Monday my wife and I went to the bookstore and I picked up the next book in the Jim Butcher "Codex Alera" series. I got home that night and started to read it. The next day I got an email that the 13th and penultimate book in the Robert Jorday "Wheel of Time" series. I picked it up last night and flew through the first 100 or so pages before I had to put it down.
Like "The Gathering Storm", the writing so far has been taut and without unnecessary fluff. Yes, they talk about the Children of the Light, Padan Fain and others but this looks to be so far slanted heavily towards the more "usual" characters. There's an interesting encounter early on between Egwene and Rand that is understated and very well done to bring on the suspense.
I have a feeling I'm not getting much done this weekend but reading.
#2
Dave
Chapter 13 is magnificent. It's simple, understated and powerful.
Rand is the hero we'd all hoped he'd become. My lunch hour is almost over and I don't want to stop reading.
#3
SpecialKO
It's not a Wheel of Time book if stuff happens and the plot moves forward.
#4
Dave
That has not remained true since Jordan died. Sanderson is a much better author.
#5
SpecialKO
I will admit that the last half of the last book was notably better. It was freaky when actual character development started occurring and Rand stopped whining. It was like bizarro-reverse-fanfiction.
#6
Dave
Just finished it. Now I have to wait a damned year for the next book.
All I can say is this was just as good as the last one. People actually do things! The world is lining up for the Last Battle and it's going to start very early in the last book. I won't post any spoilers yet, but when others catch up and we start to discuss I'll start breaking it out.
#7
Dei
I basically finished reading it by Wednesday, mostly because I didn't do anything else and I needed to be able to pass it on to my husband in a timely manner. Also, the last book is due in 2012 I think, but Brandon is pretty good about getting books out in a timely manner, so we'll see. He's a fun author to follow on FB/Twitter because he posts updates a lot, and stays on target, unlike some authors I can think of. (GRRM WHHHHYYYYY)
