Review: A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

TITLE: A Memory of Light

AUTHOR: Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

GENRE: Fantasy

SERIES: Wheel of Time # 14

WHERE I GOT IT: borrowed

READ FROM: August 5^th to August 12^th ,2013

BOOK BLURB: The last battle continues, will Rand be able to save the world and defeat the dark one?

MY THOUGHTS:

"The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the Third Age by some, an Age yet to come, an Age long past, a wind rose in the Mountains of Mist. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was a beginning."

This quote I have always loved and every time I read it now it sends chills down my spine. I love this series to pieces even though some of the books along the way slowed to a crawl. I was in my early teens when my sister lent me the first book. I was instantly hooked and have been waiting for the conclusion ever since.

I decided early last year that rereading all the books would be a good thing to do, so that everything would be fresh in my mind when the last book was released. I was so excited to finally get to read this book (and funnily enough my sister is the one who lent me her copy of this last book because I really didn't want to wait till the end of this year for the soft cover to come out.) It just seems fitting that she was the one that got me started on the series and she is the one that lent me the last one.

I'm honestly still not really sure what to think about this one. I can't decide if I liked it or hated it but I am thankfully for a ending.

I thought it seemed a bit rushed in parts even though the last battle essentially started a few books back and this one was also massive, some 900 pages. Some events seemed to be glossed over and it really bugged me that one of the forsaken, Demandred, was so insistent that Rand was out on the battlefield some where. He just kept ranting on and on. I don't know, I can't decide if he went completely crazy or what. I mean GO look for him not shout from the mountain top and demand that he come to you over and over again. HELLO he is destined to fight the dark one not you!

I also am shocked at some of the casualties of the war! I expected loses but nobody likes it when characters you have grown to love dies! :( I am still really bummed about that. Then the ending came and it left me scratching my head. In ways, I am happy that it ended but at the same time it left SOOO many questions and I can't even imagine what would happen next. I mean the battle ended, then the story ended after a few more pages! Such a unsatisfying ending in my opinion. Although one thing did happen at the end that shocked me because I really didn't see it coming.

Also I think this book has to take the record of longest chapter ever. The actual main part of the last battle lasted over 200 pages long! It was jam packed with action though so I read through it fairly quickly.

I still love this series even if I don't particularly like the ending but I'm glad that Robert Jordan left enough notes and was able to tell others how he had planned to end the series, before he passed away. It probably will be a long while before I attempt to reread the series though.

“The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow. Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time. Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time.”

(Another quote that I love!) I can't help but to wonder how the fight with the shadow would be the next time. Would the Dragon need to do the same things as before or would the prophecy be fulfilled with different events leading up to the last battle as well. I guess we will never know.

RATING: 4 stars

REVIEW: Towers of Midnight by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

TITLE: The Towers of Midnight

AUTHOR: Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

GENRE: Fantasy

SERIES: Wheel of Time # 13

WHERE I GOT IT: Own it

READ FROM: June 26th^th to July 10^th 2013

BOOK BLURB: The Last Battle has started. The seals on the Dark One’s prison are crumbling. The Pattern itself is unraveling, and the armies of the Shadow have begun to boil out of the Blight.

The sun has begun to set upon the Third Age.

Perrin Aybara is now hunted by specters from his past: Whitecloaks, a slayer of wolves, and the responsibilities of leadership. All the while, an unseen foe is slowly pulling a noose tight around his neck. To prevail, he must seek answers in Tel’aran’rhiod and find a way--at long last--to master the wolf within him or lose himself to it forever.

Meanwhile, Matrim Cauthon prepares for the most difficult challenge of his life. The creatures beyond the stone gateways--the Aelfinn and the Eelfinn--have confused him, taunted him, and left him hanged, his memory stuffed with bits and pieces of other men’s lives. He had hoped that his last confrontation with them would be the end of it, but the Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills. The time is coming when he will again have to dance with the Snakes and the Foxes, playing a game that cannot be won. The Tower of Ghenjei awaits, and its secrets will reveal the fate of a friend long lost.

This latest novel of Robert Jordan’s #1 New York Times bestselling series--the second based on materials he left behind when he died in 2007--brings dramatic and compelling developments to many threads in the Pattern. The end draws near.

Dovie’andi se tovya sagain. It’s time to toss the dice.


MY THOUGHTS:

This is another 1000+ paged book but it honestly didn't feel like it. I read through this fairly quickly. It's nice to finally be near the end of this series. I wish thought that I would have written my review right after I finished it because I forget specifically what happens. I mean this is the 13^th book so it's hard to remember what events happened in which book.

Anyways I did find Perrin in this one to be fairly annoying. He was continually whining about how he is just a blacksmith and not a lord and that he doesn't understand why people follow him. I wanted to reach into the book and shake him! Seriously they follow you because they feel that you are a good leader, you just pulled off what seemed like the impossible and yet you stand there and say crap like that. Perrin used to be one of my favourite but not anymore. It's almost like when Rand, Matt or Perrin where in a situation where they had to talk to a girl and they were like “ I wish I could talk to girls like Rand..” etc. It got so annoying that my husband and I have a little joke where we say that line in a high squeaky voice. I mean come on!! At least they stopped that after awhile. Perrin though needs to just get over it already! The last battle is upon them.

Elayne I still hate. I have never liked her. As the story line progressed her actions just kept annoying me more and more.

I looked forward to Matt, Thom and Noal finally going to the tower of Ghenjei and while it was exciting it was over really quickly which was a disappointment. I was a bit shocked at the price Mat had to pay to get them out safety though. All I can say is ouch!

Looking forward to reading the last book finally!

RATING: 4 out of 5 stars

REVIEW: The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

TITLE: The Gathering Storm

AUTHOR: Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

GENRE: Fantasy

SERIES: Wheel of Time # 12

WHERE I GOT IT: Own it

READ FROM: June 19th^th to June 26^th 2013

BOOK BLURB: (taken from Goodreads)

Tarmon Gai'don, the Last Battle, looms. And mankind is not ready.

The final volume of the Wheel of Time, A Memory of Light, was partially written by Robert Jordan before his untimely passing in 2007. Brandon Sanderson, New York Times bestselling author of the Mistborn books, was chosen by Jordan's editor--his wife, Harriet McDougal--to complete the final book. The scope and size of the volume was such that it could not be contained in a single book, and so Tor proudly presents The Gathering Storm as the first of three novels that will cover the outline left by Robert Jordan, chronicling Tarmon Gai'don and Rand al'Thor's final confrontatino with the Dark One. This short sequence will complete the struggle against the Shadow, bringing to a close a journey begun almost twenty years ago and marking the conclusion of the Wheel of Time, the preeminent fantasy epic of our era.

In this epic novel, Robert Jordan's international bestselling series begins its dramatic conclusion. Rand al'Thor, the Dragon Reborn, struggles to unite a fractured network of kingdoms and alliances in preparation for the Last Battle. As he attempts to halt the Seanchan encroachment northward--wishing he could form at least a temporary truce with the invaders--his allies watch in terror the shadow that seems to be growing within the heart of the Dragon Reborn himself.

Egwene al'Vere, the Amyrlin Seat of the rebel Aes Sedai, is a captive of the White Tower and subject to the whims of their tyrannical leader. As days tick toward the Seanchan attack she knows is imminent, Egwene works to hold together the disparate factions of Aes Sedai while providing leadership in the face of increasing uncertainty and despair. Her fight will prove the mettle of the Aes Sedai, and her conflict will decide the future of the White Tower--and possibly the world itself.

The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow.

MY THOUGHTS:

Wow! I really flew through this one and usually that doesn't happen when the book is 1000+ pages. I simply could not put this one down. When I started reading I was a bit sad to realize that this was (mostly) the work of Brandon Sanderson and not Robert Jordan. I have no idea what parts RJ had already written and what was Brandon's and honestly it really didn't matter to me. I am just happy that we get an ending to this series.

I love that finally it seems like the story is just not progressing, but progressing really fast. I loved Egwene's part and she was in this book a lot. I was pretty much cheering for her the whole time. I couldn't help picturing the Aes Sedai as ants scrambling to get away from enemies at one point during the end of Egwene's capture. Egwene sure seems to be a force to be reckoned with. All I have to say is the action was immense and sweet justice was served at the end. Rand will need Egwene's strength for sure during the last battle.

Rand's part of the story was more interesting then it has been in the past as well. There were a few OMG moments, that made my mouth drop open because I never really imagined what happened to ever happen. I mean maybe in the long run what happened really isn't that major but still shocking none-the-less. I really couldn’t even imagine what pressure he is facing and the fact that the world's survival rests on his shoulders.

I can't wait to read the next! I really enjoy Brandon Sanderson's writing. I thought this book was long at just over 1000 pages but the next in the series is actually 2oo pages longer. But only two more books to go!

RATING: 5 out of 5 stars!

REVIEW: Knife of Dreams by Robert Jordan

TITLE: Knife of Dreams

AUTHOR: Robert Jordan

GENRE: Fantasy

SERIES: Wheel of Time # 11

WHERE I GOT IT: Own it

READ FROM: January 28^th to June 18^th 2013

BOOK BLURB: (taken from Goodreads) The Wheel of Time turns, and Robert Jordan gives us the eleventh volume of his extraordinary masterwork of fantasy.
The dead are walking, men die impossible deaths, and it seems as though reality itself has become unstable: All are signs of the imminence of Tarmon Gai'don, the Last Battle, when Rand al'Thor, the Dragon Reborn, must confront the Dark One as humanity's only hope. But Rand dares not fight until he possesses all the surviving seals on the Dark One's prison and has dealt with the Seanchan, who threaten to overrun all nations this side of the Aryth Ocean and increasingly seem too entrenched to be fought off. But his attempt to make a truce with the Seanchan is shadowed by treachery that may cost him everything. Whatever the price, though, he must have that truce. And he faces other dangers. There are those among the Forsaken who will go to any length to see him dead--and the Black Ajah is at his side....
Unbeknownst to Rand, Perrin has made his own truce with the Seanchan. It is a deal made with the Dark One, in his eyes, but he will do whatever is needed to rescue his wife, Faile, and destroy the Shaido who captured her. Among the Shaido, Faile works to free herself while hiding a secret that might give her her freedom or cause her destruction. And at a town called Malden, the Two Rivers longbow will be matched against Shaido spears.
Fleeing Ebou Dar through Seanchan-controlled Altara with the kidnapped Daughter of the Nine Moons, Mat attempts to court the woman to whom he is half-married, knowing that she will complete that ceremony eventually. But Tuon coolly leads him on a merry chase as he learns that even a gift can have deep significance among the Seanchan Blood and what he thinks he knows of women is not enough to save him. For reasons of her own, which she will not reveal until a time of her choosing, she has pledged not to escape, but Mat still sweats whenever there are Seanchan soldiers near. Then he learns that Tuon herself is in deadly danger from those very soldiers. To get her to safety, he must do what he hates worse than work....
 
In Caemlyn, Elayne fights to gain the Lion Throne while trying to avert what seems a certain civil war should she win the crown....
 
In the White Tower, Egwene struggles to undermine the sisters loyal to Elaida from within....
 
The winds of time have become a storm, and things that everyone believes are fixed in place forever are changing before their eyes. Even the White Tower itself is no longer a place of safety. Now Rand, Perrin and Mat, Egwene and Elayne, Nynaeve and Lan, and even Loial, must ride those storm winds, or the Dark One will triumph.

MY THOUGHTS: WOW! This one took me quite awhile to get through! I mean I LOOOOOVE the world and the characters but damn taking numerous books to resolve a few things really made the book drag on and on for me. It probably also didn't help that a week or so after I first started reading it back in January, my oldest daughter (who is 2) pulled out my book mark and it took me a month or so before I felt like picking it back up and finding where I had left off. Robert Jordan has so many characters that it is hard to keep track of them all, especially when they don't appear in the books regularly so I tend to forget who they are and what they were doing. At some point I just started blending all the Aes Sedai that I didn't recognize anymore into one lump, figuring that in any rereads I could maybe try to keep them straight then. At this point I just want to get through the series to find out what happens when the last battle finally arrives.

I still don't really like Elayne and by the end of the book my feelings of dislike intensified. I mean how stupid can she be! Near the end she made a few stupid choices that made me want to reach into the book and throttle her! Thanks Elayne for not only putting yourself in danger but those around you at the same time for NO reason at all. Others could have taken care of it without you at the forefront.

My favourite characters still are Egwene and Nynaeve. I found that any time I came across a part of the book that dealt with them I couldn't put the book down. Unfortunately they were not that many parts that dealt with them. Perrin used to also be a favourite but after a few books of him still trying to locate and get his wife back his story line just got boring to me, plus his wife is another character I can't really stand either. Mat's path was also interesting as well in the beginning but it basically has started to drag on too. Rand is semi interesting but he has changed so much from the first book that I don't necessarily like him as much as I did before. However, I can cut Rand some slack since he does really have a lot on his shoulders. I wouldn't want to be in his position.

At least near the end of the book things have started to slowly come together. A few things happened that shocked me. I know that at least in the next three books I will get some answers. Hopefully I will read through them faster then this one. Although looking ahead to book 12 I see that it is actually 300 pages longer then this one. I look forward to seeing how Brandon Sanderson finishes the series and am also sad to realize that for the most part this book was the last one that Robert Jordan fully completed himself. I still can't believe it has been six years since Robert Jordan passed away. May he rest in peace.

RATING: 3 out of 5 stars