Reviews with content warning for Gore - Das Vermächtnis des Lichts

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Das Vermächtnis des Lichts by Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson

7 reviews

mattiedancer's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

**SPOILERS**

A Small Note: I can’t imagine the difficulty that Brandon Sanderson had wrapping up a 14-book-plus-a-prequel series in way that was satisfying and respectful to Jordan’s intentions and memory. I think he did a good job – a satisfying job. At times, it edged towards a wonderful job. I found this book very hard to judge overall for the scope of it. Threads that I hoped were wrapped up, simply weren’t, while others were tied up so tightly it felt awkward. But I appreciate how hard this task was to complete and how well he managed in spite of its monstrous scope.

Writing: 4⭐️/5

Overall, the writing is solid bordering on excellent. I appreciated the artistry of The Last Battle chapter, given that it reflected the exhaustion our characters felt. The short glimpses around the battlefield after The Last Battle also worked well to cement the flurry of battle and its effects. The authors maintained tight control of their prose and managed to describe high-level action scenes with clarity and finesse. My critique mainly surrounded the bloat in certain sections – particularly in The Last Battle where a few POVs dragged or meandered costing the scene focus and clarity – and the clunkiness of others – particularly Androl’s disguise scheme and Perrin’s search for Faile.

Characters: 4⭐️/5

Let’s talk positives first: we get a lot of characters, and we settle into most of their POVs very well. I loved the call back to Nynaeve’s wisdom-healing ways, the bold and selfless sacrifices Lan made, and Egwene’s guidance to Rand in his most crucial moments. Many of our core characters came across well in this book, and I loved spending the final book with many characters that I have come to love, and others I have grown to tolerate (looking at you, Perrin). My main critique here comes in with the supporting characters who seemed to have lost a step or two. I was relatively annoyed at Loial and his sudden insistence that he disregard emotional sensitivity for his novel. I also didn’t enjoy Thom’s POV at the end, as he watched people die and wrote his ballad. And while I loved certain characters, it felt like we had to rehash every bit of growth they had had, even stuff that had been long dealt with. My other gripe is our lack of insight into Moiraine; despite her heavy involvement in a pivotal moment, we get more insight into Thom than her.

Plot: 3.75⭐️/5

And here’s where it gets tricky. It’s hard not to consider the plots that didn’t get wrapped up over the course of the series. Trying to focus specifically on plots that did happen in this book, I think Sanderson (and Jordan) did a good job of telling an epic story that offers an ending. And I did, for the most part, like the ending. But, I didn’t love all the choices on how we got there. The start of the book, like much of the books in this series, was significantly weaker than the ending. While I liked the look into the Black Tower, I didn’t love the plotline of how the Tower was reclaimed. Several of the ickier details definitely stuck with me as well, as these didn’t feel necessary. Perrin’s extended plotline to deal with Slayer felt drug out, and I would have loved to see it cleaned up. Lanfear’s sudden obsession with Perrin also felt… odd, as did her appearance in the caves of Shayol Ghul. Most disappointing to me is the lack of conclusion to the Seanchan and the use of the Seanchan as a plot point in Moghedien’s story, almost as a bit of a karmic moment, which felt unnecessary and disgusting. I also would have loved to get a bit more plot given to Faile, as much as I didn’t love her as a character. Overall, the plot was definitely serviceable, even quite enjoyable, but I would have loved more.

Who Should Read This Book?

Those reading the Wheel of Time

Content Warnings?

Toxic relationships, blood, gore, abuse, domestic abuse, war, sexual assault, rape, toxic friendships, gaslighting, misogyny, sexism, death, murder, injury, injury detail, sexual harassment, emotional abuse, slavery, pregnancy,

Post-Reading Rating: 3.75⭐️/5

This is not the review. But it is a review.

Final Rating: 3.75⭐️/5 (3.875)

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marieexplores's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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surdiablo's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

It's over... Six months of journey with these characters has finally reached it's end and I'm glad to say I have enjoyed it tremendously, even exceeded my expectations in fact. I originally started reading Wheel of Time as a precursor before Malazan as I heard WoT was supposedly bigger, slower and perhaps a bit mediocre, but it ended up stealing my heart. It has also left me feeling rather aimless and empty right now so I don't think I will be attempting Malazan anytime soon. I think 'A Memory of Light' was a wonderful conclusion to the series, albeit not without its flaws. There are plenty of moments in this book I loved that puts it in the 5 star category easily or even in my 'favorites of all time' shelf, but it has also left me a tad unsatisfied on certain matters, although most of them might be inconsequential in the grand scheme of events. I usually completely avoid spoilers in my review but since I have reached the end, I'm gonna talk freely about my favorite characters and events. There's huge spoilers for the entire series below so stop reading right here if you don't wanna know and you are on mobile ( They will be hidden on PC ).

So this book is action packed right from the beginning to the very end. Pacing is pretty fast and there's plenty of duels / battles / showdowns non-stop. Heck, the final battle itself is a 'over 200 pages' chapter which could be a novella on its own and it manages to keep you on the edge for its entirety. There were deaths that caught me off guard and made me tear up. Several moments, especially confrontations were executed masterfully, like

Rand vs Dark One, Perrin vs Slayer, Demandred reveal and duels, Moiraine's return, Egwene's sacrifice,

etc. I have no complaints about any of them and I think Sanderson pretty much knocks it out of the park when it comes to delivering the grand finale of significant storylines / character arcs.

Now the things I felt a bit unsatisfied about includes

Padan Fain becoming an afterthought and gets killed immediately at the end, Moirane and Nynaeve barely get to do anything regardless of their task, Logain being underused due to Androl & Perrava ( I did enjoy reading their relation however ) and a lack of extended epilogue explaining the future of secondary characters, considering how huge the series was.

I am also a bit unsure if

Slayer was the appropriate 'final boss' for Perrin

, but the fight scenes were really well done so that I can't complain. However, I understand it must have been hard for Sanderson to do what he did, especially considering the scope and weight of it and the lack of source material,. I felt the need to mention them not because I was terribly disappointed, but because they seemed rather glaring compared to previous books. In other words it's not flawless, but it's probably the best we could have got considering the loss of Robert Jordan and it succeeded in delivering things that mattered most in a breathtaking way.

Some miscellaneous thoughts regarding entire series

Top 3 favorite main characters = Rand, Mat, Nynaeve ( Honorable mention to Egwene as she was the most interesting character to read after Rand but I don't like her as a person )

Top 5 favorite side characters = Ituralde, Verin, Tam, Hurin, Bashere ( Honorable mention to Cadsuane just like Egwene, interesting character who I dislike )

Top 3 favorite forsaken =

Lanfear, Mazrim Taim, Moridin ( Honorable mention to Demandred for the final boss showdown )

Top 10 favorite moments from the whole series in no particular order

Dumai's Wells.
Cleansing Saidin.
Flicker Flicker Flicker Flicker.
Pretty much everything Rand does from killing Semirhage to 'Veins of Gold' in tGS.
Rand's Seanchan campaign.
Ituralde's Seanchan + Blight campaigns.
Nynaeve heals gentling.
Perrin vs Slayer teleport spam duels.
Verin reveal.
The last battle.

There's ofcourse several other amazing moments that I loved but don't wanna list them all here.😅 Also honorable mention to

Rand rescuing Tam and seeing a Fade on the road during escape

in 'The Eye of the World'. It's the scene that started it all, the one I remember so vividly still and got me truly hooked into this series.

Book ranking from top to bottom

The Gathering Storm
Lord of Chaos
The Shadow Rising
The Great Hunt
A Memory of Light
Knife of Dreams
The Path of Daggers
Towers of Midnight
The Fires of Heaven
The Dragon Reborn
The Eye of the World
Winter's Heart
A Crown of Swords
New Spring
Crossroads of Twilight

Oh well, it's time for me to try something new but I don't think I will be tackling Malazan or Cosmere or any other epic fantasies anytime soon.😅

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ekcd_'s review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful inspiring mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

A devastating end to the series - only because any end to WoT would be devastating. I wish it never ended. There were some loose ends, but that leaves more room for fan fiction I guess. Right?

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123erty456's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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emily_mh's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I was going to write a long, comprehensive review for this book, but I simply wouldn't be able to do it justice. This book was simply masterful, a phenomenal conclusion to a phenomenal series. It was just done so well, with such incredible action and such emotional scenes. I have never cried so much over a book; I'm not joking when I say that I literally cried myself to sleep over this.

The only two things I wish were different is that Rand's other loved ones knew of his survival, and that more time at the end was spent mourning over the losses that were suffered, especially Egwene and Bela.

This series will have a special place in my heart for a long time to come.

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readandfindout's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes

4.0

On first read in 2017: 5 stars. I loved this. I want more. Wow. Just wow.

2024 reread overall rating: 4 stars

Style/writing: 4 stars
Themes: 4 stars
Characters: 4 stars
Plot: 3.5 stars
Worldbuilding: 4.5 stars

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