Review: The Gathering Storm

The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



OOOOOOOH! So THAT's what's been going on for the past 7000 pages.

That was my first impression upon finishing this book. And I gotta say, beyond the big reveal that has the nice touch of being simultaneously completely believable and TOTALLY unexpected, I really liked it quite a lot.

Brandon Sanderson was an inspired choice to finish the Wheel of Time. His prose style has a lot of similarities with Robert Jordan, which made the transition from the last book seem natural, and Sanderson has a nice way* of making things happen in a way that feels appropriate. True, I, like everyone else on the internet, found the too-modern sounding phrases annoying, but the vast majority of the time, I don't think I could tell whether a particular scene was written by either author.

The best part of the book by far is the Egwene story line. I mean, we've been waiting for this to happen for years, and it's pretty great. Egwene has always been one of my favorite characters and her dramatic moment defending the White Tower is both one of the best action sequences the series has had plus a nice showcase of her cleverness, determination, and leadership.**

Rand's story line is also very good. He get's a lot of "screen" time, which is nice since he's been absent for a while, his character undergoes some stark and significant changes which Sanderson handles deftly in my opinion. This is the first book in a while that felt like it had a complete story line for Rand, and it really worked well.*** Just as one example, the devastating scene with Tam is the most emotionally resonating thing in the series since...actually maybe ever.

Not that all story lines are winners.
Maybe it's just rose colored glasses, but I don't remember Gawyn being so annoying under Robert Jordan. And not even Brandon Sanderson can save Siuan's chapters.****

On the other hand, unlike the rest of the internet, I actually thought Mat's story line was pretty good. It was kind of silly, but then Mat has always been the joker so I think it's OK that his plot line is kind of silly.

Before I conclude, let's pause to reflect on how dreadful the cover art is of the print version, (and how awesome it is on the ebook.)

Seriously, it's a picture of Egwene blasting a To'raken out of a
destroyed wall in the White Tower. (source tor.com)

I mean, even if you insist on drawing for your cover Rand basically standing there doing nothing, you could have had the decency to choose the scene where Rand stands and does basically nothing ON TOP OF A FUCKING VOLCANO!!!!!

* Maybe even better than Robert Jordan who in many of these books got stuck in a "things and the same; things are the same; things are the same; SUDDENLY
DIFFERENT!; things are the same;..." rut.
** Plus, (minor spoiler), the absolutely awesome moment where everyone in the white tower realizes, "Wait, why are you even here?! You could have Traveled out of the white tower at any time..."
*** With some minor complaints. (Spoiler alert and technical wheel of time nerdery follows:) Like the part where, Rand is wondering how is possibly going to defeat The Dark One since using Saidin to seal his prison allowed him to taint it and then in the very next scene suddenly he can use the True Source! I kinda had it already figured out, thanks Brandon.
**** Blood and bloody ashes, woman, just bed the man already.




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