Genre: Epic/High Fantasy
Hardcover: 784 pages
Publisher: Tor Books; Signed edition
Publication Date: October 27, 2009
ISBN-10: 0765302306
ISBN-13: 978-0765302304
Author Blog: Robert Jordan
Author Website: Brandon Sanderson
In reviewing a novel in a series as popular as the Wheel of Time, a reviewer faces a dilemma: Does the reviewer toe the party line and sing its praises as a fait accompli? After all, a worldwide bestselling series is unlikely to be poorly written, and even its flaws can be glossed over in view of its successes. Or does the reviewer take a different tack and go for the heart, pointing out its flaws in relation to other books in the series and the genre in general, a factor complicated by the fact that the original author is dead and a new author is bearing the torch? Or does one simply seek a balance between the two, neither highly praising nor highly vilifying the novel?
Such is the dilemma I faced when I came to the end of reading The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson. How was I to write a review of a work that is likely to gather high praise from most as well as some few detractors? But the truth is my dilemma is a false one. You see, the Wheel of Time series is too deeply personal to me for me to be the objective reviewer I usually try to be. The Eye of the World came off the library shelf at a time when I was feeling a void in my life, a powerful feeling of hopelessness and despair that pervaded my workaday existence. The Eye of the World and its sequels brought me characters who struggled against impossible odds, yet triumphed at each and every turn, even as their own souls were damaged by the choices they were forced to make. This series of fiction brought to me a sense of hope, a joy in wonder. So I cannot be the objective reviewer I usually seek to be. The Wheel of Time is part and parcel of my self, as much a part of my psyche as my family and social upbringing.
The Gathering Storm is a wondrous book. Sanderson has worked hard to be faithful to the work of Jordan, using his notes, his scenes and his outlines. But neither does Sanderson claim that the words within are anything other than his own. “I have not tried to imitate Mr. Jordan’s style. I’ve adapted my style to be appropriate to the Wheel of Time.” So while much of the story remains Jordan’s, there is no avoiding the fact that another author is imprinting his stamp on “the ending of the greatest fantasy epic of our time” as Sanderson’s claims in the introduction.
And what a story it is. Originally intended to be the last novel, in which all the loose and complex plot threads would be tied together, in The Gathering Storm those plot lines that are tied up prove that it would be too much for any one book to do all of that. Reading through the novel makes me glad that Sanderson and Tor, though they may be accused of trying to make more money, are allowing Sanderson room in which to work by adding two more books to the conclusion. Jordan had created a complicated weave of plot, something that made The Wheel of Time extraordinary, but something that also makes it difficult to finish easily.
The Gathering Storm continues the saga where Knife of Dreams left off. Rand al’Thor is attempting to bring the fractured nations together in preparation for The Last Battle, but is having a difficult time as the machinations of Forsaken and human folly make that difficult. And the madness of Lews Therin encroaches on him as his past identity becomes more and more irrational. Even the women in his life seek to control him, just as they have always done only successfully driving even deeper into anger and pain. Egwene al’Vere, the rebel Amyrlin Seat is still in captivity in the White Tower, but seeks to do all she can to heal the rift that has divided the Aes Sedai. Matrim Cauthon continues to hide from the Seanchan and move his forces towards Elayne and Andor. And Perrin Aybara and his wife Faile are trying to get to Rand so that their forces can be with him at The Last Battle.
This novel in the Wheel of Time series is particularly focused on Rand and Egwene’s stories. Perrin and Mat’s plot lines are progressed, but they are small, even anecdotal. The primary focus is on Rand’s internal struggle and Egwene’s external. The balancing act that Sanderson’ performs between the two keeps the plot fast-paced and exciting, following the structure that Jordan laid down in the first eleven novels of cliffhanger chapters that are not immediately followed up by another about the same character.
There are some flaws in the work, as there must be with any sequel written by another author. But these are largely due to issues that I have with the plotting choices, not with Sanderson’s writing skill. The plot line involving the Forsaken Graendal is unsatisfactory. It lacked the excitement and sense of the epic that a reader would expect from a battle between The Dragon Reborn and one of the Forsaken. Though in Sanderson’s defense, he has a lot of loose ends to tie up, and he did use the plot line involving Graendal to further Rand’s story. The story involving Mat and the town of Hinderstap seemed like a short story that was overlong for the one advancing plot device it provided. Though certainly exciting and adding a bit of sword and sorcery to a book given over mostly to dialogue and scheming, it was better left as something to publish in a short story collection. Sadly too, there are no chapters in which Elayne appears directly. While she gets several mentions, at no point do we encounter Elayne in the flesh nor do we know much about how her pregnancy is doing. For such a seemingly pivotal character – the mother of The Dragon Reborn’s children – this is a loss, but an understandable one, as other plot lines needed to be furthered and/or completed first.
Sanderson has proven to be a good choice to finish Jordan’s series. He has approached the work with the right amount of humility, is a fan himself, and has the epic fantasy chops needed to pull such a colossal task off. He has been careful to stay true to Jordan, even including such writing idiosyncrasies as Jordan’s tendency to describe women by bust size, or Siuan Sanche’s use of fish metaphors. He has captured the arrogance of the Aes Sedai very well, and depicts Rand’s internal struggle so that I was easily able to pick up the thread of his character even after not having read a Wheel of Time novel since Knife of Dreams was released.
From page one, I found myself devouring each and every page of The Gathering Storm, desperate for more. Every time I turned the page I had a sense of elation as I felt that same intimacy with the story I had felt so long ago on first picking up The Eye of the World. Finding myself once again in a place where it seems fate is against me, this novel gives me feelings of hope, of pleasure, and of satisfaction. It has been a long time since I took so much pleasure in reading a book, and honestly I want to go back and read it a second and third time, savoring each word, sentence and paragraph for its beauty and its craft. Sanderson and Jordan’s names are now inextricably linked for me, not because they must be, but because I want them to be.
Related posts:
- Book Review: Towers of Midnight by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
- Wheel of Time: The Gathering Storm Chapter Two
- Book Trailer: Towers of Midnight by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
- The Gathering Storm available Tuesday
- Giveaway: 3 sets of Eye of the World by Robert Jordan and Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson
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This post was mentioned on Twitter by johnottinger: Book Review: The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson #sf #fantasy .
I am SO EXCITED to get my copy of this book on Thursday. I’ll be working as a Storm Leader for Brandon’s Baltimore tour stop and I can’t wait. I’ve been reading this series since the 1990s and, like you said, it is a huge part of my life. I’ve only skimmed your review b/c I don’t want to know too much before I read it myself, but I’ll definitely be back once I finish the book.
Thanks for the review. I will definitely be buying and reading….just don’t know when.
Oh man… the 2nd climax -of which i shall not speak- was nothing less than orgasmic for me, if you will excuse my graphic description. That was so fantastic. This is one of my favorite WoT books yet.
Oh man, Towers of Midnight… clearly there will be a heavier Mat focus, but after what went down with Rand and Egwene, I’m just not as excited about my favorite character anymore.
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Out of all the reviews I’ve read (and I’ve read plenty) this one rings closest to my heart. WoT (and that includes ALL the books) has a very special place in my heart as well. Other than being slighlt disapointed with one chapter with Mat I loved every page of this book.
Good Review! On mark I think. I agree with the Matt statement about the Short Story feel. However I do think Sanderson had differing intentions with the Graendal bit but I’m not sure what constitutes spoilers….soo I’ll leave it at that : )
But I feel that in this book Sanderson has shone where his strengths were. I feel where Jordan the “Creator” is the king of foreshadow and the architect of an amazingly well thought out universe, Sanderson stepped up with character development, emotion, and the depiction of a slightly more realistic motley crew of characters. I think Matt is different in this book, but different in the way that I have always envisioned him and the emotion conveyed in the many sincere confrontations is much more heartfelt and true. Jordan kind of forced emotion (confined it in a box if you will) I feel where Sanderson let it flow.
Granted this is part one of three of the wrap up of WOT but it is very resolving and I feel in the same token Sanderson is allowing and doing a good job of allowing the characters to begin that path of resolution as well.
But just thoughts from a wannabe fantasy fan : )
thanks for your thoughts Zach.
No disrespect to Robert Jordan, but Brandon Sanderson has taken his ideas and his story and taken it to a whole new level. I never thought I’d say this upon first picking up “The gathering storm”, but Sanderson has surpassed Jordan. This was actually the first time since “The dragon reborn” that I’ve actually read a whole book in the WoT series without ever putting it down. I’ve literarily not done anything else but eat, sleep and shit, so cudos to Mr. Brandon for a job well done.
[...] 1. Book Review: The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson [...]
[...] “In reviewing a novel in a series as popular as the Wheel of Time, a reviewer faces a dilemma: Does the reviewer toe the party line and sing its praises as a fait accompli? After all, a worldwide bestselling series is unlikely to be poorly written, and even its flaws can be glossed over in view of its successes. Or does the reviewer take a different tack and go for the heart, pointing out its flaws in relation to other books in the series and the genre in general, a factor complicated by the fact that the original author is dead and a new author is bearing the torch? Or does one simply seek a balance between the two, neither highly praising nor highly vilifying the novel?” (continued) [...]
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Brandon Sanderson is ruining the wheel of time. Cliched and out of character dialogue, chunky, fan fiction style prose, and a complete and utter fuck up of Jordan’s methodical, encompassing, icy tone. They might as well have had dan brown finish this goddamn series, given that there doesn’t seem to be a difference in the flat affect-less style between sanderson’s hack job of a novel and any of those fucking da vinci code books. You know I’m right. Go back and read the first sentence of the eye of the world and compare it to the opening of this book: “Mandarb’s hooves beat a familiar rhythm on broken ground as Lan Mandragoran rode toward his death.” That is about as interesting and stylish as my ass. Lan then goes on to spout dialogue that sounds like it was written by tommy wiseau for JCVD to say in a made for tv miniseries. Overall, I’d say this shit is about on par with the way george lucas fucked up the world of star wars forever with the godawful prequels. You need to read these like you need a hole in your forehead, if you want anything like what Jordan had been doing for the last two decades. Disappointment.
@lateralalice – totally agree about the clunky dialogue – Sanderson is making the series more and more cliched, i cant believe the terminology he starts using of ‘finishing quests’ alogn with more modern slang not seen previosuly in the series (laras saying totally out of character ‘you ain’t aes sedai girl’). he’s kililng my all time favorite books
he seems to try and add in immature humour with mat’s banter with talmanes and just kills me
You’ve got it… the real problem is that it all makes you feel dumb for caring about these characters earlier in the series. Mat wasn’t a joker because he was essentially a funny guy, (his pranks always apparently got him beaten as a child and adolescent) but he made jokes because he was clever and had a lot of shit with which he had to deal, starting with running away from home at an age most of us probably can’t remember, and leading to circumstances in which the mountain of utter fucked-ness on his shoulders builds. It’s the same for all of them- every single character, down to the lowest worker (laras, who had a lot more depth than a silly dialect, as you point out). Jordan gave us changes in established character based on developments in the plot, not characters treading through a given plot whose rote (under sanderson) characterization is expressed through shitty dialogue and clumsy narrative intrusion.
Brian Sanderson, give me something to care about.
Humor is the not Mat’s defining aspect- the defining aspect is his attempt to cultivate some part of his nature (humor, in this case) to mitigate what are really unimaginably horrible things, as do all the characters- they characteristically deal with the truly awful events that we find in the plot. Persona as expressed through dialogue (which Sanderson seems to concentrate on almost exclusively sensely pepperd with the with the occasional ‘ ‘…’, he thought. ‘ ) are not the central figures’ characters. Jordan gives us rich characterization through a mix of narrative viewpoints, unreliable narration, flat out mystery, and, finally, something that Sanderson, who gotta get paid yo, could not conceptualize: patience. Patience with the world Jordan created.
Jordan wasn’t fucking around. Read about the Citadel. If he needed the time and space to tell the story it wasn’t because he wanted to bore you, and he already had plenty of money, so don’t worry about that shit. Although, if you were bored, fuck off. It was because a story is a story and, like music, it can’t be compressed or shortened or ‘streamlined’ or ‘picked up’ or made more exciting or any of the other bizarre semi-corporatist arguments I’ve seen here, without changing the nature of the story into a form that would be fundamentally incompatible with what the storyteller had in mind in the first place. And that’s the only reason any of us read these books anyway right? Get as close as we can to that first place. To get out of the night and get right up as close as we could to the the story teller and the fire and the characters in it, and everyone else who was listening, so we could hear just maybe a little bit about something that wasn’t and was bit like ourselves. And wasn’t just a payoff. The wheel turns y’all.
@lateralalice. I’m not saying I agree with you. I just wanna get that out of the way right now. What I’m saying is this: You may believe that since BRANDON (Your thick dumb ass spelt it wrong) Sanderson started working on the project it has been ruined. That is your opinion, as retarded as it may be, and I voice no argument. However, you need to stop implying that something can be done about this.
As unfortunate as it is, Rober Jordan is dead, he is gone and nothing anyone says or does will bring him back, you need to accept that fact. Once you have accepted that, you will be able to reconcile yourself with the fact that no matter who was chosen to finish these books, they would be different from anything Jordan wrote previously.
Personally I think that Sanderson’s writing is impecible. Sure it’s not exactly how Jordan wrote, but then it isn’t trying to be. Sanderson had the foresight available to anyone over the age of two to realise that if he (or anyone else for that matter) tried to write the finale to Jordan’s epic masterpiece in immitation of Jordan, it really would have fucked up the series and would have ben seen as a mockery of not only the series but of Jordan himself.
Instead, Sanderson has imprinted his own style on the books. Yes the action is paced a little bit faster and yes the characters are developing at a slightly different rate in a slightly different way but it works. You need to pull your selfish, retarded face out of your ass and view the matter as an adult, willing to compromise for the betterment of the wheel of time world, not like a child whose toy just broke. Of course you could just stop reading the books, if Sanderson offends you so much, however that just proves not only how petty you are but also your lack of commitment to the series, because a series this epic cannot be judged by it’s author, it must be judged by it’s self. Quite honestly, if a ten year old picked up Jordan’s notes and finished the last few books I would read them simply to be there to witness the finale to this epic tale. Anyone that doesn’t understand that does not deserve to be a fan of the wheel of time.
Peace out bitches
Just finished reading it today. There are some obvious stand out moments of Sanderson’s where he has tension explode in a really dramatic way, like when Egwene reveals the Black Ajah. Jordan probably would have been more subtle about it, and in some parts of the book I miss that. However it is still an enjoyable read and most of us can agree that it took too long for anything to happen before. Obviously we would have preferred Jordan finish the series, but Sanderson is still doing a good job. The fact is I still want to pick the book back up after having put it down for a few minutes. It still grips me.
The only thing I dislike about The Gathering Storm however, is how much smaller the world seems by comparison. Traveling has become so common that it’s in almost every chapter. Characters are jumping in and out of places like they’re opening and closing doors, but in previous books it was described in a way that still made it seem amazing every time, creating a sense of grandeur to the world. Now it seems like it’s being rushed along.
Also have to agree on how Graendal is taken out of the story. It seems like Rand’s inner conflict could have been developed even further, giving us yet another classic forsaken battle, but instead it was wam bam thank you mam.
OTHERWISE Brandon Sanderson’s writing is flawless. Overall it reads like the other Wot books.