My Spoiler-Free review
Rand al'Thor
it the day it was released (Tuesday, October 27th). The fact that I
finished it today proves how quick a read it is, which is surprising
considering the fact that this is a Wheel of Time novel.
What follows is my spoiler-free review of the book.
This is a fast read, and that is not a bad thing. With three books
left in the series, including this one, there is a hell of a lot that
needs to happen before the Last Battle takes place. As of the end of
Knife of Dreams, characters are scattered throughout the world, each
off on their own story arc, with no quick way of resolving their
dilemmas and regrouping before the Last Battle breaks out.
With so little time left, things must happen quickly, and Sanderson's
writing style is perfectly suited for this. Jordan's style focused on
world-building, whereas Sanderson's style focuses on getting things
done. We've had eleven books and a prequel that established the world,
now Sanderson writes to conclude everything. Things happen, and it's
a delight to read everything that goes on. From beginning to end, it's
a constant rush of things happening, story arcs resolving, characters
coming together.
A major theme in this book is laughter. There is the cruel laughter of
the Forsaken, there is the honest laughter of good characters such as
Matrim, and there is the absence of laughter with Rand. As we know
going into this book, Cadsuane Sedai knows she has to teach Rand not
only to laugh, but to cry. However, Rand is incapable of laughing, or
showing any emotion, and this became a huge issue in this book. What
does this entail? RAFO.
The world hurtles toward the Last Battle, and the world itself is
dying. Throughout the book, we see proof of this, as the new spring is
not bringing about the promise of new life. There is only death, as
plants refuse to grow and existing plants begin to die off. Midway
through the series, the Dark One touched the world and set in motion
an endless summer. This was resolved when Nynaeve and others used a
powerful ter-angreal to restore the movement of seasons, but this was
an unnatural solution to an unnatural phenomenon. Now we see the
result of that.
All of the main characters (save for Elayne) feature prominently in
this book. There are surprising revelations throughout, proving again
that you never actually know what to expect next. Speaking of
returning characters, there was a very welcome return of a minor
character last seen in The Dragon Reborn.
On its own, this is a great read, but this serves to set things in
motion for the last two books (Towers of Midnight and A Memory of
Light). A lot happens in this book, a lot changes, and the groundwork
is set for the Last Battle.
Definitely a recommended title, but if you're going to read this,
you've already read the previous 11 books, and intend on reading this
anyway. I would easily rank this book up in the caliber of the opening
trilogy of the series. Sanderson has done an excellent job here, and I
can't wait to read the last two books.
Emerald
<45340f1a-b3b7-4f2c...@v30g2000yqm.googlegroups.com>,
"Rand al'Thor" <mike...@gmail.com> wrote:
> As of this evening, I have finished reading The Gathering Storm. I got
> it the day it was released (Tuesday, October 27th). The fact that I
> finished it today proves how quick a read it is, which is surprising
> considering the fact that this is a Wheel of Time novel.
>
[review snipped for brevity's sake]
Thank you, "Rand" for posting this. For some reason I have had very low
expectations for this book--probably mostly to do with the difficulty of
finishing another person's work in the first place, and secondly because
I've not heard particularly good things about Sanderson's other books.
But after reading your thoughts on TGS, I'm excited to go out and buy it
ASAP!
Emerald
Arno
> Emerald
I am now 60% through and I have to say it is a shame that
Jordan did not pass the actuall writing on to the new guy
much, much earlier. Lets face it, Jordans can (could) do
characers and world-building really well, but the actual
writing and storytelling in this last installment is far
superiour. The last few books before were sometimes really
a pain to read for stretches and this happens only very
rarely with the last book, and, I suspect, in chapters that
Joardan still wrote himself. Let us hope there are not too
many of those left for the final two volumes.
Anyways, highly recommended.
Arno
--
Arno Wagner, Dr. sc. techn., Dipl. Inform., CISSP -- Email: ar...@wagner.name
GnuPG: ID: 1E25338F FP: 0C30 5782 9D93 F785 E79C 0296 797F 6B50 1E25 338F
----
Cuddly UI's are the manifestation of wishful thinking. -- Dylan Evans
Emerald
wrote:
All right! Another welcome post to reassure me that I have a treat in
store. (Got it for Christmas!) Hope all had a Happy Christmas.
Em
Brinner
> In article
> <45340f1a-b3b7-4f2c-b7c3-2fdd84796...@v30g2000yqm.googlegroups.com>,
> "Rand al'Thor" <mikedi...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > As of this evening, I have finished reading The Gathering Storm. I got
> > it the day it was released (Tuesday, October 27th). The fact that I
> > finished it today proves how quick a read it is, which is surprising
> > considering the fact that this is a Wheel of Time novel.
>
> [review snipped for brevity's sake]
>
character in. Wouldn't you say.
Brinner