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4.59 AVERAGE
4.59 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
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:
Complicated
adventurous
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This review is for the whole Wheel of Time series upon completion of my first time reading it.
I had some unfounded prejudices against The Wheel of Time before I read this series. The first time I heard of it, it was in the context of fans complaining about the newly-released Jordan novel. Maybe Crossroads of Twilight or Knife of Dreams, but either way, all I read about it was how slow and plodding it was. How much braid tugging and skirt smoothing was happening. How it was filler.
I also swore off of long book series and doorstop size novels. I finished Malazen Book of the Fallen. By the time I got to the end of that series, I forgot where I came from and where I was going. I wasn't interested in doing that again.
Then a couple things happened. I read a lot of shorter novels that were fine, okay, great, sometimes amazing, but then I'd have to figure out what to read next, which was a chore. And Amazon started airing their Wheel of Time TV show. I liked the first season, but I correctly predicted that Amazon was never going to finish that series. So I started The Eye of the World. If it didn't turn me off, I'd have solved two problems: the chore of deciding what to read next, and avoiding the pain of not knowing how the TV show was going to end.
Now, 18 months later, I've finished The Wheel of Time and I loved it. I loved these characters and the many, many journeys they went on. I loved the overarching plot and, amazingly, how it resolved. I loved theorizing (to myself) what was real and true and what was fiction in the world. I dread going back to other books. I will re-read this. It's excellent.
I had some unfounded prejudices against The Wheel of Time before I read this series. The first time I heard of it, it was in the context of fans complaining about the newly-released Jordan novel. Maybe Crossroads of Twilight or Knife of Dreams, but either way, all I read about it was how slow and plodding it was. How much braid tugging and skirt smoothing was happening. How it was filler.
I also swore off of long book series and doorstop size novels. I finished Malazen Book of the Fallen. By the time I got to the end of that series, I forgot where I came from and where I was going. I wasn't interested in doing that again.
Then a couple things happened. I read a lot of shorter novels that were fine, okay, great, sometimes amazing, but then I'd have to figure out what to read next, which was a chore. And Amazon started airing their Wheel of Time TV show. I liked the first season, but I correctly predicted that Amazon was never going to finish that series. So I started The Eye of the World. If it didn't turn me off, I'd have solved two problems: the chore of deciding what to read next, and avoiding the pain of not knowing how the TV show was going to end.
Now, 18 months later, I've finished The Wheel of Time and I loved it. I loved these characters and the many, many journeys they went on. I loved the overarching plot and, amazingly, how it resolved. I loved theorizing (to myself) what was real and true and what was fiction in the world. I dread going back to other books. I will re-read this. It's excellent.
adventurous
medium-paced
Finally finished the Wheel of Time Series, and wow, what a journey! This series has been an incredible ride from start to finish. The final battle was intense, and the ending was absolutely beautiful. Everything came together perfectly. All the effort it took to get here was totally worth it. Such a satisfying conclusion to an epic saga!
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
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
adventurous
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
***4.5 stars***
Overall,
The end is now. The final book in this 14 book series was almost exactly what I was hoping for. The final battle to save the world. All of the main characters have matured into their roles and are fulfilling their destinies. I really liked Rands part in the battle. Mat remains my favorite character of the series. Perrin finally came around and I did end up rooting for him. Egwayne oh Egwayne. I wish there was more Nineave even if I don't like her very much. All in all I think this was a fantastic ending to the series. The only thing keeping this from a full 5 stars is that there were a couple threads that did not get resolution. I wish the epilogue was longer and gave more finality to certain things. It is really sad that Robert Jordan is dead because there is so much of this world that could be explored. If you have made it this far in the series, well done that was a huge commitment and it does pay off.
Overall,
The end is now. The final book in this 14 book series was almost exactly what I was hoping for. The final battle to save the world. All of the main characters have matured into their roles and are fulfilling their destinies. I really liked Rands part in the battle. Mat remains my favorite character of the series. Perrin finally came around and I did end up rooting for him. Egwayne oh Egwayne. I wish there was more Nineave even if I don't like her very much. All in all I think this was a fantastic ending to the series. The only thing keeping this from a full 5 stars is that there were a couple threads that did not get resolution. I wish the epilogue was longer and gave more finality to certain things. It is really sad that Robert Jordan is dead because there is so much of this world that could be explored. If you have made it this far in the series, well done that was a huge commitment and it does pay off.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
This was incredibly gripping and pretty much nonstop from start to finish. What a wild ride! It felt so good to finally reach the end of a series I started back in the early 90s. I don’t think any other book has made me ugly cry so hard. The ending was wonderfully satisfying. I’ll definitely reread this. Well done, Sanderson.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
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
A Memory of Light is the final chapter of the Wheel of Time series, written (mostly) by Robert Jordan. Because of Jordan's mid-series death, the final three books were written by Brandon Sanderson. Of Sanderson's three books, this was by far the best. It was also the one that seemed closest to Jordan in style and content. As a devoted fan of the series and it's original author, I read all of Sanderson's books with mixed feelings. It will always feel like we heard the ending of the story secondhand. But at least the ending to that story was sufficient.
At times it felt like Sanderson had a checklist of events that he had to cross off before the story could conclude (it also makes me wonder how many books Jordan would have needed to actually finish the series, since he hadn't written a book with the ferocious pacing of this one since very early on). But almost all of those events felt natural as they occurred. Very few things felt forced, which is an impressive achievement given everything that happens. I will say that the ending, which had been much discussed and which RJ claimed to have known before he even began writing the first book, was not quite what I hoped. It was good, it was fine, but perhaps most importantly, it was simply written.
At times it felt like Sanderson had a checklist of events that he had to cross off before the story could conclude (it also makes me wonder how many books Jordan would have needed to actually finish the series, since he hadn't written a book with the ferocious pacing of this one since very early on). But almost all of those events felt natural as they occurred. Very few things felt forced, which is an impressive achievement given everything that happens. I will say that the ending, which had been much discussed and which RJ claimed to have known before he even began writing the first book, was not quite what I hoped. It was good, it was fine, but perhaps most importantly, it was simply written.