A Memory of Light

The Wheel of Time #14

by Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson

And it came to pass in those days, as it had come before and would come again, that the Dark lay heavy on the land and weighed down the hearts of men, and the green things failed, and hope died.
— from Charal Drianaan te Calamon,
The Cycle of the Dragon

In the Field of Merrilor the rulers of the nations gather to join behind Rand al’Thor, or to stop his plan to break the seals on the Dark One’s prison—which may be a sign of his madness, or the last hope of humankind. Egwene, the Amyrlin Seat, leans toward the former.

In Andor, the Trollocs seize Caemlyn.

In the wolf dream, Perrin Aybara battles Slayer.

Approaching Ebou Dar, Mat Cauthon plans to visit his wife, Tuon, now Fortuona, Empress of the Seanchan.

All humanity is in peril—and the outcome will be decided in Shayol Ghul itself. The Wheel is turning, and the Age is coming to its end. The Last Battle will determine the fate of the world.

For twenty years The Wheel of Time has enthralled more than forty million readers in over thirty languages. A Memory of Light brings this majestic fantasy creation to its richly satisfying conclusion.

Working from notes, scenes, and an outline left by Robert Jordan when he died in 2007, and consulting with Jordan’s widow, who edited all of Jordan’s books, established fantasy writer Brandon Sanderson has recreated the vision Jordan left behind.

Alternate cover edition for ISBN 9780765325952, which can be found here.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Epic Fantasy, Audiobook, High Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy, Epic

909 pages, Hardcover

First published January 8, 2013

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Robert Jordan was the pen name of James Oliver Rigney, Jr., under which he was best known as the author of the bestselling The Wheel of Time fantasy series. He also wrote under the names Reagan O'Neal and Jackson O'Reilly.

Jordan was born in Charleston, South Carolina. He served two tours in Vietnam (from 1968 to 1970) with the United States Army as a helicopter gunner. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with bronze oak leaf cluster, the Bronze Star with "V" and bronze oak leaf cluster, and two Vietnamese Gallantry Crosses with palm. After returning from Vietnam he attended The Citadel where he received an undergraduate degree in physics. After graduating he was employed by the United States Navy as a nuclear engineer. He began writing in 1977. He was a history buff and enjoyed hunting, fishing, sailing, poker, chess, pool, and pipe collecting.

He described himself as a "High Church" Episcopalian and received communion more than once a week. He lived with his wife Harriet McDougal, who works as a book editor (currently with Tor Books; she was also Jordan's editor) in a house built in 1797.

Responding to queries on the similarity of some of the concepts in his Wheel of Time books with Freemasonry concepts, Jordan admitted that he was a Freemason. However, "like his father and grandfather," he preferred not to advertise, possibly because of the negative propaganda against Freemasonry. In his own words, "no man in this country should feel in danger because of his beliefs."

On March 23, 2006, Jordan disclosed in a statement that he had been diagnosed with cardiac amyloidosis, and that with treatment, his median life expectancy was four years, though he said he intended to beat the statistics. He later posted on his Dragonmount blog to encourage his fans not to worry about him and that he intended to have a long and fully creative life.

He began chemotherapy treatment at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, in early April 2006. Jordan was enrolled in a study using the drug Revlimid just approved for multiple myeloma but not yet tested on primary amyloidosis.

Jordan died at approximately 2:45 p.m. EDT on September 16, 2007, and a funeral service was held for him on Wednesday, September 19, 2007. Jordan was cremated and his ashes buried in the churchyard of St. James Church in Goose Creek, outside Charleston.

Reviews

[Eric Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Memory of Light
Book 14 of the Wheel of Time
By Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

A Review by Eric Allen

"The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the Third Age by some, an Age yet to come, an Age long past, a wind rose in the Mountains of Mist. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was a beginning."

Twenty-two years ago, I was captivated by these words. They reached off of the page and grabbed me, pulling me into a world so vivid, so real that it seems as though I should be able to visit it on my next vacation. It was a long book for an eleven year old to read, but read it I did, and have many times since, both awaiting and dreading this day. The day when "The Wheel of Time" came to an end. It is hard to say exactly how I feel about such a thing. I have spent two thirds of my entire life wishing that this series would never end, but at the same time, dying to read its conclusion. And now, as I look to tomorrow, for the first time since my childhood, I no longer have a "Wheel of Time" book to look forward to. Everything that begins inevitably has an end, and "The Wheel of Time" is no exception. It is over. It is done. It has come to an end. And oh what an end it was.

When Robert Jordan died, I felt as though I'd lost a good friend. The two of us had never met, nor had we ever spoken, but I feel that I knew him. The books that he left behind are full of his personality, his humor, his views on the world. His books have brought me together to meet some of my dearest friends, and have influenced my career choices. Jordan and "The Wheel of Time" have had a huge impact on my life. I was apprehensive of any author taking the helm and finishing the story in his absence. You don't just replace an old friend with a shiny new one like nothing has happened. However, Brandon Sanderson, while not perfect, has exceeded my expectations in finishing these final volumes. I am grateful to him for taking the time and the effort to do the absolute best that he was capable of doing to make these books as good as they have turned out.

I don't even know how to describe this book. I just don't know the words for it. Epic is so overused these days that it has almost become meaningless. Exquisite, maybe? No, no, that sounds like I'm plagiarizing the book. Glorious. I'll go with that one. This book is glorious. It is magnificent. It is the culmination of a fourteen book series that has spanned across twenty-two years of my life, and its end left me teary-eyed and speechless. I like to avoid saying that a book is the best that I have ever read, because such generalizations are usually rather silly. Not to mention the fact that without the thirteen books that come before this one to build such a firm, solid foundation for it, "A Memory of Light" is rather meaningless on its own. However, within my all-time favorite book series, this one has become my favorite book, and it is one of the most spectacular endings to any story I have ever had the pleasure to read.

"A Memory of Light" is the Last Battle, Tarmon Gai'don, in all its glory and terrible splendor. Supporting characters bite it by the dozens in ridiculously heroic ways, the world comes inches from destruction, balancing upon the choices of a single man, Rand Al'thor. Trollocs have flooded out of the Blight, laying entire nations to waste, and the combined forces of the Light meet them on all fronts, but when Demandred arrives in the thick of battle, leading the combined might of Shara, they are forced into retreat.

Everything falls upon Mat Cauthon, the only general remaining on the field. He gathers everything to the Fields of Merrilor for a last, desperate stand against the forces of the Shadow. There is no retreat. There is victory, or there is death. Men, women, children, the elderly, everyone who can hold a weapon, fight, or help in any way flocks to his banners to defend the world from the oncoming tide of oblivion as Mat plays the greatest game of his life. He matches his skills as a general against those of Demandred, the greatest general that the Shadow has ever had to offer. Outnumbered four to one, Mat's only hope lies in his luck, and in the timely arrival of the Horn of Valere.

Demandred rants and raves, shouting for Rand to show himself and fight, and many champions of the Light throw themselves against him, seeking to behead the beast, the seeming only chance of victory, only to fall to his blade. Characters begin dropping left and right, some of them I expected, but others came as a complete shock to me.

Meanwhile, at Shayol Ghul, Rodel Ituralde and his army defend the mountain as Rand goes inside to face the Dark One himself, bringing Moiraine and Nyneave with him. Close to the Dark One, time changes, and mere hours stretch into weeks on the outside, as the forces of the Light are pounded nearly to submission. He and the Dark One struggle against one another, a mere mortal standing up to a universal force, and finally coming to the realization of what his purpose in the grand scheme of things has always been.

In the end, triumph over the Shadow can only be bought at the price of hundreds of thousands of brave, heroic lives. For even if Rand succeeds, the armies of the enemy still threaten the world.

The Good? This book is all battles, characters dying heroic deaths, doing things that are ridiculously awesome, and generally blowing up just about everything. Normally, a book that was all action, and not much else, would be a bad thing. But, the thing is, "The Wheel of Time" has earned this ending. It has earned the right to give us nothing but action for an entire book through thirteen previous books building up to this point. One could say that the entire book is in, and of itself, just one gigantic, explosive climax, though it does still have a narrative, and build to a glorious climax all of its own. Even now, at the end, characters still show that they can learn, grow and develop as people. Rand, Egwene, Perrin, Mat, Pevara, Logain, and even Olver all have very satisfying character growth throughout the fight.

This book is exquisitely written. Brandon Sanderson did an excellent job of filling in for Robert Jordan. I cannot thank him enough for working so hard to complete these final three volumes as well as he did. It is true that Sanderson's grasp of military tactics is not as keen as Jordan's were, and so he did something brilliant. He didn't focus on the tactics as Jordan likely would have. He focused on the characters instead, and that more than fills in his lack of experience with arraying armies and the like. I found myself cheering out loud in many places, and getting choked up at others. It was hard to see characters that I have grown up with dying by the handfuls, but the things that they did, and the feats that they accomplished were such a fitting end to them.

This entire book was pure, unadulterated, fan service from page one to the end. It was the payoff for all of our faithful reading and waiting. Everything you ever wanted to see happen in a "Wheel of Time" book does and more. Almost every single character that has played more than a bit role in the series, and is still alive at this point, did something heroic. No one was left out. Everyone was the hero, even nameless, faceless farmers who took up weapons to fight. And I really liked that.

The Bad? There is only one teeny, tiny nitpick I have about this book. A few of the early battles in the book, before Mat's last stand, do get a little repetitive and some people may find them to be a little boring because of it. But once the true last battle begins, I promise you, you will be riveted and completely unable to force yourself to put it down.

This was a glorious climax to a glorious series. It was worth the wait. It was worth the books in the middle of the series where the story slowed down and focused more on politics. It was even worth slogging through "Crossroads of Twilight" . I really just don't even know how to tell you how good this book was. If you've made it this far in the series, you will not be disappointed. It is one of the most satisfying endings to anything that I have ever had the pleasure to witness, and I thank God that I ever picked up the first book all those years ago for it.

"A Memory of Light". It's such a fitting title. Even more so considering the author's untimely demise. So long as there is light in the world, we, the fans, will never forget.

James Oliver Rigney Jr.** sir, though you and I never met, I would like to think that we might have been friends if we had. Thank you, my friend, for everything. May the light shine forever upon you and yours. Though you are gone from this world, your memory remains, as does your legacy. May they never fade or falter.

Goodbye.

"The wind blew southward, through knotted forests, over shimmering plains and toward lands unexplored. This wind, it was not the ending. There are no endings, and never will be endings, to the turning of the Wheel of Time.

But it was an ending."

And I'm not ashamed to admit that I cried when I read that paragraph the first time. It was such a beautiful way of bringing things to an end. Most of my life I read about the winds that were beginnings, and now, this one, brought an end.

Check out my other reviews.

**Robert Jordan was the pen name used by James Oliver Rigney Jr.

Also, some time ago, Brandon Sanderson ran a charity fundraiser. For a mere ten dollars, a person could have their name and general description entered into a drawing. These names would be pulled out whenever Sanderson needed to give a character a name. He would try to work in the person's description as much as possible, and change the person's name to fit within the world of "The Wheel of Time". Much to my surprise and childlike glee, my name was drawn the very day that I entered it. In the chapter titled "The Last Battle" on page 626, a little more than halfway down, you will find a character named Allin being yelled at by Uno who shares my general description. That's where I was used. Amongst the best ten bucks that I've ever spent, I think.

[Omar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started reading this series when I was 11.

Today, at 23, I managed to get a copy off my friend a day early. I got it just after work, and I've had a few hours to myself. It's midnight, and I haven't stopped reading. I'm sure I'll have to blog about the immensity of this series, and what it's meant to me, once I'm done, but for now, I just wanted to give a quick, spoiler-free update: this book is essentially a 900 page battle sequence involving dozens of characters, and spanning an entire world.

I have two main reactions to this (though I'm only halfway through). The first is courtesy of 11-year-old me reaching through time and space to say: HOLY SHIT, THIS IS FUCKING AWESOME. FUCK. YEAH.

The second is the slightly more measured, 23-year-old student of writing, who is quite simply in awe of this staggering achievement, this colossal work of art, woven of so many delicate strands. The level of detail, the timing, the pacing, to bring it to this point...HOLY SHIT, THIS IS FUCKING AWESOME.

Robert Jordan, you magnificent bastard, I love you.

EDIT: I finished the book a few hours ago. I'm so very glad that I was able to use work as a means to extend the reading experience beyond one burned-out marathon. This way, over two and a half days, I was able to space it out and luxuriate in it. If ever there was a book to be savoured, it is this one. It was, for me, the greatest storytelling experience I've ever had, and likely will ever have. Three decades in the making, twelve years in the reading, such an astonishing journey. It defies belief. How, with such astronomical expectations, was it pulled off?

I don't know. Likely, I never will, and I'm not sure I even want to - some mysteries are necessary. My reactions, in case you're wondering, are the same at the end as they were midway through. And okay, yes, there were some tears, it wasn't all manly exclamations but so what? Lastly, 'A Silence Like Screaming' remains my favourite chapter title ever. Wonderful, wonderful stuff.

[Robin (Bridge Four) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well here we are and it is finally over. It has been so long and yet not long enough.



₪₪₪My Wheel of time journey lasted:₪₪₪

14 months - with my great friends at BB&B
There were 11308 pages
Over 4 Million Words
A staggering 19 days, 5 hours and 25 minutes of amazing audio
With 147 Unique PoVs and 1379 total PoVs
And a staggering cast of over 2200 characters

The world building is immense and I’m not sure anyone does that better than Robert Jordan did. Although I believe that Sanderson might give him a run for his money.

The characters were infuriating. This is one of the only books series I’ve read where I’ve spent 80% of the time in various states of dissatisfaction with most of the characters for some reason or another but still liked the overall story. One of my biggest pet peeves of the entire series was Rand and his Three loves I really hated that in the end I never felt like he loved any of them. Maybe Min….I think she is his soul mate but he didn’t really spend much time with Avienda or Elayne and yet they are totally devoted and in love with him ugh…. Min is awesome though and one of the few characters in the series I was never upset with.



There is really no way that after a journey like this you won’t have a plethora of feelings. If you are a huge fantasy reader then I think this is one of those series you have to tackle sometime in your life. There are a few slower books that ooze of worldbuilding, political maneuvering and characters but no serious plot movement and then there are the final 4 books of the series that are amazing and it feels like everything happened in.

There are things I loved in this series and things I really hated but overall I enjoyed the journey I went on. Some people survived that I didn’t think would. Some people died that I thought were safe and it was heartbreaking. But then there are those heroic moments that original cast from the Two Rivers Rand, Mat, Perrin, Egwene and Nynaeve got to have and each one shone bright at the end no matter how they were dragged into their destiny.

Still it is the end and for some of the side characters I wanted a little more info, hell for some of the main characters I wanted to know more. It isn’t perfect, there isn’t an epilogue set 5 or 10 or 20 years later and I really wanted one. I was very interested in the directions that some of the people left were going to take. But in an epic this big I guess it is impossible to tie up every last thing so I’ve filled in a few things for myself with some of the hopes and dreams I had for the remaining characters.

My hat is off to Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson for undertaking this massive fantasy series. It is an amazing journey that I might one day take again because the wheel weaves as the wheel wills and there is no beginning and there are no endings, and never will be endings, to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was an ending.

February Read With the Fantasy Fanatics of

[Em Lost In Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Utterly exhausted, emotionally drained and cried rivers by the time I read the last page. Loved it and will definitely reread it.

[seak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy cow, I finished! Only took me 15 years!


Hey, I have a booktube channel (Youtube for book reviews!) and I discuss the latest trailer for the new Wheel of Time TV show from Amazon here. Please subscribe, it helps a ton!

[Mitch Mills · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’d like to start off this review by saying that my one star-ing of this book is NOT simply a bashing on Sanderson. I have many problems with this book and they fall at the feet of both Sanderson and Jordan.

I have been an avid reader of the Wheel of Time novels for the last decade--as a thirteen year old I fell in love with the books. At the time Jordan was still writing what would be his last books, and I reveled in them. I am by no means an avid defender of Jordan’s writing, particularly his abysmal approach to romance, but I still count The Wheel of Time novels among my favorite books. Of course, his death was crushing and I knew it would be the end of the “typical WoT book.” I was pleasantly surprised with Sanderson’s first two books—even with the ABSOLUTE murder of Mat’s character—and I was incredibly eager to read the final chapter. Unfortunately for me, it was an incredible let down.

In order to limit myself and not go on a ten page rant on everything I could say about this book, I’ve condensed issues into four categories that I think are most detrimental to the book.


One: Characters barely stay true to what they’ve been built up over fourteen books to be.

My fellow reviewer Mel says it best: “Every character speaks with the same voice. If you removed the names, I think it would be almost impossible to determine who might be speaking.”

The characters feel more like chess pieces to move the plot than characters with different motives. The most glaring example of this is in a certain warrior who has gone through significant character development in recent books: deciding that he is not a man alone, a lone warrior on the field, but is actually a man, a husband and his life matters and is more than just a weapon against shadow. He makes the choice to be a leader instead of the point guard. Then he makes a choice that is completely contrary to everything his previous development pointed to, it's the stupidest decision in WoT history--even more stupid than the many stupid decisions of one sun-haired princess, which is saying something. This just screams "I NEEDED HIM FOR PLOT." This is basically my second point…


Two: Secondary characters are tossed around like rag-dolls.

This one I am laying at the feet of Sanderson. The WoT books are absolutely teeming with secondary characters, and they are one of my favorite parts of Jordan’s writing. Even if a character wasn’t one of the thirteen or so big players, they still were treated like they mattered. Secondary characters in AMOL are nothing. Some important (Elaida) and some less important (Lini, Thera) characters are not even seen in this book. Many that appear are mentioned in passing, the reader not knowing their final fate. Scores of secondary characters die, which is not unreasonable in itself, but their deaths are often just footnotes—only noteworthy for how it may impact the plans of the Primary.
I’d say this is the biggest difference between Jordan and Sanderson: Jordan treated secondary characters like full, realized characters who happen to be in the background of the story he is telling. Sanderson treated secondary characters like devices he can pull out and throw away when he needs some plot filler or some sad moment to take up space.


Three: The incredible lack of emotional involvement or response.

The book reads as if most characters have the emotional range of toddlers. The return of perhaps the most pivotal character in the series is met with all of the circumstance of a long wait in a dentist’s lobby. This character has significant and unresolved relationships with every single primary character, and their re-entry onto the stage is not an emotional gorefest as it should be, but is--quite literally--a small expression of shock, a hug and a handshake.
As disappointed as I was with this scene, the overall theme of “Events Have No Emotional Consequence” is continued throughout the book. As I’ve already hinted, and as you might expect, the last book of a sweeping epic about the struggle between good and evil contains a fairly large amount of character deaths. However, even significant character deaths seem to be gotten over in seconds by the survivors. One can easily argue that it is war--the aptly named Last Battle--and there is no room for the survivors to grieve, but I am just not buying it. One character looses what amounts to their entire family and the totality of writing devoted to the reactions to those deaths can be counted in sentences—not paragraphs. Even AFTER the battle is over, there is a scant few sentences concerning the consequences of death. This brings me to my last point.

Four: Absolutely no closure.

In my opinion, it is simply criminal to end a fifteen volume epic with: The Big Bad was dealt with. The end.

What the hell happens to these characters that I have grown up with? What are the goddamn consequences of this war? Do the survivors have long and happy lives? Do they have kids? Do they pine over their lost friends? I didn’t sink ten years of my life into these people to be told: “Yeah, they live. Bye.”
It may be that I was spoiled by Tolkien, because he respected his characters enough to give them endings. Not knowing what happens to all of these characters is such an enormous disappointment, and I am more saddened by that than anything that happened in AMOL.

I’ll end with one last analogy. My most important critique of AMOL is that it is too much of a catalog. If you read a history of the most important events of WWII and then read Elie Wiesel’s Night , it would be clear that the first was a book of momentous events, but the second was a book of immensity. AMOL is far too much of the former and far, far too little of the latter. And as someone who fell in love with all of the characters of WoT, I feel like I deserved more from their final story. And much more importantly they--as men and women, as kings and queens, as warriors and witches, as blacksmiths and barmaids, as gamblers and scholars, as healers and handmaidens, as shepherds and innkeeper’s daughters—-they deserved better.

[Anna [Bran. San. Stan] · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can’t believe it’s over. I already feel bereft. I’m going to have the worst book hangover ever. But before I get there, here are my thoughts, reactions and quotations using progress percentage points of the kindle edition. At the very end, I noted down some interesting issues raised in the 10th anniversary spoiler stream so if you haven’t watched the stream yet, make sure to at least scroll to the end and read those – if my reading log is too long for you. (I wouldn’t blame you.)

SPOILERS BELOW!!!


*******
0% That Michael Whelan cover is 🔥!

*******
PoV: Talmanes

4% This horrible fight in Caemlyn makes me unreasonable angry with Mat. He should have opened Verin’s flaming letter.

6% “I’ve found the secret to defeating [the Fades] […]. You just have to be dead already.“ 💔

*******
PoV: Moghedien

7% Taim as one of the Forsaken/Chosen. Oy. Is that just a rank to be achieved or does it elevate him in the One Power? I wonder if he had ended up where he is if Rand had not given him so much authority and control.

*******
7% “The wheel of time turns, and Ages come and pass…“ Reading those opening lines for the last time has me all emotional.

*******




PoV: Rand

8% So Rand is a viewpoint character again. As much as I enjoyed the indirect characterization in Towers of Midnight, it’s good to have him back.

8% The first glimpse we get of Rand is him laughing. That is somehow encouraging.

8% “It‘s really here […]. I’m not ready – we’re not ready – but it’s here anyway.“ My thoughts exactly, Rand.

13% “Enough talk. You will bed me now.“ 😂 You just have to love Aviendha. Though I’m still not sure how I feel about Rand having three lovers.

*******
PoV: Egwene

17% I grow increasingly tired of Egwene’s attitude towards Rand. Calling him sheepherder still – and not with affection as Min does, but with condescension, and then opposing him at every turn when so much is at stake? Really?

18% Yes! Moiraine to the rescue of this snafu of a meeting.

*******
PoV: Perrin

19% The Dragon‘s Peace. Oh how I hope it will save the Aiel from their disastrous fate.

*******
PoV: Rand

24% I like how Sanderson balances battle scenes with emotional, character-driven ones. Here, Rand’s reaction to Elayne’s pregnancy was both beautiful and sad. “Please do not name either child after me, Elayne. Let them live their own lives. My shadow will be long enough as it is.”

******
PoV: Elayne

25% Man, without Traveling the forces of the Light would be so screwed.

*******
PoV: Rand

29% I hadn’t considered that having Lews Therin’s memories also includes memories of having had sex with a Forsaken. Yuck.

*******
PoV: Egwene

29% Hey, Egwene is channeling (pun intended) a Lurcher/Coinshot – or Magneto – , using metal to kill.

*******
PoV: Rand

33% “The secret, it turned out, had not been to harden himself to the point of breaking. It had not been to become numb. It had been to walk in pain, like the pain of the wounds at his side, and accept that pain as part of him.”

34% I didn’t think I would find moments of happiness in this book, but seeing Rand sparring with his father sure made me smile.

*******



PoV: Mat

34% Mat rescuing Tuon from a Gray Man and bickering with her after? Just delightful!
“I have decided not to be jealous. You are fortunate. The missing eye suits you. Before, you were too pretty.

37% Yay! Mat and Rand finally meet again after an eternity and those two are bickering just as much as Tuon and Mat have done before.
“What did you do to your hand, by the way?”
“What did you do to your eye?”
“A little accident with a corkscrew and thirteen angry innkeepers. The hand?”
“Lost it capturing one of the Forsaken.”
“Capturing?” Mat said. “You’re growing soft.”

37% Now that is just cool: First, Rand uses Tuon’s logic against her, makes the garden explode with life again and then seals the deal. “I extend my hand to you in alliance. The Last Battle is upon us. Join me, and fight.”

*******
PoV: Elayne

39% I have a really bad feeling about Agelmar and Bashere. It would be too much of a coincidence that both generals miscalculate so badly with their armies.

*******
PoV: Egwene

40% I really wish Elaida had found out Rand, via Tigraine, is part of the royal line of Andor and that he, in fact, is the key to defeating the Dark One – and that her interpretation of her foretelling was just dead wrong. But I fear I’ll have to be content with her fate as a damane. I also wonder if Galad ever finds out that Rand is his half-brother?

41% What the hell is happening?? Sharans? With hundreds of channelers? Nonono. This is really bad.

*******
PoV: Siuan

43% Bryne is the third general to make a costly mistake. I don’t like it, not one bit.

*******
PoV: Egwene

44% Demandred. Oh that is not good. I had almost forgotten about him.

*******
PoV: Perrin

45% I fucking knew it! There was just something fishy about the generals’ mistakes. So Graendal is Compelling them, I take it?

*******
PoV: Gawyn

45% Oh no, Gawyn. Not the Bloodknife ring. Dead man walking.

*******


PoV: Egwene

51% Oh snap. A battle of the wits. How disappointing that Tuon proves to be insufficiently armed against Egwene.

*******
PoV: Mat

55% I’m not sure if the way Tuon appropriated Min as her Truthspeaker/Doomseer amuses me or makes me angry on her behalf.

*******
PoV: Lan

56% I feel so incredible sorry for the four generals. Not even knowing you’re sabotaging your battle and to finally realize what damage you’ve done is just cruel.

*******
PoV: Mat

57% Man, sometimes I really love Tuon. The way she trusts Mat and his mind is gratifying.

60% Watching Mat be a genius battle commander is everything.

*******



Chapter 37: The Last Battle

67% One chapter of 217 pages? This will be a hell of an epic battle, it seems.

Characters I think will die: Rand (though I really hope I’m wrong about this); Gawyn because of the blood rings; either Egwene or Nynaeve but I think it’ll likely be Egwene because of Gawyn’s death – I don’t think (hope) other MCs will die but if so, it’ll likely be Perrin rather than Mat.

Characters I think will survive: Mat; Perrin; Elayne & Aviendha (since both of them will have Rand’s children); Min; Tuon; Faile; Nynaeve and if Nynaeve lives, Lan; Galad; Thom; Moiraine

*******
PoV: Uno

68% “He had tried to keep himself lean so he’d taste flaming terrible when they stuffed him in one of those flaming cookpots.“ Smart plan, Uno! 😂

68% Demandred is using a circle of 72 channelers???? Holy shit.

*******
PoV: Pevara

70% Androl is such a fun character to watch. You can tell Brandon is enjoying himself with the use of gateways.

*******
PoV: Rand

71% How is it that evil forces often make the world an oppressive, dreary, desolate, dead place? Doesn’t sound like fun to live in. Wouldn’t it be nicer to live in a temperate, luscious, beautiful world?

*******
PoV: Rhuarc

74% Not Rhuarc. Compulsion is such an unfair trick.

*******
PoV: Elayne

75% “Women are as fully capable of being evil as men. Why should one hesitate to kill one, but not the other? The Light does not judge based on gender, but on the merit of the heart.“ Go tell Rand that too, Galad. Maybe that eases his conscience.

*******
PoV: Min

76% Siuan dead – and that so soon? I don’t like it. I guess Bryne is next based on Min‘s viewing that they would only live if they stay close to one another.

*******



PoV: Galad

78% Even though Gawyn’s death was inevitable once he put on those rings, I felt Galad’s pain – at least he died in his brother’s arms, if not in Egwene’s. And I did get my wish: Galad learns Rand is his half-brother.

*******
PoV: Rand

78% It finally dawns on me that Rand‘s battle with the Dark One comes down to a battle of the mind. An elegant solution, that. Not sure how a sword battle would have looked.

79% This vision of a world without conscience and compassion, without the concept of good and evil, leaving people to think the Last Battle was won is so much worse than the one with an apocalyptic feel – and nicely renders my earlier complaint about it moot. This is a different, unexpected and more terrifying kind of evil.

*******
PoV: Elayne

80% RIP Gareth Bryne.

*******
PoV: Mat

80% “I and mine are ordered to -"
“To go die on the front lines. I’m bloody working on that, Karede. Keep your sword out of your own gut for the moment, kindly.“

*******
PoV: Galad

81% The fact that Demandred channels during his fight with Galad shows how worried he is in the face of Galad‘s skill. Feels like cheating.

81% What is happening?! No, not Galad as well!!! And not the sword arm! I really hope I wasn’t wrong about him.

*******
PoV: Ila (Aram‘s grandmother)

85% Hold up, Hanlon is there?? What is he up to?? I see bad things happening.

*******
PoV: Elayne

87% I fucking knew it! This is horrifying! Planning to cut her babies out?? Someone’d better help Elayne! I’m betting on Brandon not doing that but still – letting that bastard Hanlon escape has even worse consequences than I imagined.

*******
PoV: Min

87% Why has Mat not called the Seanchan back sooner?

*******
PoV: Egwene

88% I hate balefire.

88% Egwene is amazing! Creating a weave to oppose balefire. This is awesome! In both senses of the word.

88% This is not awesome. Not Egwene. Here I am, tears in my eyes. I’m gonna need a minute.

*******
PoV: Rand

88% “Not Egwene.” I’m with you, Rand.

*******



PoV: Lan

89% “Some men would call it brash, foolhardy, suicidal. The world was rarely changed by men who were unwilling to try being at least one of the three.“Go, Lan, go! Kill Demandred!

89% “I am the man who will kill you.“ Hell, yeah!

<89% “I did not come here to win […]. I came here to kill you. Death is lighter than a feather.” I refuse to believe that Lan is dead!

89% End of chapter. The last battle doesn’t appear over though!

*******
PoV: Rand

89% “ ‘Let go, Rand. Let us die for what we believe, and do not try to steal that from us. You have embraced your death. Embrace mine.’ […]
And then, he let go.
He let go of the guilt. He let go of the shame for not having saved Egwene and all the others. He let go of the need to protect her, to protect all of them.”
Sounds like Rand is speaking the fourth ideal of the Windrunners.

******
PoV: Mat

90% Of course! It just occurred to me that Mat technically died – so the Horn can now be blown by anybody! Good thing everybody was as I dense as me.

*******
PoV: Elayne

90% Now that I really needed to see. Birgitte returning and killing that sadist Hanlon, standing over her own dead body.

*******
PoV: Mat

90% Yay! Lan is not dead!

90% What death is Hawkwing talking about? “Another moment, one you cannot remember.” Seems I can’t remember either, like Mat. Rand saves him twice?

91% Firing the dragons from inside that cave at different targets through gateways? Mat, you bloody genius!

*******
PoV: Jur Grady

91% The people from Hinderstap! Did I mention Mat is a bloody genius?

*******
PoV: Padan Fain

95% Of course, what this clusterfuck in the Thakan’dar valley needs is Padan Fain and Mashadar meddling. (smh)

*******
PoV: Mat

97% At least Mat makes short work of Padan Fain. Good riddance. With Slayer finally dead as well, more loose ends are tied up.

*******
PoV: Rand

97% Rand is doing it! Moiraine and Nynaeve finally have a big part to play. Rand is winning and it looks like he really has a chance to survive this. Go, team Light!

*******
PoV: Logain

97% Seeing people grateful and in awe of Logain and his Asha’man is the scene I didn’t know I needed. How awful it must have been to face people fearing and hating him all his life and now to be looked upon with gratitude. What a wonderful reward; he truly attained glory

*******



PoV: Perrin

98% Good on you, Perrin, for being able to kill a woman with no fuss. Goodbye, Lanfear. (*3)

*******
PoV: Rand

98% “He wove something majestic, a pattern of interlaced saidar and saidin in their pure forms. Not Fire, not Spirit, not Water, not Earth, not Air. Purity. Light itself. This didn’t repair, it didn’t patch, it forged anew.” You did it Rand. Now please don’t die.

*******



PoV: Perrin

98% Nynaeve and Perrin aren’t the only ones crying over Rand. He can’t die! After what he has given, he deserves to live with his three women happily ever after.

******
PoV: Moghedien

99% I’m taking a brief break in my mourning to feel a bout of schadenfreude about Moghedien being collared again.

*******
PoV: Nynaeve

99% What? Rand is dead? But why don’t his girls care?? This doesn’t make sense.

*******
PoV: Tam

99% “He did not wipe the tears from his eyes. You did well. My boy. . . you did so well. He lit the pyre with a reverent hand.”

*******
PoV: Min

100% “Now we make sure that everyone well and truly believes he is gone.” What is happening??

*******
PoV: Rand

100% Rand lives!! And he freaky Fridayed with Moridin? Well, at least Moridin is handsome and, more importantly, Rand has a left hand again this way and is no longer in pain. And now I’m crying again. (*2)

100% So what kind of power does Rand have now that he can light a pipe like that? (*1)

100% “This wind, it was not the ending. There are no endings, and never will be endings, to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was an ending.”

100% I want an epilogue set 10 years later! (*4)

______________________




After sitting for a while in quiet contemplation, I finally watched the Memory of Light 10th anniversary live stream and I took some notes on a few questions that were raised.

(*1) There is no canon answer to how Rand is lighting the pipe at the end.

(*2) Brandon’s explanation on the body swap: RJ wanted a chance for Rand to put down the weight and go live a life. “The soul that wanted to live found the body that wanted to live and the soul that wanted to die didn’t go to the effort.”

(*3) The biggest secret is revealed: Lanfear is actually alive. Her problem is that she’s basically screwed no matter which side wins: “She needed to give something plausible that when it got back to Rand – if he lived – he would believe that this all happened. The whole idea of playing with Perrin was to give as credible a witness as she possibly could to her demise, so there would be no question in the minds of the heroes.”

(*4) For everyone (like me) that wanted to know where our characters go from here: Sanderson says that in the three theoretical sequel books focusing on Mat and Perrin, Rand would have time to raise his kids; Lanfear and the Seanchan would be involved, so that it’s mostly “about all the problems in the Seanchan Empire and conflicts between the two continents.” Also, he imagines “Rand makes a cameo – but it is Rand in a shack somewhere you don’t expect, and hanging out with his kids, that’s all you get from Rand, maybe some wise words, […] you’ll get some advice from Rand at some point, that’s what I would imagine would happen in those three books if they had ever gotten written.” Also, at some point in the future, Rand will realize that Lanfear is alive, but he would not intervene.

More on Rand post Memory of Light: “In Rand‘s realm he is as powerful [as a Shard] or maybe more, if he is – as I imagined – the direct manifestation of the Pattern and what he wills happens, this is more powerful than a Shard because there’s no balancing factor for him, he basically can imagine something and it occurs, which should be terrifyingly powerful but, fortunately, he just wants to see the world […] as each of his women finish with the jobs that they have for themselves and join him, it’ll be the four of them seeing the world. Elayne takes the longest before she joins up.”

(5) “Do I really have to spank one of the Forsaken?” Turns out yes, but that’s something Brandon would like to retcon.

I wish I could say onward.

[Becca & The Books · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m sorry, I tried.

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to give this book five stars, and if I had stopped reading about halfway through, I might have. As I went on, though, some little things that I had glossed over as I devoured the book started to weigh heavier and heavier on me, and in the end, I can't give it more than 2 stars.

On TaimandredDemandred: What a waste.

Okay, yes, Shara was Chekov's Gun. I don't necessarily have a problem with them showing up to fight in the Last Battle, because we knew they were out there, but we had such sketchy knowledge of them that all the scenes with them feel like they happened BECAUSE PLOT rather than because of any buildup earlier in the series.

I mean, Bao the Wyld? The prophecies? These are mentioned in the book, but since we had literally no hints about them previously they don't actually matter. Getting the Aiel to follow Rand took multiple books of set up and still ended up with some rough spots, but we're supposed to accept Demandred at the head of the Sharans fighting for the Shadow in the span of a few pages. Honestly, he could have shown up leading an army of cats from the moon and it would have had roughly the same effect.

Well, maybe wolves from the moon. At least the fact that wolves can talk was previously established.

Also, the racist overtones of having the mysterious and unknowable people from the east who have a massively hierarchical society, are totally untrustworthy, and are fanatically devoted to their leaders arriving in hordes to destroy all that is good are kind of right up there in your face. I know Tolkien did it too, but come on.

The scene with Rand and Roedran of Murandy felt like it was only in there because that was one of the main theories of where Demandred was. He shows up, Rand stares at him all confused, and then he's never seen again.

Finally, this was Demandred? The guy who said:

He was a general, a great general, but generals did not have to fight alongside the men they commanded!

in Winter's Heart? The guy who said:

"So it seems he must be killed after all," Demandred said. Hiding his satisfaction was not easy. Rand al’Thor or Lews Therin Telamon, he would rest easier when the fellow was dead.

Does that sound like the revenge-obsessed homicidal maniac who's ready to throw the entire war just to kill Rand? Demandred's hate is mentioned previously, but it seems like it was the only part of his character that was actually kept. You could honestly replace Demandred with a giant robot who ran around broadcasting "LEWS THE-RIN! LEWS THE-RIN!" and blowing up the good guys with lasers at the head of his army of terminators and other than the WTF factor, you wouldn't have to change the structure of the story at all.



Well, I guess a giant robot would have a hard time fighting three duels that were essentially the same duel. And Demandred saying Gawyn was worse than Galad even though Gawyn was enhanced by multiple bloodknife rings? That's just cold.

Getting taken out by Lan wasn't bad, other than the repetitiousness of the dueling, but setting it up to look like Lan died and then having him suddenly be alive was a cop out. Lan was the one who told Rand about Sheathing the Sword. Lan has spent the entire series expecting to die.

Then again, after Galad "clearly" got his head cut off and then suddenly lived because plot, I guess I shouldn't have expected anything else.

Finally, here's what should have happened. Demandred thought Mat was Rand in disguise. He should have fought Gawyn, and maybe Galad, and then come after Mat personally and demanded a duel, while mocking Mat for using his ashandarei. And then:

“Who was the greatest blademaster of all time?’

From the throats of dozens of students came a massed bellow. “Jearom, Gaidin!”

“Yes!” Hammar shouted, turning to make sure all heard. “During his lifetime, Jearom fought over ten thousand times, in battle and single combat. He was defeated once. By a farmer with a quarterstaff! Remember that. Remember what you just saw.”
-The Dragon Reborn

And that's how Demandred should have died.

Also, I still maintained that Taim was Demandred, Jordan changed it when people guessed, and that's why Taim has essentially nothing to do in the Last Battle.

On the other hand, the scenes with Shendla were actually kind of bittersweet--a taste of what might have happened if Demandred hadn't let his envy consume him. Those were very brief, but well done.

On the battle in the Bore: The Dark One won.

"What?" you're saying, "No he didn't. He didn't destroy the world!"

Yes, but the Light had the possibility for total victory. They could have destroyed the Dark One, preventing the cycle from repeating itself, preventing potentially billions of needless deaths and the literal destruction of the world or end of all hope for everyone forever, and Rand didn't do it because the Dark One tricked him.

Rand's vision of a world without the Dark One is shown as flawed, because the people there lack free will. Without the Dark One providing the possibility of choice, we are told, there is no ability for humans to make meaningful choices, thus making them essentially robots without any real understanding of good or evil.

Except this is incredibly stupid because Shadar Logoth exists.

Way back in The Eye of the World, we're shown an example of human evil. Shadow Logoth is specifically called out as an example of how bad humans can be to each other even in the absence of the Dark One. They hated the Shadow so much that they were willing to do anything to defeat it, and it eventually caused their ruin.

Even if you ignore Shadar Logoth, Verin mentions the Whitecloaks as an example of terrible people:

The Children are very nearly as vile as men can be, short of Darkfriends, but they are not Darkfriends.
-The Shadow Rising

So it's clearly established that the Dark One is not the source of all evil like Rand seems to think he is.

Furthermore, the balance between good and evil is an inherently facile concept. Law and chaos in conflict at least makes sense, because you can conceive of too much law (unending stasis where nothing changes or grows) and too much chaos (eternal flux where nothing is certain), but what does too much good even mean?

It reminds me of the Dragonlance backstory, where they show the Kingpriest of Istar as an example of the dangers of too much "good" because of his actions. Except if you told any random person that the ruler of a country was having his officials randomly read people's minds and execute them for crimes they hadn't committed yet, I'm pretty sure that they wouldn't call that good. Just the opposite, I expect.

In The Wheel of Time, the Dark One is consistently depicted as a force of supernatural evil. I'm using supernatural here in the literal sense of "outside the natural order." Even in the Age of Legends, there were still criminals. Even in the Age of Legends, there was still strife. Hell, Rand specifically says that the paradise probably would have ended in war eventually because people are people and you can't really change that. Making the Dark One the source of all evil doesn't just contradict what has gone before, it means the characters in the series aren't actually humans. They're meat puppets who only behave as though they had a real choice because of the supernatural influence of a literal evil deity.

And the Dark One doesn't offer a choice anyway! The only way we've ever seen a darkfriend redeemed is through death, and that almost never happens. Otherwise, all the other darkfriends keep mentioning that they want to get out, but they can't because the Dark One is too strong, or too insistent, or can find them anywhere, or whatever. Basically, it's free will but with an inevitable downward tilt. And admittedly, that does fit what I wrote about in my Towers of Midnight review about how the world is inevitably doomed, but it hardly fits the definition of free will if the choice only goes one way.

Speaking of that inevitability, it means that not only has Rand doomed the world, he's doomed everyone he knows to eventual horrific eternal suffering in hell, given sufficient passing of time. Nice job, "savior"!

And ignoring all that, you're trying to tell me that in a series that has been about the inexorable march of destiny from day 1, a series that has the Prophecies of the Dragon, the Foretelling, forcibly Turning channelers to the Shadow, and Min Farshaw, a series where one of the most well-known sayings among fans is "The Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills"...the real conflict is about free will!?

It's just bad. That's the bottom line.

On the other hand, the actual sealing of the Bore was good. Callandor's flaw, the women at Shayol Ghul, the Dragon needing Callandor even though the Choedan Kal exists...all of that had plenty of setup over the course of multiple books and was very well executed. Ignoring all the context, the end of the Last Battle was good.

On Padan Fain: That's it? After all those books of buildup, he just goes down like a chump at the end without really doing anything?

On the other hand, this is The Wheel of Time. He's not even in the top ten of characters who get built up only to go down like a chump.

To Padan Fain! He died as he lived!

Like a chump.

On Mat: The scene with Rand and Mat trying to one-up each other really crystallized for me how much Sanderson doesn't get Mat.

Here's the thing. He writes Mat like Mat's part of a comedy team. Like Mat's the prankster, or the funny man.

That's different than Jordan's Mat. Jordan's Mat is part of a comedy team, but he's not the funny man, he's the straight man. The Pattern itself is the funny man.

On the usage of the One Power: All the new applications for gateways were obviously Sanderson's influence. He's pretty well known--and with good reason--for meticulously thinking through the capabilities and limitations of the magic systems he designs for his own books, so all the different things that the channelers do with gateways do make sense, but it doesn't seem like the kind of thing Jordan would have written. Nonetheless, as a tabletop gamer, I appreciated that the characters actually did the kinds of things I'd always wondered why they never did.

On the other hand, it never really felt like there were a lot of channelers around. There should have been hundreds of Aes Sedai, thousands of Wise Ones, hundreds of Windfinders, damane, the several dozen non-evil Asha'man, etc., vs. hundreds of Dreadlords and Ayyad, but the impression I got was there were a few dozen people on each side. I get that Sanderson wanted to maintain the impression that the Light was in huge trouble without wanting to overwhelm them, but it went a bit far.

Also, Demandred didn't do all that much for having a stupid-powerful sa'angreal and being linked in a full circle. Sure, he was killing tons of regular troops, but so did the random Black Ajah sisters who kidnapped Elayne, and there were...what, seven of them? Androl (Sanderon's pet character) was far more clever with the "gateway into Dragonmount" trick than Demandred was with his laser blasts. Based on what we saw just Rand do with Callandor against the Shadow in the Stone of Tear, or against the Seanchan in Altara, Demandred should have been able to wave a hand and blow up the entire army of the Light.

Of course, that would have ended the book right there, so instead Demandred gets an Idiot Ball so big he has to carry it around on his back like Atlas.

A Memory of Light was definitely a page-turner, but it still felt like a lot of it was just padding. The Last Battle chapter is 175 pages long and bounces repeatedly along multiple viewpoints, but that and a lot of the previous chapters kind of come down to: trollocs attack, good guys defend, something unexpected and usually bad happens, good guys are set back and must regroup, repeat for 600 pages. A lot of the page-turning devolves to trying to get to the next section where something happens to the characters you care about but not moving too fast to accidentally skip a pivotal event. I think the book was maybe a third too long, but at this point books that are too long as kind of a tradition with The Wheel of Time, so while I didn't like it, at least I was used to it.

So after all that, what did I like? Well, Graendal's plot against the Light was very good and was foreshadowed multiple books ago. Perrin's tasks in the wolf dream were neat, and there were a few short scenes that I thought were far, far better than most of the surrounding material: Thom guarding the way into Shayol Ghul or the gateway to Hinderstap, for example.

As an aside, what do trollocs eat? (Yeah, I know, "people." ha ha) I mean, there are millions of them showing up everywhere, they haven't been raiding out of the Borderlands for about nine months prior to the Last Battle, and they seem to be primarily carnivorous, so I doubt anyone is growing crops for them in the Blight even if we didn't know that a lot of the life in the Blight will kill trollocs just as readily as it will anyone else. This is always a problem in fantasy stories with a generically evil monstrous race, because they need to live in marginal land that no one else wants while simultaneously being enough of a threat from numbers to overwhelm the good guys, but there were so many of them here that it bothered me more than it usually does.

In the end, A Memory of Light is like an elaborate house of cards. It looks incredibly intricate and beautiful from a distance, but once I stepped in to take a closer look, it all fell apart. It is not the ending, for there are no endings to the turnings of the Wheel of Time, but it is an ending, and honestly I think the series might have been better off without it.

Edit: Having finally read "River of Souls," I can now comment on that too. And mostly of what I can say is that I'm glad it was left out. Not because it was bad, because it wasn't, but because it would have made the out-of-nowhere problems of Shara much, much bigger. "River of Souls" hints at probably an entire trilogy's worth of material that Demandred was getting up to in Shara while the other events were going on, and in a series that's so based on foreshadowing and hints being dropped that are picked up ten books later, "River of Souls" is about how a kinds of things happened that the reader had no idea about and will never get to hear. Explaining Bao the Wyld is all well and good, but not when it opens up so many other questions. I'm glad I read it now, disconnected from my read-through of the series, because if anything it would have made me like the Sharan plotline even less than I ended up doing.

Also, I'm still unable to avoid a smirk whenever I read the word Bao.

Previous Review: Towers of Midnight.

[Books with Brittany · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.75 ⭐️
Is this book perfect imo? No. What can I say? I’m an emotional book-rater. I actually felt like I got punched in the gut listening to this book end. I cried actual tears.
I will discuss flaws (imo) in my review to come.
Wow, what a ride.
First thought upon completing WoT… I need to immediately reread.
Am I even okkkkk?!

[Eon Windrunner · Rating 5 out of 5]

The final Wheel of Time book is a superb ending to a series that, without a doubt, is one of the greatest written accomplishments in the genre. While the series is not without some issues, Robert Jordan with some help from Brandon Sanderson has cemented his legacy with this epic that will endure through the ages and has given me endless hours of reading enjoyment and will do so again in the future. Thank you, Mr Jordan.

The wind rose high and free, to soar in an open sky with no clouds. It passed over a broken landscape scattered with corpses not yet buried. A landscape covered, at the same time, with celebrations. It tickled the branches of trees that had finally begun to put forth buds.
The wind blew southward, through knotted forests, over shimmering plains and toward lands unexplored. This wind, it was not the ending. There are no endings, and never will be endings, to the turning of the Wheel of Time.
But it was an ending.

[Gavin · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is difficult to know what to say about this final Wheel of Time book. It really was one of the very best instalments of the whole series. The story was exciting and engaging from start to finish. A lot ton cool stuff happened and it was packed with a number of shocking and emotional moments. My overall opinion is that this was a good way to conclude the series. That said, I was not delighted by the way a small number of key story arcs were concluded and that has left me with a tiny feeling of dissatisfaction with the conclusion to the Wheel of Time series.

All in all I do still think this series deserves to be considered as one of the true greats in the fantasy genre. Few series have the depth and level of world building of Jordan's fantastic and truly epic Wheel of Time. Jordan had a few flaws as an author but he created a vivid world that had plenty of depth and populated it with a ton of fascinating characters. He also had an engaging storytelling style. I thought Sanderson worked out perfect as a replacement for Jordan. He did a few things different but on the whole I think he kept the feel of WoT and I doubt anyone else could have finished the story so well.

I'm actually a little sad that this is the last WoT book. The conclusion was final enough to work as a good ending but this world definitely had a lot more stories that were worth telling. I'd have loved for Sanderson to have written a few spin-off series set in this world!

Rating: 5 stars! Despite a few issues with the conclusion I do still think this is a book well worth a 5 star rating.

Audio Note: It goes without saying that Kramer and Reading gave flawless performances.

[Markus · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Like the unfettered dawn shall he blind us, and burn us, yet shall the Dragon Reborn confront the Shadow at the Last Battle, and his blood shall give us the Light. Let tears flow, O ye people of the world. Weep for your salvation!"

In the depths of the Blight, the armies of the Dark One are marshalling their power. In the Westlands, Rand al’Thor and his allies are preparing for the coming storm. The Last Battle looms above all, and the Dragon Reborn prepares to face the full strength of Shai’tan and defeat the Shadow one last time…

I must admit something that might come as a shock to most of you: When I finished A Memory of Light, it was probably my least favourite Wheel of Time book. And that is not simply because the series ends here, or because I was unhappy with how things turned out (though I was). It was for a variety of reasons.

Now, I had written two long paragraphs where I heavily criticised the book for those reasons. Partly because I now disagree with myself, and partly because I choose to ignore the book’s flaws, those paragraphs have now mysteriously disappeared, never to be seen again. Suffice it to say that the book could have finished off in a better way, but that what we have is satisfying enough.

And of course, this is Wheel of Time. I don’t really care about what I didn’t like. I want to talk about what I loved instead.

So why was this a satisfying conclusion? There are seven reasons for that, four or which are scenes or details in the book. The fifth is the best title of any fantasy book ever. The sixth is the fact that this is a Wheel of Time book and despite some minor disappointment, this is the ending to my favourite fantasy series of all time. The seventh is the fact that this is another of those books that I just love more and more for each moment that passes after having finished it.

As for those four scenes, one is Rand’s gathering of all the factions and nations of the world early in the book, simply because of the arrival of one single very important character. The other three are in the epilogue. And the epilogue, the only chapter in the book to be written single-handedly by Robert Jordan, is the crowning glory of A Memory of Light and one of the best chapters in the whole series. It contains arguably the most emotional scene in the series. It contains an absodamnlutely perfect ending paragraph which makes you think “But of course it ends like that!” And after said paragraph, it contains a repetition of my favourite non-Tolkien fantasy quote. I am eternally grateful to Jordan for using that quote to end the series, and I will also use it to end my last Wheel of Time review…

And it came to pass in those days, as it had come before and would come again, that the Dark lay heavy on the land and weighed down the hearts of men, and the green things failed, and hope died. And men cried out to the Creator, saying, O Light of the Heavens, Light of the World, let the Promised One be born of the mountain, according to the prophecies, as he was in ages past and will be in ages to come. Let the Prince of the Morning sing to the land that green things will grow and the valleys give forth lambs. Let the arm of the Lord of the Dawn shelter us from the Dark, and the great sword of justice defend us. Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time.

[Alex Nieves · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where do I even start with this? So many emotions at the conclusion of this journey through The Wheel of Time. All I can say for now is Brandon Sanderson did a fantastic job bringing us to the finish line with what is easily one of the greatest fantasy stories ever told. The good far outweighs the bad throughout the series and while there are obvious flaws in the series, I can only appreciate what was written here. I'm getting emotional even writing this, knowing that I just finished the books.

Rest in peace to those that we lost on our journey, your sacrifices kept the Wheel turning. Rest in peace Robert Jordan, I wish we could have seen your own vision of completing the series but you left it in great hands. Why am I feeling so emotional? Video review to come soon.

[Maddie Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

RATING BREAKDOWN
Characters: 4⭐️
Setting: 5⭐️
Plot: 4⭐️
Themes: 5⭐️
Emotional Impact: 4⭐️
Personal Enjoyment: 4⭐️
Total Rounded Average: 4.5⭐️

What I wanted most in this final book was to feel deeply attached to the characters and their fates. I wanted their arcs to feel complete, and I wanted whatever happened to feel earned. I needed thematic poignancy, and epic-scale action and devastation. A memory of light delivered on all fronts.

I felt satisfied and complete with each character thread. I cried. I was stressed. The battle sequences felt truly epic and threatening, and the odds felt impossible and bleak. There are still aspects that fell a little flat for me (namely the showdown with the dark one), and while I am invested in these characters, there are some I just never really could get myself to care about. Because this is such a large cast, I still feel that there is redundancy, and we could have had this story with fewer POVs and storylines to give more attention and impact to others. That said, my complaints with the overall series could not have been solved by this book alone. Given what we had, this book fulfilled the promises of the series and offered a thematic message that resonated deeply with me. Sanderson managed to shock me, and I felt each loss.

I will always be grateful that Brandon Sanderson finished the series.

[Eric Edstrom · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was criticized for giving this five stars before it came out :) Which I suppose I can understand since it slightly affects the average score.

Well, I've read it now and Sanderson did not disappoint. I loved the final volume of this super-epic, even though getting to the end was bittersweet.

To review this book is to review the entire series. The bottom line is that while it has some low points (Crossroads of Twilight), even those have some pretty neat moments. I always cheered when I heard the book count was going UP, because I loved immersing myself in Robert Jordan's world.

When Sanderson picks up the reigns in The Gathering Storm, the pace picks up dramatically and the more tiresome subplots are wrapped up very quickly.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fitting end to such a long journey.

[Kaya · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I did not come here to win," Lan whispered, smiling. "I came here to kill you. Death is lighter than a feather."

I was blown away by the whole book. It was more brutal and heartbreaking than I have expected. I honestly didn't think that Jordan will have the guts to kill so many important characters. Two deaths especially crushed me. A lot of astonishing twists were in the game and some of them were even fatal. I thought Tarmon Gai'don will last like 30 pages, but nope, it lasted the entire book. The ending wasn't what I thought it'd be, but I liked it anyway. All major questions are answered, all storylines got its conclusions. It may not be the conclusion you'd want since the climax was left quite open - instead of an end, we got a new beginning. I think Jordan wanted readers to imagine on their own how life goes on after the Last Battle.

The Last Battle was fought on four fronts: Shayol Ghul, Tarwin's Gap, Caemlyn and Kandor with four generals as their leaders: Rodel Ituralde, Gareth Bryne, Agelmar Jagad and Davram Bashere. After a while, Mat Cauthon takes matters into his own hands and starts calling the shots as he moved the battles to only one front - Fields of Merrilor. On the other side, Demandred commands the military of the Shadow. We finally find out where he has been hiding all along and it's without a doubt the best twist in the whole series.

There was a lot of sass, actual exchange of affection between all main characters, which is something we never had. Aes Sedai were fighting side by side with Asha'mans and Seanchans. It's not about whether you like some characters more than others, it's all about how brave and strong they were, and willing to fight for their cause. Still, I wish epilogue was longer and it bothers me that I don't know all the answers.

Rand al'Thor, Dragon Reborn, farm boy who became king and a tragic hero. A hero who couldn't let others be heroes because of his guilty conscience. A fragile soul who thought he could hold anxiety of the whole world on his shoulders. A stubborn man with trust issues. Chronically tired and obsolete of his destiny, he never stopped fighting even when he didn't know what he was fighting for. His confrontation with the Dark One showed that he's a bigger man than Lews Therin ever was.

Mat Cauthon, better known as light of my life, was cheeky and charismatic fox who became the biggest general since the Age of Legends. He was rude, didn't respect any authority and kept "trying" to run away from responsibilities. His "attempts" to run away were always just big talk. He was never there when you were looking for him, but he'd always appear just in time when you needed him the most. If he didn't do his part of the job, Rand's efforts in Shayol Ghul would've been meaningless. My favorite character in the series, maybe my favorite character ever.

Perrin Aybara, I grew to like him only after the 13th book. Arguably, he was the best leader among all three Ta'verens. Honorable, careful, direct and durable - he deserved better storylines. Sadly, he was always holding onto his wife's skirt. He had the most important character development, among all main characters, because he finally learned on his mistakes. He accepted his inner wolf and obligation to be by Rand's side despite what Faile thinks of it. He defeated one Forsaken even Rand couldn't take down.

Egwene al'Vere, queen of my heart, my favorite female character ever, brave lioness with iron spine, the righteous leader. From book 1, she has been falling into her own trap of seeing only what she wants to see. Only in the last three books she seemed to adjust a bit. Her character development was extraordinary and probably the most compelling amongst all main characters. She became the most powerful women in the world and yet, she never thought of abusing her power. Her sacrifice helped Mat restore balance of the battle.

Nynaeve al'Meara, the worst Aes Sedai in the world which makes her THE BEST Aes Sedai possible. She didn't know how to handle her anger, she never let other Aes Sedai change who she really is. She's bold, chatty, apprehensive, caring and gets quite annoying with her "know-it-all" attitude, just like all females in the series. She never doubted Rand's decisions when everyone else did and, in a way, she was the only one besides Min who saved his soul.

Elayne Trakand, assumptive blondie who couldn't accept any other opinion but her own. I never understood Jordan's fascination with her. Yes, she's wise and principled queen, but all that she's done, it would've been equally effective with her being in the background. I may be a little subjective when it comes to her because I disliked her since the beginning and she gave me no reason to change my mind. She's strenuous, obnoxious and vexatious. Nonetheless, it is true that she was the heart of the Last Battle.

Gavin Trakand, stupid little boy who I sympathise with despite all dumb decisions he has made throughout entire series. He's my favorite male character after Mat and Rand, and it's so hard to love him since he makes one fatal mistake after another. He has always had his inner moral demons and they have always gotten the best of him and when it was important the most I thought he'd finally change, at least for Egwene, but it didn't happen. He couldn't accept he's not the hero of the story, that he's job was to stay in the shadow of his sister, even though he was raised to do that. He had one job in the Last Battle and he didn't fulfil it.

Galad Damodred, the guy who saw the world in black and white and always insensibly told the truth. He surprised me the most because I didn't care for his well-being until he got his own POV. Most of the time, he seems flat and shallow and I still can't decide whether it's true or not. He gave a new life to White Cloaks and never let his vanity take the best of him. Nevertheless, he never acted on genuine emotion. I don't know, even his affection for Berelain looked superficial.

Siuan Sanche, not a very good Amirlin, but a perfect counselor for the new one. She was penetrating, durable and stiff, but annoying as hell in many occasions, which was repetitive characteristic OF ALL FEMALE CHARACTERS. Jordan never did well his homework in studying how women think and act.

Gareth Bryne, trustworthy general, who comprehended promises as more important substance than air or water. He never let his anger, queens nor any powerful women define him. He did well in Tarmon Gai'don as much as he could. Still, I was never particularly consumed by him, not even in the final instalment.

Androl, Asha'man who isn't strong with the One Power, but still can teach Aes Sedai how to lead. Even when he saw no way out, he kept fighting. He saved the Black Tower with pure strength of his will and incredible leadership skills. He's the most satisfying surprise in the whole book and that says a lot.

al'Lan Mandragoran, Dai Shan, king of fallen country who irritatingly persisted in having a death wish and not letting anyone save him. Stubborn, cold and emotional wreck, our dark knight. As he said himself, Rand and Nynaeve brought him back to life. it was so gratifying to see him happy, for once.

Pevara Tazanovni broke all prejudices about Red Adjah and probably even Aes Sedai in general. She showed everything other Aes Sedai wanted to stay hidden - compassion, laughter, spark in her eyes, temper, sense of humor. I'd give her Amirlin Seat. She was part of the union between Asha'mans and Aes Sedai.

Tuon is a perplexed one. I have mixed feelings towards her. Basically, I hate everything Seanchan represents, but she confuses me because she really wants to bring justice. Well, justice as she sees it. She could take care of herself and she definitely is witty, but she could be so narrow-minded, sometimes.

Min Farshaw served no purpose other than being a love interest for Rand. That's all she ever was. Her existence finally stopped being pointless throughout the second half of this book. Yes, she kept Rand partially sane when he went dark, but I wanted to see who she really is WITHOUT HIM, because even with him, she's really bland.

Aviendha was interesting in the start, unfortunately she has fallen to monotony of Jordan's vision of how females behave. She was brave in the Last Battle, her showdown with particular Forsaken was quite impressive. She was still better than other Wise Ones and her temper made her appear more human.

Faile Bashere was never one of my favorites. Truth be told I disliked her, just like Elayne, from the start. She was too obstinate and full of secrets. I also didn't like how she tried to keep Perrin away from Rand and Mat as much as possible. She couldn't accept that Perrin might care for SOMEONE ELSE WHO ISN'T HER.

Moiraine Damodred, a women without whom Dragon Reborn would be lost. Her ability to see into one's soul was sometimes excruciating and her secrets were annoying, but she was one of the few who cared deeply for Rand in spite of who he was. Even Egwene in latter books saw him rather as Dragon Reborn, but Moiraine never made that mistake.

Talmanes Delovinde finally got his own POV and it was intense. He was so persistent and brave, and besides Thom, the biggest troll in the series who made jokes during the worst situations. I laughed my ass of every time he teased Mat and the two of them truly make a great team. Talmanes was the refreshment this series needed.

Olver is a part of the second biggest twist in this book. He may be only 10 years old but he fought like he was Mat himself. His fairy tales finally had come true and for once he saved Mat. Mat's maybe not his father by blood, but they surely share something familial. Usually, I'm not interested in child characters, but Olver won me over since the first time he appeared.

Cadsuane Melaidhrin was the one I hated the most. I sympathised more with some of the Forsaken than with her. I still can't understand her logic in wanting to break Rand only to "help him laugh and cry again". I still don't see how she had any impact on him except to make him more frustrated and angry through humiliation.

One of the most glorious scenes in the Last Battle was with Lan as the leading actor. He did something that three men before him failed. Even though, he hid it for so long, his will to live prevailed. Also, LAN SMILED. And we know that Nynaeve is the only one who gets his smiles, so this made the scene even more spectacular.

“I have never known anyone else," Egwene said to him, "who will work so hard to avoid hard work, Matrim Cauthon.”

Childhood friends are my obsession.

“You are as eloquent as ever, Mat," Egwene said dryly. "Do you still have your pet fox?" "I do," Mat said. "He's snuggled up nice and warm.”

Mat and Egwene had a few funny encounters. I adore the fact that Mat succeeds to get under everyone's skin within seconds. He never lost his positive energy, but honestly I wish that sometimes he simply hung back. He gave me a few heart attacks. I understand that he desperately wants to save everyone, but sometimes he does more damage than good.

“The Empress will follow where you go," she said. "So she will," Mat said. "As I'll follow where she goes, I suppose. I hope that doesn't lead us in too many circles.”

Throughout the book, I went from tears to hysterical laughter, thanks to the tragedy of the Last Battle and Mat's one liners. While he always had a great sense of humor, in this book he was a true comic relief without losing his integrity or compelling characterisation. Like always, his POVs were the funniest.

“When you saw me with a dagger in hand - as if to throw at you - you didn't call for your guards. You didn't fear I was here to kill you. You looked over your shoulder to see what I was aiming at. That's the most loving gesture I think a man could receive from a woman. Unless you'd like to sit on my knee for a while...”

I believe that Tuon and Mat are good together. He would've died of boredom if he got anything less life-threatening. Also, all my doubts that she doesn't genuinely care for him are now gone. In this book, she has obviously shown how important he is to her, especially through fighting with her inner demons.

“I have lived for four centures," he said. "Perhaps I am still a youth, in that all of us are, compared to the timeless age of the Wheel itself. That said, I am one of the oldest people in existence." Moiraine smiled. "Very nice. Does that work on the others?" He hesitated. Then, oddly, he found himself grinning. "It worked pretty well on Cadsuane."

Words can't describe how much I have missed Moiraine. Arguably, she understands Rand better than anyone. Once upon a time, he hated that fact, but now he cherishes it. Their moments since the beginning of the series are priceless and I am so glad I had a chance to have a few more of them before the journey ended.

"There's an odd thing about disease I once heard, Fain," Matrim Cauthon whispered. "Once you catch a disease and survive, you can't get it again.”

Yup, if I didn't die right there, I'll probably live for the next 100 years because now nothing can break me. Mat can get a bit careless because in his mind if he says he wants to stay away from trouble it means he'll get in the first battle lines. That fact gave me numerous heart attacks over the series.

The Seanchan in the room seemed stunned that Mat had suddenly stripped to the waist. He did not see why, They had servants that wore much less. Light, but they did. "I'm tempted to do the same as you," Min muttered, grabbing the front of her dress. Mat froze, then sputtered. He must have swallowed a fly or something. "Burn me," he said, throwing on the shirt he dug out of the bundle. "I'll give you a hundred Tar Valon marks if you do it, just so I can tell the story."

Such a waste Mat and Min didn't have more scenes. He bring her humorous side and we need ANYTHING that can make Min at least seem like a three-dimensional character. Truth be told, Mat makes everything and everyone fun. If it weren't for him and Egwene, I would probably give up on the series after book 8 or 9.

I have few complaints - no real interaction between Lan and Moiraine (I think we deserved at least one page), no real interaction between Lan and Nynaeve and no real interaction between all three ta'verens. Also, I expected that Galad and Rand will finally meet. Cadsuane, Alana and Alivia served no real purpose and the series could've gone easily without them and make space for meaningful conversation between main characters.

Is it weird that I really like Moridin, but couldn't care less for Ishamael? I kinda felt sorry for Moridin. I think his guilty conscience made him mad. He wanted to find peace but in the wrong way. Being such a compelling antagonist, without a doubt he gave me more chills than The Dark One himself.

[Henk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Epic and a satisfying conclusion to the series. The pattern is neatly resolved and the last battle is momentous now the pace is finally upped.
The good options are gone Rand. Better to do something desperate than do nothing at all.

After reading the main series (as far as published) as a teenager and enjoying the Amazon series I thought it was nice to take a step forward and go to the ending of the series. A Memory of Light is a 1.000 page rollercoaster that brings us the enormous cast of the series preparing for, fighting in, and occasionally dying in, the Last Battle.

The world is unraveling with metal turning soft or rusting, the dead walking in visions in the world, bubbles of evil popping up and cracks to infinity appearing everywhere.
We start in a Caemlyn lost to a surprise attack over the Saidin roads, becoming a spearhead of a four fronted attack by the light in Kandor, Malkier and Shayol Ghul
The world itself is the cost of failure Rand Egwene says and this feeling is well conveyed by
Brandon Sanderson. The Black Tower lost, gateways are used offensively and Rand’s capability to reinvigorate nature is like the magical deer from Princess Monoke.

Rand and his relationships with women is for me always the weakest spot of the book, but the scenes with Min, Aviendha and Elayne (in relation to the Dragon Reborn directly) are fortunately quite limited. The effortless capture of tone of voice of the gigantic cast of characters is impressive, and we got the first of hand gay character in chapter 18, in the form of a though borderland commander of all things.

Moiraine returning and costing an eye while not doing especially much (till the very end) feels a bit wasteful, also a missed opportunity for her to talk to Lan.

Matt seems the only one who is not solemn in the circumstances he finds himself in, not developing a more rustic and cooperative approach compared to the previous parts.
Perrin in comparison is being kind of useless, the whole Slayer/Perrin plot with a bit Lanfear sprinkled in feels rather superfluous to the plot, especially compared to the importance of Mat his command abilities, ultra luck and ties to Seanchan.

We are also offered some very interesting meetings, Tuon and Egwene are epic, or Insane but sincere as the Amyrlin Seat thinks. Tuon taking people from the larger WoT cast for positions in her empire is fun. And in general I warmed up to her and it is interesting how this order loving empress is swept into chaos by her prince of ravens. Also how she immediately tries to set up a kind of Minority Report tribunal when learning if a certain character their skills is hilarious. The dragons of Aludra, upgraded fireworks, also play a key role in glimpses of a new world, with them already taking a key position in the prologue.

And then there is the Dark One, being a kind of black hole with accompanying time dilution effect, while the shadow is sowing chaos into the armies of light and harvesting death.
The twist and turns are very well and continuously intertwined into the story, with the light being outnumbered 4 to 1, We are at our strongest now, however broken we are.

Chapter 37 The Last Battle being 9 hours in the audiobook, finally featuring Demandred who is wow and needs multiple attempts by the Light to be addressed. So many characters appear in the Wheel of Time series, with even bad guys reincarnating or not really being dead and healing being prevalent, that real deaths of characters are something of a shock. We have Egwene anti-balefiring, Elayne has the most scary thing in the book happening to her and Lan as a non-channeler showing a Forsaken the best of swordplay: Some men would call it brash, foolhardy, or suicidal. The world was rarely changed by men who were unwilling to be called at least one of the three.
Aviendha using luck to survive is rather meh while Tam Althor shines in a humble but profound way.

The conclusion involving Callandor is *chefs kiss* if a bit sudden. Rand his ending after this, thinking of his wives (and the continued apprehension to kill women in general) feels a bit worn and callous after 100.000s dying.

Still, what a series, what a conclusion and what a ride. Definitely one of the stronger installments with the higher pacing and all the feelings involved seeing the conclusion to a 14 book ride.

We are reborn so that we can better next time.

[Natasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

No matter how long this series took to come to an end I have loved it since the first book when I picked it up in 1996. I have read it countless times and also have listened to the audio versions as well. Some may find that it took way too long, but in my case it really didn't bother me I enjoyed waiting for each book to come and anticipating about what was going to happen. I loved the details in the books, and have never really found another author who could write like Mr. Jordan, although Mr. Sanderson is doing an exceptional job. I can't wait for the end, but I can also say that I will be sad that this is the end.


January 22, 2012 UPDATED REVIEW AFTER READING A MEMORY OF LIGHT!!!!!
While I was reading A Memory of Light I felt I really didn't want this series to end. I felt like they should or could continue on. I mean there are some many things they could write about all of this. As I reached the end of the book, something inside of me changed and all I have to say is WOW!!! This was a perfect ending to a perfect and well written series. It ended with so much feeling and emotion. Rand Al'Thore you are the best!!!!!!!!! Egwene I love you Wow.... I knew that you were strong but Wow I hadn't envisioned it to be like that!!!! Mat Cauthon.... I Have to say you were just awesome in the Last Battle really and truley Awesome!!!! Perrin, Perrin, Perrin... for me you have been my least favourite charachter during this whole series, but let me tell you that you are no longer..... you killed it this time and I am truley in awe of you. To all the rest you all had amazing roles such as the Aiel, Aes Sedai, the band, the dragonsworn.... Wow!!! The battles were awesome.... Oh I must not forget Logain, he came a long way during the series and at the end my heart felt for him. I loved seeing all the people giving him thanks for what he did. Androl Kicked ass big time and I loved the determination he had. Where was he during the whole series. Lan you were totally awesome as well and when you took care of buisness (people who read the book with understand) that was just amazing you are badass!!! Thank you so much Robert Jordan for writting this series it has been a beacon of light in my life and thank you Brandon Sanderson for contiuing this series in and exceptional way.

[Alastair McDermott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 6/10

A Memory of Light is quite a good read and leaves me reasonably satisfied at the conclusion of an epic 14-book fantasy series that I have been reading for nearly 20 years.

I know that "quite a good read" and "reasonably satisfied" sound like damning with faint praise, so let me clarify that I think Brandon Sanderson has done an amazing job with his contributions to the Wheel of Time series - it was a huge ask to pull that entire thing together even in 3 books and he's done a super job for the fans.

Robert Jordan created an awe-inspiring world in writing Wheel of Time, and he also left a massive amount of plot lines to be resolved in the final books. Added to that he even wrote the entire epilogue of A Memory of Light ~7 years ago.

With these restrictions and limitations for Sanderson to deal with, it's astonishing how well he did with the last three books.

Even if Jordan could have finished it himself, with such a huge and complex series many readers did expect unanswered questions and I accepted that before reading. So why the faint praise? Here are some things that I take issue with in A Memory of Light.

I thought that Mat would have more surprises to bring to bear in the battle, particularly towards the end - I was hoping for yet another trick up the sleeve that didn't turn up. Mat didn't seem to have quite the same level of strategy and battle knowledge he showed in other books - although, quite annoyingly, his fellow characters seemed to mention his tactical brilliance with every second breath.

I wasn't mad about the Compulsion used on the great generals - surely they would be protected given that Tel'aran'rhiod is busier than a train station these days, and that we know about dream protection since Moiraine mentioned it all the way back when we started in book #1.

It sounds like they had a lot of folks calling in sick when it actually came to Tarmon Gai'don. Where were the 2000-4000 Aiel channellers, the 1000+ Aes Sedai, the 1000+ Kin, and the thousands of Wind Finders? I expected massive circles of channellers wielding sa'angreal capable of killing the anticipated millions of Trollocs. Two hundred or more Black Ajah and a thousand Asha'man, many turned.

The impression I got was of 20-30 Aes Sedai facing the enemy alongside Egwene. The location of thousands, if not tens of thousands of channellers is not something that we should be wondering about. What about the Green - the "Battle Ajah"? They escape mention at the Fields of Merrilor - were they off drinking tea and discussing braid tugging techniques because someone forgot to invite them to the Last Battle? I don't think so.

We had loads of awesome uses of the power in Dumai's Wells - dome, exploding ground, headsplosions, etc - and at the manor house - death gates and all that. Where were these in the Last Battle?

We know that only a 'remnant of a remnant' of the Aiel will survive, surely that means that several hundred thousand of them die in the Last Battle. Yet we get the impression of hundreds, perhaps in the low thousands, of Aiel moving around and fighting during the battle. Do they even get orders from Mat? I don't think so - please correct me if I'm missing something.

Aside: I didn't like how the Aviendha's visions of the Aiel future seemed to be just written off. It felt like an editorial decision where either resolving this storyline would take too many pages -and requiring another book - or simply that the writing team felt that the deus ex machina resolution would satisfy readers.

Logain, Morgase and Padan Fain were massively built up in early books as important characters with important roles. Logain was utterly disappointing to the point of arguably proving Min's visions incorrect - which they should never be. The Morgase and Fain cameos were slightly better in that the didn't deserve more than a couple of lines. Many other cameo appearances felt like just that - name drops rather than real important roles.

Surely we could have got some preview of Shara's importance and role, rather than simply dropping them in for what seems like plot convenience. Jain Farstrider or Forsaken scenes could have given some more hints in earlier books.

Speaking of plot convenience, the "plot armor" was particularly strong for major characters in the Last Battle - far more of them should have died. For the sake of anyone reading this accidentally, I won't mention names, but I felt they got off particularly lightly. And as for poor Bela - cruel, guys, cruel!

We now know how Rand survives, taking over another body. This was a decision made by Jordan years ago but despite the hints that the two were connected, it does seem just a little bit too easy.

I agree with those who compare it to a Gemmell-style rushed ending - the battle is still going and you're wondering how the book could possible end in a couple more pages. I think Jordan's prescribed epilogue is a strong factor in this - if Sanderson had some leeway to add to the epilogue I think that would have significantly helped.

A note on the ebook: publication of the ebook version of A Memory of Light was deliberately delayed 4 months by Robert Jordan's wife, Harriet because she was concerned that the hardcover may not reach the top of the bestseller lists if purchases were divided between e-book and hardcover. She felt that this would harm her husband's legacy.

I think that's a bloody stupid decision.

In attempting to protect the legacy, this decision has actually harmed Jordan's legacy by preventing many loyal fans from getting a copy of the book in the format they want. What's happened now is that hundreds of readers have protested the decision by giving the book 1-star Amazon reviews - there are currently over 300 1-star reviews on Amazon.com. Some may argue that it is wrong to post a 1-star review on the book because the review is not for the correct version (you cannot review the ebook as it hasn't been released) or that a review is not the correct way to express anger and disappointment with the publishers (and Harriet), and that the complainants should write strongly worded letters to the publisher instead.

My view on this is that the decision was taken to arbitrarily delay publishing the ebook in order to manipulate sales figures of the hardcover, and therefore having people express anger with this decision through online reviews is absolutely fair game. Those reviews will send the publishers a clear message about introducing arbitrary delays in the future.

Overall, I felt A Memory of Light was pretty good. It didn't ruin the series, which is a real danger with final books, but it could have been significantly better too. There are points I've noted above that seem like lack of attention to detail, which was always one of Jordan's strongest points. I'd have to conclude that they were missed by the writing & review team, or worse, noted and ignored.

Those details are important in any story, but in this more than most given Jordan's incredible attention to detail and encyclopaedic knowledge and information management. The mistakes remind me of the 2012 movie Prometheus which had massive potential, but was very much let down by plot holes and inconsistencies.

But in reviewing this book, I need to also look at where it came from, that it is the conclusion of an epic 14 book, 4 million word story, and that the author had 3rd party limitations and deadlines for an already difficult task. That gives it serious positive points in my count, enough to outweigh many of the negatives I've outlined above. In conclusion, I give A Memory of Light between a 6/10 or a 7/10 overall - the ebook fiasco tilts me clearly toward the 6.

For some other reviews and further discussions about some of the issues I mentioned above see:

http://io9.com/5975831/the-wheel-of-t...
http://www.amazon.com/review/R3SCYTBM...
http://www.readandfindout.com/wheelof...

[Constantine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐🌟
Genre: Epic Fantasy
Warning: This review is all spoilers


This will be a very difficult review to write as this book is stuffed with events. The Wheel of Time is one of the most beloved epic fantasy series. I started reading the series for the first time in January 2020 (Just when the pandemic started spreading worldwide) and finished all the 14 books in July 2021. The prequel book is still unread and I plan to read it sometime this year too. It’s been a great long journey. This beautiful series has provided me with escapism from all the tensions and problems that real life has been imposing. A totally different world with its own tensions and new characters. The series has been a friend of mine during that time. Yes, there were many frustrations but again no friend is perfect and these characters like any person were flawed too.

A Memory of Light stands by its name. I feel this series and its finale will always stay in my memory and will lighten my heart with its epicness. The book can be divided into three parts, the preparation for Tarmon Gai'don (The Last Battle), then The Last Battle itself, and the events after the battle. The battle alone is more than 200 pages! Let me say that I have never read anything like that before, anything that grand and epic. While I was reading this book I was breathing and couldn’t read it sitting still somewhere. I had to sit, stand, sit, stand, and walk while reading due to the tension that Brandon Sanderson kept injecting into the story. The Last Battle has its own chapter, but the point of view kept switching from one character to another quickly. Sanderson did a very effective job in keeping the stress and tension building up like a big moving ice ball.

I am going to mention the major highlights of the book as per some of the characters. I think this will be a good way to pay my farewell to these wonderful characters.

Egwene al'Vere (The Amyrlin Seat):

“She, Egwene al’Vere, had been given stewardship of this land.
She, the Amyrlin Seat, would not be bullied by the Shadow any longer.
She would not retreat. She would not bow as her resources failed.
She would fight.”

Egwene is a character not many fans of the series love. I was impartial to her in the early books of the series but in the last few books and since she was elected as the Amyrlin Seat I was very fond of her, of her courage and determination. To me personally, she is not just the Flame of Tar Valon but also the flame of the last battle. I felt devastated by her fall. It was not even a fall as she died bravely. Her face-off with M’Hael was epic in every sense. I got upset when the other characters died, but I had to stop reading and put my hands on my head in that scene when Egwene was gone. It crushed my heart, devastated me. While fighting Taim she finds out a new weave that does the opposite of what Balefire does. It gives an explanation of why the Amyrlin Seat is called The Flame of Tar Valon.

She has other important scenes in the book too. Her argument with Rand will get you frustrated with her but her confrontation with Tuon shows how determined she is and sticking to her own principles.

In my opinion, Brandon Sanderson has given her the best death scene in this book, maybe because she is the only one from the Two River folks who actually dies in the battle. I just wish the Aes Sedai women had done something for her after the battle. A memorial or something. Rest in peace Amyrlin Seat. You will never be forgotten.

Matrim Cauthon (The Prince of Ravens):

He is the real hero of The Last Battle. After finding out that the war generals are suffering from compulsion by one of the forsaken, The Prince of Ravens leads the battle. The gambler as they call him decides to take risks and push his good luck. With some great planning, he is able to win against the forces of shadow.

Mat’s funny personality keeps him a favorite among the fans for the right reasons. My favorite scene of him is his reunion with Rand when Rand wanted the Seanchans to sign the peace treaty. That scene was funny with the boys bragging about who has done more 😁😂.

“By the way, I saved Moiraine. Chew on that as you try to decide which of the two of us is winning.”

Rand al'Thor (The Dragon Reborn):

Rand is almost absent from the battle itself as he along with Moiraine and Nynaeve go to Shayol Ghul to the Pit of Doom to defeat Shai’tan and fulfill the prophecy. I liked his confrontation with the Dark Lord and how they kept showing each other what the world would be like if it was without the shadow or without the light. Yeah, sometimes it was frustrating to see others being killed while Rand was trapped there. I read somewhere that the dialogue between the two forces was actually part of Robert Jordan’s notes. Rand’s fight with Moirdin was interesting and the trick with his sword Callandor was a fantastic addition.

I still don’t know how I feel about the ending though. The body-swap thing. I am not sure if I like it or hate it. I feel this still has not settled well in my mind.

“HERE IS YOUR FLAW, SHAITAN— LORD OF THE DARK, LORD OF ENVY! LORD OF NOTHING! HERE IS WHY YOU FAIL! IT WAS NOT ABOUT ME. IT’S NEVER BEEN ABOUT ME!"

"It was about a woman, torn and beaten down, cast from her throne and made a puppet—a woman who had crawled when she had to. That woman still fought."

"It was about a man that love repeatedly forsook, a man who found relevance in a world that others would have let pass them by. A man who remembered stories, and who took fool boys under his wing when the smarter move would have been to keep on walking. That man still fought."

"It was about a woman with a secret, a hope for the future. A woman who had hunted the truth before others could. A woman who had given her life, then had it returned. That woman still fought."

"It was about a man whose family was taken from him, but who stood tall in his sorrow and protected those he could."

"It was about a woman who refused to believe that she could not help, could not Heal those who had been harmed."

"It was about a hero who insisted with every breath that he was anything but a hero."

"It was about a woman who would not bend her back while she was beaten, and who shone with the Light for all who watched. Including Rand."
It was about them all.”

Perrin Aybara (Perrin Goldeneyes):

Sanderson decides to keep Perrin asleep while the battle is going on. Perrin is a character with nice characteristics and values but he has not been consistently good in the series. Sometimes his side story took forever to wrap up. In A Memory of Light, he is in the Tel'aran'rhiod or Wolf Dreamworld for two things, one is to protect Rand and the other is to defeat Slayer and get his revenge. There he meets Lanfear who is still playing her tricks.

Although I was frustrated by his sleep I still think his role was important for the story. I liked his fight with Slayer and the fast movement between the real world and the dream world. His last scene with Lanfear was not expected, for a moment I thought he would obey her! The search for Faile was heartbreaking.

“The Light willing, we will see one another again," Rand said. He held out his hand to Perrin. "Watch out for Mat. I'm honestly not sure what he's going to do, but I have a feeling it will be highly dangerous for all involved."
"Not like us," Perrin said, clasping Rand's forearm. "You and I, we're much better at keeping to the safe paths.”

Elayne Tarkand (Queen of Andor):

Despite being pregnant she still leads her army to The Last Battle. She is the first to sign the Dragon’s Peace treaty despite objecting to certain clauses. In the battle, I thought that Sanderson was going to kill her too after she was kidnapped and her warder Brigette was beheaded but she was saved when the Horn of Valere was sounded.

I like how she was leading her army bravely in the battle and how she wanted to remain on the battlefield so that her soldiers would see that their queen was fighting too.

“How would you feel”, Elayne said softly, “if you saw your queen trying to kill a Trolloc with a sword as you ran away?”
“I’d feel like I needed to bloody move to another country” Brigette snapped, loosing another arrow, “one where the monarchs don’t have pudding for brains”.

Moiraine Damodred:

She was my favorite character right from book one and a favorite of many fans of the series. I felt sad about her death in book 5. Was very glad to see her back in book 13. Her biggest highlight in this book is her reunion with Rand and all the others during the peace treaty in the tent. Her meeting with these folks felt very emotional. She was able to put a stop to the argument between Rand and Egwene regarding the seals in her usual elegant way. I just love her! Unfortunately other than that she was not used in the battle as she goes with Rand to the Pit of Doom.

Another thing that disappointed me was the author ignoring her reunion with Lan! Why? Just why? I really wanted to see how they would behave. Lan used to be her warder and they had this bond for years. You cannot ignore that and expect readers to be OK with it.

“Do not worry, Egwene,” Moiraine said, smiling. “He is not going to break the seals.”
Rand’s face darkened.
Egwene smiled.
“You are going to break them,” Moiraine said to Egwene.
“What? Of course I’m not!”
“You are the Watcher of the Seals, Mother,” Moiraine said. “Did you not hear what I said earlier? ‘It shall come to pass that what men made shall be shattered, and the Shadow shall lie across the Pattern of the Age, and the Dark One shall once more lay his hand upon the world of man . . .’ It must happen.”

Nynaeve al'Meara (The Queen of Malkier):

Like Moiraine, she is another beloved and popular character, and unfortunately, like her, she has not much to do in this book as well because she is with Rand fighting his battle instead of being with her other friends. Her presence with Rand is because he trusts her and needs her to use Callandor.

Her presence as a healer with Rand becomes useful to save Alanna’s life in order to protect the Dragon Reborn. However, I think her best appearance is her reunion with Moiraine. Nynaeve used to be always frustrated with Moiraine but in the last few books, she was getting emotional every time she remembered the woman.

“Nynaeve enfolded Moiraine in a powerful embrace.
Moiraine stood for a moment, smelling distinctly shocked, hands out to the sides. Finally, she returned the embrace in a somewhat maternal way, patting Nynaeve on the back.
Nynaeve released her, pulling back, then wiped a tear from her eye. “Don’t you dare tell Lan about this” She growled.”

Lan Mandragoran (The King of Malkier):

In the last two books of the series, Lan finally gets his due, his much deserved stature. He leads the army of Malkieri in the last battle and takes down Demandred with his sword after three failed attempts by others. I'd say that was his best appearance in the book and the most important to the story taking down a very strong evil force.

“Demandred felt at the wound in his cheek, and his eyes opened wider. “Who are you?” Demandred asked.
“I am the man who will kill you.”

Aviendha:

She asks Rand to include the Aiel in the peace treaty proposed by The Dragon Reborn. Later she fights one of the forsaken, Graendal and manages to defeat her. However, she ends up with permanent damage to the legs due to a huge explosion making her unable to walk anymore. Poor Aviendha!

Min Farshaw:

One of the influential characters in the story and one of Rand’s three lovers. In this book, she becomes Tuon’s Doomseer and saves her life from an assassination attempt during the Last Battle. It was interesting how she reacted to reveal the spy to Tuon.

Cadsuane Melaidhrin:

She remains in Shayol Ghul to fight alongside Rand forces and manages to save Aviendha’s life from the intruding Red Aiels. I think her most vivid scene is the last one where she is asked by the other Aes Sedai women to become the new Amyrlin Seat. I thought they would ask Moiraine but obviously, Cadsuane is the most sensible choice. Throughout the series, Cadsuane has always been Glenn Close to me!

Siuan Sanche + Gareth Bryne:

Unfortunately, this pair did not get their due in the Last Battle. First thing I don’t understand how Compulsion was used on Gareth despite being Siuan’s warder! How come Siuan did not feel the Compulsion when it was done? That did not make sense to me.

Siuan was a very strong woman. I feel her death was sudden and did not suit her character. Gareth on the other hand dies off pages. I wish they had a better ending.

Gawyn Trakand + Galad Damodred:


The half-brothers are both defeated by Demandred. Galad survives and fares better in the sword fight with Demandred but he gets a permanent arm injury.

Gawyn’s death causes turmoil for Egwene. It gets very painful when Silviana takes Egwene out of the battlefield to recover from her loss. I liked how Egwene reminded Silviana how Gawyn had saved her life from the assassins when she heard her say that Gawyn was nothing but trouble.

Tam al'Thor:

He has a great role in the fighting on the battlefield leading the Two River army, but what I loved the most was his swordplay practice with Rand and how he kept telling him to let go of everything. That was one of the big highlights in the book.

Demandred:

He is the real antagonist of The Last Battle. He was there to fight Rand but that never happened. He was leading all the Shadow forces and this forsaken was very strong. Even Logain could not defeat him, which I thought he would. I didn’t expect Lan to be the one who takes him down.

Graendal:

She is the most wicked one of the forsaken. Her plan has always been to cause harm without revealing herself. She kept using compulsion again and again on her foes. I feel she and Demandred had done more of the harm in the last book than the other forsaken.

Lanfear:

Has always been among those who were not loyal to anybody but herself. She would use others and create opportunities for herself. In this book, she remained in the dream world and had her eyes on Perrin to reach her goal.

Androl Genhald + Pevara Tazanovni:
These two are characters created by Brandon Sanderson. Some of the fans of the series might say that they were not needed and the time that was spent on them would have been better if spent on the older characters like Morgase Tarkand who hardly was there despite losing a son. I might have agreed with that opinion if I did not enjoy their bond. I liked these two and love how both of them tricked the Turned Asha’men taking them to Stedding Sholoon. I feel their addition added some warmth and also an indication of a future change among the Red Ajah. But I still say that some of the older characters like Logain and Morgase must’ve had much bigger parts.



This must be the longest review I have ever written but still, I feel I have skipped a lot. The book is truly stuffed so it is not easy to remember and mention every event or character so I guess that suffices for now. A Memory of Light must be one of the best finales I have read for a series. Brandon Sanderson has done a great job with the last three books to wrap up the story. Yes, not everything is perfect but it is a satisfying ending overall. For the last 18 months, a Wheel of Time book has always been there on my reading shelf waiting for me to dive into this epic tale. I am really going to miss the series. Like how Tam advised his son to “let go” I feel I have to try to let go too and say farewell.

Note: I am still experimenting with my review system. As you might notice I have given this book five stars + a glowing star which makes it a 6-star review. My plan is to create a category with 6-star reviews which will represent my all-time favorite books. Not all 5-star books are all-time favorites so that would be a good way to differentiate between them. I still have not decided whether I will add the previously read books to this new category or not. I shall see what needs to be done.

[Kitty G Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

* Initial Thoughts *

This book... It's the LAST one in Wheel of Time, such a crazy long and epic series in all manner of ways that I can hardly believe I made it to the end. This one in particular had some fabulous quotes and moments within its pages and I read about 600pgs of it today which is ridiculous and crazy but very awesome. I think I need to sleep a bit on my thoughts and what I want to write as my full and final review so I'll probably come back to this tomorrow and add my actual 'review' but my Initial Thoughts are that it was a fairly perfect ending of course :)

* Actual Review *

Okay so I've now had a few days to process all of the thoughts I had surrounding this book and I have decided that this is certainly my favourite book from the whole Wheel of Time series. I think everything that Jordan ever envisioned and set up gets fully resolved and confronted within this 1,000+pg monster, and even though it's a long book everything works and feels balanced.

This whole book is 'The Last Battle' which is something we've been working ou way towards for many of the previous books. Whilst the last two Sanderson books I gave 5*s to this is most definitely some very fine work on his part in oder to systematically address any and everything whilst also keeping the reader engaged and entertained throughout. There was honestly not a dull moment in this book or a section where I felt it needed to be cut down, everything was exciting.

Of course we focus on many of our major characters throughout this book and we see not only the return of some characters we've not seen for a while, but also introductions of many new threats and coordinated attacks which our major characters and their followers need to face.
I found the whole of the 'Last Battle' chapter (chap 37 which is over 200pgs long) to be highly intense and, considering it's SUCH an epic long battle fought on so many fronts, entirely readable! This is certainly something for Sanderson to be proud of because I'm often resistant to read battle heavy books and yet he managed to keep me hooked into the action throughout.

Of course where there is battle there must be sacrifice and sadness and this book addressed both of those things very well by showing many of the main characters in tricky situations both physically and emotionally and even magically. I found myself totally absorbed in what was happening to who and who's plan was what and everything connected so well together that it all worked.

The monsters and bad guys of the story definitely didn't shy away from making an appearance in this book and we had some pretty scary close calls and some tragic moments which I won't soon forget. As a lovely balance to this we also had some very whimsical, magical and touching moments which will equally hold a place in my heart for a long time.

I have to say that if you have made it to the final book in this great series and you've been enjoying them as you go then this one is one to just sit back and enjoy. It's got something of everything I have enjoyed about the series and there's never a moment where I was bored. I read over 600 pages of this book in one day and spent a solid amount of time just being hooked into the story so it's one I can say with certainty deserves a 5*s from me. Bloody brilliant, well done to Sanderson and Jordan for planning such an epic finale!

[Trent · Rating 5 out of 5]

“He came like the wind, like the wind touched everything, and like the wind was gone."

Five years of my life.

15 books.

12,500 pages.

462 audiobook hours.

Thousands of characters and moments.

My journey with The Wheel of Time has finally come to an end, and what a journey it was.

When I bought a paperback copy of The Eye of the World in 2012, I could not possibly have guessed what this series would come to mean to me. Yet the Wheel has left an indelible mark, and I expect to feel its impact for the rest of my life.

If you are reading this review having never opened a Wheel of Time book, you should know that this series is WONDERFUL - but also FLAWED. At times, it's even downright annoying. There were moments over the last five years when I closed one of the books in frustration and swore I'd never be back.

And yet, I inevitably returned.

If I had to guess why, I would say it was because of the immensely detailed world created by Robert Jordan. Something about it just feels so REAL. The different cultures, traditions, languages, attitudes, clothing, prophecies, etc, offered an escape that I just could not pass up. I have truly LIVED in this world for fifteen books!

I also became invested in the plights of these wonderful characters. Rand, Mat, Perrin, Egwene, Nynaeve, and others feel like friends or family members. Even when they annoyed me, I wanted to spend time with them. To make sure they figured it out. That's what friends do, after all.

And, like so many friendships, we now have to say goodbye. It's sad, but I know I'll be back to visit them often. I know how this tale ends now, and it's a great ending; the type a story like this deserves.

Brandon Sanderson accomplished something incredible with the way he finished this series. This final volume is not perfect, but I think it's the best of the three books written by him. It answers nearly all of the questions, and it ties up the loose ends.

It somehow gives every character their 'moment' - be it one of glory, triumph, or in some cases even failure. There is more epicness in this book than I could describe. So many fist-pumping, yelling-out-loud moments of sheer awesome.

Those aren't the best parts, though. The best parts are the quiet ones.

Egwene's farewell to the Wise Ones.

Androl and Pevarra's budding relationship and teamwork.

Rand sparring with Tam one last time.

Mat's protection of Olver.

Thom and Moiraine.

These are the moments that will stick with me forever, and the ones that made this huge investment worth it.

Because let’s be clear - the Wheel of Time is an investment. Reading it takes patience, but if you're willing, I can tell you, it is worth it. This is one of the masterpieces of the Fantasy genre and of Literature in general. It is Highly Recommended.

Thank you, Robert Jordan, for creating this world and these characters, and for pouring your soul into 12 of the books. Rest in Peace, Creator.

And thank you, Brandon Sanderson, for taking a leap of faith and finishing the journey better than anyone thought possible.

"There are no endings, and never will be endings, to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was an ending."

Indeed it was.

[Mike's Book Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full Video Reviews Here:
Part I - https://youtu.be/N4YntXtOslQ
Part II - https://youtu.be/emdpsNrashY

After 14 previous books, counting New Spring, beginning the final Wheel of Time book felt like something out of a dream. When I began this journey 13 months prior I was non-committal on finishing the series and said my only goal, really, was to stay ahead of the Amazon TV series. Exactly 400 days later, my journey through the Wheel came to an emotional close.

As I read the last 25 pages, it really hit me that this was the end; there was no next book like I had the option of for the past year of my life. Stopping only to grab some Kleenex to wipe away the tears and blow my annoying nose, the journey came to a close so suddenly that I felt an overwhelming sense of loss. It wasn't that this particular book is heavily emotional as much as the realization of these friends I had made over the past year were going to be saying goodbye. That might be difficult for anyone to understand that hasn't made the trip through RandLand yet, but those who have understand exactly what I'm talking about.

As for this actual book, it is an incredibly satisfying conclusion; even if it isn't perfect. For those who found the series too slow, you'll be happy you made it here as this final edition is a non-stop action thrill ride. The Last Battle, which has spent double-digit books building up to meets every expectation. There is loss, there is triumph, there are moments that will leave your jaw dropped and have you gasping out loud.

In the end, there were many ups and downs in this run through the Wheel of Time. It's by no means perfect but it is a journey I think any fan of the genre should make. It's like getting bachelor's degree in Fantasy.

400 days, 13 months, 15 books, 4.4 million words. 38 videos.

I’ll always love and respect Wheel of Time for not only being an incredible journey, but the one that built Mike's Book Reviews into an actual thing. Started from the bottom now we here. Thank you, Mr. Jordan for creating this world and Mr. Sanderson for completing his work in a way I think he would have been proud of.

[Dylan · Rating 4 out of 5]

2 years and 2 months, 4,373,157 words, and 11308 pages later, thus concludes my journey with the Wheel of Time.

It always feels odd talking about a book of this nature, due to the level of commitment I’ve given. It’s a bittersweet experience, there’s a lot to love, and there’s a lot to feel disappointment about (or even dislike), but it feels odd saying goodbye to these characters. You know them so intimately, whether you love or loathe them, it feels like people you have known for a long time. Wheel of Time is a series I love. It has a ton of flaws, if you see my prior reviews, you will know, but a lot to love. Which is a good segue to A Memory of Light, there’s a lot I love, aspects I feel disappointed upon and some I genuinely dislike. I’ve talked about it prior, but Sanderson taking upon the weight of WoT, and he was a relatively new author at the time, and concluding Jordan’s vision in this manner is nothing short of a miracle.

Firstly, this is the perfect end to Rand al'Thor 14 book story arc. It’s evident Jordan had this in mind from almost the beginning, all of Min’s visions are fun to look back upon and seeing how certain prophecies comes to light. In general, most of the Two River folks had fitting ending. For a series of this size I wish we had more of a conclusion but considering the circumstances of Jordan’s passing it’s understandable.

There’s a lot of this book that feels rushed, which is odd for a book of this length. There's a lack of multi-book payoff, some characters don’t even get conclusions at all, many plotlines just fade, the fates of certain antagonists, and there’s an introduction of new faction that felt cheap and should have been introduced books ago. The issues in this book, kind of stem from the series as a whole. It’s the mismanagement of certain plot threads in favour of ones that ultimately feel stagnant. These problems arose before the slog, but it’s mainly in the slog where certain plot lines feel directionless and some have incredible focus, which creates a disconnect. Jordan felt like he understood he went out of control, hence the massive course correction in Knife of Dreams. However, Jordan couldn't finish his vision, so Sanderson had to take reign and use various notes to get to the conclusion that he wrote. As a result, Sanderson had to cram a lot of things into the last 3 books. Lastly, the pacing of this book felt very uneven. It’s difficult to criticise Sanderson with the structure, but I do think overall he did a great job, however the beginning there’s simply too much action. At a certain junction the action feels a bit monotonous. However, once we arrive to the last battle, it evens out pretty well and delivers some of the best moments in the series.

I say this above due to my overall love for the series. You are sometimes more critical of the works you love or want to improve because you enjoy them so much. So, what’s the strength? Well, as I said above, Rand’s arc was perfect. The beginning of the book had some character interactions that were beautiful, all of the Mat scenes are incredible. Like this is the book, where most of the Sanderson issues with Mat got completely ironed out with some differences. The majority of Rand’s POV chapters were brilliant and bitter, as we are leading up to the conclusion, and seeing everyone interact with each other before or during the Last Battle was great. The chapters after 37 were incredible, they're reminiscent of some of the best highlights of WoT, and overall, it was a cathartic journey. I loved seeing The Two River Folks interact with each other after certain characters were isolated from each other.

Olver: blowing the horn was one of my favourite moments in the series. It’s soothing to read after what our heroes had to endure in the Last Battle. Beautifully echoing the Great Hunt. The last thing I have to note Olver reunion with Noel was very sweet.

Lan: beating Demandred was great. I loved the lead-up to it—the Two River folks destroying the Trolloc’s with their bows as Lan is charging forward to duel him. His death was a great way to end Chapter 37: the Last Battle, giving that glimmer of hope near the end where all seems lost.

Mat: I’ve said above, all of Mat's sequences were incredible. The world is ending, and Mat is still acting like Mat, his relationship with Tuon was actually a great one, as him being the leader of the Seanchan. I really felt his killing Fain was quite fitting, especially using that dagger. That said, leading up to that event was super disappointing. The dude does nothing for books 10–12 and appears in the prologue of book 13 briefly, then appears briefly near the end of book 14. I have to assume Sanderson had no idea what to do with him beyond reaching that conclusion, as it was shown in the epilogue Jordan mostly wrote.

Androl (and Pevara): this is both positive and negative. Firstly, I love what Androl represents, especially in contrast to the Aes Sedai. The White Tower is all about power = authority, especially when it’s revealed in NS. The Aes Sedai aren’t equal, but there’s a hierarchy based on power. So, it’s refreshing a character, isn’t that, he just has a certain talent, but his actual innate power level is very low, so he compensates for it and earns the respect of his men. He’s a fun character that Sanderson wrote, plus Pevara is a ton more likeability with Sanderson at the helm. However, as a result, Logain is completely put aside. The dude arc wasn’t that satisfying after 14 books of build-up for Logain, and this was a result? After CoT and KoD, I was excited for the future of Logain, especially how he related to Rand’s plotline, then he just disappeared in the Sanderson books. There was some neat moments, it wasn’t a complete disaster, but it was so disappointing. The Black Tower as a whole just screams, that’s it? Plus Androl's final action to get Taim to escape, then the black tower felt like Deus Ex Machina. This also serves another issue of spending too much time on this character instead of the other characters that need more character depth. As a result, I do enjoy his involvement, but I don’t know if it was worth it. I do see part of the issue with Jordan not having enough scenes in the Dark Tower, plus in one-off chapters in the prologue or elsewhere, but still, this whole thread was disappointing.

Demandred and Taim: I think Demandred ended up as a neat positive. The dude was like an antagonist for a video game and was super over the top, but he was actually fun to read. However, it is definitely not the best forsaken. That said I would have definitely preferred if Jordan stuck to his initial idea of Taim = Demandred as that would have had more weight. In general, Taim has to be the most disappointing figure of them all. He felt comical and lacked any depth he had previously, like in Books 6-11. I love the Egwene ending, especially reversing Bale Fire, that definitely felt Jordan, and that made sense, just as an antagnoist was whatever.

Sharan: The same with Demandred, but even more so, what the hell were Jordan and Sanderson thinking? This has to be one of the dumbest decisions. Why introduce this faction this late in the game? I don’t buy it, it had two lines of foreshadowing in the entire series, so it’s fine. This felt like an excuse so Jordan-Sando could level the playing field. As a result, it really hurts the weight of the moments. Jordan excels in culture, making a group of people feel alive, yet Sharan didn’t feel like that at all. They didn’t really feel like people as they weren’t given enough time or care, which is baffling that we never even saw a Sharan POV in one of the prologues in the series. Slowly building them up so their arrival feels natural.

Perrin: I loved most of his plotline, I really liked his pseudo-Buddy Cop adventure with Gaul in the World of Dreams. The final fight with Slayer was bloody excellent (especially the flicker flicker) and I loved seeing Lanfear again as she is one of the best Forsaken who are truly scary. I liked Perrin interactions with the cast especially with Rand and him observing the arrival of Moraine. One aspect I’m very mixed on is Lanfear faking her death. On one hand, it fits Lanfear's character but undermines Perrin's arc drastically. Him killing Lanfear with his own free will, killing a woman, not being forced to do so through compulsion. It’s a win-and-lose situation, but ultimately it hurts Perrin’s arc. I genuinely felt Sanderson handled it differently, like Lanfear manipulating him earlier on and then killing her with his own free will. I don’t think we lose anything if Lanfear lives or dies, as other Forsaken are still felt loose in the world, and other dark ones. Overall, Sanderson did a solid job considering the circumstances, as Jordan only had notes for Perrin after the Last Battle, which explains his absence in the event itself. Even in the epilogue, the Perrin POV was Sanderson, and the rest was Jordan. Which is sad but makes sense as his arc has been very messy throughout the series.

Galad: honestly, I’m impressed by this character by the end. He went through a lot of self-evaluation, and his perspective was interesting. I do think Gawyn is a tool—the most preventable death in the whole series, however, his speech to Galad was somewhat nice, and Galad's action afterwards showing his honour. In the last two books, he was a pleasant surprise.

Egwene: I’ve already talked about her final moment, so I will talk about everything else. Honestly, it was a pleasant surprise. After ToM, I was concerned about her, but here she felt like the stubborn woman from the Two Rivers. I liked her last interaction with the Two Rivers folks, and in general, her arc was great.

Nynaeve: she is in my top 3 characters in the whole series, so I was disappointed we didn’t get a Nynaeve moment. She had that small scene near the beginning, but like 3 books and WH and so forth, she had those amazing Nynaeve moments. I know it makes sense that it's a trust thing in the cave, but I wish both she and Moiraine had more to do. I do like how all three of them (Rand) dealt with Mordin fate and the Dark one ultimately, that felt fitting and was very well foreshadowed throughout the series.

Moiraine: Though I wished she had more to do in the second half of the book, I really loved her interactions in the first half with Rand. Her diffusing the situation of Egwene and Rand argument was so fitting.

Thom: That one POV chapter he had was bloody amazing, it felt so in character for him to detect the fake versions of certain characters and guard the cave from intruders.

Elayne: I’m most surprised by Elayne in this book, as I mostly liked her chapters. She had a lot of great moments throughout. I did wish we experienced Birgitte POV throughout the series and her memories slowly fading (which would have been amazing to explore), but I loved it the same. She has always been the bright spot in that plotline. I will say I wish Hanlon's storyline wasn’t even a thing by the time of AMOL, it felt out of place. However, Birgitte regaining her memories makes it feel like it was worth it.


Aviendha: I really enjoyed her arc, trying to have the Aiel join the Dragon Peace to prevent that disastrous future for them. I wish we had more character moments with her, but what we got was great. Avidendha vs. Graendal fight was excellent, and Graendal lost. Graendal losing by the same powers that she actively used to destroy people's free will was fitting. Furthermore, a nice homage to Path of Daggers, reversing the weave. The Conclusion of the Forsaken and our antagonists have been all over the place, but this one was fitting. I also like how Graendal actually felt smart for once, unlike her involvement in ToM and TGS.

Moghedien: Look, I understand why this is her fate, it’s so Jordan could write that sequel trilogy that he couldn’t write, unfortunately. That whole situation is unfortunate, but seriously, it felt pretty cheap. We pulled this same card with Eladia, and that wasn’t great. In general, the slave solution with the Seanchan felt very unfinished. Like Egwene gives an incredible speech to Tuon about how Sul'dam can channel, there is no hint of how it really affects the people whatsoever. There were some efforts to try to be the middle man, but it wasn't enough for the subject this series has been exploring since Book 2 and Book 8 onwards. I do understand Jordan probably would have tackled it, but I can only judge what we got here.

Side Characters: WoT did a brilliant job with side characters. I’m not even talking about Jordan’s indistinguishable Aes Sedai’s, I’m just talking about characters in general and how they appear so naturally within the plot. An example is when Egeanin appears in The Great Hunt, and she feels like the protagonist of her own story, a fully realised individual who happened to be in the background. Then she naturally appears in Winter’s Heart and is part of Mat’s plotline. For all the fault of the slog, characters moved around so naturally that on some sides, they felt like chess pieces. Bashere, Hurin, and some others die, and you don’t feel much. Jordan side characters feel like they are protagonists in their own story, while Sanderson feels like they are there to make certain characters sad, like Rand. This is not a criticism of Sanderson in general, as it isn’t an issue in the Stormlight Archive. I assume there are barely notes or nothing on those side characters, which is why they are barely addressed or not at all. Sando is attempting to complete someone else's vision with limited resources, even if those resources are quite helpful. These resources from a man who lived in that world for a good chunk of his entire life, being his life’s work. So yeah, it’s going to feel weaker as a result.

Rand: I’ve written so much about Rand that I don’t feel like there's a point. All I can say is that it’s the greatest character arcs in fiction. I loved sparing with Tam, interacting with two river folks, talking with Moiraine, Aviendha, and Mordin, and how his plotline is a philosophical debate with the Great Lord. On why balance exists, that his utopia will end up causing the same issues as the Dark Ones vision of the world, it being Rand forcing the pattern for characters to be a certain way instead of following their humanistic tendencies. Rand’s conclusion was bloody perfect, and I’m glad Jordan was able to write Happy Rand at the end. The body swap was beautifully foreshadowed and felt quite fitting. Especially reading the Min’s visions in retrospect.

Epilogue: It’s an odd ending, like the final couple pages are perfect (anything related to Rand), especially the last line. It’s just that WoT became more than just Rand’s fate, which this book empathised the most, so it feels like those characters are not getting the conclusion they deserve. I do think if Jordan's health was good, this epilogue would have been heavily expanded while still being open-ended. It felt too rushed for a series of this magnitude. Like no mourning of Egwene in her funeral, no exploring the aftermath a little bit. Ultimately, I do like the ending. I wish it was longer, but it was damn fitting.

P.S I loved the Nakomi situation, The Pipe, Nynaeve acting like Nynaeve, a fitting way for Mat arc becoming a father and continuing an adventure that we don't witness, the Loial moments was great, the Cadusane moment felt so fitting how she figured it out, and so forth. There were a lot of great moments! 

He came like the wind, like the wind touched everything, and like the wind was gone.

In conclusion, I thank Robert Jordan for creating this story, and I thank Brandon Sanderson and Team Jordan for concluding Jordan’s vision. It isn’t perfect, but it’s something truly great. I love WoT. The journey wasn’t perfect, but it’s not one I will forget.

There are no endings, and never will be endings, to the turning of the Wheel of Time.
But it was an ending.

8.5/10

[TS Chan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seeing quite a few of my Goodreads buddies finishing this series together and posting their reviews made me feel that I should at least pen some parting words. I've read this series back in the days when I wasn't inclined to write reviews, which I found take practice and inspiration.

The Wheel of Time was quite a mixed experience for me overall. There were books which were great, some which were good and a few which were just passable. Then there are those that I've decided to skip entirely (i.e Book 8 to 11 before picking up from The Gathering Storm) thereby relying on Tor.com's reread thread to keep myself abreast of developments, which was not very much except for a very significant event at the climax of Winter's Heart.

This climactic, final book was an epic culmination of a massive story and oft times aggravating development of characters whom I have a love-hate relationship with. It was with a heavy heart that I've read the final few pages of this enormous series and finally call this journey done. And till today, I still find the title of this tome to be one of the best (for a last book of a series) I've ever come across.

[Alina · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a journey it's been! With good, with bad, with joy and sorrow - the whole package, like in real life..

Mentions about the whole series:

PROS :
• Very complex world building: a whole world with many races/nationalities, all with their specific looks, way of dressing, customs, etc
• Compelling and always developing characters
• Beautiful storytelling, vivid descriptions, interesting narrative & plot twists
• Several chapters in one PoV lets the story settle better (as opposed to alternating PoV chapters)
• Magic system – I'm dual here, as it’s not very clear how this magic works and how you learn it (or just know it, in some characters' case it seems)

CONS :
• Way too many secondary characters, some with similarly confusing names, some you get to know better because they have a little more details attached, some just pass through you mind and don’t stick; the way one of these secondary characters has the stage for a part of a chapter in one book, is then forgotten and then appears several books later and you're supposed to know who they are;
• Too many descriptions for my taste (how many times one can read very thorough depictions of a kitchen and everything in it, or of a stable, or an inn interior, or of petticoats and dress colours and cuts)
• A major disappointment was the way many of the interesting characters got discarded without any regard in the Last Battle – what upsets me isn’t that they were killed (I totally realize that some beloved characters were supposed to die to mark such an important event), but that it was only mentioned in passing and there was little to no reaction to these deaths..

[Marc *Dark Reader with a Thousand Young! Iä!* · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let us consider Chel Vanin, everyone's favorite fat former horse thief.

Here's what I know about him:
1. He's fat.
2. He's a former horse thief and excellent scout.
3. You'd never think he could sneak or ride a horse as well as he can, because he's so fat.

How do I know this? Because I've been told this at his every appearance in, I think, seven books. This, all of this, and no more than this.

Let's check in on Vanin in A Memory of Light. First, other members of the Band of the Red Hand tease him for being so damned fat. Then, when Faile asks Harnan about him,

"Vanin?" Harnan said from horseback. "Good fellow. He can chew your ear off griping at times, my Lady, but don't let that sour you. He's our best scout."

"I can't imagine how," she said. "I mean, he can't move quickly or quietly with that bulk, can he?"

Thus ends the saga of Chel Vanin.

================================

On to the cover art. Wow! I've been really hard on it throughout the series, harping on most of the covers in my reviews. It's great to see that the artist, Darrell K. Sweet, finally, finally got one of the characters right. This, possibly his best cover ever, really makes up for all the—

Wait, what? . . . He died? This is by someone else? . . . Oh.

Well, never mind then.

================================

This, even more than the two prior books, feels 100% like Brandon Sanderson's book. Yes, James Oliver Rigney Jr., RIP, created this world, the characters, set the general direction for how he wanted things to turn out, and wrote most of the epilogue prior to his death. But it took Sanderson's herculean effort to get us from the end of Knife of Dreams to this point in just three books. I remain convinced that, had Jordan remained in good health, we would not see the end of this series until book #20, and at his rate of output for his last several books, that would mean that, as of the time I am writing this in the year 2022, it would still not be finished. Even considering just this book, I don't see Jordan providing a comparable blistering pace, maintaining the energy that carried us through the Last Battle, and I don't mean just the >80,000 word chapter that bears that title. It might have been a satisfying finish regardless, but it would have been very different. I struggled with the Sanderson books because of the pains he evidently had to take, to progress the story and characters as he did to get everything to the point this book required. He did this while honouring and respecting everything Jordan had done, but for me it simultaneously highlighted the mess of story elements that had to be cleaned up and given their final thrust.

So yes, this is all thanks to Sanderson's effort. Jordan left notes for how he wanted things to end up. He didn't do any of the work on how to get there.

As tremendous as this book was, it wasn't all completely stupendous. There was a very Sanderson-esque quirk to the anticipated all-parties conference held in the Field of Merrilor. It was how all the world's leaders got together and quickly decided a new way to govern the world, like first year poli-sci students getting together at the bar and settling on the best form of government if only everyone would listen to them. This is at least an early Sanderson habit that I recognized from Elantris and the first Mistborn trilogy; I have not yet read his later books for adults. This wasn't a terrible scene, and it wasn't achieved without debate, but I found the ease and comprehensiveness of its resolution a bit silly. This is fine.

There was another irritating thing, not a Sanderson-specific thing, which dragged on too long. For a good 200+ pages of the book, the 'Great Generals' on four fronts started making mistakes . It was painfully obvious what was happening, and the cause of it was obvious to the reader also, so I spent those 200 pages just waiting for everyone in-book to figure it out. This was just a slight damper, and somehow I got through it intact.

But on the whole, these were minor detractions from a terrific, awesome Wheel of Time book. The Last Battle, it was tremendous, exhausting, and worth every moment. Sanderson gave every character their due, including several that could have easily been left forgotten. I can't think of any loose ends, any worldbuilding elements or themes abandoned, any character on either side that didn't have their time to shine. Some of the resolutions that came after 'The Last Battle' chapter were a bit sillier, but necessary.

There were only three major bits that I remembered from my first and only prior reading of this book. By the time these last co-authored releases came out, I had given up my prior habit of re-reading to 'catch back up', a common practice but one that this series in particular seemed to demand. The first remembered bit involved creative use of gateways, and featured a character that, while named in Winter's Heart, was not actually a definable character until Sanderson made him one in the last 100 pages of Towers of Midnight. When the most memorable part of a book requires material that Sanderson had to make out of whole cloth, it doesn't reflect well on the rest of the series. My second remembrance was the series of swordfights with a big bad and how the last one resolved.

The third thing I remembered was that I completely forgot what a certain character's deal was by the time he showed up, in the final, critical movement of the battle for all existence. This person was Padan Fain. Because I remembered forgetting him, I forced myself to pay close attention to him during my series re-read. This revealed to me why I had forgotten him; after a major role in the first two books, he spent the next 12 books (23 years) jumping out for three pages, once every two to three books, to shout BOOGA BOOGA BOO then disappearing again. So, good job there, Jordan.

I particularly enjoyed Sanderson's treatment of Perrin and Faile. He accomplished this by keeping them apart as much as possible for all of the last three books. By taking the characters away from their relationship, they were shockingly tolerable.

One scene was sorely lacking from the book; Lan and Moiraine's reunion. We deserved that moment. Their bond was not inconsequential, and to have Moiraine return from the dead (not dead) and deny us a fraught reunion scene was almost unforgivable. I'm convinced that Sanderson simply had no idea how to write this scene, so the event was glossed over. In a lesser but similar vein, we really needed a Moiraine-meets-New-Moiraine (a.k.a. Cadsuane) scene too.

That's just about my full set of commentary on this book. I'm giving it a solid 4.5 stars, rounded up out of relief that I'm finished re-reading the series, rounded down because having to feel relief at this is not a positive thing, rounded up because of the tremendous work Sanderson did to make something worthy out of what he was given, rounded down just because of all of Crossroads of Twilight, and rounded up again because of one very special character, the absolute star of this book, the one character from way back in The Eye of the World who was the real reason any Light and life remained standing by the end. It's not Rand. It's not Mat. It's not Perrin. It's not Egwene. It's not Nynaeve. It's not Moiraine of Lan. It's not Thom. It's not Elayne. It sure as hell isn't Gawyn or Galad. It's not Loial or Min. It's not Tam, Basel Gill, Morgase, Gareth Bryne, or even Else Grinwell. No, it's Bela. Goddamn I love that horse.

I never, ever want to read this series again.

[Maria Dimitrova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fifteen books, thousands of pages and year and three months after my friends and I embarked on this epic journey it is finally over. I'm both sad and elated and suffering one of the greatest book hangovers I have even experienced. I can't let go of this world. It feels wrong that there is no more of it. So I turned to browsing the incredible wealth of art inspired by it. Like this piece:



So much happened that it's hard to summarise and I won't even try. I'll just highlight some things. And since this is the last book some are for the entire series.

I was right! Taim and Demandred were not the same person! This was an ongoing discussion with my fellow buddy readers and I always (okay most of the time) thought that they couldn't be the same person. there was something that just didn't fit for them to be one.

Perrin was amazing in this one! I'm so glad he didn't die in any of the previous novels (like I half wanted when he was acting like a total moron).

Mat ruled! Dammit he had the biggest character development in this series. From a TSTL, annoying little sh*t to my favourite character of them all. Yeah, yeah, you kept telling me it will happen in the beginning and I though you were all crazy. Well, you were right. Mat is the best! *swoons*

Gawyn's death. I knew it was coming. I knew he was going to kill himself in a spectacular manner for at least 3 books now. His pride and utter stupidity killed him. I can't even say I felt anything other than relief. Pure luck was what kept him alive for so long. I guess the Creator shelters and protects fools like him because the WoT world is filled with them.

Lan finnaly started acting like he has a head on his shoulders. He even impressed me so I'm willing to think he might be a good match for Nynaeve after all.

The entire Last Battle was so engaging. From the starting conflicts to the last stand at the Field of Merrilor. It was brilliant and heartbreaking. So many died ;( A lot of them died senseless deaths and while that annoyed a part of me another appreciated it because it lent legitimacy to it. War is senseless and innocents die for stupid reasons. Trying to find logic in why someone dies in battle is a waste of time. The death that hit me the most was Bella's demise. I know she's a horse. And that maybe I should be grieving for someone else more than for one animal but damn she was with use from the start and she deserved to live through it and have endless fields of pasture as a reward!

Elayne had her moments. But she was kept true to character and did some really stupid and reckless things that almost cost her her life and the lives of her unborn children. Seriously the Trakands have two brain cells between them al!

I was truy impressed by Galad. There was a moment when his POV broke my heart when he was thinking about how much he loves his siblings and that Elayne had never returned the affection. In this moment I kind of hated her.

The battle between Rand and the Dark One. I can't describe the feelings it evoked. And it confirmed something I theorized for quite a while now: the word can not exist without the Dark One. He is a fundamental part of human nature and without him everything loses it's purpose. Unfortunately that means that Rand is screwed for eternity.

Logain and his fraction - I'm in love with them. And they prove that there is a future of collaboration between the Black and White Tower!

Egwene... this is a hard one. She was incredible in the later part of the book. And yet there were times when she acted like a typical Aes Sedai and I just wanted to murder her. Which made her death all the more powerful because I had just started to root for her again. The moment when she refused to transfer the bond with the dying Gawyn to Silviana was one of those times when I could feel a physical punch to the gut. Egwene changed a lot but ultimately she was a good person and a beloved character.

And now for the ending. I had some trouble with it. I loved that Rand survived. I even understand why he switched bodies with Moridin. It's the only way to be left alone and to live a life of piece. But dammit, Rand, couldn't you at least tell Tam, Nynaeve, Mat and Perrin? You know the people that stood beside you and love you the most! I choose to think that he tells them at a later point when not all eyes are on them. I refuse any other possibility!

I'm sure I missed a lot and that there is a hell of a lot more to be said. My fellow buddy readers and I, literally, wrote hundreds of pages discussing this series and it's one of my biggest regrets that I couldn't participate in the discussion for the final book (stupid RL!).

I don't know if I'll ever reread this series. It's too big and too consuming but I'm so very glad that I embarked on this journey (thank you Choko for convincing me to give it a try). An advice to all who think of reading the Wheel of Time: do it! Keep moving forward even when you feel like the series is going nowhere. In the end it will be worth it!