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keggreads 's review for:
A Memory of Light
by Brandon Sanderson, Robert Jordan
Wow, I've finally finished The Wheel of Time, and what a ride it has been. This series had a lot of ups and downs for me throughout and I would like to take the review of this book to review the series as a whole and talk about some of my favorite characters.
So first of all the book itself was incredible, All of the plot threads from the entire behemoth of a series finally come together and I'm happy to say almost every plot thread I can think of was resolved and nicely tied off with this book. On top of that this book had one of the best chapters I've ever read in my life even the chapter was 9 hours long on the audio book. This book brought almost every emotion out of me, it made me cry, it made me mad, it made me yell in joy. I couldn't ask for a better resolution to what has become my most beloved fantasy series. This book itself is an easy 6 stars.
Now to talk about the series as a whole. As a million people have said before me this series has a very strong start, a somewhat slow middle, and a very strong finish and I agree with that mostly. While I do agree that the middle of the series is a bit slower than the rest, I think a lot of that is due to people either burning themselves out by trying to read the series too fast (I am guilty of this) or going to far in the other direction and waiting way to long between books and losing interest/engagement. This doesn't mean that some books don't burn slower than others, but its important not to hand wave the middle of the series away because you'd miss out on a lot interesting character growth and interaction.
Overall I love the themes of unity and personal growth throughout the story and the writing by both authors is just so masterful. I think after Jordan's passing, Sanderson took over in a very respectful way and as someone whos read a LOT of Sanderson lately, his writing really doesn't feel like he's trying to make this series his own, he's merely carrying the torch home for Jordan.
This series also has a handful of my favorite characters I've ever had the pleasure of getting to know and I'd like to talk about them in this review and some of the things I love about them each. There will be some minor spoilers going forward but I will try not to give massive ones.
I will start with Matrim Cauthon because he's my least favorite of the 3 ta'veren but still a fantastic character. Mat is an awesome example of duty in a character. He really wants nothing more than to drink, gamble, andharass flirt with women, However we see him step up to do the right thing time and time again, even when putting himself at great risk. In this book especially its so fun to see him mellow out some of his bad tendencies(misogyny) and step up in an awesome way. My only wish for this character would be if he got called out more on his misogyny and he was forced to deal with it in a more proactive way.
Egwene al'Vere is one of the best written characters in the entire series, full stop. Her growth in both literal strength and presence as well as as a character is astounding. She is one of the most abused and battered characters in the series, and honestly has every right and the ability to be a vengeful, arrogant and cruel villain, but instead she somehow always picks herself up and not only manages to keep standing but she even shows mercy to the very people who abused her. Her skill as a leader cannot be overstated. On top of the all of that she is a star player in some of the most compelling and action packed combat scenes I have ever read, and she is ice cold every single time. I really cannot say enough good things about this character and I could maybe write a whole review about just her.
Now it's time for my personal GOAT, Perrin Aybara. I love everything about this man starting from his first appearance. Not to be dramatic but there are times when I feel like this character was written to appeal exactly to me, everything about him is just so cool and on top of that I think he's well written with well thought out flaws and and weaknesses that just make him so compelling. I love that his major growth is dealing with rage and the acceptance of responsibility, I think these are two traits that A lot of young men do connect with and I love that Perrin deals with these things in a healthy way, he's is able to conquer his rage and turn it towards positive outcomes. He learns to accept his responsibility and understand that even if he didn't ask for it, he has people that rely on him and look up to him, and that because of that he needs to push himself to do and be better. On top of all of this he remains one of if not the MOST compassionate character in the series, he is gentleness is always remarked on, his love for his wife is one of his most defining characteristics, and his desire to help those that need him is always present, all while being a muscle-bound masculine character. Perrin is the perfect example of a what Masculinity should be. He is the Anti-Pill. My favorite character ever written, hands down.
SPOILERS AHEAD
Last but not least The Dragon Reborn, Car'a'carn, He Who Comes With the Dawn, Rand al'Thor. I HATED Rand for at least half of this series, but in retrospect its because I didn't see the vision. Rand becomes a deeply troubled and flawed character for probably 3/4 of the story, he is wrathful and cruel, quick to violence and distrusting of even his closest friends. He does overcome this eventually in a very emotional moment and becomes the antithesis of all of the things while retaining his bad-assness though. I love this character arc, I think it shows stellar character growth and I think it takes skill to write, I just really didn't like the way he behaved for a while but I still think he was fantastically written. Having the main character be a pseudo-antagonist for parts of the series was an interesting move and served to genuinely keep me on my toes and not just always assume "The good guys always win". Overall by the end of the series Rand is one of my favorites and I think his arc shows a lot of growth. I also think he should be the gold standard for a "Prophesized One" character, every part of the way all of that is written is so cool and provided a great reading experience.
SPOILERS END
Overall I loved this series start to finish, sure it has some flaws but I think no series is perfect and this is almost definitely my favorite fantasy series to date. I will for sure read it again in the future, but right now 6 Stars as a series.
So first of all the book itself was incredible, All of the plot threads from the entire behemoth of a series finally come together and I'm happy to say almost every plot thread I can think of was resolved and nicely tied off with this book. On top of that this book had one of the best chapters I've ever read in my life even the chapter was 9 hours long on the audio book. This book brought almost every emotion out of me, it made me cry, it made me mad, it made me yell in joy. I couldn't ask for a better resolution to what has become my most beloved fantasy series. This book itself is an easy 6 stars.
Now to talk about the series as a whole. As a million people have said before me this series has a very strong start, a somewhat slow middle, and a very strong finish and I agree with that mostly. While I do agree that the middle of the series is a bit slower than the rest, I think a lot of that is due to people either burning themselves out by trying to read the series too fast (I am guilty of this) or going to far in the other direction and waiting way to long between books and losing interest/engagement. This doesn't mean that some books don't burn slower than others, but its important not to hand wave the middle of the series away because you'd miss out on a lot interesting character growth and interaction.
Overall I love the themes of unity and personal growth throughout the story and the writing by both authors is just so masterful. I think after Jordan's passing, Sanderson took over in a very respectful way and as someone whos read a LOT of Sanderson lately, his writing really doesn't feel like he's trying to make this series his own, he's merely carrying the torch home for Jordan.
This series also has a handful of my favorite characters I've ever had the pleasure of getting to know and I'd like to talk about them in this review and some of the things I love about them each. There will be some minor spoilers going forward but I will try not to give massive ones.
I will start with Matrim Cauthon because he's my least favorite of the 3 ta'veren but still a fantastic character. Mat is an awesome example of duty in a character. He really wants nothing more than to drink, gamble, and
Egwene al'Vere is one of the best written characters in the entire series, full stop. Her growth in both literal strength and presence as well as as a character is astounding. She is one of the most abused and battered characters in the series, and honestly has every right and the ability to be a vengeful, arrogant and cruel villain, but instead she somehow always picks herself up and not only manages to keep standing but she even shows mercy to the very people who abused her. Her skill as a leader cannot be overstated. On top of the all of that she is a star player in some of the most compelling and action packed combat scenes I have ever read, and she is ice cold every single time. I really cannot say enough good things about this character and I could maybe write a whole review about just her.
Now it's time for my personal GOAT, Perrin Aybara. I love everything about this man starting from his first appearance. Not to be dramatic but there are times when I feel like this character was written to appeal exactly to me, everything about him is just so cool and on top of that I think he's well written with well thought out flaws and and weaknesses that just make him so compelling. I love that his major growth is dealing with rage and the acceptance of responsibility, I think these are two traits that A lot of young men do connect with and I love that Perrin deals with these things in a healthy way, he's is able to conquer his rage and turn it towards positive outcomes. He learns to accept his responsibility and understand that even if he didn't ask for it, he has people that rely on him and look up to him, and that because of that he needs to push himself to do and be better. On top of all of this he remains one of if not the MOST compassionate character in the series, he is gentleness is always remarked on, his love for his wife is one of his most defining characteristics, and his desire to help those that need him is always present, all while being a muscle-bound masculine character. Perrin is the perfect example of a what Masculinity should be. He is the Anti-Pill. My favorite character ever written, hands down.
SPOILERS AHEAD
Last but not least The Dragon Reborn, Car'a'carn, He Who Comes With the Dawn, Rand al'Thor. I HATED Rand for at least half of this series, but in retrospect its because I didn't see the vision. Rand becomes a deeply troubled and flawed character for probably 3/4 of the story, he is wrathful and cruel, quick to violence and distrusting of even his closest friends. He does overcome this eventually in a very emotional moment and becomes the antithesis of all of the things while retaining his bad-assness though. I love this character arc, I think it shows stellar character growth and I think it takes skill to write, I just really didn't like the way he behaved for a while but I still think he was fantastically written. Having the main character be a pseudo-antagonist for parts of the series was an interesting move and served to genuinely keep me on my toes and not just always assume "The good guys always win". Overall by the end of the series Rand is one of my favorites and I think his arc shows a lot of growth. I also think he should be the gold standard for a "Prophesized One" character, every part of the way all of that is written is so cool and provided a great reading experience.
SPOILERS END
Overall I loved this series start to finish, sure it has some flaws but I think no series is perfect and this is almost definitely my favorite fantasy series to date. I will for sure read it again in the future, but right now 6 Stars as a series.