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![A Memory of Light: Book Fourteen of The Wheel of Time by [Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41zCpXKyK+L._SY346_.jpg)
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The Wheel of Time is now an original series on Prime Video, starring Rosamund Pike as Moiraine!
With Robert Jordan’s untimely passing in 2007, Brandon Sanderson, the New York Times bestselling author of the Mistborn novels and the Stormlight Archive, was chosen by Jordan’s editor—his wife, Harriet McDougal—to complete the final volume in The Wheel of Time®, later expanded to three books.
In A Memory of Light, the fourteenth and concluding novel in Jordan’s #1 New York Times bestselling epic fantasy series, the armies of Light gather to fight in Tarmon Gai’don, the Last Battle, to save the Westland nations from the shadow forces of the Dark One.
Rand al’Thor, the Dragon Reborn, is ready to fulfill his destiny. To defeat the enemy that threatens them all, he must convince his reluctant allies that his plan—as foolhardy and dangerous as it appears—is their only chance to stop the Dark One’s ascension and secure a lasting peace. But if Rand’s course of action fails, the world will be engulfed in shadow.
Across the land, Mat, Perrin, and Egwene engage in battle with Shadowspawn, Trollocs, Darkfriends, and other creatures of the Blight. Sacrifices are made, lives are lost, but victory is unassured. For when Rand confronts the Dark One in Shayol Ghul, he is bombarded with conflicting visions of the future that reveal there is more at stake for humanity than winning the war.
Since its debut in 1990, The Wheel of Time® by Robert Jordan has captivated millions of readers around the globe with its scope, originality, and compelling characters. The last six books in series were all instant #1 New York Times bestsellers, and The Eye of the World was named one of America's best-loved novels by PBS's The Great American Read.
The Wheel of Time®
New Spring: The Novel
#1 The Eye of the World
#2 The Great Hunt
#3 The Dragon Reborn
#4 The Shadow Rising
#5 The Fires of Heaven
#6 Lord of Chaos
#7 A Crown of Swords
#8 The Path of Daggers
#9 Winter's Heart
#10 Crossroads of Twilight
#11 Knife of Dreams
By Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
#12 The Gathering Storm
#13 Towers of Midnight
#14 A Memory of Light
By Robert Jordan and Teresa Patterson
The World of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time
By Robert Jordan, Harriet McDougal, Alan Romanczuk, and Maria Simons
The Wheel of Time Companion
By Robert Jordan and Amy Romanczuk
Patterns of the Wheel: Coloring Art Based on Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherTor Books
- Publication dateApril 9, 2013
- File size9126 KB
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Editorial Reviews
Review
Praise for Robert Jordan and The Wheel of Time®
“His huge, ambitious Wheel of Time series helped redefine the genre.” ―George R. R. Martin, author of A Game of Thrones
“Anyone who’s writing epic of secondary world fantasy knows Robert Jordan isn’t just a part of the landscape, he’s a monolith within the landscape.” ―Patrick Rothfuss, author of the Kingkiller Chronicle series
“The Eye of the World was a turning point in my life. I read, I enjoyed. (Then continued on to write my larger fantasy novels.)” ―Robin Hobb, author of the award-winning Realm of the Elderlings series
“Robert Jordan's work has been a formative influence and an inspiration for a generation of fantasy writers.” ―Brent Weeks, New York Times bestselling author of The Way of Shadows
“Jordan’s writing is so amazing! The characterization, the attention to detail!” ―Clint McElroy, co-creator of the #1 podcast The Adventure Zone
“[Robert Jordan's] impact on the place of fantasy in the culture is colossal... He brought innumerable readers to fantasy. He became the New York Times bestseller list face of fantasy.” ―Guy Gavriel Kay, author of A Brightness Long Ago
“Robert Jordan was a giant of fiction whose words helped a whole generation of fantasy writers, including myself, find our true voices. I thanked him then, but I didn’t thank him enough.” ―Peter V. Brett, internationally bestselling author of The Demon Cycle series
“I don’t know anybody who’s been as formative in crafting me as a writer as [Robert Jordan], and for that I will be forever grateful.” ―Tochi Onyebuchi, author of Riot Baby and War Girls
“I’ve mostly never been involved in any particular fandom, the one exception of course was The Wheel of Time.” ―Marie Brennan, author of the Memoirs of Lady Trent series
“I owe Robert Jordan so much. Without him, modern fantasy would be bereft of the expansive, deep worlds and the giant casts which I love so dearly. It's not often I can look at another author and say: that person paved my way. But such is exactly the case with Jordan.” ―Jenn Lyons, author of The Ruin of Kings
“You can't talk about epic fantasy without acknowledging the titanic influence Robert Jordan has had on the genre.” ―Jason Denzel, author of Mystic and founder of Dragonmount.com
“Jordan has come to dominate the world Tolkien began to reveal.” ―The New York Times
“The Wheel of Time [is] rapidly becoming the definitive American fantasy saga. It is a fantasy tale seldom equaled and still less often surpassed in English.” ―Chicago Sun-Times
“Hard to put down for even a moment. A fittingly epic conclusion to a fantasy series that many consider one of the best of all time.” ―San Francisco Book Review
“The most ambitious American fantasy saga [may] also be the finest. Rich in detail and his plot is rich in incident. Impressive work, and highly recommended.” ―Booklist
“Recalls the work of Tolkien.” ―Publishers Weekly
“This richly detailed fantasy presents fully realized, complex adventure. Recommended.” ―Library Journal
“Jordan has come to dominate the world that Tolkien began to reveal.” ―The New York Times
“Jordan is able to take ... familiar elements and make them his own, in a powerful novel of wide and complex scope. Open religious and political conflicts add a gritty realism, while the cities and courts provide plenty of drama and splendor. Women have a stronger role than in Tolkien.... Each character in this large cast remains distinct.... Their adventures are varied, and exciting.... The Eye of the World stands alone as a fantasy epic.” ―Locus
“Robert Jordan has created a fantasy world as tangible and credible as history. He has a fine eye for detail and a vivid sense of drama.” ―Morgan Llewelyn
“Robert Jordan's The Eye of the World proves that there's still plenty of life in the ancient tradition of epic fantasy. Jordan has a powerful vision of good and evil-- but what strikes me as most pleasurable about The Eye of the World is all the fascinating people moving through a rich and interesting world.” ―Orson Scott Card
“Jordan's world is rich in detail and his plot is rich in incident. Impressive work, and highly recommended.” ―ALA Booklist
About the Author
Brandon Sanderson grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska. He lives in Utah with his wife and children and teaches creative writing at Brigham Young University. He is the author of such bestsellers as the Mistborn® trilogy and its sequels, The Alloy of Law, Shadows of Self, and The Bands of Mourning; the Stormlight Archive novels The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance; and other novels, including The Rithmatist, Steelheart, and Skyward. In 2013, he won a Hugo Award for Best Novella for The Emperor's Soul, set in the world of his acclaimed first novel, Elantris. Additionally, he was chosen to complete Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time® sequence. --This text refers to the hardcover edition.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
A Memory of Light
By Robert Jordan, Brandon SandersonTom Doherty Associates
Copyright © 2013 The Bandersnatch Group, Inc.All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-7653-2595-2
Contents
CONTENTS,TITLE PAGE,
COPYRIGHT NOTICE,
DEDICATION,
EPIGRAPH,
MAPS,
PROLOGUE: By Grace and Banners Fallen,
1 Eastward the Wind Blew,
2 The Choice of an Ajah,
3 A Dangerous Place,
4 Advantages to a Bond,
5 To Require a Boon,
6 A Knack,
7 Into the Thick of It,
8 That Smoldering City,
9 To Die Well,
10 The Use of Dragons,
11 Just Another Sell-sword,
12 A Shard of a Moment,
13 What Must Be Done,
14 Doses of Forkroot,
15 Your Neck in a Cord,
16 A Silence Like Screaming,
17 Older, More Weathered,
18 To Feel Wasted,
19 The Choice of a Patch,
20 Into Thakan'dar,
21 Not a Mistake to Ignore,
22 The Wyld,
23 At the Edge of Time,
24 To Ignore the Omens,
25 Quick Fragments,
26 Considerations,
27 Friendly Fire,
28 Too Many Men,
29 The Loss of a Hill,
30 The Way of the Predator,
31 A Tempest of Water,
32 A Yellow Flower-Spider,
33 The Prince's Tabac,
34 Drifting,
35 A Practiced Grin,
36 Unchangeable Things,
37 The Last Battle,
38 The Place That Was Not,
39 Those Who Fight,
40 Wolfbrother,
41 A Smile,
42 Impossibilities,
43 A Field of Glass,
44 Two Craftsmen,
45 Tendrils of Mist,
46 To Awaken,
47 Watching the Flow Writhe,
48 A Brilliant Lance,
49 Light and Shadow,
EPILOGUE: To See the Answer,
ABOUT THE AUTHORS,
ALSO BY ROBERT JORDAN AND BRANDON SANDERSON,
COPYRIGHT,
CHAPTER 1
Eastward the Wind Blew
The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the Third Age by some, an Age yet to come, an Age long past, a wind rose in the Mountains of Mist. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was a beginning.
Eastward the wind blew, descending from lofty mountains and coursing over desolate hills. It passed into the place known as the Westwood, an area that had once flourished with pine and leatherleaf. Here, the wind found little more than tangled underbrush, thick save around an occasional towering oak. Those looked stricken by disease, bark peeling free, branches drooping. Elsewhere needles had fallen from pines, draping the ground in a brown blanket. None of the skeletal branches of the Westwood put forth buds.
North and eastward the wind blew, across underbrush that crunched and cracked as it shook. It was night, and scrawny foxes picked over the rotting ground, searching in vain for prey or carrion. No spring birds had come to call, and—most telling—the howls of wolves had gone silent across the land.
The wind blew out of the forest and across Taren Ferry. What was left of it. The town had been a fine one, by local standards. Dark buildings, tall above their redstone foundations, a cobbled street, built at the mouth of the land known as the Two Rivers.
The smoke had long since stopped rising from burned buildings, but there was little left of the town to rebuild. Feral dogs hunted through the rubble for meat. They looked up as the wind passed, their eyes hungry.
The wind crossed the river eastward. Here, clusters of refugees carrying torches walked the long road from Baerlon to Whitebridge despite the late hour. They were sorry groups, with heads bowed, shoulders huddled. Some bore the coppery skin of Domani, their worn clothing displaying the hardships of crossing the mountains with little in the way of supplies. Others came from farther off. Taraboners with haunted eyes above dirty veils. Farmers and their wives from northern Ghealdan. All had heard rumors that in Andor, there was food. In Andor, there was hope.
So far, they had yet to find either.
Eastward the wind blew, along the river that wove between farms without crops. Grasslands without grass. Orchards without fruit.
Abandoned villages. Trees like bones with the flesh picked free. Ravens often clustered in their branches; starveling rabbits and sometimes larger game picked through the dead grass underneath. Above it all, the omnipresent clouds pressed down upon the land. Sometimes, that cloud cover made it impossible to tell if it was day or night.
As the wind approached the grand city of Caemlyn, it turned northward, away from the burning city—orange, red and violent, spewing black smoke toward the hungry clouds above. War had come to Andor in the still of night. The approaching refugees would soon discover that they'd been marching toward danger. It was not surprising. Danger was in all directions. The only way to avoid walking toward it would be to stand still.
As the wind blew northward, it passed people sitting beside roads, alone or in small groups, staring with the eyes of the hopeless. Some lay as they hungered, looking up at those rumbling, boiling clouds. Other people trudged onward, though toward what, they knew not. The Last Battle, to the north, whatever that meant. The Last Battle was not hope. The Last Battle was death. But it was a place to be, a place to go.
In the evening dimness, the wind reached a large gathering far to the north of Caemlyn. This wide field broke the forest-patched landscape, but it was overgrown with tents like fungi on a decaying log. Tens of thousands of soldiers waited beside campfires that were quickly denuding the area of timber.
The wind blew among them, whipping smoke from fires into the faces of soldiers. The people here didn't display the same sense of hopelessness as the refugees, but there was a dread to them. They could see the sickened land. They could feel the clouds above. They knew.
The world was dying. The soldiers stared at the flames, watching the wood be consumed. Ember by ember, what had once been alive turned to dust.
A company of men inspected armor that had begun to rust despite being well oiled. A group of white-robed Aiel collected water—former warriors who refused to take up weapons again, despite their toh having been served. A cluster of frightened servants, sure that tomorrow would bring war between the White Tower and the Dragon Reborn, organized stores inside tents shaken by the wind.
Men and women whispered the truth into the night. The end has come. The end has come. All will fall. The end has come.
Laughter broke the air.
Warm light spilled from a large tent at the center of the camp, bursting around the tent flap and from beneath the sides.
Inside that tent, Rand al'Thor—the Dragon Reborn—laughed, head thrown back.
"So what did she do?" Rand asked when his laughter subsided. He poured himself a cup of red wine, then one for Perrin, who blushed at the question.
He's become harder, Rand thought, but somehow he hasn't lost that innocence of his. Not completely. To Rand, that seemed a marvelous thing. A wonder, like a pearl discovered in a trout. Perrin was strong, but his strength hadn't broken him.
"Well," Perrin said, "you know how Marin is. She somehow manages to look at even Cenn as if he were a child in need of mothering. Finding Faile and me lying there on the floor like two fool youths ... well, I think she was torn between laughing at us and sending us into the kitchen to scrub dishes. Separately, to keep us out of trouble."
Rand smiled, trying to picture it. Perrin—burly, solid Perrin—so weak he could barely walk. It was an incongruous image. Rand wanted to assume his friend was exaggerating, but Perrin didn't have a dishonest hair on his head. Strange, how much about a man could change while his core remained exactly the same.
"Anyway," Perrin said after taking a drink of wine, "Faile picked me up off the floor and set me on my horse, and the two of us pranced about looking important. I didn't do much. The fighting was accomplished by the others—I'd have had trouble lifting a cup to my lips." He stopped, his golden eyes growing distant. "You should be proud of them, Rand. Without Dannil, your father and Mat's father, without all of them, I wouldn't have managed half what I did. No, not a tenth."
"I believe it." Rand regarded his wine. Lews Therin had loved wine. A part of Rand—that distant part, the memories of a man he had been—was displeased by the vintage. Few wines in the current world could match the favored vintages of the Age of Legends. Not the ones he had sampled, at least.
He took a small drink, then set the wine aside. Min still slumbered in another part of the tent, sectioned off with a curtain. Events in Rand's dreams had awakened him. He had been glad for Perrin's arrival to take his mind off what he had seen.
Mierin ... No. He would not let that woman distract him. That was probably the point of what he had seen.
"Walk with me," Rand said. "I need to check on some things for tomorrow."
They went out into the night. Several Maidens fell into step behind them as Rand walked toward Sebban Balwer, whose services Perrin had loaned to Rand. Which was fine with Balwer, who was prone to gravitate toward those holding the greatest power.
"Rand?" Perrin asked, walking beside him with a hand on Mah'alleinir. "I've told you about all of this before, the siege of the Two Rivers, the fighting ... Why ask after it again?"
"I asked about the events before, Perrin. I asked after what happened, but I did not ask after the people it happened to." He looked at Perrin, making a globe of light for them to see by as they walked in the night. "I need to remember the people. Not doing so is a mistake I have made too often in the past."
The stirring wind carried the scent of campfires from Perrin's nearby camp and the sounds of smiths working on weapons. Rand had heard the stories: Power-wrought weapons discovered again. Perrin's men were working overtime, running his two Asha'man ragged, to make as many as possible.
Rand had lent him as many more Asha'man as he could spare, if only because—as soon as they'd heard—he'd had dozens of Maidens presenting themselves and demanding Power-wrought spearheads. It only makes sense, Rand al'Thor, Beralna had explained. His smiths can make four spearheads for every sword. She'd grimaced saying the word "sword," as if it tasted like seawater.
Rand had never tasted seawater. Lews Therin had. Knowing facts like that had greatly discomforted him once. Now he had learned to accept that part of him.
"Can you believe what has happened to us?" Perrin asked. "Light, sometimes I wonder when the man who owns all these fancy clothes is going to walk in on me and start yelling, then send me out to muck the stables for being too bigheaded for my collar."
"The Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills, Perrin. We've become what we needed to become."
Perrin nodded as they walked on the path between tents, lit by the glow of the light above Rand's hand.
"How does it ... feel?" Perrin asked. "Those memories you've gained?"
"Have you ever had a dream that, upon waking, you remembered in stark clarity? Not one that faded quickly, but one that stayed with you through the day?"
"Yes," Perrin said, sounding oddly reserved. "Yes, I can say that I have."
"It's like that," Rand said. "I can remember being Lews Therin, can remember doing what he did, as one remembers actions in a dream. It was me doing them, but I don't necessarily like them—or think I'd take those actions if I were in my waking mind. That doesn't change the fact that, in the dream, they seemed like the right actions."
Perrin nodded.
"He's me," Rand said. "And I'm him. But at the same time, I'm not."
"Well, you still seem like yourself," Perrin said, though Rand caught a slight hesitation on the word "seem." Had Perrin been about to say "smell" instead? "You haven't changed that much."
Rand doubted he could explain it to Perrin without sounding mad. The person he became when he wore the mantle of the Dragon Reborn ... that wasn't simply an act, wasn't simply a mask.
It was who he was. He had not changed, he had not transformed. He had merely accepted.
That didn't mean he had all of the answers. Despite four hundred years of memories nestled in his brain, he still worried about what he had to do. Lews Therin hadn't known how to seal the Bore. His attempt had led to disaster. The taint, the Breaking, all for an imperfect prison with seals that were now brittle.
One answer kept coming to Rand. A dangerous answer. One that Lews Therin hadn't considered.
What if the answer wasn't to seal the Dark One away again? What if the answer, the final answer, was something else? Something more permanent.
Yes, Rand thought to himself for the hundredth time. But is it possible?
They arrived at the tent where the clerks worked, the Maidens fanning out behind them, Rand and Perrin entering. The clerks were up late, of course, and they didn't look surprised to see Rand enter.
"My Lord Dragon," Balwer said, bowing stiffly from where he stood beside a table of maps and stacks of paper. The dried-up little man sorted his papers nervously, one knobby elbow protruding from a hole in his oversized brown coat.
"Report," Rand said.
"Roedran will come," Balwer said, his voice thin and precise. "The Queen of Andor has sent for him, promising him gateways made by those Kinswomen of hers. Our eyes in his court say he is angry that he needs her help to attend, but is insistent that he needs to be at this meeting—if only so he doesn't look left out."
"Excellent," Rand said. "Elayne knows nothing of your spies?"
"My Lord!" Balwer said, sounding indignant.
"Have you determined who is spying for her among our clerks?" Rand asked.
Balwer sputtered. "Nobody—"
"She'll have someone, Balwer," Rand said with a smile. "She all but taught me how to do this, after all. No matter. After tomorrow, my intentions will be manifest for all. Secrets won't be needed."
None save the ones I keep closest to my own heart.
"That means everyone will be here for the meeting, right?" Perrin asked. "Every major ruler? Tear and Illian?"
"The Amyrlin persuaded them to attend," Balwer said. "I have copies of their exchanges here, if you wish to see them, my Lords."
"I would," Rand said. "Send them to my tent. I will look them over tonight."
The shaking of the ground came suddenly. Clerks grabbed stacks of papers, holding them down and crying out as furniture crashed to the ground around them. Outside, men shouted, barely audible over the sound of trees breaking, metal clanging. The land groaned, a distant rumble.
Rand felt it like a painful muscle spasm.
Thunder shook the sky, distant, like a promise of things to come. The shaking subsided. The clerks remained holding their stacks of paper, as if afraid to let go and risk them toppling.
It's really here, Rand thought. I'm not ready—we're not ready—but it's here anyway.
He had spent many months fearing this day. Ever since Trollocs had come in the night, ever since Lan and Moiraine had dragged him from the Two Rivers, he had feared what was to come.
The Last Battle. The end. He found himself unafraid now that it had come. Worried, but not afraid.
I'm coming for you, Rand thought.
"Tell the people," Rand said to his clerks. "Post warnings. Earthquakes will continue. Storms. Real ones, terrible ones. There will be a Breaking, and we cannot avoid it. The Dark One will try to grind this world to dust."
The clerks nodded, shooting concerned glances at one another by lamplight. Perrin looked contemplative, but nodded faintly, as if to himself.
"Any other news?" Rand asked.
"The Queen of Andor may be up to something tonight, my Lord," Balwer said.
" 'Something' is not a very descriptive word, Balwer," Rand said.
Balwer grimaced. "I'm sorry, my Lord. I don't have more for you yet; I only just received this note. Queen Elayne was awakened by some of her advisors a short time ago. I don't have anyone close enough to know why."
Rand frowned, resting his hand on Laman's sword at his waist.
"It could just be plans for tomorrow," Perrin said.
"True," Rand said. "Let me know if you discover anything, Balwer. Thank you. You do well here."
The man stood taller. In these last days—days so dark—every man looked for something useful to do. Balwer was the best at what he did, and was confident in his own abilities. Still, it did no harm to be reminded of the fact by one who employed him, particularly if his employer was none other than the Dragon Reborn.
Rand left the tent, Perrin following.
"You're worried about it," Perrin said. "Whatever it was that awoke Elayne."
"They would not awaken her without good cause," Rand said softly. "Considering her state."
Pregnant. Pregnant with his children. Light! He had only just learned of it. Why hadn't she been the one to tell him?
The answer was simple. Elayne could feel Rand's emotions as he felt hers. She would have been able to feel how he had been, recently. Before Dragonmount. Back when ...
Well, she wouldn't have wanted to confront him with a pregnancy when he'd been in such a state. Beyond that, he hadn't exactly made himself easy to find.
Still, it was a shock.
I'm going to be a father, he thought, not for the first time. Yes, Lews Therin had had children, and Rand could remember them and his love for them. It wasn't the same.
He, Rand al'Thor, would be a father. Assuming he won the Last Battle.
"They wouldn't have awakened Elayne without good reason," he continued, returning to task. "I'm worried, not because of what might have happened, but because of the potential distraction. Tomorrow will be an important day. If the Shadow has any inkling of tomorrow's importance, it will try whatever it can to keep us from meeting, from unifying."
(Continues...)Excerpted from A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson. Copyright © 2013 The Bandersnatch Group, Inc.. Excerpted by permission of Tom Doherty Associates.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site. --This text refers to the hardcover edition.
Product details
- ASIN : B00BMKDTNC
- Publisher : Tor Books (April 9, 2013)
- Publication date : April 9, 2013
- Language : English
- File size : 9126 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
- Print length : 1025 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #9,638 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #26 in Military Fantasy (Books)
- #44 in Fantasy TV, Movie & Game Tie-In
- #189 in Sword & Sorcery Fantasy eBooks
- Customer Reviews:
About the authors
Robert Jordan was born in 1948 in Charleston. He was a graduate of the Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina, with a degree in physics, and served two tours in Vietnam. His hobbies included hunting, fishing, sailing, poker, chess, pool and pipe collecting. He died in September 2007.
I'm Brandon Sanderson, and I write stories of the fantastic: fantasy, science fiction, and thrillers.
In November 2020 we saw the release of Rhythm of War—the fourth massive book in the New York Times #1 bestselling Stormlight Archive series that began with The Way of Kings—and Dawnshard (book 3.5), a novella set in the same world that bridges the gaps between the main releases. This series is my love letter to the epic fantasy genre, and it's the type of story I always dreamed epic fantasy could be.
November 2018 marked the release of Skyward, the first book in a new YA quartet about a girl who dreams of becoming a pilot in a dangerous world under alien attack. The follow-up, Starsight, was released December 2019. Also out that year was the final volume of the Stephen Leeds saga, Legion: Lies of the Beholder, which was also published in an omnibus edition, Legion: The Many Lives of Stephen Leeds, that includes all three volumes.
Most readers have noticed that my adult fantasy novels are in a connected universe, called the Cosmere. This includes The Stormlight Archive, both Mistborn series, Elantris, Warbreaker, and various novellas available on Amazon, including The Emperor's Soul, which won a Hugo Award in 2013. In November 2016 all of the existing Cosmere short fiction including those novellas was released in one volume called Arcanum Unbounded: The Cosmere Collection. If you've read all of my adult fantasy novels and want to see some behind-the-scenes information, that collection is a must-read.
I also have three YA series: The Rithmatist (currently at one book), The Reckoners (a trilogy beginning with Steelheart), and Skyward. For young readers I also have my humorous series Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians. Many of my adult readers enjoy all of those books as well, and many of my YA readers enjoy my adult books, usually starting with Mistborn.
Additionally, I have a few other novellas that are more on the thriller/sci-fi side. These include the Legion series, as well as Perfect State and Snapshot. There's a lot of material to go around!
Good starting places are Mistborn (a.k.a. The Final Empire), Skyward, Steelheart, The Emperor's Soul, and Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians. If you're already a fan of big fat fantasies, you can jump right into The Way of Kings.
I was also honored to be able to complete the final three volumes of The Wheel of Time, beginning with The Gathering Storm, using Robert Jordan's notes.
Sample chapters from all of my books are available at https://www.brandonsanderson.com/books-and-art/—and check out the rest of my site for chapter-by-chapter annotations, deleted scenes, and more.
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But it is more than that in a lot of ways also... For example, when I started this series of books I became a fan of Robert Jordan's writings. Particularly the first few books of the Wheel of Time were very good reads. Towards the end of Robert Jordan's writings the books lost perhaps a bit of the edge that they once had and that is understandable given Robert Jordan's health concerns. Jordan's final books were still very enjoyable but perhaps not with the same captivating ability as his first few books. Then enters Brandon Sanderson. And wow, the series all of a sudden had that same flow that the first few books in the series did. And the continuity of the story was excellent. All of a sudden I found myself becoming more and more of a Brandon Sanderson fan and I started reading some of his other books (Mistborn in particular) and really enjoyed those as well. I just find that Brandon Sanderson's writing was a great tribute to Robert Jordan and really did justice to Robert Jordan's story telling capabilities.
In the final book of the series the humor and the individual character traits were fantastic in my opinion. And the book flowed very well which was important for bringing forth the final chapters to the book. And Brandon Sanderson took one of Robert Jordan's tricks to heart very well which was to leave one character hanging on the edge of a literal cliff while shifting to the story of another character so that you wanted to read further to find out how the first character gets to safety. Book writing techniques like that were a great Jordan trait which Brandon used well in the last book (perhaps partly to the credit of Jordan's outline and to Jordan's editing crew and wife who knew some of Jordan's tricks). The fact that characters laughed and created songs at dangerous moments with levity were just as important as the base story surrounding the facts of the danger. And that laughter intermixed with fast paced reading makes for a good combination that this last book has in abundance.
Bottom line... Definately read this book if you are a fan of either Brandon Sanderson or of Robert Jordan. It is a fun fast paced story that satisfactorily concludes a fantastic series of books with a few twists and turns in and of itself.
The above paragraphs contain no spoilers... However, the next few paragraphs contain a couple of minor spoilers so you can stop reading now if you don't want to know about the book.
On the flip side I should mention that there are a few flaws or improvements which could have been made a bit better in this last book. These are nitpicks more than anything else but just my opinions only...
1) The character of Moghedian was concluded by placing an adam around her neck and making her damane. That is a bit flawed though because Rand's peace explicitly states that any bound damane that wishes to go to the white tower is free to do so via Seanchan agreement. So if that is the case then what is keeping Moghedian from going free and fulfilling her wishes of becoming an "empress of her lessers"?
2) The Seanchan seemed to have gotten off way too easy in the last battle. Just about all of the other civilizations got beaten up badly and yet the Seanchan are a civilization that could arguably have taken over other civilizations (if the shadow were not present and Rand's peace were not signed) and yet the Seanchan sat on the sidelines for much of the book waiting. Whereas most civilizations lost most of their important members of society to war and to the last battle it seemed like the Seanchan kept most of their important members of society alive and was almost as much of a power thru it all as when they started. That seems a bit strange that such a mighty civilization had a minor role in the last battle.
3) Several of the books leading up to this book describe the flow of black sisters from the white tower and that the "black ajah" had grown to be quite sizeable with their defections. One could reasonably state that the black ajah was one fourth the total number of the Aes Sedai in the Wheel of Time. And yet the black ajah played a fairly small role in this last book whereas the other ajah colors played larger roles. Further, there were several civilizations which played large roles in this last book (the Sharan army, the red-veiled Aiel, and the darkhounds) which I thought would have been better represented by more major roles by the already established black ajah force and Padan Fain. And Padan Fain, himself, was such an infamous character that I felt that he deserved a bit larger role in this last book than what he received. Especially in comparison to the Sharan army, the red-veield Aiel, and the darkhounds.
4) Damandred starts with a full circle of support to give him power. And yet, at some point in the book, Damandred loses his full circle of support. At what point in the book did the full circle decide to leave him and why when he was so effective with it? And what happened to the individuals of that full circle as the book went on? It seems like a full circle is a lot of powerful members of the source and it left a question with me as to where these people went to during the story. Although it is true that some members of the shadow with capabilities of "the one power" were discussed it didn't seem like there were enough members discussed that could have made up an entire full circle around Damandred.
5) I had predicted that Elaida would make a comeback in the final book either as a damane to Egwene (that would have been fun) or as a former damane that became subsequently freed and again got on Egwene's nerves in some manner or another. Both options seemed plausible since Elaida was captured by the Seanchan but was not, to my understanding, killed. Elaida was such a pain in the side of Egwene in previous books that it would have been fun to see her play a role (even if minor) in the last book. Unfortunately my prediction never came true which was a mild disappointment but one that doesn't detract from the book itself.
I'm one of those fans who spent hundreds of hours reading the books, theorizing about them, discussing them online (in the long-ago book forums on the Wheel of Time computer game website, mostly a ghost town now -- yes, I remember what the Land of Doubles is :-) ), attending book signings for them, and even going to the Provo midnight release party for this one. Really, to me, this is much more than just a fantasy book, even the final book of a series. It's the end of an era, of waiting years between books waiting for the next to come out, wondering what would happen next. I never would have guessed how far the ripples would extend from borrowing The Eye of the World from a friend who happened to be reading it.
Does the book deliver, as the final Wheel of Time book? (There's going to be an encyclopedia, but almost certainly never anything beyond that. Jordan left the barest of notes for potential "outrigger" novels, and he was ardently opposed to "sharecropping" his world, as he's said George Lucas has done with Star Wars. So it goes.) Yes. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the Wheel of Time, but this is an ending, and a satisfying one. It's even more impressive given that Jordan wasn't even the one to end it, as he sadly passed away from a rare blood cancer awhile ago and had to prepare all his notes for a successor -- not even one he had a hand in choosing -- to take up the challenge. We as fans demanded an awful lot of this concluding book, and Sanderson delivered.
Given the personal significance of the Wheel of Time to me, I would be more than justified, I think, in assigning it a five without further thought. I may have spent a few hundred dollars on Wheel of Time books (and ebooks) over the years, but I've gotten far, far more entertainment and joy out of them than that. At the same time, I think there are certain aspects of this book with which I take issue, or over which I have inchoate concern.
First, this book covered the Last Battle. Throughout the entire series the Last Battle has been portrayed as monumental and epic in every sense of the word (not just the overused Internet sense of it). And indeed it is that, in this book. The longest chapter of the book, titled -- well, I'll let you make the obvious guess -- is 190 pages. And there's plenty more battle beyond that. This might have been necessary, to appropriately fit the immenseness we'd all imbued the Last Battle with. But at the same time, it is looooooooong. It is excellent throughout, but even excellent battle scenes can't go as long, and sprawl as much as they did in this book, without going a bit too long. I have no idea how fewer or shorter battles could have conveyed the sense of scale and import of it all. But I do wish somewhat that it had been done. Also, totally contradictorily (I told you this was inchoate!), I kind of expected that there would be more fronts to the battle than there were, and that it would occur in many more places. The addition of large numbers of channelers to the Shadow's side explains why there weren't more, perhaps -- what Light-side channelers could have mopped up on their own became often overwhelming when Dreadlords entered the stage. But I expected far more widespread mayhem, perhaps far-flung guerrilla warfare, for the forces of darkness to have delighted in.
Second, the Black Tower. The gradual unfolding of much of that plot thread, and the interactions among particular characters in it, is delightful. (Especially with Pevara and Androl's relationship hearkening back to the Aes Sedai united as one in the Age of Legends.) Yet I was somewhat underwhelmed with the actual mechanics of the Dark here. (Admittedly the Dark aren't always the smartest or most well-coordinated villains around, but still.) It took them that long to accelerate their efforts? (And, really, previous books had made me think those efforts had progressed far further, and more successfully, than apparently they had.) And the denouement of that thread was really that sudden? I don't think those scenes did quite justice to the words of Elaida's prior Foretelling. (Unless that referred to other future events -- I think some of the prophecies did, but not this one -- but in this case it seems incredibly poor if that was the case.)
Third, Demandred. A competent Forsaken, finally! And yet. I wasn't surprised to see him appear, and from where he did. But I think we needed more than process of elimination to explain how he got to where he did. And we needed more back story to his dealings of the past couple years, to explain how he did it. (This may be a topic for the encyclopedia, but that tantalization should have been salved somewhat before. This issue goes all the way back, and I don't think Sanderson can truly be blamed for it.) And, returning to competency, slightly: Demandred was waaaaay too vocally angry. Sure, he had a chip on his shoulder the size of Hoth, but he was also really the only Forsaken that consistently got things done. And you're telling me he couldn't control his ego enough to not sound pompous? Seriously, he started to remind me a little of his parody in ISAM's classic Wheel of Time parody summaries. Not to mention, the supposed best general of the Shadow never seriously thought that Rand might be, um, some other, more strategic place, maybe? Like, um, maybe Shayol Ghul? C'mon Demandred, this is clownshoes.
Fourth, Slayer. The eventual way everything went down there was satisfying. But I feel like I never really understood the why of Slayer, his motivations, the history behind him, and so on. Probably that'll be cleared up in the encyclopedia. But I'd have liked a little bit more on him before now. (This is another complaint that isn't really at Sanderson's feet -- I feel like he may possibly have made extra effort to address these concerns. Really they should have been elaborated more in previous books -- perhaps the ones Sanderson did, so maybe I'm okay with shifting a little of the blame to him. :-) )
And there's probably more I could say here, both to praise and to complain, if I spent the time to think about it. But I'm already at ~1400 words, and I really should be moving on to other things now. :-) So I'll leave it at that.
All these complaints notwithstanding (and I feel like there are enough I really do have to drop it to a four, even if I loved it like a five), this was awesome. Highly anticipated, thoroughly enjoyable, a satisfying conclusion: Sanderson done good. (Although, reading an epilogue I knew to be almost 100% Jordan, I found myself missing all the more his words for the conclusion to the series. Sanderson doesn't have the same lyrical approach that Jordan does. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, and probably particularly wasn't for many of the battle scenes of these last three books. But in the quieter interludes and pauses, I sorely missed the real thing.) And much thanks to Team Jordan for picking him, and bringing Sanderson and his books to my attention. The only real regret I have is that this is an ending to fifteen years of my life, and to much of the endless theorizing, discussion, and anticipation. We all wanted this to happen. But it is a bittersweet ending nonetheless.
The amazing story crafted by Robert Jordan and finished by Brandon Sanderson (he was the reason I began reading these books in the first place!) had its share of ups and downs. There were books where it seemed like there was non-stop action, but there were also books where literally nothing happened (I am still convinced that you could remove book 9 from the entire series and not know that you had missed anything). However, this is expected with a series this large.
Jordan’s world building is simply awesome. I never felt overwhelmed by characters because he does a great job of introducing them steadily. My only complaint is that so many things happen across the world with different characters, and it feels as though some characters never interacted with others or that some events happen without effecting other things.
The magic system… To put it simply, I do not like magic systems without rules. What defines how powerful you are? What are the limitations on the kinds of things you can do with the system? These all play a big role on how I think about fantasy novels with magic in them. The Wheel of Time’s magic system is just… okay. It’s not great like the works of Mistborn, Eragon, or the Stormlight Archive, but it’s also not terrible like Harry Potter.
In conclusion, if you are a fan of large scale world building and great character development packed into an epic fantasy world, then this is the series for you! Buckle in because it’s a looooooong ride.
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My only criticism, and it is a very small one, is that it would have been even more satisfying if the epilogue had included just a little information about what happened to each of the main characters after Tarmon Gai'don is over. However, I recently bought Robert Jordan's A Companion to The Wheel of Time, which I highly recommend with the caveat that inevitably there are a lot of spoilers, so it is best read after you have finished reading all the books. It contains a wealth of information about the world of the WOT, including character biographies, which fills many gaps.
Thank you Robert Jordan (Rest in Peace) and Brandon Sanderson for such an enthralling read. My only sadness is that whatever I read next is going to struggle to match the magic that is The Wheel of Time! 😊

In many ways, it is the beginning of the end. The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. ... There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time.
Robert Jordan


Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 26, 2019
In many ways, it is the beginning of the end. The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. ... There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time.
Robert Jordan


As the end to the series this review is for the whole lot.
The Wheel of Time is the most epic tale of a grand cast of players where I cared about each one and longed to know their place in the pattern. I was not disappointed and the great ball of story yarn that led into the final stretch beautifully unraveled to show where each thread satisfyingly ends. So many endings and so many different conclusions.
The strengths of this series is its scope and it's size and how well woven together it all is. If you have the time and the inclination and tenacity to immerse yourself in a vast journey then this series will not disappoint.


Of course, it still has its issues- Sanderson can't write battles, at all, and the Last Battle itself is as boxy and boardgamey as every other battle he's written, but without any of the tricks he can usually use to mask that. And it is ponderous at times, though I think not damagingly so. And he's still dealing with the same threadworn and sometimes poorly drawn characters he was left with (tugs braid).
But this is imaginative, well crafted, clever, and maybe above all,filled with warmth- Sanderson's love for the material shines through. I read it in a frenzy while I was supposed to be touristing and I regret nothing. Get it.