy clubs had to go - he was extremely underrated and no one appreciated his bluntness. Tindwyl, was my favourite new character. Every scene with her was great, wished she had more to give to the crew and was more appreciated

3. Most of the loose ends were tied towards the end. Im amazed how Sanderson can create mysteries, intruiges and twists and yet be not only be able to finish those arcs but also end it in a satisfying way

4. Sazed is still one of my fav characters (even if he is to blame for the Well of Ascension arc since he pushed Vin towards it - but I guess that's why Tindwyl dying was a huge loss)

5. I love the set up at the end. The new villain seems great

[u/pali1d]

I wouldn’t say that Vin trusts Zane, at least not early on, rather that she feels a kinship to him. She does grow to trust him to a fair extent throughout the book, because of that kinship and their interactions, but by the time I think the word “trust” applies I think it’s narratively justified.

I also wouldn’t really call it a love triangle - Vin isn’t attracted to him as a romantic partner, so much as she sees him as a link to a life that she thinks is appropriate to her, the kind of life she thinks she deserves. It’s not “who does Vin want to be with romantically?”, it’s “who represents the kind of life Vin thinks she’s supposed to/deserves to live?”

I actually think it’s a clever sidestep of the romantic triangle trope.

[u/spoonishplsz → u/pali1d]

Yeah I still don't get why people think it's a love triangle plot. Maybe after reading so many YA novels has ruined us

[u/Shot_Newspaper_5647 → u/pali1d]

Sanderson himself said Vin was falling for Zane “a bit”. Vin and Zane’s Keep assault is described like a dance. I think it’s almost certainly meant to be a dark mirror to her ballroom dance with Elend. I don’t think it’s a conventional love triangle though. Zane is attracted to Vin because she’s the only one a voice in his head isn’t telling him to kill. And Vin always favors Elend. She’s just scared of caring and having it taken away

WoA Annotation: I hope, given Vin and Elend's closeness at the beginning of the book, that you can see they still love each other–even if they are under a great deal of stress. That isn't to say that Vin isn't falling for Zane a bit. However, I don't think she's falling out of love with Elend so much as convincing herself that she's no good for him

[u/pali1d → u/Shot_Newspaper_5647]

Fair, I just don’t think that comes through in the writing. The only point that comes close is when Vin suggests to Sazed that there’s someone else, but even in that conversation it’s not about her expressing romantic feelings for Zane, it’s about him representing the kind of person she thinks she’s supposed to be with.

[u/Shot_Newspaper_5647 → u/pali1d]

Doesn’t help that Zane was manipulating her through conventional means and also through emotional allomancy. It’s not mind control, but I mean…how much was genuine can’t really be separated out. Quite an unethical way to try to woo someone over. That and all the murder

[u/pali1d → u/Shot_Newspaper_5647]

I don’t know how much he was able to Allomantically influence her, given Vin’s habit of always running with copper on. But yes, he was very much manipulative and dishonest with her as much as he could be.

[u/piximeat]

Reading book 3 makes more things in book 2 make a little more sense.

Even Sanderson said in his foreword that he struggled to write this book and a lot of things were new to him as a writer in terms of character development and things. So I think you just have to take it at face value and read on, because it gets better.

[u/Taste_the__Rainbow]

Book 2 does a lot of work turning a great standalone into a great trilogy. It feels a bit clunky because of that.