Reviews

The Gathering Storm by Brandon Sanderson, Robert Jordan

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nobonesnicole's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

4.0

Rand is an idiot but also probably my most loved “chosen one” type character in a series like this.

I was worried about the posthumous trade-off to a new author but this was awesome. still sounds like Jordan’s work in the best way but also felt like 30 hours of plot and character dev in a way that Jordan’s books never did. Excited and refreshed to finish the series!

It might seem like caricature or like an author getting to write fanfic of their favorite novels - you can definitely tell some points where Sanderson stepped in. But I think he did it well and respectfully and for the most part I loved it. Mat has a more modern sense of humor suddenly but I think it fits better than before. For the most part you don’t even notice though.

belleamahle's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

jimmyjams's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

isabellarobinson7's review against another edition

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5.0

Second read: 10/11/20 - 20/11/20

Rating: (still) 5 stars

I need to write this now instead of putting it off because then I will most likely never get back to it. The only thing I can say, is that reading the last scenes with Rand is one of the few times I have actually come close to tears whilst consuming any kind of media. Rand's actions in this book make me feel so sad, and the way it amounts at the end is just... indescribable.

First read: 01/06/20 - 10/06/20

Rating: 5 stars

When I approach the ending of a book, I time it so that I am just on the brink of the climax when I get into bed, but not so far in that I ceaselessly think about it, cluttering my mind and meaning I can't fall asleep. With The Gathering Storm (and similarly with The Great Hunt, actually), my timing was completely off. I hit the climax at 9 pm and could not stop. I was brushing my teeth with the audiobook playing. I was sitting in my room with half-pyjamas-half-clothes on reading the physical book. I could not put it down. I was reading it so fast, with the audiobook going at 3.5 times speed on the audiobook, compared to my normal speed of 2.7 (yeah, my brain functions at astronomical speeds that even psychiatrists goggle at, true story). It was 11:27 pm when I finally finished this book. I had unexpectedly binged 285 pages in one evening.

Holy moly, we are well and truly in the home stretch now! But what I didn't realise was that the last three books are kind of like The Lord of the Rings in that they were both planned to be one book, but ended up being published as three volumes (the difference is that each individual one of the three Wheel of Time books are about the length of all three of The Lord of the Rings together). Because of this, the end of The Gathering Storm (I had to keep reminding my Doctor Who-obsessed brain that it was the gathering storm, and not the oncoming storm) was not as clean as other books have been, but that doesn't mean it wasn't amazing.

This really was Rand's book. There was some Mat, and a little bit of Perrin (I think) but the book belonged to Rand. And it's about time! I got sick of him being around, but not terribly central, like he used to be in The Shadow Rising and surrounding books, but he dominated The Gathering Storm and I was so happy.

But blood and ashes Rand! Oh my goodness! Talk about character growth! And while it was absolutely outstanding, I do miss the old Rand. I think of possibly The Great Hunt as my favourite time for Rand, (ask me tomorrow and I'll tell you something completely different) when he didn't want to do his duty and didn't want to be the Dragon, he just wanted to help his friends. In the slog, while the books were less engaging, Rand was at his peak. It seemed like he couldn't rise any further, and it felt like the rest of the series he was going to remain stagnant while everyone else would develop. Then he went crazy. Not just a couple of manic episodes once or twice, but full on hearing-voices-in-his-head, mad psychopath, crazy.

And poor Min. Honestly, I feel so bad for her. Aviendha and Elayne (the latter whose name was barely mentioned in this book yay!) have been apart from Rand for so long that they can love the idea of Rand from a far, regardless of what he actually does. Whereas Min has to be there in amongst all of the atrocities that Rand is essentially instigating, she has to experience them with him and then still love him despite. Nyneave even said that she personally was finding it hard to be Rand's friend, but imagine sharing his heart? My point exactly!

Spoiler

And the stuff with Semirhage almost forcing Rand to kill Min... and how it affected both of them... that made me sad. Then Rand thought that Min was becoming distant because she was scared of him, but she was just afraid she was becoming a liability for Rand, and didn't want to inconvenience or be a burden to him any longer. I really hope they resolve this misunderstanding soon (all they need to do is talk to each other, come on) because relationship drama and Tarmon Gai'don do not mix.

You know what, I'm finally admitting to myself that Siuan is one of my favourite characters. She is so amazing, how she deals with the little strength in the power she has (she can't even open a gateway unaided!) after being stilled. The fact that she went from an enormous 13(1) as Amyrlin to a minuscule 35(23) and still managed to keep herself somewhat intact is just incredible. Her relationship with Gareth Bryne is hilarious, and doing his laundry perhaps helped her in the long run, as she learned her new place in hierarchy, both within the Aes Sedai and just simply socially. This beautiful fanart of Siuan by @meeppodraws on Tumblr also helped me to realise she was a favourite character of mine:

Is it just me, or is it a little hard to get behind Tuon and her relationship with Mat. Or just Tuon in general. The Seanchan are fundamentally a nation of people that support forced labour - slavery. I thought the American Civil War sorted out the answer to that little ethical dilemma! There are more slaves in our world today than there ever have been (an over-used statistic, sure, but it's true) and I know that nobody is going to be inspired to start a slave trade of their own after reading The Wheel of Time (well, I sincerely hope not) because it doesn't read like RJ is condoning the practice or attempting to justify it. But I just can't see myself coming to have any fondness towards these characters that are so clearly in favour of it. I don't understand how someone can be so utterly invested in the rudimentary need for all channelers to be imprisoned as damane, that if they discover they can channel will demand to be put in chains at have an a'dam clasped around their neck. How can they be so immoral in their disregard for the most basic of human rights - the right to choose - and yet we're supposed to support Tuon

Spoiler

- oh no sorry, the "supreme Empress Fortuona may she live forever" or whatever.

Sorry, but I can't do that.

I need to talk spoilers now because

Spoiler

I can not get over Tam. Tam came back to Rand. Yes, it was on Cadsuane's direction, but he came back! I don't usually feel... things deeply when it comes to books (or most things really). I have no memory of being shocked at the big climaxes in the past, like The House of Hades when I was younger, and that cliffhanger (haha) was a fandom-shaking event. But Rand almost killing Tam... that made me feel things. Tam is such an amazing father. Like, this kid isn't his blood relative, they aren't even the same race, but he still cares for Rand like a son. All through The Eye Of The World, Rand called Tam "father" even after doubt is cast on his true lineage. Whereas in The Gathering Storm, Rand never addresses Tam as "father" even just to himself, and even though Tam still refers to Rand as "my son". That... hurt. I don't like these "emotion" things.

The last chapter, chapter 50, with Rand on Dragonmount after his meeting with Tam was really well written. And the way it flowed on into the epilogue was a nice touch. But I was also confused. So... Rand never actually heard Lews Therin's voice in his head? It was just him going mad? But then how come he knew some weaves way back at the beginning of the series that hadn't been known since the Age of Legends? Was that just because he was the Dragon? I'll probably figure it out at some point.

Fortunately, I have Towers of Midnight right here to start, and I do not know how anyone could have waited a year before reading it after book 12. I felt that pain with Rick Riordan, heck I am still feeling that pain with Rick Riordan as he continues to publish series after series. It's like Brandon Sanderson with Stormlight, but The Wheel of Time is just on another level. For me anyway.

I might just be saying all this praise because I'm in the middle of reading the series (which is obviously going to affect my opinion of it) and it will take some time for the dust to settle before I can gather my thoughts and form a more reliable perspective, and perhaps look at it more critically. That being said, I am going to be trying very hard to not pick up The Eye of the World and immediately start a reread as soon as I finish the last page of A Memory of Light. It's going to take all my strength not to, but honestly, I don't know if I want to stop myself anymore.

rees_aidan741's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

jaderobynn's review against another edition

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5.0

This is still my favorite series of novels. Although all of us devoted fans I'm sure are saddened by the passing of Robert Jordan, we are glad to have Brandon Sanderson to help finish the beloved series. I myself started readinf them in seventh grade, and have been hooked ever since.

I can surely notice the difference between Jordan's and Sanderson's writing styles, but once your mind's entrapped in the twists and turns of the novels, you learn not to mind, and appreciate the fact that you actually get to continue reading the novel. Don't get me wrong Sanderson is a wonderful writer, and I'm glad Jordan decided to choose him to bring the series to an end, but sometimes I miss the grammatical errors that I knew of Jordan.