Review: A Memory of Light

A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I'm finished. Wow, after all these years, it's strange to type those words. How do I review a book that I've been waiting so long to read? I read the last three books too fast, and am still processing, especially the ending. The ending! It's over! Done. And I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. It might take a while to sink in.

First impressions - this book is truly about the Last Battle. All other considerations give way before the all-encompassing fight against the Shadow. Politics, maneuvering, factions, nations are all suspended and it comes down to one question: do you fight for the Light or for the Shadow? The battles are complex, the stakes are incredibly high, and it truly feels like the end of the world.

I found it difficult to come up for air, as there were never any good stopping points, no slower moments to catch your breath. It was intense. At least 600 pages of it were pure battle. Light! It was really too much battle for me, the scale so grand and epic that I felt I was drowning in it at times. The sense of imminent disaster was pervasive and grim. It was magnificent, exhausting, grueling. But somehow not too gritty and dark because the characters never lost hope, even when there was plenty of reason to despair. They fought with everything they had.

I'm glad to be done because I couldn't take much more of the war. I'm glad to be done with it because I need my life back.

The last 100 pages is where everything really comes together. That's the part I'm still processing. I love what happened with some characters - the ending was tied up just right for many of them. Not all escape unscathed, however, so there's some sadness, too. And though much is tied up, I feel like there are a couple loose ends - not every possibility for going forward is hashed out, and there's some room for imagination about the future. I like that. I wish there were more epilogues to read so I could keep following those who survived into their lives beyond the Last Battle. I will miss them and mourn the others. That's about the best I can describe my feelings upon completing this massively epic journey.


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Can't believe we have a release date! I've been reading this series for 17 years. An entire era of my life is coming to an end. I'm not sure what the world will look like on the other side!



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Review: Crossroads of Twilight

Crossroads of Twilight by Robert Jordan

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



For The Wheel of Time series, Crossroads of Twilight is like one of those novellas that authors release between major installments of their work (only it can't really be called a novella at 660 pages unless it's in comparison to the other books in the series). It's a teaser, but also something to chew on while you wait. If you look at it that way, this book is enjoyable enough.

The reason I only give it 3 stars is not that I didn't enjoy it, but just that nothing really happened. I remember reading this the first time when it was released and having to wait for the next one, totally frustrated that nothing moved. I couldn't believe this was it. It's a big, long prologue, or interlude, with plenty of interesting tidbits, but nothing of substance. Really, nothing at all. I'm so glad I now have Knife of Dreams to launch into immediately!




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Review: Winter's Heart

Winter's Heart by Robert Jordan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**Contains spoilers for previous books.

As is becoming a pattern in this series, Winter's Heart advances two major plot-points (Rand, Mat) while the others move into the background and stall for a while (Perrin, Elayne) or are completely absent (Egwene this time). There is more action in this book than the last, though, and it's not too full of brooding and self-doubt, making it a significant improvement on the last book.

Mat is back, trying to escape Ebou Dar with the Seanchan everywhere, battling his conscience about leaving Aes Sedai and Sea Folk as damane, and he is more enslaved as Tylin's Pretty than ever. This part goes quite slowly, since we've already spent a whole book with him being Tylin's Pet and wanting to leave Ebou Dar, but the Seanchan being involved does change it up a little bit. And the escape actually does happen in this book, so we have a resolution or two in Mat's story, as well.

Rand's story is the one that moves the most. He finds himself caught in the same room with Min, Aviendha, and Elayne all at once, which finally advances the sister-wives' story. He introduces us to a new city where channeling is impossible and violence outlawed. His adventures there include dealing with the Asha'man who tried to kill him at the end of The Path of Daggers. And finally, there is a significant goal that Rand has been heading towards since about book 5. That goal is finally reached, and it's as climactic an ending as you could wish!

I would have to say this is the strongest of the slower-moving middle books in this series, even though it does feel bogged down in parts.



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Review: The Path of Daggers

The Path of Daggers by Robert Jordan

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

**Possible spoilers

A Path of Daggers is the low point for me in the Wheel of Time series. It can easily be summed up as various groups of catty women vying for superiority over each other. Seriously, the first third consists of Elayne and Nynaeve, Aviendha, Birgitte, the rebel Aes Sedai with them, the Sea Folk, and the Kin, all trying to out-do each other on the way to the Farm. Once they get to the Farm, they finally use the Bowl that they spent the whole last book searching for. This scene is great, but I feel that it could have happened as part of the last book, making it even better. We could have done without 200 pages of describing only a couple of hours riding on horses.

Even my favorite strand of the story, Egwene's, is so full of maneuvering that it is difficult to tell her group of Aes Sedai from those in the rest of the book (although I think Egwene is brilliant and by far the best woman in the whole lot).

In addition to Egwene's rebels and Elayne's crowd, there's Elaida and Alviarin at the White Tower, and a bunch of other Aes Sedai with Cadsuane, not to mention the Wise Ones and Aes Sedai with Perrin and in Cairhien. It just gets bogged down at this point, and there's not enough humor to counteract all the irritation that characters are feeling about each other. And the Sea Folk! I liked them when we first met them on the way to Tanchico but it turns out they are the most dreadful with their superiority claims.

I am also not fond of the Perrin story at this point because he's in Ghealdan tracking down the Prophet and running into the Shaido. For some reason that's just not my favorite part of any of these books. I dislike Masema and the Dragonsworn, and I am not too fond of Sevannah and the Shaido. I'd like to move on. But not a whole lot happens with Perrin either, except for another new plot-line being introduced. It starts to seem like hours are weeks with how much detail we get on not a whole lot actually happening.

Then when we get to Rand, it's not just slow, but at a standstill. We find that Rand is avoiding going back to Cairhien, and he mainly sits on his horse in the middle of rainy battle against the Seanchan, surrounded by all of his political enemies, getting sick every time he tries to channel, raving at a madman in his head, and feeling sorry for himself. It's one of the darker times that he goes through, and I can't wait for it to move on. The action does pick up a little at the end, after Rand finally gets done with the battle, but I can't say more without spoiling it.

To top it all off, there's no Mat at all, and I missed him.

A couple of important things do happen in this book, so I slogged through it, not wanting to miss any of those details that can be so important later. I put it behind me with relief, though. The worst is over.




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Review: A Crown of Swords

A Crown of Swords by Robert Jordan

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



**Spoilers for previous books! And mild ones for this one as well if you don't want to know a single thing.**

The pace has definitely slowed on this massive epic by the time we get to A Crown of Swords. Plenty still happens in this installment, but a lot of time is spent on details of politics and jockeying for strength, especially between the women - only a sign of things to come, I'm afraid. I still really enjoy it in this book - for me, there's a good combination of world-building (I love Ebou Dar), intrigue and the plot moving forward.

Egwene is scheming to become a true Amyrlin, not just a puppet, and I love her strength and cunning in bringing Aes Sedai to heel.

Mat is caught up in situations he'd do anything to escape while trying to help Elayne and Nynaeve in Ebou Dar - even though the girls don't believe they need him. His portion provides most of the action and entertainment, since Mat is always getting into trouble. They do manage to accomplish some of what they came to Ebou Dar for - but since the next book is mostly filler (in my opinion), I wish this book had been longer to include a more climactic climax. Instead we have to wait for the next book to read the 'conclusion' of their current mission. If it had happened in this book, we could easily have skipped the next!

Elayne and Nynaeve squabble, of course, and try to dominate all the men as usual, but they do actually have to eat some humble pie a couple times, and there is some movement in the Nynaeve-anger department.

Rand is mainly stuck with his political situations, other than his interactions with Min, but he does almost get himself killed again, and he finally deals with Sammael, bringing a conclusion to at least one strand of the story.

I really did enjoy this one enough to give it 5 stars. The momentum has definitely slowed, but there was enough variety between the different character story-lines to entertain and keep it moving, even at the slower pace.



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