Dave
Staff member
First off, this was a GREAT book! I would place it as one of my favorites of the series - back up with the first few, believe it or not. I hate to say it because this sounds really, really mean, but Jordan passing away was the best thing to happen to this series. Sanderson's prose is more concise and the fluff that Jordan put in is just...gone. This is what the series should have been the whole time.
Gone are the thousands of names placed in the book seemingly for no reason whatsoever. Now we have the major players in the coming battle being more front & center. Almost the entire book is about Rand & Egwene, which is a strong plus. These are currently the major players. Nynaeve is a bit part as she should be (she's always annoyed me) and other lesser characters are relegated to just that.
Here's a few of my high points in the book:
Egwene's battle inside the white tower as she asserts herself as the True Amerlyn Seat as well as the actual battle of the White Tower with both the Seanchan and the Aes Sedai aligned with Elaida.
Rand's confrontation with Semirhage and the effects this has on his psyche.
Anything with Mat & Perrin is interesting, although Perrin's part is less than stellar this go around. They needed more of Mat, in my estimation. Hell, if Mat were the main character of the book I would think this is more interesting.
Verin's admission as a Black sister and her subsequent redemption by giving the names of all the Black sisters as well as the capture and execution of these sisters! Egwene is not fucking around any longer.
Rand's final encounter with himself and Lews Therin on the slopes of Dragonmount.
There are a few low points, such as when Elaida was captured by the Seanchan. I thought this was too neat a package and kind of an easy out for the author.
But other than a few nitpicks, this is a very, very well written book that takes a struggling series and holds it up to the light of day, making me very excited for the remaining volume(s) and conclusion. Had this been the way the rest of the series had been written I wold like this better than A Song of Ice and Fire. That's high praise, people.
Gone are the thousands of names placed in the book seemingly for no reason whatsoever. Now we have the major players in the coming battle being more front & center. Almost the entire book is about Rand & Egwene, which is a strong plus. These are currently the major players. Nynaeve is a bit part as she should be (she's always annoyed me) and other lesser characters are relegated to just that.
Here's a few of my high points in the book:
Egwene's battle inside the white tower as she asserts herself as the True Amerlyn Seat as well as the actual battle of the White Tower with both the Seanchan and the Aes Sedai aligned with Elaida.
Rand's confrontation with Semirhage and the effects this has on his psyche.
Anything with Mat & Perrin is interesting, although Perrin's part is less than stellar this go around. They needed more of Mat, in my estimation. Hell, if Mat were the main character of the book I would think this is more interesting.
Verin's admission as a Black sister and her subsequent redemption by giving the names of all the Black sisters as well as the capture and execution of these sisters! Egwene is not fucking around any longer.
Rand's final encounter with himself and Lews Therin on the slopes of Dragonmount.
There are a few low points, such as when Elaida was captured by the Seanchan. I thought this was too neat a package and kind of an easy out for the author.
But other than a few nitpicks, this is a very, very well written book that takes a struggling series and holds it up to the light of day, making me very excited for the remaining volume(s) and conclusion. Had this been the way the rest of the series had been written I wold like this better than A Song of Ice and Fire. That's high praise, people.
