A Memory of Light

by Robert Jordan

Other authorsMichael Whelan (Cover artist), Brandon Sanderson (Author), Ellisa Mitchell (Illustrator), Matthew C. Nielsen (Illustrator)
Hardcover, 2013-01

Status

Available

Call number

PS3560.O7617 M46

Publication

Tor Fantasy (2013). 1st edition, 1st printing. 912 pages. $34.99.

Description

The conclusion to the Wheel of Time series draws on notes left by the late Robert Jordan.

User reviews

LibraryThing member shabacus
You can't review the last book in a series without reviewing the whole series, not when it's a single saga as long as this one.

I finished the book satisfied. That might not sound like a lot, but at the end of a 15 book series, which I've been reading since 1994, satisfaction is no small thing.

No,
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the series is not for everyone. No, the ending will probably not please everyone. But it felt like the right ending throughout. It was a worthy ending.
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LibraryThing member washor
It was one week after having suffered a series of strokes when I learned of Robert Jordan’s death from a small TV hanging over my hospital bed. Of course I had heard of him and his Wheel of Time series many times before, but I had never read any of his work. Something about the timing of his
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death and my own recent experiences made me want to get to know this man better. I felt sorrow for all of his fans, how his story would never be completed.

A couple months later I heard refreshing news; the news that another writer would pick up the mantle and write Jordan's last volume. I remember thinking to myself how generous of Robert to allow someone else to finish his tale - how selfless an act to prepare for another artist to add the final touches. I was blown away and I rushed to catch up in time for the final battle.

I found myself falling into RJ's universe as I listened to The Eye of the World. I became engrossed in the struggles between the shadow and light so much that I searched for ways to spend time alone so I could "read" more. I listened to the novels as I ran miles around my town preparing for my first marathon. I listened to them as I tore my house down to the studs and rebuilt it for my wife and new baby daughter. I listened to them as I flew back and forth across the country for work. A lot of good memories float to the surface every time I think of this series and I give partial credit to them for my recovery.

To take a word from Thom Merrilin, the last battle was "exquisite". A Memory of Light delivered on all of its promises. It is packed with action. It tied up all the many loose ends. It brought about an ending. Robert Jordan can now rest as his tale has been told. His memory has become legend.

A Memory of Light has so many plots! On the surface it might seem a daunting task to read and keep track of them all, but Brandon Sanderson groups them together so you're not following too much at once. The world is in utter chaos and all the main characters have crucial roles to play. No one of them has a task more important than another, save maybe Rand himself. As Rand prepares for the final battle, he uses all the assets at his disposal. After setting them in play he leaves them to their own successes and failures as he finally sets out to confront the dark one.

You begin to wonder as the shadow pushes back, how can the light prevail? The world is being torn apart by the dark one as he attempts to break the great wheel. Cracks that fall away into the void of nothingness, bubbles of evil erupting across the lands, and forsaken permanently burning souls from the pattern with balefire all plague the armies of the light. Slowly the pieces slide together as all the many loose ends from the previous thirteen books are gathered together into one final weave. Heroes fight, friends are lost and forsaken are left behind as the third age comes to a close.

Brandon's writing mimics Robert Jordan's very well, though he writes with a youthful flourish that adds new life into an aging story. I hadn't known of Brandon prior to this venture of wearing the dragon pin so proudly. Since then I have read almost all of his work and wholeheartedly recommend him. A Memory of Light does not fall short of his standard.

Throughout the three final volumes, the characters have all remained true to Robert Jordan's telling. Our farm-boy heroes have all grown up over the course of their adventures, yet they remain themselves. Matrim Cauthon is still the same gambler he has always been, though he is much more calculating now. Perrin remains the most level headed of the three ta'veren and Rand's insanity has given way to a clear head that is needed for the final battle.

If you don't already know, the magic system within the Wheel of Time series is one of the best known in the fantasy genre. It is defined almost scientifically with advantages and dangers to its use and with opposite forces for every action. Not only is it soundly structured, it is also artful in its casting and the descriptions of its outcomes are both beautiful and ferocious. Aside from the primary magic system within the world, the pattern of existence itself grants new mystical abilities to heroes and villains to add balance and uncertainty to the stories.

The world within the Wheel of Time is one of opposites. Villains are almost always evil and heroes are good. There are some minor exceptions, but this is not your gritty fantasy filled with anti-heroes. At its heart, this is your “farm-boy grows up and saves the world” fantasy story.

I don't know how "original" A Memory of Light was. I certainly haven't read many books with such a wide scope, but most of the elements within the story were previously seen. There were a few new bits and pieces, but this story was more about concluding the legacy than about surprising us with new notions.

I truly enjoyed A Memory of Light. It was a fitting end to one of the greatest epic fantasy series to date. I'd probably have liked it even more if it hadn't been so long, but the length served the purpose of wrapping up loose ends. It truly was unavoidable – there were so many. I also felt the ending would have been more powerful if a few more heroes hadn't survived into the fourth age. That isn't to say I didn't tear up at their survivals. How could I not? The Wheel of Time has come to an ending.

I "read" this entire series via audiobook, the final volume being no exception. Kate Reading and Michael Kramer have practically become two of my best friends now, though I've never met or even talked with either of them.

I'm torn between four and five stars. I think the telling by Brandon definitely deserves the full five rating, but the “farm-boy saves the world” story has been done quite a bit. This is a really good story though and one that has earned its place in history.

Thank you Robert Jordan for this epic series and for having the humility to allow another to finish your tale. Thank you Brandon Sanderson for completing this work with the grace only few have. Thank you Harriet for having the will to see your husband's work completed - you made an excellent choice.
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LibraryThing member clong
All in all, given the challenges, it’s hard to see how anyone could have done better.

A Memory of Light is essentially one massive battle scene--which doesn't make for a particularly satisfying standalone tale like the best books of this series. But that’s ok; this is a series which for far too
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long had been spinning layer after layer of new narrative when what it was really crying out for was movement towards closure. Closure is what Sanderson gives us--bringing The End to a series that many of us have cared about for a long time makes this book deeply satisfying in a different way. This is a wrapping up of many, many, many loose ends, a satisfaction of a litany of prophecies, and a healthy revisiting of lots of good things from early books. And all of this is done in a way which feels true to Jordan at his best.

The book offers plenty of wonderful moments, large and small, where things that had been building come together in a satisfying way…again, echoing Jordan at his best. And in this book, for a change, when the good guys make mistakes someone ends up paying for it. The good guys are at times bested in ways that really hurt, and quite a few of the good guys don’t make it to the end (including one of the seemingly untouchable core protagonists). I wish the Chosen had been as formidable throughout the series.

This is a world where the forces of light battle the forces of evil (as is rather coolly illustrated by the battle of white clouds vs black clouds, a massive overhead replication of the ancient symbol of the Aes Sedai that dominates the battle of Tarmon Gai'don). Characters are good or evil (although there are evil characters pretending to be good, and there is always the threat that a good character can be turned to the dark side against their will). The series would have been better if it had allowed for a few more shades of gray—I kind of wished one of the bad guys had repented and fought for Rand at the end.

Still, I think the Wheel of Time at its best is a towering achievement in Fantasy, and we should all be grateful that Sanderson has done a fine job of bringing closure to a series which had to some extent lost its way. Good stuff.
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LibraryThing member jnwelch
In A Memory of Light, Brandon Sanderson provides the 14th and final book(!) in the Wheel of Time series that began 20 years ago. It weighs in at a whopping 900+ pages, which became about the norm as this series went on. He does a good job, as the Last Battle rages on multiple fronts and The Dragon
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Reborn, Rand al'Thor, takes on the Dark One for all the marbles. As with most of the series, in my mind this final entry would have benefited from slimming down, but it is entertaining and the resolution is a satisfying one - no small feat. I'm sure Sanderson had some trepidation about winding up this popular series which has such avid fans. It makes me think of J.K. Rowling wrapping up the Harry Potter series, except here Sanderson was finishing someone else's series, which opened him up to the possibility of even more criticism for not providing the quality of the original. I think he'll likely get accolades, not criticism, as he as done another fine writing job after completing the finale's two predecessor volumes.

Sanderson was picked to complete the series by Jordan's wife (and editor) Harriet McDougal after Jordan's death in 2007. My understanding is there were notes and outlines. I have to say, to my mind the writing got sharper and better when Sanderson took over. This is a huge world that Jordan built, with lots of memorable characters and subplots. That allowed Sanderson to hit the ground running in this book, with no need for more world-building, and lots of action from start to finish. There are enormous battle scenes on four main fronts, while Rand eventually takes on the Dark One in the cave at Shayol Ghul. Sanderson skillfully takes the reader through the strategic planning, the view from from the soldier's point of view, and the view of those in charge, including Elayne, Queen of Andor, and Egwene, the Amyrlin Seat who heads the White Tower where women train in "channeling", that is, drawing on power called saidin (men draw on saidar) to create fire bombs, lightning, destructive winds, etc. There are many moments of heroism and sacrifice, as well as foolishness and betrayal, as the humans battle Trollocs, Myrdaals, and other fanciful creatures, not to mention other humans who have chosen to follow the Dark One. For those who have followed the series, unsurprisingly, all the favorite characters are in jeopardy, and there are some who don't make it.

Because the book is essentially a series of battles tied together with some humor and relationship relief, it can test the endurance of even those invested in the story. Rand and his father have touching moments together, some of which take us all the way back to where this started in Two Rivers, with Rand as the farm boy son of a farmer who turns out to have a mysterious past. Rand's triple romance with Queen Elayne, prophetic Min and desert tribe channeler Aviendha reaches fruition as the three band together as "first sisters". Rand's Two Rivers friend Mat Cauthon, whose adventures have taught him the military tactics needed for the Last Battle, has a wonderfully combative relationship with the Seanchan queen Tuon he "accidentally" married for reasons he can't quite sort out. For series fans, Lan and Nynaeve, Egwene and Gawyn, Perrin and Faile, and other romantic couples, all have their roles to play and hardships to endure. Among other things, Perrin, the blacksmith turned wolf pack leader, has a spectacular chase of the villainous Slayer in the dream world that spills into the real world battle royale.

The series is a vast story with plenty to enjoy along the way. There were times I (and others) got frustrated with the "bloat" in some of the mid-series books, as Jordan's fascination with every inch of the enormous world he created detracted from the story's momentum. Sanderson's arrival on the scene for the last three books brought a welcome focus. And he has done a creditable job of bringing it all to conclusion, with some philosophical observations on good and evil, conveyed through the evolution in Rand's thinking, that suit the story and give the reader food for thought as well. For those unfamiliar with the series, give the first one, Eye of the World, a try. If it catches you up, then you have a whole lot of enjoyable reading ahead of you. Those who like the Game of Thrones series, for example, might find they like this one, too.
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LibraryThing member drbubbles
On the one hand, one would expect the culmination of an epic series to be far grander than this volume is. On the other, this pedestrian dénouement is perfectly appropriate to such a turgid series.
LibraryThing member StephenBarkley
When I started reading The Wheel of Time, the Internet didn't exist. I used my telephone modem to connect to a local BBS for ASCII art and other meaningless diversions. You might wonder at the foolishness of starting an unfinished epic. In my defense, the book was four volumes long at that point
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and I was told it would last a total of six. Now I'm writing my review of volume fourteen: the final chapter.

A quick scan of the Amazon's review stats isn't surprising. 712 people gave this book 5 stars while 333 gave it only 1. A mere 232 people are somewhere in the middle. I suppose these sort of polarizing results should be expected when you close a series that many of us have been reading for well over half of our lives. As much as you anticipate it, it's difficult to read the end.

The conclusion is completely satisfying. After hearing about "The Final Battle" for 13 books, we get a 200 page chapter in a 900 page book dedicated to it! Sanderson pulls plot lines together quick enough to make your head spin here. He even gives what I had assumed were throw-away chapters in earlier books meaningful life in the end.

My only criticism was the completeness of it all. Unlike real life, where things are messy and incomplete, the Wheel's third age ends with no threads out of place. This is a strength for those of us who like to see how everything concludes (like the series finale of Fringe), but a weakness for those who enjoy the mystery of it all (like the series finale of Lost).

Over the 21 years I've been reading this series, my life has changed a lot. My taste has developed. I enjoy reading thoughtful fiction now along with a bevy of non-fiction and theology. Despite the changes in my life, it was wonderful to return again to the same sense of wonder I had when I started this series—if only for 900 final pages. I only wish Jordan was alive to enjoy the end of his epic (and maybe to write those Outrigger novels he hinted at).
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LibraryThing member bookczuk
(Spoiler free)

When you've committed yourself to a series which was written over the course of 22 years, there are a great many emotions that come into play with the final book. First and foremost for me, was the sadness that Robert Jordan was not with us to see the series completed. His death in
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2007 was a huge loss to literary and fantasy fans, especially to those of us who knew him personally. However, if Robert Jordan could not finish the series himself, his sagacious widow/editor Harriet McDougal, and Tor Books selected Brandon Sanderson to weave together an ending. Sanderson used Jordan's ideas, notes, scattered writings, and dictation, with the expert assistance of Ms. McDougal and Jordan's two assistants (aka Team Jordan) to bring the series to its conclusion.

The story that began all those years ago, with three boys and a girl leaving the Two Rivers, drew to a close for me today. I can't say that I was as enamored of the final book as I was with the first, but given the length of the series, and the length of this book (909 pages hardback; 33 CDs in the audio version, both of which I read/listened to in the course of this journey), that's not surprising. Some of my favorite characters got less page-time than I would have liked. Character development was a bit uneven for this reader, and there was a bit more telling than showing as to the strengths/weaknesses of some. It was sad to say goodbye to many, though given this is an all-out fight for good against evil, and not a romance-chick lit, I knew that some friends would spin out of the pattern. It's been fun to speculate how much of the book was penned or envisioned by Jordan, how much by Sanderson, including who survived the Last Battle. Certainly, (and for this I am quite grateful), Sanderson did not try to imitate Jordan's style, and there were times that some of his writing tics were clear. I also found myself missing some of Jordan's familiar ones (she said with arms folded under her breasts.)

The final book leads up to the Last Battle, good versus evil. And though there was fighting both before and after, the chapter bearing that title was 200 pages long. I am not a great military historian, but even so, the battle played out across the pages with clarity. I'd been listening to the audio version prior to 37, so was grateful to have the map in the hard copy to help orient myself during the fighting. I still am uncertain how some characters got from point A in one scene, across the field to point B in another, but am determined not to give spoilers with my continuity concerns, or fan-girl questions.

There were some moments of brilliance, which helped to outweigh any dissatisfaction I had. Some of the cursing was among the most colorful I have ever heard (and enjoyed.) I draw comfort though, in the thought that there are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. The wind will continue to blow; the Wheel will continue to turn. The Wheel of Time, and all it has brought me, will continue to weave through the threads of my days. Tai'shar Jordan.

Disclaimer: I am a relative of a member of Team Jordan.
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LibraryThing member mattries37315
A Memory of Light brings an ending in The Wheel of Time for the Dragon Reborn, Rand al'Thor, and his adversary The Dark One, along with their collective allies and forces. Throughout the 1148 pages, good and evil vie for an advantage in the lead up to and during ultimate confrontation between all
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involved whether during The Last Battle or the inside the Pit of Doom itself. But one of the most striking things about the book is that there are two narrative structures in play, the first with the book itself and the other of the entire series.

The conflict between both sides in A Memory of Light literally takes place on the battlefield, which spans over a third of the continent at one point before settling in two locations. In previous books, battles have occurred and were well written, however they pail in comparison with what occurs in A Memory of Light. The apocalyptic Last Battle that has been mentioned since The Eye of the World occurs at the Field of Merrilor, between the forces of Light and Shadow, and within the Pit of Doom, between Rand and the Dark One itself. The majority of it takes place within chapter 37, aptly entitled The Last Battle, take up an eye raising 248 pages and chronicling over 24 hours worth of battle action and strategy. It is truly a worthy battle between good and evil given all the build up.

In the end A Memory of the Light and The Wheel of Time comes down to Rand's confrontation with the Dark One, which is more a mental than physical battle. Foreshadowed events early in the book once again play a role in the climax to help Rand in his destiny, but as the book's climax is one and the same with the series it turns out that its events in the Two Rivers in The Eye of the World do foreshadow the resolution in the Pit of Doom. If this series is about cycles and patterns, then Jordan succeeded in giving one to his entire series.

A Memory of Light is an apt title for the final Wheel of Time book, as from the beginning of the series things have been getting continually darker. The book ends with a lot of the characters just dangling as their stories and lives aren't at an end, however their connections to the appearance, rise, and destiny of the Dragon Reborn is just like the story. Not only as a book, but as the final installment of a series as long as The Wheel of Time, A Memory of Light is excellent and leaves one satisfied once they close the cover for the last time.
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LibraryThing member readafew
I waited 20 years to read the ending of this saga. I am satisfied with it and a little surprised about different events that happened. I had written a nice 2 page review of this book but it was lost when I tried to save it, so this much shorter version is what is going to be used.

The last 3 books
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that Brandon Sanderson wrote for Jordan brought the series back to the pace the first 3 books started out as. The symmetry was actually kind of cool. The stories got faster and faster as the end closed in. I didn't like some parts and others I thought were excellent. I thought it was a fitting end to the series and recommend it now that it is complete to those who like epic fantasy stories.
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LibraryThing member finalcut
The wheel has come and gone and come again and finally the story is told. It isn't the story but it is a story; a story of how a collection of people from a small rural village were fated to face the dark one and his minions in a battle for the world.

Fourteen books and tens of thousands of pages
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later the story has reached a conclusion and, quite frankly, I'm glad to be done with it. Sanderson had a yeomans task to try and save this series and he did a remarkably good job of it. Sadly, however, there were so many odd story lines floating around that he couldn't possibly have resolved them all in a satisfactory manner. Instead, some come to an abrupt end and others are left dangling and waiting on a conclusion in the readers imagination.

The primary story arch reaches a conclusion that is both satisfactory and lacking at the same time. Though, honestly, it would have been near impossible to conclude the story between Rand and the Dark One in a satisfying way. At least it is done.

The most consistent part of the transition between the two authors has been that a variety of the characters annoying quirks have remained incredibly annoying. Elayne and Egwene still seem to think they know how to do everything better than anyone and Rand is still moping around and whining about how every death in the world is his fault. I've never really understood how these maybe 20 year old people feel like they know the answer to everything. Granted, I was once twenty and probably thought I knew everything as well - but I was also never tasked with saving the world and thrust into situations that were exceedingly beyond anyone's knowledge - but it still seems like the main protagonists could look to some other people, on occasion, for some advice and guidance.

My favorite character in the series has been Mat. And, in general, he is still a fun character to follow but his dialog hasn't been nearly as entertaining or laugh inducing as it was under Jordan's care. Perrin, another popular character, is also in this book quite a bit and, finally, he isn't as whiny or mopey as he has been in the prior books. Both Rand and Perrin seem to be burdened with Catholic like guilt all the time and it was refreshing to see Perrin shake free of it in this book.

Finally, there is a little twist surprise to the ending. I won't talk about it anymore than that other than to say I am not a fan of it.
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LibraryThing member nnschiller
It's over. At last. Sanderson did a decent job of wrapping the threads up and cleaning up Jordan's chaos.
LibraryThing member PiyushC
Final installment of the Wheel of Time series. Sanderson, generally, did a good job tying up all the loose ends, doesn't mean the book couldn't have been better - epic ending, no complaints there!

Anything else and I would be dropping spoilers.
LibraryThing member lostinalibrary
Like so many other readers of Robert Jordan's epic series, Wheel of Time, my first introduction to the series so long ago was 'wow!'. Then, about the middle of the series it was more meh'. I pretty much just kept reading because it seemed like I had invested so much time in it that I couldn't stop.
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But, to be honest, I had almost given up on ever seeing the final chapter, especially after Jordan's death.

So it was a bit of a relief when Brandon Sanderson was chosen to finish the series and a huge one when A Memory of Light was finally published. I don't know how much of this last book was based on Jordan's notes and how much was from Sanderson's own imagination but I have to say that it was not a disappointment. At least the battle scenes weren't - the real Last Battle between Rand and the Dark One was pretty underwhelming. But right up until the very end, I was pulled into the story and had real problems putting it down so I could get a little sleep - given the length of this book (900+ pages), that's saying a lot.

That is not to say I didn't have some problems with the book. Sanderson's depiction of the women characters still followed Jordan's - they were all one-dimensional, bossy, and down-right annoying. The only good woman character here was Nynaeve and that was only because she was hardly here at all and what little there was of her lacked a braid so no interminable braid tugging so that got a big yay from me. As I said earlier the battle between Rand and the DO was pretty much a yawn and, without giving too much away in case there's still one fantasy fan out there who hasn't read this final book, Rand's end is, well, perplexing and something of a cheat.

Still, I felt that Memory was a satisfying and fitting end to one of the best and best known series of the genre. It was tight, exciting and extremely well written. I expect, though, that most other readers will understand when I confess that the first word to pop into my head when I finally finished the last word of the last chapter was 'phew'.
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LibraryThing member jjvors
[Memory of Light] is the conclusion of the mammoth Wheel of Time fantasy series by [[Robert Jordan]]. Stretching 14 books, with thousands of characters, and hundreds of plot lines, [[Brandon Sanderson]] effectively and excitingly concludes the series, tying up the major plot threads. If you haven't
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read the series, it involves a farmboy who is chosen by the Pattern to be the savior of the world. The Pattern is the weave of billions of lives through the ages of the Wheel of Time, created by the Creator. The Wheel consists of seven ages, repeating endlessly, different each time. The Dark One was imprisoned within the Wheel by the Creator. He is getting loose, and wants to destroy the pattern forever.

Expect to spend a month or more reading the whole series. The writing ranges from breath-takingly exciting to overly detailed and repetitious. It's worth plowing through the slow sections. This series has more foreshadowings and more prophecies than any other fantasy series I've read. They all come to pass, in one way or another. Don't miss it.
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LibraryThing member nnschiller
It's over. At last. Sanderson did a decent job of wrapping the threads up and cleaning up Jordan's chaos.
LibraryThing member revslick
Wow! I can't believe it is over. I began reading Jordan's Wheel of Time series in 1990. Twenty plus years I've traveled with the adventures of Rand, Mat, Perrin and more as they approached the battle of the last age, and when it finally happened I thought simultaneously 1) Jordan could have wrapped
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this up 6 books ago and 2) Jordan could have extended this with 6 more books to flesh this out even more. Brandon Sanderson has taken his notes and must have let the ghost of Jordan guide his hand.
Just to let fans of the series know - you won't find all your questions answered, but you will find the majority of the plot lines wrapped up like a beautiful weave in the wheel of time with an ending told as only a masterful weaver can tell the tale.
The ending is worth a slow meditative. Soak, rinse, repeat.
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LibraryThing member DWWilkin
It is now over. After twenty years, and though Sanderson spent a good deal of time bringing this tale to a conclusion, this book made the epic last battle overly complex.

I think almost every character that had lived through to this book had a line, a mention so you would know whether they lived or
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died, and most you would be able to fill in the blanks on what they were to do next. For some you had to extrapolate, while some characters died who you thought would surely live and some lived who you thought might die.

Yet amongst those who lived, almost all our favorite gold shirts did, so some of the drama was taken away. And that there were so many to tell about, this last battle was nearly the entire book, so some of the complexity of plot was diminished. Where that had been what drove this series forward.

When Jordan had gone from a trilogy (Remember when this was going to be a trilogy, and then four books, and then no more than five books...) the depth of plots became ginormous. It was what made the series so interesting. And here, the last battle, good versus evil, forces you to really and finally choose which side to fight on then. Get that battle over with and you can return to all the plans and doings.

As we neared the end though, and in the prologue, you see that some things do not hold up and not enough attention is given to solving such matters. If food all over the land is spoiled so there is nothing to eat, people starve and they do so quite quickly. Sanderson gets trapped here and never really solves this. He seems to feed his army, but what of the many people who never left there homes faced with no edible food? They would perish. Logic says that someone should have called this out and some plot lines either laid down by Jordan or developed by Sanderson should have been cut.

That they were not leaves that question hanging and makes me think that this was not tightly done. Nor the continued overrunning of the known world by the enemy forcing all the armies to one place. Yet for thousands of years the enemy has always been going to come at the allies from one direction and why not have the last battle where that had initially been planned. Generals will tell you never fight a two front war, and thus they must really hate a three front war. But one that has more than three should be impossible.

That there is the last battle between the forces of men and others, and one between our uber-hero Rand, and the Dark One, would be more than enough. That so much of the climactic fighting had to be through a description that I found hard to relate to the two most powerful of spell casters meant to me that this too could have been worked on. I think back to TSRs War of the Wizards game so long ago. To a description by Katherine Kurtz in her Deryni books of wizards fighting and think that would have been much more relevant than how this battle progressed.

If this was the way that Jordan envisioned his final struggle being portrayed, it also goes against many of the battles by those who could cast spells before. It goes against the sword training that Rand has related in his physical side. To me, it did not work.

But again, it is over. Finished. I would have wanted more of the development of the characters, and less of this battle that had gone on and on and on. One day I will reread it all. Now, I can put it on my shelf and move onto something else.
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LibraryThing member amhamilt
Best book in the series! A fitting end to it.
LibraryThing member salimbol
Wow. Just wow. No review can really do this justice, and I'm not even going to try here. I'm just going to say that I'm really pleased with the conclusion to this mammoth series that I've been reading for over 20 years. Do I have quibbles and dissatisfactions? Oh my, yes. For example, we have here
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a much more piecemeal and fragmented narrative than we're used to in the Wheel of Time books (though this worked to its benefit in the final third of the book, I think), and frequently characterisation had to take a bit of a backseat just to get through all the plot. Nevertheless, I was completely engrossed and enthralled, and the authors still managed to pull surprises out of their hats (a few things absolutely floored me, and some even made me cry). So my overall feeling is that this is a *deeply* satisfying ending to the Wheel of Time. And that makes me happy :-).
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LibraryThing member JeremyPreacher
It was worth it. That's the only comment that really needs to be made, I think. Twenty years of waiting - twenty years since I read that gorgeous, evocative Prologue and was totally sucked in. And now I've read the last scene, and I'm content.

I could certainly quibble - the pacing wasn't perfect,
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and the relative weights of various of the scenes could have pleased me better if they were different - but on the whole, a first, fast read of this final volume makes me totally happy. Good work, team.
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LibraryThing member MerryMeerkat
Great. I just spent 40 minutes typing my review for goodreads and it didn’t save so I’m going to have to start over. For now on, I am using google drive to save my reviews. Oy, so annoyed.

I have waited so long for the ending of the series, and it was so worth it. This is one of the first
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fantasy series that I read and helped me discover a whole new world of books, the fantasy genre which is my favorite genre to read (though I do like others a lot as well). The older books in the series were typically better and then went down hill as the books went on. I feel like Brandon Sanderson really revitalized the series when he was brought in to finish the series for Jordan.

I’ve always wondered why in this series why the prologues were so long. In this final novel, the prologue was 75 freaking pages long. Seriously?? Did it really need to be that long? The whole book was 900 pages long and I felt like some trimming could have been done but whatever. All the books in the series were overly long so I shouldn’t have been surprised.



As I typed my review the first time, I was debating whether to give this 4 or 5 stars and settled on 5. The main reasons I wanted to give it 4 stars is because of Robert Jordan’s apparent hatred of women. He portrays any woman in power as manipulative and power hungry and controlling. One quote that supports my theory of Jordan hating women: “‘All men are ignorant, Aes Sedai’ Androl said. ‘The topics of our ignorance may change, but the nature of the world is that no man may know everything.’” Another is: “You Aes Sadai all assume that the way things have been done is the only way to do them. Well, the black Tower will not be subject to you. We can look after ourselves.” And another: “ You want saidin to be tainted again. You Aes Sedai... you’re threatened by the idea of men who can channel, undermining your authority.” Anyway, I am able to ignore Jordan’s sexist, and annoying characterazations of women so I did give it 5 stars cause it was very good.

Now for some story spoilers. Moirene finally comes back after lots of forshadowing in previous books. She comes in when Rand and Egwene are having a bit of a face off, so I just about squeeled. I think all main and supporting characters who haven’t been killed off show back up in the final book, including Lioal whom I love. Matt I also loved, he always had great lines and his cursing, even if he was a bit of a womanizer. They do tease you into thinking Matt is dead, but however he isn’t. They also lead you to believe that Lan and Elayne and Faile are dead but they are not. However, the one main character they do kill off is Egwene. I figured at least one main character had to die. Supporting characters who died were Siuan, Gawyn and Gareth Bryne, though I didn’t care much about them. Brigette was also killed off. I was more upset by her being killed but she is almost immediately brought back by the Horn of Valere. She is dead, as she ends up going away to get reborn.

I think the biggest surprise of the book is that Rand does not die. Yes, you read that right. After all of the hinting and implying he would die, he does not. He does loose the ability to channel but he seems happy about it.

So over all, a very good book. I even put it on my favorite shelf. It was a great ending to a great series despite Jordan’s apparent hatred of women.

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LibraryThing member NinjaTat
I LOVE the series as a whole, but was disappointed with this last book. Now that might be because I loved the other books so much that I had impossible expectations for the end of the series, and it's very possible that my opinion will change the next time I read book 14...

Bottom line, this book
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lacked the heart that fueled my addiction to The Wheel of Time. I was so used to being sucked into a world of magic and amazing characters that I actually had a hard time forcing myself to read this last book. It just seemed really forced, and mechanical a lot of the time. It felt like I was reading a book about military strategy and such instead of reading about the last battle and how it affected the people I've grown to love. There were times that the fun personality and heart showed up, which was almost the only thing that kept me reading, but such moments were sparse.

I actually liked the ending, but felt like I had to trudge through the last hundred miles of the journey to get there.
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LibraryThing member publiusdb
Although I finished A Memory of Light over a week ago, I've hesitated to write a review. Reaching the end of a good novel is not unlike leaving the dark of a movie theater for the light of day. Coming back into the real world can be a bit of a jolt. The jolt at the end of A Memory of Light for me
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came after a marathon reading session where I plowed through the end of the epic, watched heroes and villains alike die, and a final denouement. Twenty years after I first opened The Eye of the World and met Rand, Mat, and Perrin, I found myself closing A Memory of Light in a daze.

I started the fourteen volume series with The Eye of the World at 15 when Greg Stephenson, a friend with a penchant for finding the "next big thing," recommended and loaned a copy to me. It didn't take me long to fall into the story. It was a world alive and vibrant, a tale about boys not much older than myself, suddenly swept up on a dangerous adventure to save the world, travelling to lands exotic and distant, fighting foes they knew only from legend. What boy wouldn't love that? They were on a hero's quest, and I loved every page of it.

As the years passed and the series grew, so did the number of characters, plot lines, and intricacy. There have been high and low points, but with A Memory of Light Brandon Sanderson has with a careful and deft hand closed the tale in the world that Robert Jordan created with a novel that is both satisfying and bittersweet. Satisfying because the A Memory of Light really is, for me, one of the more enjoyable of the series. Bittersweet because with its close I must say goodbye to so many characters that I have watched grow and change.

But perhaps I wax too eulogistic. With so many story lines integrating, the action is busy, but the pace is exciting and moves with alacrity. Sanderson is at his best, painting a scene with the colors that Jordan has left for him that is vivid and gripping.

I don't want to spoil the story, but I will admit that there were moments where characters died so suddenly and unexpectedly that I was left flipping pages to make sure I hadn't been mistaken. Others survived that I had not expected, and yet others made choices that were both surprising and foreshadowed.

If you've not read the previous novels in The Wheel of Time, now is a great time to start. The ride is satisfying, even if the commitment does at times seem daunting. Robert Jordan died before finishing the series, leaving a legacy unfinished and a large reader base with an unfinished story. Brandon Sanderson has crafted a wonderful and fulfilling conclusion to the series that Jordan created, and millions of fans will be ever grateful. The fantasy genre is often dismissed as lesser fiction, but Jordan's novels regularly made the New York Times bestseller lists due to its broad and mass appeal.

It's a tribute to Sanderson that he was able to, using only the notes left by Jordan, finish The Wheel of Time with three novels each a hefty door-stopper with dozens and dozens of characters and plot lines to be tied together. Sanderson has proven himself a writer of the first class, and I look forward to seeing more from him in coming years. I've met Brandon twice, once at the release of his own Way of Kings and more recently this last weekend at a signing of A Memory of Light at Weller Book Works in Salt Lake City. I arrived late, and by the time the line wound down, it was late. Sanderson remained genial, friendly, and accommodating. For a guy who just successfully finished one of the most anticipated novels in fantasy since George R.R. Martin's A Dance with Dragons (if not more so).
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LibraryThing member macjest
I finally finished listening to the audiobook version. Let me tell you, listening makes the book so much better. It forced me to pay attention to the little details that were escaping me because I was in such a hurry to find out what was happening! I admit to not being a battle fan, so of course
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great chunks of the book were going to be less than thrilling to me. Fortunately Mat Cauthon provided the necessary comic relief. Perrin Aybara very definitely came into his own. The number of characters killed was simply staggering. Now I want to go back to the beginning and start all over again and see if I can find all the clues that Jordan left for us.
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LibraryThing member BookaholicCat
A Memory of Light is the fourteenth book in The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan.

This review will be a bit different from my usual reviews because I won’t say much about the book itself but more about my general experience. Why I’m doing this? This book was a very complex book, with so
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many characters and so many events happening at the same time that it would impossible to say much without giving spoilers away.

After having heard Linda from Books-For Life (also known as Book Girl of Mur-Y-Castell) say so many good things about this series I decided to give it a try; little did I know that I was going to devour the prequel and following thirteen audiobooks one behind the other, I listened to them while driving, organizing, cleaning, knitting, traveling, you get the idea. It took me months to finish them, they are not short books, the shortest audiobook was the prequel and it was 12 hours long and the shortest book was 24 hours long, most of them were over 30 hours long with 2 or 3 audiobooks over 40 hours long.

When I reached the end of Towers of Midnight, book thirteenth of the series, I was glad that I hadn’t started my journey through The Wheel of Time twenty-three years ago as many fans of the series have done it. I was very glad I just needed to wait couple of weeks for the release of the last and final book of this amazing series, A Memory of Light, that doesn’t mean I didn’t count the days and hours to it’s release, because I did.

Last Friday I bought the audiobook and immediately knew it will take me days to listen to it, it was 41 hours 55 minutes long!! I had mixed feelings, I wanted to devour it and get to the end to know how it all ends, but you can’t rush an audiobook, you need to listen at its pace and enjoy the ride and what a ride it was. It took me five days to finish it, listening an average of eight hours a day. Even though some times I thought I would have preferred the book to finish it faster, I’m actually glad I went the audiobook way, why? Because it made me experience every single event to its fullest. The narrators of these books (Michael Kramer & Kate Reading) are Amazing! They really brought the story and the characters to life injecting them with so much emotion that it was impossible not to feel submerged in the fabric of the story. I laughed, cried, suffered and hoped hours after hours.

A Memory of Light is not a happy book, it's one of deep sacrifices and losses, where the core of humanity is tested over and over again, but at the same time it’s a book of love, compassion, strength and the powerful will to live and to do what is right regardless of the price.

Am I happy with the end? Yes, I am, it was a good end, one that did justice to this series. It is also an end left open to many possibilities to come and I can’t help it but hope for a spin-off series; I don’t think I’m ready to say a final goodbye to The Wheel of Time characters and to its world, so who knows… “The Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills, and we are only the thread of the Pattern.”

I can’t recommend this series enough, if you are a fan of the epic fantasy genre this series is a must read for you (these books should be read in order).
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Awards

Hugo Award (Nominee — Novel — 2014)
David Gemmell Legend Award (Shortlist — 2014)

Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

2013-01-08

Physical description

912 p.; 6.27 inches

ISBN

9780765325952

Local notes

Signed (as purchased; stickers indicate that it was originally purchased at Kepler's as a signed copy).
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