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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