A Memory of Light

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.

[a:Brandon Sanderson|38550|Brandon Sanderson|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1201547425p2/38550.jpg] had a very difficult challenge: to take the wonderfully creative world that Robert Jordan had created, and to put it back on track after Robert Jordan had lost control of the direction and plot. The last few books by Jordan had been almost painful, and they made it clear that the series would never finish.

Sanderson wrote the last three books, starting with [b:The Gathering Storm|1166599|The Gathering Storm (Wheel of Time, #12; A Memory of Light, #1)|Robert Jordan|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1312064325s/1166599.jpg|1920889] and continuing with [b:Towers of Midnight|8253920|Towers of Midnight (Wheel of Time, #13; A Memory of Light, #2)|Robert Jordan|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1358109459s/8253920.jpg|7338128] he was doing a good job of returning to a plausible narrative. With this last book he pulled it off masterfully. I read it in a week and was riveted, and felt that he pulled it all in and developed a fantastic conclusion. I also felt that the hundreds of characters developed by Jordan played their parts.

The majority of the book is dedicated to the last battle, which is plausibly described, both from military and fantasy points of view.

With this final book in place I strongly recommend reading the series, and being patient through the difficult parts (books 6-11), knowing that Sanderson gives you a wonderful conclusion.

The fourteenth and final book of The Wheel Of Time took me three weeks of reading... well, nothing else, I think.
I grumbled quite a lot three weeks ago when I realized that the e-book version wouldn't come out immediately; my impatience got the better of my grumpiness and I went to my favorite bookshop to get it.
Impatience is also what I remember from the first books. I had started reading them in French, but the French translation was publishing two books in French for every book in English, and the pocket edition was very slow to appear after the larger edition - starting to read them in English was both a way to speed the process up... and making substantial savings! (because between one paperback and two hardbacks, the choice is easy.) And that was... a bit more than 15 years ago. This series has followed me for half of my life. It's incredible. And now... it's over.

I guess I won't spoil too much when saying that A Memory of Light is the book of the Last Battle. As such, it's pretty much packed with battles, fights and epicness. And generally speaking, it's very satisfying. Everyone has their role, everyone is participating in the biggest event ever, and the whole thing is amazing. I wouldn't have expected to enjoy so much a 900-page battle report - but it worked very, very well. As a reader, one gets closure on the fate of all the people that one has followed during thousands of pages, in a way that is, again, satisfying (and somewhat rewarding). Some characters die, as expected in a battle of this scale; there is not much time given to mourn for them, but it is, again, somewhat to be expected.

All in all, a great conclusion to a series that had its ups and downs. I am very happy with the work of Brandon Sanderson - I have no idea whether he was "the best possible author for this job", but he definitely did a very fine job of concluding the series. Nowadays, I probably wouldn't start to read a series of that scale; retrospectively, I'm glad I got into it 15 years ago. I would have a hard time recommanding it to anyone - in the same way, probably, that I wouldn't recommand running a marathon to anyone (and first and foremorst myself ;) ). It's just... gigantic. And a few books in the middle are really not that great. Is it worth it in the end? I think so. It was a good story.