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Friday, February 17, 2017

Towers of Midnight by Robert Jordan

Towers of Midnight (Wheel of Time, #13)Towers of Midnight by Robert Jordan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Finally, we are getting the action we were looking for! This series has built up so many plot lines that this book was nothing but excitement as one conflict after another comes to closure. It makes me wonder if "Gathering Storm" should be seen as some kind of pun. While this is Robert Jordan's brainchild, so much of the credit should go to Brandon Sanderson. Even while wrapping up sub plots he introduced the right amount tension to keep us excited for the next book. (I seriously thought the Seanchan would be "handled" by now, but they are a material threat still.)

A few specifics I want to call out:
-A few books ago I was complaining about Mat's whining and bad attitude toward the Aes Sedai, and in this book, near the end, he finally had a conversation about it. While that information was both late and not totally satisfying, it was helpful to hear his side and let me see Mat as a person.
-Elayne's coup in Cairhien seemed a little forced, but again, it was time to be moving things along, so I see that it had to be that way. I guess the other option would have been to have an entire book dedicated to the expanded political intrigue to make it more natural. Not worth it.
-The Black Tower is an interesting twist. It seems strange that Rand wouldn't check on them more often, given how much he has relied on the Asha'men. I will just have to wait and see how that goes.

So I have a few other books to finish before I get to move on to the final book, but I can't wait! This is great motivation to keep those others moving along.