The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderon Book Review

19 years ago, a little book (well, it was long, but with little fanfare) was written called the Eye of the World. The fantasy genre is filled with worlds and epically scaled series since Tolkien broke open the format with his Lord of the Rings trilogy. Robert Jordan took the fantasy genre traditions and stepped them up a notch, creating a fantasy world steeped in history, with characters that act and react in ways that resonate with the reader. The series spawned 12 novels (including The Gathering Storm) and will conclude with 14 books. Sadly, Jordan passed away in 2007 and was unable to complete his epic series. Thankfully, he kept detailed notes on his story and entrusted many plot points and devices to his wife Harriet. She tapped Brandon Sanderson, an up and coming fantasy writer in his own right with the Mistborn series, to complete the Wheel of Time series. Sanderson is a self professed fan of the series and took great care in keeping the world and characters true to the original. Just how successful was he? Read on!

Many fans of the books have fallen off over the years, either due to the long wait between releases, or disappointment over the lack of resolution to the many hanging plotlines developed over the years. One of the first things fans of the series will come to realize is that The Gathering Storm resolves many of these issues and questions, thus rewarding long time fans for their patience over the years with the series. That by itself should inspire those that are still on the fence about picking up the book.

Sanderson does an admirable job of taking over the reins from Jordan. While I am a fan of the series, I would not consider myself a hardcore fan, as such, I didn\'t feel like there were alot of places where I felt it was obvious it was Sanderson writing vs Jordan. There were maybe 2 or 3 places where I felt it was obvious, but it was still very well written and nothing the characters said or did in the scenes felt out of character for me. I think this is a testament to the care and thought that Sanderson put in to writing this novel.

One thing that readers will get as they dig into the book is the realization that the pacing of the story and the action are much more fluid. One of the largest complaints of the previous books was that there was too much exposition and not enough moving of the story along. Readers won\'t have that concern with this latest offering. While we won\'t get into spoilers here, let\'s just say that not only does the central plot line move along well (i.e. the Last Battle), but so do almost all the major characters. Rand, Mat, Perrin, Egwene all get some time in this book with the focus clearly on Rand and Egwene. No more chapter upon chapter of some uninteresting side character (I’m looking at you Kin and Wavemistresses!) The only noticeably absent central character is Elayne, but most would be ok with this since she was the central figure in book 11, The Knife of Dreams. As well, we’re treated with the return of some characters we haven’t seen in awhile, and the tying up of various storylines to clear up the picture and keep the focus on the main cast.

Sanderson should be commended for not only moving the story along, but creating a palatable sense of the coming of Tarmon Gai\'don, the Last Battle. Whether it\'s his descriptions of the environment, or people reactions and/or words, you feel throughout the book that the inhabitants are all recognizing something big is happening and that the Last Battle is likely to begin soon. I think that in the previous books, while it was mentioned here and there, there wasn’t the same foreboding sense that is throughout this book.

At the end of the day, I feel Sanderson did a very commendable job with this book in not only continuing the amazing story of the Wheel of Time, but producing a one of the finest editions in the series since possible the Lord of Chaos. With a more clear timetable for completion (2 more books to go!), I\'m eagerly awaiting the change to finish reading this series and see what happens at the end. If you haven’t bought this yet, rush out and get it now! If you’ve never read any of the series, start back in book 1 and prepare yourself for quite a journey!