The Well of Ascension

How it reads

The Well of Ascension is fantasy (epic fantasy, specifically), and its dominant mood is tense. The suspense is the kind you feel in your shoulders. It moves fast: plot-driven and hard to put down, the kind of book that carries you along even when you're tired.

It's set in an invented world, in the historical past, told in the third person across several viewpoints. Its central concerns are power and politics, friendship and war. In weight it sits in the middle: substantial without being heavy going.

It's a later book in a series — you'll usually want to start earlier. It ends on a cliffhanger, so have the next book ready. At 590 pages it's a real commitment. It's well known, the kind of book most keen readers have heard of.