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A review by thirdsaint
A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson
5.0
Masterpiece. This series is a Masterpiece. This book is a Masterpiece. I cannot express how grateful I am that I powered through The Eye of the World after putting it down for four entire months before completing it. I started down this path on August 2nd, 2020 and finished on August 25, 2023. Not counting those 4 months on pause, it essentially took me 2.5 years to finish this epic 14 book + 1 prequel series and I don't regret it one bit. I knew this was a daunting undertaking, and hesitated in starting the series as a result, but the combination of the forthcoming TV show (oof) and my favorite author finishing the series helped me take the plunge. If you love epic fantasy and long series, you'd be doing yourself a great disservice if you skipped Wheel of Time.
The reason why this series is so acclaimed and works so well can be summed up in the phrase "satisfying payoffs". As would be expected throughout a 14-book series, there were hundreds of plot threads, thousands of characters, and a ton of foreshadowing that Brandon Sanderson was tasked to bring together in the last three books. He is known for strong endings and to bring in the expert on finales to close out this epic fantasy series, well, let's just say it was the perfect choice if we couldn't get the man himself. Sanderson knocked it out of the park and the ending was honestly everything I could have hoped for. I was beyond surprised to see how many parts wrapped up, even if it felt like some were missed.
I'm going to break this non-spoiler review up into three parts: Before the Last Battle, the Last Battle, and After the Last Battle. There is just so much going on here, so much that happens, that it's hard to keep it all straight.
Before the Last Battle - The stage has been set and the book starts off with a literal meeting of the minds of every major faction, nation, and player at the Field of Merrilor. Some of my favorite sequences happen in this scene, which is impressive because battle tactic portions can be unbearably boring if done incorrectly. Not the case here and one major plot thread at the end of Towers of Midnight features prominently here to my giddy delight. Everything about it was perfect and well-timed. Immediately on the heels of that is a meeting between Mat and Rand that was wonderfully written. Sanderson seemed to capture both characters and their tendencies so well and the humor filled banter was a stark contrast "calm before the storm" to everything that followed. The one-upping between two old friends rang so true to me.
After all of the preparations are discussed and made, I was surprised to find there's a great deal of fighting and battles that happens before the epic The Last Battle chapter about 60% through the book. Massive battles are raged in four different locations with a number of twists and turns that had my head spinning. One particular revelation had me so disjointed that I made the cardinal sin of going to Google to see how I missed it. Note to readers: Don't ever do this. RJ/BS cover the topic later if you can bear to wait. Fortunately I was only mildly spoiled but all the same, job well done Sanderson. As it is Sanderson's modus operandi, he knocks the battles out of the park in both sheer epic scope and intensity. He was made to finish this as much as we all wish Robert Jordan could have. Old characters show up and call backs come aplenty as things are done with the One Power that you either thought up yourself or had no idea was possible, but they are all believable.
The juxtaposition of the good guys methods and the point-of-views from the bad guys make for a very tense fight. This being the last book too, you just know a lot of characters aren't making it out alive. The stakes would be cheapened if that wasn't the case and, well, Sanderson doesn't pull his punches. There is a lot of death, even before The Last Battle chapter, and a lot of those deaths may shock you. Reading this book literally felt like a very long, fast roller coaster with constant hills and drops.
My biggest gripe with this book isn't too big of an issue, but there's been one Forsaken that has had small minor scenes the whole series hinting at something big brewing. Robert Jordan wasn't lying about that, but to save all of it for the very last book felt quite a bit underwhelming. There was no character depth and how this Forsaken was used just felt unrealistic. Granted, they were a powerful and dreadful presence that provided much of the tension in the book. It just felt like they were very underused and then to bring yet another brand new set of people in the final book killed some of the punch of the reveal. Well, my other gripe is there are a few characters who meet an unceremonious end that didn't match their involvement in the series. The deaths were just merely mentioned and hand-waved away while others were given more attention. Again, small gripes when I realize this was an impossible task, and to give everyone the appropriate time they deserve would lead to a 2000+ page book.
The Last Battle - So... this is a 281 page, 81,200 word behemoth of a chapter that is longer than a lot of novels. It took me the better part of a week to finish as I didn't have the time to read it straight through as I would have liked. It is epic. It is marvelous. Every single word was warranted and appropriate for the conclusion to a 14 book epic fantasy series. The action was fast and furious with some point-of-view sections just being a page long. As is Sanderson's trademark with his Sanderlanches, it reads like the epic finale of a movie where 4 different plot threads are going and the movie jumps from scene to scene seamlessly. For those that haven't read any of Brandon's other material, it's most comparable to the last chapter in Winter's Heart. That is a good, low-key comparison to what you'll encounter here.
Of course, the true Last Battle between Rand and the Dark One, that has literally been talked about since the opening chapters of the first book, features prominently. Peppered in between all of the skirmishes around the world are sections detailing Rand's encounter. How this was done is perfect for the series and the gradual progression to it's ultimate conclusion was done in the only way that it could be and still be satisfying. There's no deus ex machina or cheap tricks. So much of what happens has been foreshadowed and building for the entire series. I would say that the true lasting impression of this series was dependent on RJ and Sanderson pulling this off. They did.
Just be ready for your emotions to be in knots and for you to need to take a breath to calm your heart from pounding out of your chest. If this was a spoiler review there is so much more that I could say. As it is, just know this chapter is everything you wanted and hoped for after slogging through the first 50% of his books when it seemed like nothing was happening and more and more new characters were being introduced. It was all worth it. It all makes sense. Also, chef's kiss to the final part of this chapter where I'm pretty sure I shouted out loud. PAYOFFS!
After the Last Battle - I felt like the after part of the Last Battle actually could've been expanded even more for all the characters in this series. Something along the lines of the closing of Lord of the Rings is what I was expecting, but we don't really get that. Still, plot threads and character arcs for all the ones that matter are concluded to satisfaction. There are even some mysterious questions raised in the end that, yet again, make me wish Robert Jordan were still alive and could've written expansion stories after this.
As you are reading the final pages, you may feel a lot of emotion at the beautiful prose. I have to believe that this is one of the parts that Robert Jordan wrote. It feels like a true coming full circle from the beginning of The Eye of the World in a literary sense and it was, quite honestly, perfect. So much so, that you may feel saddened to leave the world of Randland and want to start the adventure again. I know I will again sometime, as I hear the second read through is even better and that I'll be amazed at all of the foreshadowing going back to The Eye of the World. I thought reading a 14 book series was daunting enough, but it's a testament to Robert Jordan's masterclass at epic fantasy worldbuilding and Sanderson's closing it out that has me confident I'll read it again without trepidation. This series is a must to any fans of Epic Fantasy that love longer series than trilogies. It's all worth it.
The Wheel of Time
The Eye of the World - 8/10
The Great Hunt - 9.5/10
The Dragon Reborn - 8.5/10
The Shadow Rising - 10/10
The Fires of Heaven - 10/10
Lord of Chaos - 10/10
A Crown of Swords - 9.5/10
The Path of Daggers - 10/10
Winter's Heart - 10/10
Crossroads of Twilight - 7/10
Knife of Dreams - 10/10
The Gathering Storm - 10/10
Towers of Midnight - 10/10
A Memory of Light - 10/10
The reason why this series is so acclaimed and works so well can be summed up in the phrase "satisfying payoffs". As would be expected throughout a 14-book series, there were hundreds of plot threads, thousands of characters, and a ton of foreshadowing that Brandon Sanderson was tasked to bring together in the last three books. He is known for strong endings and to bring in the expert on finales to close out this epic fantasy series, well, let's just say it was the perfect choice if we couldn't get the man himself. Sanderson knocked it out of the park and the ending was honestly everything I could have hoped for. I was beyond surprised to see how many parts wrapped up, even if it felt like some were missed.
I'm going to break this non-spoiler review up into three parts: Before the Last Battle, the Last Battle, and After the Last Battle. There is just so much going on here, so much that happens, that it's hard to keep it all straight.
Before the Last Battle - The stage has been set and the book starts off with a literal meeting of the minds of every major faction, nation, and player at the Field of Merrilor. Some of my favorite sequences happen in this scene, which is impressive because battle tactic portions can be unbearably boring if done incorrectly. Not the case here and one major plot thread at the end of Towers of Midnight features prominently here to my giddy delight. Everything about it was perfect and well-timed. Immediately on the heels of that is a meeting between Mat and Rand that was wonderfully written. Sanderson seemed to capture both characters and their tendencies so well and the humor filled banter was a stark contrast "calm before the storm" to everything that followed. The one-upping between two old friends rang so true to me.
After all of the preparations are discussed and made, I was surprised to find there's a great deal of fighting and battles that happens before the epic The Last Battle chapter about 60% through the book. Massive battles are raged in four different locations with a number of twists and turns that had my head spinning. One particular revelation had me so disjointed that I made the cardinal sin of going to Google to see how I missed it. Note to readers: Don't ever do this. RJ/BS cover the topic later if you can bear to wait. Fortunately I was only mildly spoiled but all the same, job well done Sanderson. As it is Sanderson's modus operandi, he knocks the battles out of the park in both sheer epic scope and intensity. He was made to finish this as much as we all wish Robert Jordan could have. Old characters show up and call backs come aplenty as things are done with the One Power that you either thought up yourself or had no idea was possible, but they are all believable.
The juxtaposition of the good guys methods and the point-of-views from the bad guys make for a very tense fight. This being the last book too, you just know a lot of characters aren't making it out alive. The stakes would be cheapened if that wasn't the case and, well, Sanderson doesn't pull his punches. There is a lot of death, even before The Last Battle chapter, and a lot of those deaths may shock you. Reading this book literally felt like a very long, fast roller coaster with constant hills and drops.
My biggest gripe with this book isn't too big of an issue, but there's been one Forsaken that has had small minor scenes the whole series hinting at something big brewing. Robert Jordan wasn't lying about that, but to save all of it for the very last book felt quite a bit underwhelming. There was no character depth and how this Forsaken was used just felt unrealistic. Granted, they were a powerful and dreadful presence that provided much of the tension in the book. It just felt like they were very underused and then to bring yet another brand new set of people in the final book killed some of the punch of the reveal. Well, my other gripe is there are a few characters who meet an unceremonious end that didn't match their involvement in the series. The deaths were just merely mentioned and hand-waved away while others were given more attention. Again, small gripes when I realize this was an impossible task, and to give everyone the appropriate time they deserve would lead to a 2000+ page book.
The Last Battle - So... this is a 281 page, 81,200 word behemoth of a chapter that is longer than a lot of novels. It took me the better part of a week to finish as I didn't have the time to read it straight through as I would have liked. It is epic. It is marvelous. Every single word was warranted and appropriate for the conclusion to a 14 book epic fantasy series. The action was fast and furious with some point-of-view sections just being a page long. As is Sanderson's trademark with his Sanderlanches, it reads like the epic finale of a movie where 4 different plot threads are going and the movie jumps from scene to scene seamlessly. For those that haven't read any of Brandon's other material, it's most comparable to the last chapter in Winter's Heart. That is a good, low-key comparison to what you'll encounter here.
Of course, the true Last Battle between Rand and the Dark One, that has literally been talked about since the opening chapters of the first book, features prominently. Peppered in between all of the skirmishes around the world are sections detailing Rand's encounter. How this was done is perfect for the series and the gradual progression to it's ultimate conclusion was done in the only way that it could be and still be satisfying. There's no deus ex machina or cheap tricks. So much of what happens has been foreshadowed and building for the entire series. I would say that the true lasting impression of this series was dependent on RJ and Sanderson pulling this off. They did.
Just be ready for your emotions to be in knots and for you to need to take a breath to calm your heart from pounding out of your chest. If this was a spoiler review there is so much more that I could say. As it is, just know this chapter is everything you wanted and hoped for after slogging through the first 50% of his books when it seemed like nothing was happening and more and more new characters were being introduced. It was all worth it. It all makes sense. Also, chef's kiss to the final part of this chapter where I'm pretty sure I shouted out loud. PAYOFFS!
After the Last Battle - I felt like the after part of the Last Battle actually could've been expanded even more for all the characters in this series. Something along the lines of the closing of Lord of the Rings is what I was expecting, but we don't really get that. Still, plot threads and character arcs for all the ones that matter are concluded to satisfaction. There are even some mysterious questions raised in the end that, yet again, make me wish Robert Jordan were still alive and could've written expansion stories after this.
As you are reading the final pages, you may feel a lot of emotion at the beautiful prose. I have to believe that this is one of the parts that Robert Jordan wrote. It feels like a true coming full circle from the beginning of The Eye of the World in a literary sense and it was, quite honestly, perfect. So much so, that you may feel saddened to leave the world of Randland and want to start the adventure again. I know I will again sometime, as I hear the second read through is even better and that I'll be amazed at all of the foreshadowing going back to The Eye of the World. I thought reading a 14 book series was daunting enough, but it's a testament to Robert Jordan's masterclass at epic fantasy worldbuilding and Sanderson's closing it out that has me confident I'll read it again without trepidation. This series is a must to any fans of Epic Fantasy that love longer series than trilogies. It's all worth it.
The Wheel of Time
The Eye of the World - 8/10
The Great Hunt - 9.5/10
The Dragon Reborn - 8.5/10
The Shadow Rising - 10/10
The Fires of Heaven - 10/10
Lord of Chaos - 10/10
A Crown of Swords - 9.5/10
The Path of Daggers - 10/10
Winter's Heart - 10/10
Crossroads of Twilight - 7/10
Knife of Dreams - 10/10
The Gathering Storm - 10/10
Towers of Midnight - 10/10
A Memory of Light - 10/10