Soooooo close.
I'm seriously considering going down to new york city for a midnight release just to get the book 8 hours earlier.
I think rand will survive. "His blood on the rocks of shayol ghul" could refer to his children.
Rand will die from something Olivia does. Nynaeve will heal him after 3 days anyway.
Read it, review incoming first thing on Tuesday (there's an embargo on reviews of the book until then...though bizarrely no request not to post spoilers).
Rand will die from something Olivia does. Nynaeve will heal him after 3 days anyway.
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The Wheel of Time Book 14: A Memory of Light
The Wheel of Time is finished. That's a statement that's going to take a while to get used to. The first volume of the series, The Eye of the World, was published in January 1990. George Bush Snr. and Margaret Thatcher were still in power and the Cold War was still ongoing. Fourteen books, four million words, eleven thousand pages and over fifty million sales (in North America alone) later, the conclusion has finally arrived. Can it possibly live up to the expectations built up over that time?
It is a tribute to the plotting powers of Robert Jordan, the writing skill of Brandon Sanderson (who took over the series after Jordan's untimely death in 2007) and the hard work of Jordan's editors and assistants that A Memory of Light is - for the most part - a triumphant finale. Given the weight of expectations resting on the novel, not to mention the unfortunate circumstances under it was written, it is unsurprising that it is not perfect. The novel occasionally misfires, is sometimes abrupt in how it resolves long-running plot strands and sometimes feels inconsistent with what has come before. However, it also brings this juggernaut of an epic fantasy narrative to an ending that makes sense, is suitably massive in scope and resolves the series' thematic, plot and character arcs satisfactorily - for the most part.
It is a familiar viewpoint that The Wheel of Time is a slow-burning series, with Robert Jordan not afraid to have his characters sitting around talking about things for entire chapters (or, in one case, an entire novel) rather than getting on with business. However, Jordan at his best used these lengthy dialogue scenes to set up plot twists and explosive confrontations further down the line, pulling together the elements he'd established previously in surprising and interesting ways. This reached a high in the slow-moving sixth book, which ended with what is regarded by many as the series' best climax to date at the Battle of Dumai's Wells. Steven Erikson (whose Malazan series is the most notable recent mega-long fantasy series to have also reached a final conclusion) used the term 'convergence' for such structural climaxes and it's fair to say that this is what A Memory of Light is: a convergence for the entire series. All thirteen of the previous novels lined up plot cannons in preparation for the Last Battle, and in the closing chapters of Towers of Midnight Brandon Sanderson started triggering them.
The result is not The Wheel of Time you may be familiar with. A Memory of Light is a brutal, bruising, 900-page war novel that kicks off with all hell breaking loose and doesn't pause for breath until the ending. The prologue starts with a well-paced sequence as we find out the state of play for the major characters, intercut with Talmanes and the Band of the Red Hand engaging hordes of Shadowspawn on the streets of Caemlyn. The rotation of scenes between the desperate street fighting and more familiar politicking is highly effective and is exhausting in itself. Immediately after this we alternate between Rand's attempts to pull together a coalition against the Shadow whilst a small group of Asha'man try to save their organisation from destruction against overwhelming odds. No sooner is that over than the Last Battle is joined in full force. Vast armies clash, channellers engage one another in One Power exchanges that dwarf anything seen before in the series and lots of stuff blows up. There's more action sequences in A Memory of Light than the rest of the series put together, more than earning the adage 'The Last Battle'.
The action sequences (which make up almost the whole book) are, for the most part, impressive but benefit from unpredictability. Jordan has been criticised for making his characters too safe, with almost no major character of note (on either side) dying in the previous books of the series. This limitation has been removed for the Last Battle. Major characters, middling ones and scores of minor ones are scythed down in this final confrontation with near-wild abandon. Some get heroic, fitting, blaze-of-glory ends. Some die in manners so unexpected, offhand and callous that even George R.R. Martin might nod in approval. Many of the survivors are seriously wounded, either in body or mind. Jordan's experiences as a Vietnam vet informed Rand al'Thor's arc in The Gathering Storm, and resurface here when one major character is tortured by the Shadow before being rescued, but spends the rest of the book suffering the effects of his experiences. The war scenes are suitably epic and exciting, but Sanderson remembers to include moments counting the cost of such a struggle.
That said, there is an annoying discrepancy in the Last Battle sequence compared to earlier novels. Based on the army sizes in previous volumes and the number of channellers in each faction, the good guys should have brought the better part of a million troops and five thousand One Power-wielders to the Last Battle, and the Shadow several times more. There is no indication that such vast numbers are present, which seems rather odd. There is also the fact that the channellers suddenly seem to be much less effective in mass combat than previously shown. This is most blatant when Logain is angrily told that he and a couple of dozen Asha'man cannot hope to defeat a hundred thousand Trollocs by themselves. Given this is exactly what happened in one scene in Knife of Dreams, I can only conclude that the channellers were deliberately reduced in power for this book, which is very strange.
For the most part, this is the level of problems A Memory of Light presents: something mildly irritating to those who prefer consistency from fictional works but ultimately not hugely relevant to the overall thrust of the narrative. Similar issues can be found with a number of very minor subplots that the novel fails to resolve (or even address) from earlier volumes. In some cases these may be examples of what Robert Jordan himself said would happen in the last book, with some elements left deliberately hanging to give the illusion that life goes on after the last page is turned. In other cases, it may be that Jordan did not draft out how those storylines ended, so Sanderson chose to leave them rather than risk too inventing too much of his own material. Sanderson even refuses to name an important river that Jordan did not name himself, resulting is a slightly awkward battle sequence where characters talk about the 'river on the border', the 'river on the battlefield' and so on, which is a bit laboured.
However, whilst the war scenes rage there is also a philosophical struggle at the heart of the book, and of the series. This struggle is shown in the confrontation between Rand and the Dark One in which their visions of the world and the Wheel are shown in conflict with one another. Robert Jordan was convinced that whilst there were certainly complexities and shades of grey in real life, he also believed that real good and real evil existed, and these ideas form part of the philosophical struggle that takes place alongside the battles. How successful this is will vary (perhaps immensely) from reader to reader, but is not helped by some muddling of the issues. The primary struggle of the books has consistently been Good vs. Evil, but in this philosophy-off the idea of the Creator personifying Order and the Dark One Chaos also arises, possibly as their primary roles. This is in conflict with the rest of the series and is also more tiresomely familiar and predictable. Once that interpretation arises, it's impossible not to think of the ending of the Shadow War in the TV series Babylon 5, and the resolution we get is not a million miles away from it (Rand even gets a line almost as awful as "Get the hell out of our galaxy!").
On the prose side of things, it's pretty much the same set-up as The Gathering Storm and Towers of Midnight: acceptable, faster-paced and a bit less prone to unnecessary introspection. Where Sanderson comes undone (yet again) is his very occasional use of terminology and language that Jordan would never have used, particularly modern words and terms. Though relatively rare, they still jar a little bit when they appear. The book's centrepiece is a single chapter that is almost 200 pages (and 70,000 words) long in hardcover, with some 70 POV characters playing a role. Apparently both Sanderson and Jordan wrote parts of this chapter, and a few minor inconsistencies aside their writing styles mesh very well. The very last section of the epilogue, written by Robert Jordan himself before he passed (including, rather eerily, Jordan's epitaph from his own funeral), is indeed a fitting way to end the book.
Taking everything into account, A Memory of Light (****½) is a lot better than perhaps we had any right to expect. The book is a relentless steamroller of action, explosions, plot resolutions, deaths and philosophical (if somewhat confused) arguing. Some elements are under-resolved, or a little too convenient, or not fleshed out enough. But that's par for the course with any ending to a series this huge. The big questions are answered, the final scene is fitting and the story ends in a way that is true to itself, which is the most we can ask for. The novel is available now in the UK and USA.
But was I right about the epilogue?
Yes :)
Book ordered. Should get it by Friday.
damn it! I preordered it and won't get it till next Monday! Course maybe amazon's estimation is off.
Ordered mine on Barnes and Noble's website. It shipped yesterday :)
OMFG is the book finally out!? HOLFNI ASFT)B&*(_&AV it iiss!!!!! finally!!! I'm calling out sick for the rest of the freakign week at work.
Awesome Guy. I hope I have mine waiting for me when I get home.
*Sniffle* The series greatest hero has fallen
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This may sound weird, and may be a side-effect of reading/following the Song of Ice and Fire, but I was actually disappointed with the number of major characters that DIDN'T die.
I mean, it's the Last Battle. I was picturing more of a Pyrrhic Victory.
I did like So-and-so's Earth-shattering Ka-boom, heroic sacrifice death that turned Mu-ha-ha into a cubic zirconium, though.
Werthead's linked review above captures most of my feelings on this book.
The numbers involved in various places and the sudden lack of ability for various characters was something that really stuck out like a sore thumb throughout the battle scenes of this book (e.g. virtually the entire book).
I also felt various events developed really quickly with no meaningful warning, and various things in the plot came into existence in this book simply to advance it. After 10,000 pages if you can't set something up ahead of time I'm going to be a little frustrated.
I felt some characters were reduced to dramatically simple motivations - which bugged me - and I was unhappy with the resolution of a large number of major and minor plot points.
Overall I'm left with a feeling of what might have been, not just in this book but in the last couple. I felt like Sanderson did as good a job as could have been expected wrapping it up, but it seems to be that many of the plots could have wrapped up earlier in a more satisfactory way, and that after what was functionally 11 books worth of build up the three book conclusion felt incredibly rushed.
RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4; Contributor; Publisher, Legendary Games
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*Sniffle* The series greatest hero has fallen
** spoiler omitted **
Agreed. I think I got something in my eye when that happened.
Also, when...
And one more time when Tam comes up to light the funeral pyre, patting Rand's body with a "you did good, son" moment.
*tear*
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RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4; Contributor; Publisher, Legendary Games
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I forgot one other misty moment
I forgot one other misty moment
** spoiler omitted **
That moment would have meant a lot more to me if
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RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4; Contributor; Publisher, Legendary Games
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Fair point.
I mean, sure, "respect" is nice, and it foreshadows him as leading the Black Tower into a new age as a force for leadership and good in the world where he achieves a kind of royal status and honor and respect for himself and all the asha'man... but not exactly what I was expecting wen I thought "glory" in my book.
I did think the moment was very touching, though. A guy who's been the butt monkey of the series since book 1, and he finally gets to relax and enjoy life.
I don't know why people are down on the Wheel of Timer series. Man that was the best trilogy I ever read next to Lord of the Rings.
...what?
The paperback is supposed to be released Oct 3, 2013. But on another note, I downloaded an app on my phone that has books 1-12 and a Prologue as well. That way I can reread everything and catch up.
I'm also trying to decide if I should re-read the entire series or just go straight into A Memory of Light. It's been over a year since I read Towers of Midnight.
One thing Sanderson does very well (much better than Jordan) is reintroduce you to who various characters are between books. I was able to jump from each of the books to the next as they came out without rereading. I don't think it's required. Whether it adds anything is more of a YMMV.
Eventually I'll probably read through the series again, but it's going to take some time. The ending for me was, with more hindsight, an enormous let down after ~14,000 pages of buildup. So much so that I almost wish I hadn't finished it - that I'd stopped with Gathering Storm.
I'm late to the party, but I just finished MoL, and wow! Overall, a great ending to a great series. It's been years since I read book 13 though, so at some point I think I'll need to track down a tape player and get the whole series on tape -- I'm not sure I can handle reading them all again. Anyway, some thoughts...
I did like So-and-so's Earth-shattering Ka-boom, heroic sacrifice death that turned Mu-ha-ha into a cubic zirconium, though.
Too bad so-and-so had only just leveled-up. :P
I forgot one other misty moment...
Best line:
My favorite part of the conclusion:
My least favorite part of the conclusion:
I know that 'A world with free will is better than a world of happy robots' is a common philosophical rationalization, but it drives me crazy. A world with conflict and evil is fun to read about, and no doubt looks invigorating if you can watch the chaos from the relative shelter of wealth and affluence, but I'd much rather live in a world where evil is a non-choice. Or at least a clearly inferior choice.
So I finally got my hands on it, and the time to devour it properly.
Great ending. I do agree with some (that it seemed a bit rushed, and some moments didn't have as much oomph as they should've).
But overall it was a worthy ending to a great series. Just wish Jordan had lived long enough to see it through.
*Sniffle* The series greatest hero has fallen
** spoiler omitted **
That was honestly the last character I expected to die.
I'll admit I got a bit misty eyed there.
Also, it kinda saddens me that there won't be ANYTHING else (new, anyway) in the series. I think there's still a lot of potential in the setting that could be used, and used well.
Also, it kinda saddens me that there won't be ANYTHING else (new, anyway) in the series. I think there's still a lot of potential in the setting that could be used, and used well.
THE WHEEL OF TIME ENCYCLOPEDIA due in 2015 will apparently contain a lot of new information, new and more detailed maps and some info that RJ created for the last book but they couldn't fit in. But yeah, that will likely be the last-ever canonical WHEEL OF TIME-related book to be published.