The Gathering Storm: Wheel of Time Book 12

[Dunstan]

So, I just finished the latest massive tome in the series, and the first one by Brandon Sanderson filling in for the late Robert Jordan.

Some general, spoiler-free comments:

The Good: stuff actually does happen. We are discernibly moving towards the Last Battle, both because there is a sense of things falling apart and because actual preparations are being made. The White Tower storyline is interesting.

The Bad: as in prior books, there's way too much fluff diluting the actual plot development. Another couple of pointless chapters with Perrin and Faile that you could skip and miss nothing. Mat has a little mini-adventure that would have been fine in an earlier volume, but just fills space here. I know that Sanderson wrote a long blog post explaining that he really, really tried to fit the end of the saga into one book, but it just couldn't be done, and honestly it wasn't about making more money for the publisher by selling three books instead of one. I'd say that's a load of bull.

The Ugly: in the preface, Sanderson says he isn't trying to imitate Jordan's style. Unfortunately, with respect to male-female relationships, this book picks up exactly where Jordan left off. It's the same American sitcom dynamic of (usually beautiful) intelligent, slightly shrewish women manipulating the clueless but lovably oafish men, while the male characters sigh about how difficult women are to deal with. I'm hard-pressed to think of a single opposite-sex relationship in this book that is even remotely enviable. It's really frustrating to read about characters who are this socially retarded; I'm getting ready to start rooting for the Dark One and the Forsaken!

[Madalch]

I started reading this series seventeen years ago. I'm not quite twice as old as I was then, but I'm pretty damned close.

Sod it. I'm not picking up another book in the series until it's finished.

I really don't care what happens to Rand, or Mat, or Perrin, any more than I care about the latest adventure of Brainy Smurf or Miss Piggy.

[Dunstan]

I started reading this series seventeen years ago. I'm not quite twice as old as I was then, but I'm pretty damned close.

Sod it. I'm not picking up another book in the series until it's finished.

I really don't care what happens to Rand, or Mat, or Perrin, any more than I care about the latest adventure of Brainy Smurf or Miss Piggy.

[tugs braid]
Fine, be a stubborn woolhead.
[/tugs braid]

Can't say that I blame you.

[Praktik]

Ill wait til all the events are added to a wheel of time wiki and just catch up that way..;) I've missed the last 2 or 3 before this one and dont have the heart to slog through...

[Wudang]

[tugs braid]
Fine, be a stubborn woolhead.
[/tugs braid]

Can't say that I blame you.

Dunstan was dressed in dark blue riding silks with yellow panels where the dress was split and chased with gold embroidery on the sleeve.

I think I might wait as well.

[Praktik]

[tugs braid]
Fine, be a stubborn woolhead.
[/tugs braid]

Can't say that I blame you.

Aviendah thumbed her beltknife....

[Andronicus]

I really don't care what happens to Rand, or Mat, or Perrin, any more than I care about the latest adventure of Brainy Smurf or Miss Piggy.

I would say this was my thoughts exactly, but you put it more succinctly.

[Morrigan]

I read similar impressions in the review at Pat's Fantasy Hotlist. I am not in any hurry to read it, to say the least... apparently he poorly wrote some important scenes, too. That sucks.

It's really frustrating to read about characters who are this socially retarded; I'm getting ready to start rooting for the Dark One and the Forsaken!

"Getting ready to start"? I've been doing that since book 6 or so. :p But the Forsaken are so inept and unthreatening, it's sad.

[Magyar]

wow, I am glad it's not just me. I was so upset when this series started to go south - about book 4-5 (because that's when I realized that it simply will not get better) - because I really saw it as the new LOTR epic with such great possibilities of creating a new dynamic in SF.

[Dunstan]

The shame of it is, it's not like they needed to pad the books to make more money. The original Dragonlance series lasted just three modest-sized books, but they milked that franchise for loads of cash over the next 10+ years.

You could easily have wrapped the Dragon Reborn saga up in a smaller number of books, and then done prequels and sequels and "fill in the gap" books. Which I'm sure they'll do anyway now, but I think they've cost themselves some fans along the way.

[gumboot]

"Getting ready to start"? I've been doing that since book 6 or so. :p But the Forsaken are so inept and unthreatening, it's sad.


That's because every single Forsaken scene consists of some mind-numbingly stupid demonstration of "wow look how evil these guys are".

[Wudang]

I was waiting for a Forsaken to twirl his moustache.

[Skeptic Guy]

I'm so glad I found this thread. I have been reading the silly series for a number of year and by this point I feel that I have invested so much time into the story that, by the Light, I have to finish it. I bought the Gathering Storm thinking that it was going to be the last, only to find that there were going to be two more. It makes sense. Jordan never saw a superfluous plot element or story line that he didn't like. It had to take more than one book to tie it all together.

But I agree with Dunstan, there's finally movement! The White Tower story line is the best, and then Rand (I don't want to give anything away), but the rest of it, get rid of it. If I recall, there was a line with the Children of the Light that wasn't brought up in this volume...perhaps next.

The Forsaken, incredibly evil and incredibly incompetent.

[dudalb]

I think the Churchilll book of the same title was better.

[popscythe]

[tugs braid]
Fine, be a stubborn woolhead.
[/tugs braid]

Can't say that I blame you.

Awesome Julian avatar.

Not awesome Wheel of Time roleplay.

Not awesome at all.

[ScottXSI]

I just finished reading this a couple of days ago. Compared to the previous 4 books it was much more exciting, and I was happy to see some of the pointless side stories get cleared up.

Dunstan, the way you describe how Jordan writes male and female relationships is spot on. Its always bugged me but I've never been able to put it into words.
Another thing that annoys me about the way he writes is when he goes over the top with pointless detail, particularly with characters clothing, the decor of a room, whats in the tea someone is drinking etc etc. you could chop a story in half if you did away with all of that.

Still I love the universe he's crafted, even if it gets a bit tedious.

Anne rice is another bad one when it comes to pointless filler.

[luchog]

wow, I am glad it's not just me. I was so upset when this series started to go south - about book 4-5 (because that's when I realized that it simply will not get better) - because I really saw it as the new LOTR epic with such great possibilities of creating a new dynamic in SF.

Book 4 or 5?

It started going south in book 2, and continued from there. By book 4 I wanted to garotte Nynaeve with her g-dd-mned braid while watching everyone else die in a fire. It was only my obsessive need not to leave a story unfinished that got me through to the end of book 6; at which point I realized that there was no story to finish, and gave up in disgust.

[gumboot]

One thing that really bugs me about Wheel of Time?

The bad guy lives inside a Volcano!

I mean, c'mon! Blatant Lord of the Rings rip off, but at least Sauron had the sense to build himself a frikken tower and only use the volcano as his own private forge.

Who in FSM's name lives in a Volcano?

I, like many people, have abandoned the series. The last book I read was really thick, and nothing happened. At all. The only thing I can actually remember about that book is getting pissed off at how ridiculously fast Max or Matt or whoever was moving with his enormous army, and then getting even more pissed off when Jordan tried to explain it away by saying the supply wagons caught up with the rest of the army during the night.

:eye-poppi

[Skeptic Guy]

And does anyone else think that the White Tower plot is a bit kinky with their "pillow friends", spankings, and the way they raise the Amaryllian?

Or is it just my kink...

[Dunstan]

Not awesome Wheel of Time roleplay.

Not awesome at all.

Yeah, but you can't say it's not true to the source material.

Dunstan, the way you describe how Jordan writes male and female relationships is spot on. Its always bugged me but I've never been able to put it into words.

It would be one thing if this was just a small part of the books. But it seems that male/female relationships are a huge overarching theme to the series. The sealing of the Bore got screwed up, and thus the tainting of saidin and the Breaking of the World, all because the male and female Aes Sedai of the last age didn't work together. And I don't think it's a terribly bold prediction to say that Tarmon Gai'don will require Rand to work with at least one female channeler -- more likely there will be a massive circle of 169 or whatever the maximum is supposed to be.

So I think that Jordan really thought that he had something profound to say about gender relations, which makes the clumsy way he wrote them hard to overlook.

Another thing that annoys me about the way he writes is when he goes over the top with pointless detail, particularly with characters clothing, the decor of a room, whats in the tea someone is drinking etc etc. you could chop a story in half if you did away with all of that.

Still I love the universe he's crafted, even if it gets a bit tedious.

Yes, I think that world-building probably is/was his strength. I'm not sure that stuff really stretches out the books that much, though. Or put it another way: it's easier to skim through some of the longer descriptions. It's when I find entire chapters devoted to Perrin and Faile doing the same crap they were in the last book that I want to balefire the damn thing.

[joobz]

To me, the last good book was number 6. It's sad that It took me 4 more books before I gave up entirely.