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The Gathering Storm - MAJOR SPOILERS!!!
#1
Dave
Dave
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.
#2
Sparhawk
Sparhawk
I couldn't even finish the first book because of Jordan's style of writing. Too much superfluous information that didn't have anything to do with the story itself, and just plain out too long winded.
#3
Rubicon
Rubicon
I haven't read it but I read the spoiler summary on Wikipedia
wtf is Rand thinking..using the True Power?! If anything he should know channeling too much Source itself is bad..let alone tapping into Shaitans own power. I mean thats great story telling but wow, a much darker path for Rand..
You'd think with all that going on he'd ya know..not use balefire so much O_O
wtf is Rand thinking..using the True Power?! If anything he should know channeling too much Source itself is bad..let alone tapping into Shaitans own power. I mean thats great story telling but wow, a much darker path for Rand..
You'd think with all that going on he'd ya know..not use balefire so much O_O
#4
Dave
Dave
For a time, Rand did not give a shit. That's a part of what's going on. And he only tapped into that power because he was leashed and being forced to kill Min. Being leashed/put in a box seems to make him a bit crazy.I haven't read it but I read the spoiler summary on Wikipedia
wtf is Rand thinking..using the True Power?! If anything he should know channeling too much Source itself is bad..let alone tapping into Shaitans own power. I mean thats great story telling but wow, a much darker path for Rand..
You'd think with all that going on he'd ya know..not use balefire so much O_O
#5
Dei
Dei
I don't think that Rand actually realized what he was tapping into. Lews Therin did, which means on some subconscious level Rand knew, but regardless. Pretty sure that was Moridin throwing Rand a lifeline, because I'm sure he didn't appreciate what Semirhage was doing to Rand/himself.
Any ideas what the 3 become 1 thing is with Callandor? I was almost thinking it might not just refer to 3 people, but 3 sa'angreal as well. Seems like the next book is going to have cannons, and more Mat and Thom wheee.
Any ideas what the 3 become 1 thing is with Callandor? I was almost thinking it might not just refer to 3 people, but 3 sa'angreal as well. Seems like the next book is going to have cannons, and more Mat and Thom wheee.
#6
Dave
I can't WAIT to see a Human Rand moving towards the last battle now. These next two books should be really fucking good!
What did you think about it overall?
Dave
It refers to the fact that to use Callandor Rand will need to link with 2 women. This means that he'd have to give up control to one of them, which he has been loath to do.Any ideas what the 3 become 1 thing is with Callandor? I was almost thinking it might not just refer to 3 people, but 3 sa'angreal as well. Seems like the next book is going to have cannons, and more Mat and Thom wheee.
I can't WAIT to see a Human Rand moving towards the last battle now. These next two books should be really fucking good!
What did you think about it overall?
#7
Dei
Dei
Well I just think it's more significant than just linking with 2 other women, that's all. Maybe it's just crazy thinking.
#8
Shannow
Shannow
There is a three page thread for this comment.I couldn't even finish the first book because of Jordan's style of writing. Too much superfluous information that didn't have anything to do with the story itself, and just plain out too long winded.
#9
Odie
Odie
I really liked this book, It did a awesome job of cutting out alot of what i thought made people dislike the middle books. Thank god that they learned to get to the point and have a real conclusion. Both of the "endings" in this book took long enough to get to but it was a great way to work into these last 3 books.
They did a nice job on the rand going crazy, and gave a good look into his depths of his insanity and the reasons for his actions. I did wish there was more a focus on Mat and Perrin as they are my favorite characters, but i think the next book will focus much more on them.
BS did write off some characters fairly quickly but i liked how he did it. Killing off the prophet in the prologue was awesome, plus using balefire on the various forsaken including graendal made for quick and decisive conclusions. Only problem i had with that is it will cut out/most of any information on Shara. (which is the land past the Aiel waste if your wondering)
Anyone else think it was weird that they didnt mention a word of the black tower and the problems that were left with that after the last several books?I though they would at least let us know what logain was doing.
I will be looking forward to "towers of midnight" come fall '10
They did a nice job on the rand going crazy, and gave a good look into his depths of his insanity and the reasons for his actions. I did wish there was more a focus on Mat and Perrin as they are my favorite characters, but i think the next book will focus much more on them.
BS did write off some characters fairly quickly but i liked how he did it. Killing off the prophet in the prologue was awesome, plus using balefire on the various forsaken including graendal made for quick and decisive conclusions. Only problem i had with that is it will cut out/most of any information on Shara. (which is the land past the Aiel waste if your wondering)
Anyone else think it was weird that they didnt mention a word of the black tower and the problems that were left with that after the last several books?I though they would at least let us know what logain was doing.
I will be looking forward to "towers of midnight" come fall '10
#10
Dave
Dave
I didn't know they killed off the prophet in the prologue. That part was missing from my fucking book!
#11
Odie
Odie
lol ya ... faile hunts his ass down and kills him then holds everyone to secrecy. It was a big prologue u should see if u can find it (about 70pgs long).
#12
Dave
Dave
Can't be 70 pages. I'm only missing pages 33-64 and that includes ALL of chapter 1.
#13
chakz
Mat needs his own series.
Loriel wasn't in this book. This is a good thing.
A final note. I think its in bad taste to compare this writer to jordon, I mean, its true he is better, but its still in bad taste.
chakz
I think you've just about covered my feelings on it. Egwene was on her way to becoming my favorite....well second favorite character in this book. Looks like she finished the journey. I'm interested in seeing an Egwene lead white tower allying with a more human rand. This should be pretty good. Oddly I think my favorite part was rand taking a 'vacation' it was the first positive thing he'd done in the book.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.
Mat needs his own series.
Loriel wasn't in this book. This is a good thing.
A final note. I think its in bad taste to compare this writer to jordon, I mean, its true he is better, but its still in bad taste.
#14
Dave
Dave
I know it's in bad taste, but the comparisons have to be made due to the unfortunate way that he came to be writing the last few books.
#15
chakz
chakz
I suppose. I thought he was doing better with knife of dreams, but if someone(loriel) said ta'veran one more time I was rip my own eyes out.
#16
Wyrminarrd
Wyrminarrd
Just finished reading the book and I agree that this is the best book of the series in a long time! I would say that this was probably the best book since book six or so, the writing was more to the point and all the extra fluff characters were left out of it. I'll freely admit that reading about all those extra characters like the former queen of Andor or her oldest son always irked me since Jordan would seemingly ignore Rand for an entire book while talking about these bit players.
The style of this book is vastly different from the previous ones and this leads me to believe that if Jordan hadn't sadly passed away then there would still be at least four to six books left in this series instead of just two. Hopefully Sanderson will keep his focus on the core characters and keep things rolling along, the temptation to drag ones feet and write "just one more book" most be incredibly strong since this series is a massive cash cow.
Rand has always been my favorite character and seeing the series finally start to focus on him again and explore what is happening to him was great, his descent into madness and his final escape from it was handled very well and leaves me very excited for the next book.
I suspect that a lot of the b-plotlines will simply disappear or be dealt with in a sentence or two. The troubles back at the Black tower will hopefully be covered in some detail but other storylines like the struggle for the throne of Andor or Avendhias (Rand's Aiel girlfriend, to many characters have names that are annoying to spell) journey to become a wise one shouldn't get to many pages.
The style of this book is vastly different from the previous ones and this leads me to believe that if Jordan hadn't sadly passed away then there would still be at least four to six books left in this series instead of just two. Hopefully Sanderson will keep his focus on the core characters and keep things rolling along, the temptation to drag ones feet and write "just one more book" most be incredibly strong since this series is a massive cash cow.
Rand has always been my favorite character and seeing the series finally start to focus on him again and explore what is happening to him was great, his descent into madness and his final escape from it was handled very well and leaves me very excited for the next book.
I suspect that a lot of the b-plotlines will simply disappear or be dealt with in a sentence or two. The troubles back at the Black tower will hopefully be covered in some detail but other storylines like the struggle for the throne of Andor or Avendhias (Rand's Aiel girlfriend, to many characters have names that are annoying to spell) journey to become a wise one shouldn't get to many pages.