A Memory of Light

Starting the new year by finishing the Wheel of Time series certainly feels like starting with quite an achievement. Having finished the series I find it hard to come to a conclusion about my opinion of the series. Above all this series is a well thought out (and carefully planned) fantasy epic. It really draws the reader into the world, and introduces many finer details that add to the experience. The authors put a lot of thought into how such a world would work. They don't settle for simplistic extensions of the world, but instead introduce many concepts and then let the ways these would be used depend on the characters in the story. Coming back to book 9 of the series, after finishing book 8 in 2015, has been a strange experience. I loved the books back then, and couldn't put them down. When I started reading again, however, I struggled with the many stereotypes, the one-sidedness of the of the ways characters would respond or think, and many of the details seemed confusing or irrelevant. (For example, who actually understands the different names of the sword fighting stances, and am I the only one that is confused whenever the “Demandred” and “Damodred” are used out of context?) It didn't help that the story is rather slow moving at this point in the series. On the other hand it has been a very nostalgic experience. I was often reminded of when I read the earlier books, and I've felt very much connected to the story. Since starting with book 9 I have put the Wheel of Time down a few times, but I never considered not reading it until the end.

The final book (and the last two) make up for many of the problems I had in the earlier books. The story moves along quite well, there are many curve-balls to keep the reader interested, and the whole story reaches a very satisfying conclusion. This final work find a great balance between the expectation and hope of the reader has for the characters and a sense of realism of the price that must be payed. If you've reached this book, then you are probably used to it, but the only big negative for me was the detailed chaos. Every character seems to need to be present at every point off the story, even if their role or actions have no effect on the story itself. For some characters, like some of the forsaken, I even wonder why there are introduced at all.

In conclusion, the Wheel of Time series would probably not be the first fantasy series that I would recommend to new readers. It is, however, a classic among fantasy novel for good reason. So if you can overlook some of its flaws, or don't mind them (like me when I was younger), then I would certainly recommend reading the books until the end, especially if you are already a few books in.

Egwene strode back onto the killing fields, bringing the fury of the Amyrlin with her.

I devoted 2014 to reading the Wheel of Time series and it's with a mix of happiness and sadness that I finish the series. This was an ambitious story and I'm glad it was given a proper ending. Like the previous books Sanderson wrote for this series this is a five star read. Everything in the previous 13 books has lead to this moment. Stories or characters from forgotten timelines, plots from old books, or artifacts you thought were misplaced, all come back and make for one epic read.

The last few books have been so high paced they were an exhausting read, and this one is no different. From page one the story hits the gas and doesn't let up until the end. I felt as exhausted as a Borderlander in battle reading this because there were no breaks, no comedic moments or amusing side adventures; everything was on the line as the Last Battle approached and the story delivered.

Any frustrations I had with some of the lower rated books has been erased with the last few instalments by Sanderson and leaves me satisfied with how it ended.

The epic finale of an epic series. An era is over. I was very skeptical of someone else finishing this fantasy masterpiece. I am wondering how much Robert Jordan is in there and what he had planned and what are decisions of Brandon Sanderson. When I forget that - which I do while reading - I was captivated by this book.

50% or more of it is taken up by the actual last battle. I am sure some people will cry out and say "that's too much". You would probably have said the "too little" if it was less than that.

The book is a worthy final book. It wraps up most things and on the last 20% I just couldn't stop reading.

Without wanting to spoil anything: yes some people had to die. Some people got to go like the heroes they are, some didn't. I loved the Forsaken endings. I loved the solutions to so many story lines ... there was one prophecy in particular that has been very long in coming and I was overjoyed to find out what it meant ... the book is great and kept me wanting more, knowing it is never going to come.

After finishing the book I just could not sleep, realizing "Wheel of Time" was over, the last battle had happened. In the morning I woke up early and still could not stop thinking about the book. How often does that happen? To me: rarely!

There were times I really didn't enjoy the series any more ... but this book jumped into my all-time-favorites list immediately. Go finish reading the series so you can read this one!

I forgot I still had this book open....

In any case, I finished this book back at the end of March, and was very pleased with how it wrapped everything up. I remember spending maybe a week trying to decide if I really enjoyed the book as a book, or really enjoyed the fact that the series was finally over. Not that I didn't enjoy the series, just that I had been looking forward to a conclusion for many (many) years. I eventually decided that I really did like the book as a book.

Sanderson is a talented writer, no question. I've read all of his stuff thus far, and while his early writing is somewhat less interesting to me (I had to force myself to finish Elantris, for example), he's come a long way. He took everything that Robert Jordan had set up and knocked it all down. The only reason I gave it four stars instead of five is because I think he took some of the core characters and changed their personalities slightly. Some of the characters said/did/thought things that I don't know if they would have if Robert Jordan were still with us. Not necessarily to a bad result, just that there were small jarring moments like that.

All in all, a very, very satisfying conclusion that was a long time in coming.