Wednesday: read The Gathering Storm

FINALLY! The funny thing is, after finishing this book this past weekend, I finished another whole book (also pretty hefty) in a matter of days. Two weeks to read an incredible book is really not typical of my reading frenzy.

I have written about the series, The Wheel of Time (the book above is the newest addition to that series) in an earlier post. The difference with this book is that Robert Jordon passed away before the series was completed and Brandon Sanderson was chosen to complete the last book. The planned last book has since been split into three books due to problems with the size a final volume would have to be.

I was thrilled to learn that Sanderson was working on the final books once I had actually read his work. Robert Jordon's wife and editor picked the best writer for the job. Aside from the first chapter, which didn't flow well for me (stuck out like a sore thumb--my theory is that was Jordon's writing with little to no editing included to preserve his work) the entire book was delicious. Brandon remained true to the characters and story. I often forgot Jordon hadn't written the book himself, although now and then I could feel Sanderson's influence echoing through the characters. Particularly Egwene who was so mega bad ass. That's Sanderson's thing, bad ass women. Take Vin (from the Mistborn Trilogy) or Serene (from Elantis) or his duo of princesses (from Warbreaker).

If Sanderson dropped the ball on any character it was Mat. Maybe this is due to my own age (my perception of this character has changed as I've matured) or the changes going on in Mat's head (falling in love--a very un-Mat type thing). Mat just seemed off to me. Not as believable as the other characters.

Of course, I must keep in mind that I began reading this series when I was around 14 years old and though I have read most of the books 3-4 times, it's been years since I read the entire series or even the last couple of books.

Overall, wow what a book. I now want to pick up from the beginning and read them all over again! A daunting task since most of the hardcovers are big enough to brain someone with!