A Memory of Light Review (spoiler free)

Well it's all over now. More than 20 years and thousands of pages later I now have the full story of the Wheel of Time. The epic fantasy series by Robert Jordan and finished by Brandon Sanderson is the longest continuous narrative I will probably ever read. I have read other series like Robert Adams' The Horseclans novels and the Dresden Files, etc. that already stretch over more books (or eventually will), but those series don't feel like a single story told in 14+ parts.

Often the journey is more satisfying than the destination (or in this case the end). A Memory of Light is a satisfying end to a long complex tale. It isn't the same end that Robert Jordan would have given us in that the pieces are put together in a different way, but the pieces would most-likely have been the same.

A Memory of Light (AMoL), as promised ends the story begun in The Eye of the World but does leave some minor questions for us to ponder regarding the future of this world. One that we will only see in our imaginations after this point. Brandon Sanderson and the team behind this book have done a great job of tying together this long narrative and seem to take special efforts to link in even some of the smallest hints and events in prior books and make them relevant and important to the end of the story.

AMoL is a long book with a staggering number of points of view with many chapters featuring two or more POV. The book has many of the epic moments that has defined The Wheel of Time and many are given quite a bit of space while others come in a single sentence or paragraph leaving you re-reading to make sure you caught what just happened.

Not everything is perfect with the book or the story. Some points are drawn out and tiring to read through while others are rushed and don't feel like they are given enough time or focus. That aside, we get closure - perhaps not in the way we thought it would be or as we hoped but fitting nonetheless.

I recommend AMoL to anyone interested in epic fantasy and contend that the journey is worth investing in the several million words that is the Wheel of Time. It will take a while for it to settle in that the story is now done, but I am happy to have read it. A Memory of Light gets 4 and a half Mick Happies. I hope you take a ride on the winds of time someday (if you haven't already).

My Wheel of Time Collection

P.S. I did get the answer to my RAFO question about Mat and the Deathwatch Guards. (see Towers of Midnight review below for more on that).

Towers of Midnight Review

With the release of A Memory of Light on January 8, 2013, I decided to re-read Towers of Midnight to prepare. Towers of Midnight is the 13^th main book in the Wheel of Time Series published by Tor and written by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson. For those few who don’t know, The Wheel of Time is an epic Fantasy series that will, when finished, span 14 main books and a prequel novel. Unfortunately, Mr. Jordan passed away before completing the series and Brandon Sanderson was chosen to finish it based on his notes, outlines and partially written pieces. I won’t try to bring you up to speed on the story so far or explain the series beyond that. If you want a terrific in-depth study on each book, see Leigh Butler’s re-read of the Wheel of Time at Tor.com.

Towers of Midnight (ToM) is the second book that Mr. Sanderson has completed and he does a very good job of delivering a book that is definitely part of the Wheel of Time even if some of the individual words and sections are not exactly as Robert Jordan would have written them.

When I first read ToM two years ago, I found myself impatient with some of the characters and plot lines that get a greater share of the page count. On re-reading the story, I have a better appreciation for how it all weaves together to get the characters to the right place at the right time for the final confrontation to happen. For several books leading up to book 12, The Gathering Storm, the Wheel of Time had slowed down and the story felt like it was grinding under the large weight of the scope of it all. However, within that I had the greater sense that everything was going to come to a final head well before any of the “good guys” were prepared and all of the planning and scheming they were doing was going to be for nothing.

In The Gathering Storm, all seems bleak for the forces of good and it looks like the Shadow (the forces of evil) will win. In ToM, we see that all is not lost for the Light (the good guys) and that they may actually have a shot at winning. There are a lot of great scenes in ToM, which pay off nicely on the narrative debt built up over the previous 12 books. I won’t spoil them, but many are epic, some bittersweet, a few things happen that have you wondering how they will impact the last book and as always you get a sense that the end will not be all roses for everyone. This isn’t George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Fire and Ice where I swear bad things will happen to everyone, but a lot of horrible things have happened over 13 books and there are bound to be more in A Memory of Light even though the events of ToM were pretty pro-good guys.

I realized the other day that I have been reading Wheel of Time books for over 20 years, longer than my daughter has been alive or I have been married. My father suggested I read Eye of the World and I didn’t recognize what he was suggesting I read until a college roommate was reading it and raving about it. For about half my life I have been reading these books and enjoying the journey. I had the opportunity to meet Mr. Jordan a couple of times (4 or 5) at book signings. Most of the time I didn’t have anything to say other than thanks for the story. The last book tour I saw him at (Crossroads of Twilight) I asked two questions:

How long would it take Lan to ride to Tarwin’s Gap?

Would Mat be able to command the Deathwatch Guards?

To both questions I got the usual answer of “Read and find out”.  At the end of ToM I know the answer to one of the two, roughly. I expect the answer to number two will come in A Memory of Light.

I recommend the Wheel of Time series. It can be long and frustrating and enjoyable. ToM is a very satisfying piece in the series and rewards the readers for sticking with the story for over 10,000 pages. Towers of Midnight gets 4 Mick Happies. It isn’t the best of the series, but it is right up there and ramps things up for an epic conclusion in A Memory of Light. Hopefully Mr. Jordan would be satisfied with how it all ends.

Note: There are many websites devoted to The Wheel of Time. One of the best is Dragonmount.com. Here is a trailer that the Dragonmount folks made for Towers of Midnight: