Book review in one tweet
I fought at the Last Battle and all I got was this lousy T-shirt. #epicfantasy #12thousandpageslater #totallyworthit
Favorite quote
He came like the wind, like the wind touched everything, and like the wind was gone.
Review
The Wheel of Time turns, fourteen books come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, then disappears altogether by the time the last book comes out, and some character you don't remember from The Shadow Rising makes an appearance and does something important, and you're like, "Wait, who is this person? I am not rereading the whole series again."
So then you spend twenty minutes on the Dragonmount forums trying to figure it out, but then some jerk reveals that [name of main character] dies so you spend another twenty minutes typing up a biting, sarcastic response chastising the person who posted that information in a non-spoiler section of the website, but you get bored and go back to reading and it turns out they were just messing with you, but then [insert second main character's name] actually dies, and you try really hard not to cry, but darn it you've been reading these books for nearly twenty years, and who cares if the sneezy guy at the doctor's office is giving you a weird look? It's not like you're going to see him ever again.
I guessing that if you've read A Memory of Light, you probably had an experience like this. Robert Jordan's final book in the epic(ally long) fantasy series The Wheel of Time brings the story of Rand al'Thor and the Dark One to a satisfying ending, if a bit bittersweet. The series started back in the early 1990s, survived Hurricane Andrew, the Star Wars prequels, and even the premature passing of Robert Jordan in 2007. The last three books have been completed by Brandon Sanderson, using extensive notes and scenes that Jordan finished before his death.
This book is the culmination of twenty years and 11,000 pages of work, and as much as its possible for anything to live up to that kind of hype, A Memory of Light does. There's a chapter in here called "The Last Battle," that is over 200 pages long. Just that one chapter. I bet you can't guess what it's about.
Nerd book rating
9 wizard staffs (out of 10)
If you're a nerd and you haven't read the Wheel of Time, you're wasting time reading this review. Trust me, you'll need all the time you can get.
Non-nerd book rating
1 cold, frosty beer (out of 10)
Not for normal people.
Jordan Jeffers encourages you to punch him in the face if when he writes a book series that's 12,000 pages long. Feel free to give him electronic encouragement via the little Facebook and Twitter buttons below. Peace.
