Prologue, Chap. 1-50, Epilogue

[Terez]

I got the feeling from reading it that it was very much both - even that maybe Moridin had planned it that way exactly, or maybe that, when Rand was backed into that corner, he  unconsciously allowed Moridin's desire for revenge against Semirhage (that we saw in the prologue) to come through, along with the knowledge of how to get out of that corner.  But that was the last chapter I read, and in truth I only skimmed it, so I can't say really.

[JenniferL]

My handle is Kathana dudes. My actual name is Jennifer.

[BrainFireBob]

My handle is Kathana dudes. My actual name is Jennifer.

 

Ah, phooey. Your name is now Katherine. Or Katherinifer, if you'd like. I can be flexible. ;-)

[Elessar1987]

yeah, he balefired Semirhage to oblivion using the true power

 

Can you tell us why he used true power instead of saidin? Is there an actual reason (cant channel saidin at the time or somesuch) or is it just accidental due to his link with Moridin?

 

He used the True Power because Semirhage had leashed Rand with the male a'dam so he couldn't use Saidin.

[draconian]

So Moridin and Rand finaly merge, LTT finaly "dies". Anything about Galahad and Morgase meeting (the whitecloaks was heading for Perrins army at the end of KoD)?

rand merges with all his past lives. he becomes stable and understands the why. neither rand or LTT die, but becomes like HotH in the world of dream, a merging of every1 of there past lives and dominated by there most resent lives.

[ShadowsFell]

He used the True Power because Semirhage had leashed Rand with the male a'dam so he couldn't use Saidin.

 

Thats awesome ... I soooo can't wait to read this book.

[sdboka]

I got the feeling from reading it that it was very much both - even that maybe Moridin had planned it that way exactly, or maybe that, when Rand was backed into that corner, he  unconsciously allowed Moridin's desire for revenge against Semirhage (that we saw in the prologue) to come through, along with the knowledge of how to get out of that corner.  But that was the last chapter I read, and in truth I only skimmed it, so I can't say really.

 

well here's what happened. semi got a call from the dark side. someone managed to free her and give her the mala a'dam. she then rushed to rand's room and managed to clasp the a'dam on rand's neck. being desperate and mumbling about them (LTT and rand) being in a box again (as with Dumai's well) tried hard to find a way (actually forced their way) in gathering saidin. when suddenly rand went on a trance and found an alien source to tap (at that moment LTT shouted IT'S HIM!!) then rand balefired Semirhage while she was saying THIS ANT BE HAPPENING, YOU BETRAYED ME!!. so yeah i think Moridin/DO allowed rand to tap the source. i think Moridin/DO were planning it to be that way thus they let Semi escape.

[SteelBlaidd]

I'm weird, I want to know whats happening in the romances, i.e. Siuan/Bryne, Egwene/Gawyn, Rand/Min/Aviendha.

[sdboka]

siuan/Bryne : VERY GOOD!

egwene(lady)/gawyn : good!

egwene (amyrlin)/gawyn : bad!

rand/min : not so good

rand/aviendha : clueless

rand/elayne : elayne already has babies so i guess rand... haha clueless

[Beren]

Wow! What a ride. Still trying to let this whole book sink in. Brandon outdid himself. The only time I ever really thought about the difference was the first chapter or two of Mat's PoV. Eventually, I think his was just as good as the rest though. There were a few odd words here and there, but this was very well written.

 

A few comments:

 

Wow at the scene with Rand and the person Cads sent to help him... Wow...

 

Three huge step back and take a breath moments in this book for me.

1) Chapters 22-23

2) The above mentioned moment

3) Verin!

 

My interpretation of the viewing about Sheriam was TOTALLY wrong. Never would have suspected what it actually was.

 

I can't wait to see what happens on the Verin thread after this!

 

 

A few thoughts:

 

So, anyone think that the forge buried in the Prologue is gonna show up in Perrin's story arc eventually?

 

What happened to Coriannen's notes? Wonder if those were in one of those sealed notes...

 

What are those bracers that Egs sees in the storeroom in the WT? Could they or something else mentioned be a male Sa'Angreal? Remember that need pulled them to that store room in T'a'R. Need for something to help Rand...

 

Are we ever gonna find out about Asmo? I mean, one big suspect was just burned out of the pattern...

 

What was Moridin doing when Rand fled to Ebou Dar? He was obviously channeling as Rand got pretty sick.

 

Is what Rand did in the Chapter 22-23 area going to have some serious consequences in upcoming books?

 

Nyn viewing. If this is what I think it is, at least one of my predictions will be proved right.

 

Is Mesaana still in the tower?

 

[Lord Melkor]

Well, I won`t get this book on Tuesday as I do not live in right country, so I will ask some more questions.

 

Did Graendal put up a decent fight?

 

Did any Black Ajah escape? I mean, Shadow needs some Dreadlords for Last Battle, or....

 

- does it seem like Dark One`s attack on reality - these "bubbles of evil" are greater threat than armies of the Dark One? It also seems like Forsaken are not that important for Dark One after all.

 

 

[Beren]

Well, I won`t get this book on Tuesday as I do not live in right country, so I will ask some more questions.

 

Did Graendal put up a decent fight?

 

Did any Black Ajah escape? I mean, Shadow needs some Dreadlords for Last Battle, or....

 

- does it seem like Dark One`s attack on reality - these "bubbles of evil" are greater threat than armies of the Dark One?

 

 

1) Uh... she appears to be DEAD DEAD DEAD without even seeing it coming. However, there is a small possible loophole. Honestly though, I think she is gone. Let's just say, we saw what Rand can do with the male CK and balefire...

 

2) Ya, in fact Egs is quite disappointed at how many escape. Not to mention that we STILL don't know who Mesaana is. Grrrr... I wanted to see a certain white bite the dust too.

 

3) Considering that the entire food supply of a major city spoiled in an instant, ya. Not to mention the pattern in one city at least is repeating like a broken record. Imagine not being able to die because your thread is reset at the beginning of each day. Well, actually, you can die and then you just wake up with nightmares the next day of what has happened in past days.

[Lord Melkor]

 

 

1) Uh... she appears to be DEAD DEAD DEAD without even seeing it coming. However, there is a small possible loophole. Honestly though, I think she is gone. Let's just say, we saw what Rand can do with the male CK and balefire...

 

2) Ya, in fact Egs is quite disappointed at how many escape. Not to mention that we STILL don't know who Mesaana is. Grrrr... I wanted to see a certain white bite the dust too.

 

3) Considering that the entire food supply of a major city spoiled in an instant, ya. Not to mention the pattern in one city at least is repeating like a broken record. Imagine not being able to die because your thread is reset at the beginning of each day. Well, actually, you can die and then you just wake up with nightmares the next day of what has happened in past days.

 

1) Hm, did she at least have some sort of plan against Rand? I don`t like it when main bad guys go down in lame way.

 

2) Did we get a number on them?

 

3) At least something evening the odds for the Dark One, I like this.

[bscuga]

I received my copy of The Gathering Storm yesterday and finished it last night.  For those of you who might want to get the book before the release date, your best bet is to find a small independent bookstore in the city that you live in and ask them if they are selling it.  Be prepared to pay full price for the book instead of the discounted prices that the big bookstores and online retailers sell it for.

 

I easily think that this book is one of the top 3 books in the series.  I want to commend Brandon Sanderson on a job well done.  I am not one of those people that analyzed whether or not Brandon or Robert Jordan wrote a section, I care more about the story.  Either way, I was lost to the story and I enjoyed it very much.

 

The good, the bad, the ugly (I will get to specific spoilers down below is small font): 

 

The good:  I thought the action was very good with good balance between the chapters.  Not every chapter was action packed because it was more for setting up future scenes.  Do you really want to see a movie that is just pure action and no plot…I don’t.  I thought Rand’s and Egwene’s scenes (their scenes comprise a large potion of the book) were very good and we finally received resolution with the White Tower.  I thought Verin’s brief scenes were very good.  I was happy that Elayne and her entourage were not in the book.

 

The bad:  I thought Aviendha’s plot line was not very good.  She basically (minor spoiler) spent the entire scenes she was in trying to figure out what she did wrong and why she was being punished by the Wise Ones.  I would have liked to have seen the resolution (which will probably be obvious to some of you) sooner.  There were some forsaken in the book, however, we did not come any closer to determining who Demandred is.  We have been able to narrow down who Mesaana is to three people, but do not have confirmation.

 

The ugly:  To be honest, I thought that Chapter 4, Nightfall, was a complete waste of time.  This was a Gawyn chapter.  Up until he met with the Rebel Aes Sedai, I did not care for Gawyn’s scenes.  He had a couple of sword fights, but that was it.  The other area that I thought warrant’s mention is that Perrin and Mat do appear in the book, however, we are not given any clues to what their plot lines will be in the next book (except the obvious one of Mat rescuing Moiraine).

 

Now that I have given the review, of which I was very satisfied with the book, on to the spoilers.

 

Read the spoilers below at your own risk.  You have been forewarned.

 

S

P

O

I

L

E

R

S

 

The only thing worse than acting in anger is acting with no emotion at all.  Rand has become emotionless and as hard as cuelindar (spelling?).  Chapter 22, The Last That Could Be Done and Chapter 23, A Warp in the Air, are the chapters that I believe Jason referenced in his review.  The chapters are very powerful and well written.  There is pre-chapter 22 Rand (very cold and hard) and post-chapter 22 Rand (very emotionless).  He killed two forsaken in this book, Semirhage and Graendal.  Since I have not seen any spoilers about how he did it, I will leave it to someone else to tell you or for you to read it in a few days, but how he does Semirhage will have people talking and how he kills Graendal (without Aviendha, by the way) is both devious and brilliant.  As Rand says, “How do I outthink an enemy I know is smarter than I am?”  His prohibition of killing women has come to an end.  He met Moridin in a dream and is told the only way to kill the forsaken is balefire them.  Each chapter with Rand in it was harder than the last. 

 

Due to events that transpired in Chapter 22, Rand has exiled Cadsuane from his sight on the penalty of death.  We do get to finally see Rand meet Tam.  Cadsuane wants Nynaeve to find out where Perrin is and tells Nynaeve “Perrin actually isn’t important to our plans…There are people with him who are vital.  One in particular.”  Do to his meeting with Rand, Tam goes to Cadsuane in righteous anger asking her what she did to his son.   

 

Rand met with Tuon and was so hard and uncompromising that she decided to attack the Tower in a misguided attempt to weaken the Dragon because she was under the impression that the Tower was one of his weapons and under his control.  Tuon and Rand due briefly discuss Mat, but she does not tell him they are married.  Tuon did not die, she just took a new name to become Empress.

 

From the prophecies:  “He shall hold a blade of light in his hands, and the three shall become one.”  Rand has begun to suspect Callandor was more than a vessel to announce his arrival.

 

The other main story line was Egwene’s.  She finally tells Elaida off in front of some sitters.  Elaida accuses her of being of the Black Ajah.  The Tower is splitting apart from the inside.  The Seanchan finally attacked.  To clear up some prior comments on this thread, Egwene did not manage to channel a lot with the forkroot.  She formed a circle with the novices and while channeling through the most powerful sa’angreal that is in the Tower storage rooms.  Although the Seanchan were repelled, mostly by Egwene’s circle, they still took prisoners (including Elaida – a fitting end to her) with the a’dam and killed some in the Tower. 

 

Verin gave Egwene a mostly complete list of the Black Ajah, of which most in the rebel camp were caught and executed, but the Tower Black Ajah escaped.  How she got around the oath to not tell anyone about the Black Ajah was very clever and helped Egwene garner a confession out of Sheriam. Due to the death of her Keeper, Egwene taps Silviana to be her Keeper of reunited Tower.  Although the Tower is reunited, distrust and divisions still need to be mended.

 

Overall I highly enjoyed the book.

 

[Galahad]

No, she didn't have any clue that Rand was coming. He figured out who she is posing as, and then sends a messenger into her palace. When the messenger returns under compulsion, Rand balefires the entire palace immediately. The compulsion disappears, meaning Graendal was killed.

[Beren]

The bad:  I thought Aviendha’s plot line was not very good.  She basically (minor spoiler) spent the entire scenes she was in trying to figure out what she did wrong and why she was being punished by the Wise Ones.  I would have liked to have seen the resolution (which will probably be obvious to some of you) sooner.  There were some forsaken in the book, however, we did not come any closer to determining who Demandred is.  We have been able to narrow down who Mesaana is to three people, but do not have confirmation.

 

Note that Egwene said Mesaana could still be in the tower if she knew of a way to fool the oath rod...

 

No, she didn't have any clue that Rand was coming. He figured out who she is posing as, and then sends a messenger into her palace. When the messenger returns under compulsion, Rand balefires the entire palace immediately. The compulsion disappears, meaning Graendal was killed.

 

This was assuming that Graendal was the one using Compulsion on him in the first place... I admit that it is not very likely she lived, but the little opening is there.

 

 

@ bscuga's spoilers:

#4 This was Min and Cads who thought this, not Rand. Rand is still seriously afraid of using it because of the trust required.

 

[Lord Melkor]

This is very surpising. Were there not innocent people in that palace, including women? Rand would not kill innocent women to get a Forsaken, he did not even seem able to kill a female Forsaken in cold blood.

[bscuga]

I think so clarification is needed in response to Beren's comment regarding my post with spoilers:  @ bscuga's spoilers:

#4 This was Min and Cads who thought this, not Rand. Rand is still seriously afraid of using it because of the trust required.

 

I said in an earlier post:  From the prophecies:  “He shall hold a blade of light in his hands, and the three shall become one.”  Rand has begun to suspect Callandor was more than a vessel to announce his arrival.

 

Cadusane and Min discussed the prophecy (first part of post in italics), but to my point about Rand (second line of post right above) Rand thinks the following while walking through the Stone on pages 730-731.

 

"...Everyone knew the prophecy, but few asked the question that should have been inevitable.  Why?  Why did Rand have to take up the sword?  Was it to be used in the last battle?

 

...The statuette was freedom, but Callandor was just another box.  Yet talk of the Choedan Kal and their keys were absent from the prophecies."

[draconian]

This is very surpising. Were there not innocent people in that palace, including women? Rand would not kill innocent women to get a Forsaken, he did not even seem able to kill a female Forsaken in cold blood.

zombies under extreme compulision who were basicly alrdy dead

[JenniferL]

Rand pretty much hits rock bottom in terms of being crazy pants in this book. Its rather chilling to read how far he is prepared to go.

[ShadowsFell]

Rand pretty much hits rock bottom in terms of being crazy pants in this book. Its rather chilling to read how far he is prepared to go.

 

I'm not sure anyone answered this yet, but by the end of the book is rand still crazy?

[Galahad]

From what I've heard, no.

[Bob T Dwarf]

Rand al'Crazypants, Saviour of the World.

 

I LIKE it!

 

 

 

< why am I having visions of a cross between Jesper Parnevik and Ian Poulter? >

[JenniferL]

I think there's always going to be some instability due to the taint on saidin, but I think the majority of his mental health issues are resolved.

[Bob T Dwarf]

I still think he's got to really die, though.  If only to get Moridin out of his head.