Title: The Gathering Storm
Author: Robert Jordan
Rating: 5/5
Ugh, despite that I devoured the first 50 pages in one night, it’s taken me several months to get through the whole book. It all comes down to time. When I’ve a choice of reading or writing, I’ll take writing every time. But the flu knocked me back on that and I turned the ultimate comfort. A good book.
As much as I enjoy seeing Rand returning to a less psycho version, this book puts more focuses on Perrin and Mat than the last one did. And there were scenes from Lan! In fact, the book opens and ends with him! There’s been so little of him lately that I was beginning to fear we’d never find out what’s happening to him. The initial frustration from him at his predicament is actually quite humorous, but the last piece now has me worrying all over again. I’m really hoping he survives Tarmon Gai’don. (Now, does anyone care to guess which WoT character is my ultra favourite? 😉 ).
Anyway, the story takes a back step timewise, showing what the others have been up to during the period of The Gathering Storm. It hiccups but once for me, in the scene where I realised Rand’s father was still with Perrin’s group when he wasn’t at the end. But there were so many things going on at the time that it was a minor blip. A faint tug on the memory and I’m back in Ghealdan, on the move with the massive army.
Though the level of power the MC’s are getting is a little disconcerting at times (especially with Rand. The clouds are parting wherever he goes. Am I the only one who see that as funny?), it was good to see that some plans would wobble on the edge of failure at times (revealing the murderer that’s killing Aes Sedai) or not go in the exact direction I was expecting (the trial with Perrin). I also welcome that winning, even near the end of the series, isn’t always easy for them.
Towards the middle, I found it sort of scary and thrilling (in a good way) to see everything and everybody finally starting to come together for the Last Battle. All the side plots that were laid out are being neatly wound up to, but there’s also fresh worries popping up (I’m still wondering what the heck is up with the gateways around the Black Tower and heavily suspecting another dreamspike, but there are more worries there than that).
Speaking of towers … I’m of the opinion that the Tower of Ghenjei should be turned into slag. Those foxes and snakes are creepier than all the shadowspawn in the world.
I cannot wait for A Memory of Light to be published. After all this time, I’m fervently hoping it’ll be good.
As much as I enjoy seeing Rand returning to a less psycho version, this book puts more focuses on Perrin and Mat than the last one did. And there were scenes from Lan! In fact, the book opens and ends with him! There’s been so little of him lately that I was beginning to fear we’d never find out what’s happening to him. The initial frustration from him at his predicament is actually quite humorous, but the last piece now has me worrying all over again. I’m really hoping he survives Tarmon Gai’don. (Now, does anyone care to guess which WoT character is my ultra favourite? 😉 ).
Anyway, the story takes a back step timewise, showing what the others have been up to during the period of The Gathering Storm. It hiccups but once for me, in the scene where I realised Rand’s father was still with Perrin’s group when he wasn’t at the end. But there were so many things going on at the time that it was a minor blip. A faint tug on the memory and I’m back in Ghealdan, on the move with the massive army.
Though the level of power the MC’s are getting is a little disconcerting at times (especially with Rand. The clouds are parting wherever he goes. Am I the only one who see that as funny?), it was good to see that some plans would wobble on the edge of failure at times (revealing the murderer that’s killing Aes Sedai) or not go in the exact direction I was expecting (the trial with Perrin). I also welcome that winning, even near the end of the series, isn’t always easy for them.
Towards the middle, I found it sort of scary and thrilling (in a good way) to see everything and everybody finally starting to come together for the Last Battle. All the side plots that were laid out are being neatly wound up to, but there’s also fresh worries popping up (I’m still wondering what the heck is up with the gateways around the Black Tower and heavily suspecting another dreamspike, but there are more worries there than that).
Speaking of towers … I’m of the opinion that the Tower of Ghenjei should be turned into slag. Those foxes and snakes are creepier than all the shadowspawn in the world.
I cannot wait for A Memory of Light to be published. After all this time, I’m fervently hoping it’ll be good.
Aldrea Alien 
I think I stopped reading this series when it reached book 6 or there abouts. Glad you enjoyed it.
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I'd say it was probably The Fires of Heaven (number 5). If you consider all the books as one big story, then it was the lull before the big booms of books 6 & 7.
The general consensus is that the series does tend to stall a bit in the middle.
With some, it was because the series was so long and they didn't like the fact it didn't seem to be going anywhere (it does, just a little slowly at times).
Others just didn't like the fact that so-and-so wasn't in this novel. I mean, the character list is huge, with some names that look almost similar (Though I remember a piece where I was sure it was supposed to be this woman's name instead of that woman's). I applaud Jordan for keeping them all straight, but after a while it's unrealistic to have the three protagonists in each book and show what the other MCs were up to.
Then there was the third group who got sick of Rand’s whiny/gloomy ass.
But if someone wants to drop a series, each to their own.
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