The "OMG I just finished!" Thread

[Trevor Wilson]

Just curious, would people want to see sequels- such as the story of mat+tuon? or would they feel it wrong to write in jordans world?

 

Im personally sad the wot story is over so would welcome more stories.

 

I do get what people are saying about there being lots of fights and relatively little characterization ...however i think weve had 13 books of characterization and already 'know' these people well?

[The Fallen One]

So it has been a couple days since I finished, but I think I am ready to put my two cents in. I LOVED it! So, I will go ahead and make a couple praises and complaints regarding plot. I think Eg and Taims parallel was awesome. I loved Dems need to make himself in to the messiah for Shara. On the other hand, Fain was wasted buildup. The other complaint is that Moridin could have done more. That being said, the let down of Moridin fit well.

[sergeym]

Just curious, would people want to see sequels- such as the story of mat+tuon? or would they feel it wrong to write in jordans world?

 

Im personally sad the wot story is over so would welcome more stories.

 

I do get what people are saying about there being lots of fights and relatively little characterization ...however i think weve had 13 books of characterization and already 'know' these people well?

 

I would like to see that. But unfortunately Harriet and Brandon already said that there won't be any sequels or prequels, because RJ did not leave enough notes for that. 

[Kudlak]

Just curious, would people want to see sequels- such as the story of mat+tuon? or would they feel it wrong to write in jordans world?

 

Im personally sad the wot story is over so would welcome more stories.

 

I do get what people are saying about there being lots of fights and relatively little characterization ...however i think weve had 13 books of characterization and already 'know' these people well?

same here pretty plz ?,:-(

 

Btw.. never say never :-)

[papertiger]

Just finished and I may need to take some time to think about it.

 

I have to give Sanderson credit for pulling all the strings together, but the change in tone and a number of scenes left me feeling short-changed. As much as I wanted to become absorbed in the action (again, Sanderson did a brilliant job of showing the battle as a process), it just didn't give me the tension of the Cleansing, Dumai's Wells, or Falme. Perhaps it's because I've been trying to figure out how all the prophecies and hints fit together, but the conclusions felt assembled as opposed to immediate or necessary. Most of the characters felt assigned to the various battlefields, given a role that justified their introduction instead of earning their contributions, and some of them, especially Nynaeve and Moiraine, just stood around passively for the most part.

 

Again, I'm not saying Sanderson didn't put 100% into this, and maybe I'm just nostalgic for Jordan's tone, but most of the Last Battle felt like Mat's journey into the Tower of Ghenjei; something I'd been anxiously awaiting and had half-predicted, but ultimately lacking in resonance to the characters I loved and the struggles they endured. It's a shame.

[deepak_dragonreborn]

I finished the book yesterday morning after I got off work, and all I could do for several hours after that was lay in my bed and dwell on it all. WoT has been in my life for years now, 11 or so, and for it finally to be coming to an end is very bitter-sweet. Even now, I still have that feeling of dread/closure as I sit here and type this tonight at my work. I want to thank Brandon for undertaking such a daunting task and bringing us the ending that we fans so thirsted for. I had imagined it ending differently, but I'm also satisfied with how everything unfolded. I shared rougish grins with Mat, cheered for Perrin when he'd finally crushed Slayer, and cried as Tam set Rand's pyre to flame. I was eager to come to this point, the ending, but now that I've reached it I find myself having a sense of loss. I knew it was inevitable, but I felt a chapter of my life has literally ended. I found the books as a middle schooler and over the years as I read them, I grew with these characters. I came to love and care for them, and now I'm saying goodbye to old friends. It isn't a sad goodbye, necessarily, but one I wish I didn't have to make.

 

Well said.. I feel the same way... Its been 4 days since I finished the book and I still feel like a part of me is missing.. I guess that feeling wont go away for a long long time... In the end all good things come to an end... May the last embrace of mother welcome you home old friend..

[deepak_dragonreborn]

 

 

 

Anyone else really in shock now that it's over? I don't think it really hit me that this is the end until the day after I finished. I've been reading and following these books for so long that the thought of there never being any more is hard to get my mind around. 

 

 

Same here. For me the next Wheel of Time book has always been a thing to really look forward to, a beacon in the night... But now that its over its like something really special has been taken from me and I feel empty.. We all have been bonded to the series for so long and now its been severed... I'm satisfied and happy with the end, but was just expecting a bit more on the aftermath.. I was expecting a small snippet by RJ on how and where the main characters would be after say 10 years, but I guess he wanted to leave that to interpretation...

 

I really hope there is a TV series because I just can't imagine the end to the Wheel of Time... Its become a part of me now

 

 

Yes, it's part of me too and I think we can keep it there by re-reads and participating here. I'd love a pre-quel bout the 20 years where Moiraine and Lan were searching for Rand. I can only hope.

 

I think Brandon made it clear that there would be no outriggers... So all in all the only thing we can wait for is the encyclopedia... Other than that the series has ended for sure.

[papertiger]

What we need is for someone to edit this whole series down to 8 books. Tighten it up, get rid of the circus and keep Faile's captivity arc to one book, etc.

 

The best thing would be for this to be turned into a TV series by a competent writing staff. Jordan left them with a lush garden that they can prune and sculpt in order to balance the action with the world-building. 

[Hack n Slash]

 

 

 

 

Anyone else really in shock now that it's over? I don't think it really hit me that this is the end until the day after I finished. I've been reading and following these books for so long that the thought of there never being any more is hard to get my mind around. 

 

 

Same here. For me the next Wheel of Time book has always been a thing to really look forward to, a beacon in the night... But now that its over its like something really special has been taken from me and I feel empty.. We all have been bonded to the series for so long and now its been severed... I'm satisfied and happy with the end, but was just expecting a bit more on the aftermath.. I was expecting a small snippet by RJ on how and where the main characters would be after say 10 years, but I guess he wanted to leave that to interpretation...

 

I really hope there is a TV series because I just can't imagine the end to the Wheel of Time... Its become a part of me now

 

 

Yes, it's part of me too and I think we can keep it there by re-reads and participating here. I'd love a pre-quel bout the 20 years where Moiraine and Lan were searching for Rand. I can only hope.

 

I think Brandon made it clear that there would be no outriggers... So all in all the only thing we can wait for is the encyclopedia... Other than that the series has ended for sure.

Yeah, authors and publishers say things like that all the time. Everyone once in a while the search for more money works out for us fans though. People would of course complain that they hated any new work as much as many complain about Brandon's work, but I'd be happy to at least give it a chance.

[deepak_dragonreborn]

Yeah even I would be delighted to have one more book. But the thing is Brandon is now busy with his Stormlight Archive series and I think Harriet wanted a closure from the series. She already said she wanted to end the series with RJ's last words in the book.. RJ has left no notes for the outriggers.. So while we can hope for a sequel, I for one dont really have my hopes up...

I'm hopeful that Harriet will give indications about the future of the major characters in the Encyclopedia.. Can someone close to her please beg her to include a bit about Rand, Mat and all :) ??

[papertiger]

Rand's going to go across the ocean and get to Min. She's the only mortal (non-channeler) of his wives, so he must go to her first. Limited time offer.

[papertiger]

Things that rubbed me the wrong way:

 

-Last Battle, while intricately focused and well-paced, didn't evoke the sense of terrain and distinct movement between forces as the Shaido Siege at Cairhien or Dumai's Wells. The landmarks were there, but I didn't feel a similar sense of orientation.

 

-No Wards on the dreams of the Four Great Captains? Come on! Egwene's a Dreamer; how did she not see that coming?

 

-Taim and Demandred: One of the reasons I was hoping they would be one and the same was because most of the Forsaken, as written, were fairly weak characters. I was counting on Demandred to be a saving grace, and he didn't disappoint! But we could have used an interesting villain so much earlier. I would have loved to have someone like him around for more of the series. Also, his personality showed just how much of a shell Taim was. Nothing more than a red herring. I never cared for that choice, but when Alviarin gets more screen-time than her counterpart, it throws the balance off and lowers the stakes and investment in the villain. This was a problem for most of the series; keep the villains at a distance in order to make them intriguing.

 

-Speaking of Taim and screen-time, the battle for the Black Tower received less description than Bela's last run. Not cool.

 

-Directly explaining why Olver was able to blow the Horn...twice! First, a straight response in Mat's POV then a summary review by the Heroes of the Horn. It felt rushed and obligatory.

 

-Having the Seals stolen AND the Horn misplaced. Seemed to make things unnecessarily difficult, especially with ta'veren around.

 

-Moiraine around for 2 seconds.

 

-Fain around for 1 second.

 

-Perrin not killing Graendal because she's a woman and of course that would be too easy; at least he got called out by Lanfear for it. Then he takes a nap.

 

-Gawyn keeping all 3 rings for himself. I totally thought he was going to share with Leilwin and Galad.

 

-Siuan's death (who is she, Romanda? Can't kill off-screen). Same with Bashere.

 

-Last thing (sorry for the rant): Did anyone else think that Egwene's crystalline regeneration weave was the secret to sealing the DO's prison? I figured she would somehow communicate it to either Moiraine or Nynaeve, who could then contribute while Rand held off the DO. Then she just died, and no one knew what the heck happened. 

[papertiger]

Things I liked:

 

-Matt dicing with Demandred

 

-Androl dominates/Pevara dominates

 

-Use of gateways, especially Lava Gateway of Doom

 

-Perrin bashing Darkhounds in the face with Mjolnir

 

-Sharans as the DO's Wildcard! Awesome intro; fitting end to Romanda since she doesn't listen

 

-Lan showing Demandred the value of conviction

 

-Matt using the DO's evil against his forces (Hinderstrap)

 

-Ogier tearing through Trollocs in the Braem Wood

 

-Demandred giving Galad and Rand a momentary family resemblance

 

-Callandor used as a trap by the Light

[decrepid dragon]

Just finished.

I actually spread my reading out over a few days, so while I didn't exactly go slow a lot of what happened had time to sink in. I had a full day or day and a half break before I started reading the Last Battle chapter. I loved it, I loved it so much. I know some people won't like the action-y feel to this book, and the way things seem glossed over, but I quite enjoyed it (although, honestly, I wouldn't have complained if we had another 50 pages or so of minor plot point resolution and on screen character deaths). I have looked a bit at the forums and it's really unfortunate that some people haven't been able to enjoy this book a lot for a variety of reasons, but I guess everyone looks for different things in a novel.

I liked Mat more in this book than the previous 2, although whether that is because he was written better or I just got used to him I don't know, I should mention I never really disliked BS's version of him. I was extremely glad when Faile was found alive, not for her sake, although I don't dislike her like I used to, but poor Perrin damn well deserves all the happiness he can find. Rand was excellent, especially that he lived and was going to go exploring the world (although I honestly thought that Mat would have that kind of ending).

 

Things that I liked specifically:

-Compulsion on the great captains, Sharan's appearing, the battles were getting a bit 'Light side has probably got this one'.

-Lan proving himself an amazing bladesmaster, showing what risking everything can achieve. If Demandred had wised up that Rand wasn't there or stuck with his conviction and just gated to the centre of the camp with his Sa'angreal and massive circle... I am assuming light side would have taken even more of a beating then he dished out from the heights.

-Androl and Pevara

-Thom killing all the disguised BA as they tried to walk past and piling their bodies in a ditch

-Cadsuane becoming the next Amyrlin

-Roedran "So you really aren't him"

-A lot of the green stuff growing was just Rand's theatrics singing the song :D

-Callandor used as a trap for the Light

-Use of Gateways on both sides

-Mat winning the battle (although I was quite annoyed not to have numbers throughout it other than thousands, 400 ayyad in total, outnumbered 4 to 1 and so on)

-Brandons' pacing was, I felt, excellent and I quite enjoyed the quick tempo it after the long slow build up and character introduction of the previous books.

-Most of the characters deaths.

-Egwene and Gawyn dying. This is not a hate thing, and only partially a shock factor thing. There was no lead up and she had so much time of character build up which has now been "wasted", but while I expected the LB to be impressive I felt no sense of risk, at least not for main characters, I was leaning more towards Rand surviving then dying. I was even surprised someone as major as Siuan died, becuase before this the series has barely killed anyone who is not relatively minor or a darkfriend. I knew that some majorish characters were going to die, but this let it sink in that it was not just a max level hero party killing everything with their epic gear they collected on the quest. I was quite sad when Egwene died, even Gawyn, but it served the purpose of introducing Damendred as like WTF this guy is ridonkulous.

-Conversely Lan surviving was honestly a shock. Which beings me to my next point.

-Demandred. Man he really came through for the darkside as a capable villain. "But wait, he let himself be killed by Lan, thats stupid". I really preferred that he died like this, I mean he destroyed 2 bladesmasters personally (one of them with increased strength and speed) and trashed the forces of light on the field, so its not like he didn't do anything, but he had character. The hints of the crazy rage that he had throughout the series came back, the ridiculous pride, his belief that he would be a better Dragon then Lews Therin, he felt love for a woman but continuosly let his hate overule it, statements that he would save the people under his command, all the stuff that made him something other than a regular darkfriend ie. I want power no matter the consequences to other people and will always be as underhanded and efficient as possible and all things serve that end. Bringing in that he actually was the Dragon that was rumoured to have appeared in Shara, can't remember which book that was mentioned in, he had the second greatest sa'angreal. No doubt many threads discussing him.

-while it was kind of contrived the poetic justice for Moghedian and Graendel.

-Moridin still remaining interesting and seeking oblivion. The fact that HE was actually the foolish one and the DO would have granted power to Darkfriends rather than obliterating everything. I really thought that Ishmael was the smart one and the rest were fools, but the DO's nature was the oppsite. I mean I guess oblivion was the compromise suggested by the DO, but it wasn't really his NATURE.

-Lanfear not finding redemption and proving once and for all that she is a coldhearted, calculating so and so that only cared for personal power. Which is in direct conflict with my above statement that lauds Demandred as awesome precisely because he wasn't, but I don't care.

-Fain was actually a vessel for Mordeth, and Mat killed him.

-Ending of everyones POV.

-The buildup and misdirection of certain themes from previous times in the series that put one idea forward (ie, Ishmael is correct about oblivion, Rand will finally kill the DO etc.)

-Pretty much everything

 

 

Things I didn't like:

-That nobody thought to check the great captains for compulsion or ward their dreams.

-Could have probably spread this to a book and a half to resolve everything, but then I wouldn't have enjoyed the pacing as much.

-Rand and Egwene arguing. I believed that they would, but it was just not handled with the finesse of RJ.

-BS not being a student of military history. I liked the character focus, and I got a clear enough picture of what was happening on the FoM, but it never really seemed that either general was being genius. Solid, and the asides in the book about the flow of battle and how about it was about timing were great, and everyones contribution with the gateways and cannons and other such things overall made it good. The Sharans made such an entry becuase they used the Gateway surprise attack well. Mat just never seemed to have that brilliant unexpected streak (maybe I'm jut annoyed that we didn't get definite numbers).

-Fain only appearing for a few pages then dying, makes all his mystery just seem random. Killed a lot yeah, but had little impact except on nameless characters.

-The last hunt also only killed some nameless people, was introduced too late. Like when the mydraal battalion attacked it was awesome, but the darkhounds just didn't have the same effect for me personally.

-That Mat didn't kill Demandred. Since he beat Galad and Gawyn at once then demandred beat them and Mat was immune to channeling and the quarterstaff is presented as being superior to the sword and SO MUCH BUILDUP FOR AWESOMENESS THAT NEVER HAPPENDED DAMN IT MAT IS SO AMAZING HE SHOULD HAVE KILLED ALL THE TROLLOCS AND DEMANDRED BY HIMSLEF AND AND AND *deep breaths*. Still, Lan was cool.

-Bella died :(

 

I really just wanted to get that off my chest, I am so excited and happy to have finished the book. If you have read through my post, then I salute you. If not then I don't blame you.

 

Edited numerous times to add stuff in or take it out as I thought about it or saw mistakes

Edited January 15, 2013 by decrepid dragon

[Ruth]

I finished AMOL a day ago and for the most part was incredibly satisfied. It was brilliant! Thank-you Brandon Sanderson for finishing this story for us. It is bittersweet to end this well loved series. I am still thinking about this ending and planning to read again. When I first read the ending I was happy that Rand survived his monumental burden of responsibility, but now I am not sure. He was too carefree in this ending scene for what had just transpired. I get that he did all of his suffering for everyone who died and shucked off his feeling of personal responsibility while with the Dark Lord, but I think it would have been more realistic if he hadn’t been more interested in which of his loves would follow him and instead thought about how he would try to be a father to his future children or how he would miss some who had died, or how he was leaving his father thinking he was dead.

 

My favorites:

 

• RAND DID IT! HE SAVED THE WORLD!

 

• The Last Battle was so realistic it totally absorbed me. It was emotionally exhausting to read.

 

• Tam teaching Rand how to let go and how to use the sword with one hand.

 

• Olver sounding the horn and being rescued by Noal…I cried.

 

• Egwene’s final scene…breathtaking.

 

• Matt kicked ASS! Loved everything written about him in this book. He got to be a savior again in a most spectacular way. Matt playing cards and dicing with Demandred, YEAH!

 

• Lan was outstanding… at Tarwin's Gap making his last ride into tens of thousands of trollocs and fades knowing his force would be demolished and then gateways split the air and the rest of the Borderlanders came through at full charge….the way he killed Demandred…pumping fist in the air moment!

 

• Aiel accepting a starkly different future and making Rand include them in the pact.

 

• Thom killing the Black sisters while composing his saga.

 

• Perrin making the hard choice of Rand over Faile and killing Lanfear…about bloody time she met her end.

 

• Min… Tuon’s truthsayer…WTH?

 

• Logain finally figuring out that love is better than fear.

 

• Demandred was pretty damn awesome. He was a moster machine!

 

• Moghedien collared again!

 

• Ogier tearing through Trollocs.

 

• The gods-eye-view gateways.

 

• How Callandor was used. Awesome, but when did they figure this out? Definitely a surprise!

 

• Rand bending the pattern to his will, he thinks of it being lit, and it is!

 

Big Yuck moments:

 

• Gawyn’s stupid death….it had to be because it fit his character.

 

• Fain being a let’s tie up this loose thread event.

 

• Demandred’s constant yelling for Rand.

 

• Aviendha finally being able to say she has no toh.

 

• I love Perrin but I so got tired of his chasing Slayer.

 

• Rand not letting his father know that he lived.

 

• Being left wondering how the body switch happened.

 

• The almost forced abortion of Elaynes babies.

 

• Bela dying…she was loyal to the end.

 

Yes there were characters that I wished had more presence, a few scenes that were boring, and a couple of words that made me pause, but I have not found a book where this is not true. I’m very grateful to Brandon and Harriet for dedicating themselves to finishing RJ’s life work and for doing so with integrity. I so very much wish we had the opportunity to see what the new age brings to all of the survivors, but at least we know it will start a lot better than the last age.

[thebob101]

I, too, am feeling sad and have a sense of loss.  I had just finished reading all of the books just before AMoL was released and jumped right into it.  I finished the book last night and couldn't sleep because I kept thinking about all that happened during the LB.  Reading the final chapter and not wanting it to end.  I wanted to read more and find out what happens to the remaining characters in the 4th Age.  I find myself almost in tears when I start thinking about it.  I have read some many books and not a one has ever made me feel like this one did.  Call it good, call it bad, but it was an ending.  In a story where there were no beginnings or endings, this was a end.  It was an end to the greatest series ever written.  Thank you Robert Jordan for giving me such a wonderful story.  I laughed, I cried, I read and now it is over.  Sure there is the ability to reread the books, but it won't be the same.  I won't feel the anticipation of waiting for the last book.  I almost wish I wasn't so impatient to get the final book. 

[Rhienne]

I took a few days to read the book too (partly because of work but mostly because I didn't want to rush it).  I am left with a sense of sadness that this story which has captivated me for more than 15 years of my life is over.  I don't think I will enjoy re-reading as much now that the ending has finalised, particularly not being 100% certain it all turned out exactly as RJ would have planned.  That being said, I think BS did a very good job with a very difficult task. 

 

Things I liked:

- Rand's battle with the DO.  Not quite what I expected (and it probably doesn't bear up to well philosophically if you think about it too much!) but it was fascinating to read.

- Perrin killing Lanfear.  I was ecstatic to read of a man finally killing a woman without pages and pages of agonising over it. 

- Perrin finally getting control over Tel'aran'rhiod.  Perhaps could have happened more gradually but this was something I had wanted to see.

- Mat's character.  He made me laugh in this book.  Not RJ's Mat, but every bit as likeable.

- Being pleasantly surprised by Elayne's character.  I thought she was an awful choice to lead the armies of the Light but actually she was amazingly humble and sensible about it.  I enjoyed the scenes with Birgitte where she admitted she had been wrong, and the scene with the sword where she had awareness that she looked ridiculous but didn't care.

- Fields of Merrilor scene.  Aside from Egwene and Rand squabbling like children this felt well written and monumental.

- Egwene's death.  Not a big fan of her character but her death scene was excellently written, and when she speaks to Rand immediately after her death I felt a touch of the old Egwene.  That scene brought a tear to my eye.

- Lan killing Demandred.  It was about time he got his moment of glory.  I loved how the DO thought he was dead and then Rand showed him Lan holding Demandred's severed head.

- Galad.  Loved the development of his character.  He's come a long way from tGH.

- Gawyn's death.  He was more of an idiot than ever in this book.  Very glad to see him go and to go knowing he was a failure.

- Egeanin/Leilwin.  I liked her character and was glad to see she had a bit of a role to play in the last book.

 

 

Things I didn't like:

- Lack of interaction between the main characters.  This was my biggest disappointment, and even now having finished it a few days ago I feel sad about this.  All of these characters which we have followed for years, and who have had wonderful evolving friendships and relationships and there is hardly any meaningful interaction between any of them.  One scene each for Rand and Elayne and Aviendha.  Hardly anything between Lan and Nynaeve, Moiraine and Thom, and Perrin and Faile, and really nothing between Rand and Min.  A couple of brief snatches between the three ta'veren.  Nothing between Elayne and Egwene.  Nothing between Moiraine and anyone.  The closest we get to a reunion of the Emond's Fielders is Perrin giving Nynaeve a hug when she tells hime Egwene died.  All of the character interaction was between Mat and Tuon, a couple that I don't find convincing.

- The ending.  Too abrupt.  I actually wouldn't have wanted to see pages of epilogue about how Rand visited his harem, or Nynaeve watching Lan grow old and die in Malkier, etc., but just some reflection by the main characters on the battle, their future and their losses.

- Reading dozens of Egwene POVs where she thinks of herself as the Light embodied, the Amyrlin as the steward of the land(!?), Aes Sedai as controllers of the battle, etc.  It felt almost delusionally arrogant.  I feel like she was stuck at the point where Rand was prior to his zen moment on Dragonmount, where he thought all his strength came from being the Dragon rather than being himself.

- Siuan's death.  Totally skimmed over and lacking any kind of emotional impact.

- Lack of Nynaeve POVs.  Okay, I get that she was kind of written into a plothole in terms of any further character development but for one of the six main characters I found this really disappointing.  There was almost nothing from her.  We could have had a couple of scenes of Rand talking to Moiraine and her, or a scene of her feeling Lan's near death as he killed Demandred.  Anything would be better than this fizzling out of her character.

- Moiraine.  Glad to see her back but was what the point?  All of this drama and foreshadowing and she essentially adds nothing to the plot.

[wotfan4472]

Finished bok yesterday..... WOOOOOW!! This was fast paced brilliant. Rand's pipe lighting looked alot like telekinesis

[wotfan4472]

I mean book,lol. Flaming hackers

[Suttree]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyone else really in shock now that it's over? I don't think it really hit me that this is the end until the day after I finished. I've been reading and following these books for so long that the thought of there never being any more is hard to get my mind around.

Same here. For me the next Wheel of Time book has always been a thing to really look forward to, a beacon in the night... But now that its over its like something really special has been taken from me and I feel empty.. We all have been bonded to the series for so long and now its been severed... I'm satisfied and happy with the end, but was just expecting a bit more on the aftermath.. I was expecting a small snippet by RJ on how and where the main characters would be after say 10 years, but I guess he wanted to leave that to interpretation...

 

I really hope there is a TV series because I just can't imagine the end to the Wheel of Time... Its become a part of me now

 

 

Yes, it's part of me too and I think we can keep it there by re-reads and participating here. I'd love a pre-quel bout the 20 years where Moiraine and Lan were searching for Rand. I can only hope.

I think Brandon made it clear that there would be no outriggers... So all in all the only thing we can wait for is the encyclopedia... Other than that the series has ended for sure.

Yeah, authors and publishers say things like that all the time. Everyone once in a while the search for more money works out for us fans though. People would of course complain that they hated any new work as much as many complain about Brandon's work, but I'd be happy to at least give it a chance.

Nope, this is totally different. RJ was hugely against any "shared world" environment(and really all we need to do is look at the quality of most of those to see why). It want until the very need that he even allowed AMoL to be finished. The notes for the extra books are virtually non-existent. It would be a terrible idea for those reasons and I have no doubt that Team Jordan will honor RJ's wishes. They have made that clear.

[TheVitaleMob]

Just finished with the audiobook tonight.  Kramer and Reading are definitely the right people to record this audio.

 

Things I liked about this book

-The book

 

Things I didn't like about this book

-The willingness of people at DM to break their own fourth wall.  Seriously.  Shame on you people.  Sit back and enjoy the damn story already.  Why did you buy it if you already knew you wouldn't like it?

Edited January 15, 2013 by TheVitaleMob

[Suttree]

-The willingness of people at DM to break their own fourth wall.?

What does that even mean? Are you seriously trying to suggest that Brandon didn't does this a number of times in an utterly blunt way?

 

Seriously.  Shame on you people.  Sit back and enjoy the damn story already.  Why did you buy it if you already knew you wouldn't like it

Who on earth would go into a book knowing they won't like it? Although people pointed out the very real flaws in the last two books most here gave Team Jordan the benefit of the doubt. We believed them when they told us they had changed Brandon's writing process to address the lack of polish. We believed them when they asked for more time to fix the issues and "get this one right". Additionally one can be grateful that Brandon worked hard to finish the story while being realistic about the flaws. Putting blinders on helps no one. Edited January 15, 2013 by Suttree

[Grr Aaargh]

@Rhienne, I really agree with your analysis, here and in other threads. This, in particular: "Lack of interaction between the main characters. This was my biggest disappointment, even now having finished it a few days ago I feel sad about this. All of these characters which we have followed for years, and who have had wonderful evolving friendships and relationships and there is hardly any meaningful interaction between any of them."

 

In fact, this lack of interaction is what is keeping me online now, trying to get a sense of closure from DM that I couldn't from the final book itself :)

 

I think I'm this disappointed because BS managed reasonably well in the other two books. I thought Siuan's and Egwene's PoVs in TGS were pretty well done. He definitely let Nynaeve be more fun & reasonable than at any point since TFoH, and I was grateful for that. Remember how Nynaeve used to be a competent problem-solver back in Falme and Tanchico? She even made friends with Egeanin back in the day. It was only on the way to Salidar that she was pushed into the role of uber-catty caricature. So I'm glad BS wrote her the way he did - I don't think RJ would have done as much, considering that Nyn is back to bullying Aviendha in the Epilogue. But why leave her out of the final volume entirely? I get that he'd be scared to write from Moiraine's PoV; after all, RJ only did that a handful of times himself. But why not have a scene or two from Nynaeve's PoV, describing their preparations for going to Shayol Ghul, so that we get to see Moiraine in action again? grr grr grr

[papertiger]

Definitely suffering from a lack of closure here as well. I don't think there were enough character moments in the 3 books leading up to this to justify the ending.

 

Still, Sanderson did as well as he could have.

[Agitel]

 

-The willingness of people at DM to break their own fourth wall.?

What does that even mean? Are you seriously trying to suggest that Brandon didn't does this a number of times in an utterly blunt way?

 

Don't lump me in entirely with his original post, but there's a lot of complaints about Brandon breaking the fourth wall. Literally speaking, he didn't do that. There were some nods to popular theories, of course. It seems like those put a damper on the experience for many of you. For others, we just had a brief chuckle to ourselves as we continued to plow forward. What I think he's trying to say is that a lot of these criticisms are a result of bias, that you're far less likely to overlook things, as the smallest detail out of place is a reminder that Sanderson's the one writing, not Jordan.