The "OMG I just finished!" Thread

[shortkut]

There is also the time dilation effect.

[hatsoff]

Okay, I just finished a few minutes ago, and am still reeling.

 

Holy freakin' wow!  This book was almost non-stop action, which I really didn't expect.  Only in the epilogue did things settle down.  I guess I wish it had been a little more like the other books in terms of its action-to-drama ratio.  I could have used some more of the latter.  But then considering what had to happen, perhaps there wasn't much of a way around that.  Lots and lots of action was necessary in order for the story to finish.

 

But I don't mean to be so negative here.  For some reason my first reaction to the book is to criticize it, but that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it immensely.  It's just the way people are, I guess.  At least, it's the way I am.  I feel compelled to jabber on about its minor flaws even when I appreciate the book overall.

 

In the first of the Sanderson books, he wrote something like, (paraphrased) "nobody can finish this series as well as Robert Jordan could have, but I will do my best."  Perhaps that was true.  Perhaps Jordan could have done a better job.  But I doubt the difference would have been very great.  Jordan had fantastic narrative skill, sure, but his true genius was expressed through creating the world in which the narrative took place.  Maybe it's naive of me to think this, but it seems like that would have been the hardest part---and Jordan already did it before Sanderson came along.  This is not to say that narrative skill is not required.  Both Sanderson and Jordan are clearly master craftsmen when it comes to storytelling, and most authors could not have stepped up to the task that Sanderson did.  The bottom line is that although both Sanderson and Jordan made some choices I didn't like, nevertheless they both delivered solidly when it came to finishing this series.  The whole thing is an absolute masterpiece!  So the following complaints should be understood in that light.

 

But yes, I do have some more complaints.  Chief among them:  I really REALLY wanted to see more of what happened after the last battle.  I still do.  If Sanderson wants to focus on his own worlds---which is totally understandable, by the way---then Mrs. McDougal can choose a third author to carry the series forward.  The only problem is that with the bore sealed, it doesn't really make sense to have the Shadow active as a villian.  And while there are other potential villians, none of them except perhaps Fain/Mordeth/Mashadar are as cool and awesome to see fought as was the Shadow.  So having a sequel where, say, the Seanchan are the villians, wouldn't work at all IMHO.

 

So I see just three ways a good continuation of the series can happen.  First, it could be that the Shadow somehow remains active.  But I can't really see how that would work, and it would require some serious ingenuity on the part of whichever author Mrs. McDougal chooses for the task.  Second, there may arise another source of evil, perhaps connected with the Shadow in some way, but not precisely the Shadow.  For instance, Mashadar or Machin Shin might come back to wreak havoc on the world.  But this too would be difficult for an author to invent, and they would have an enormously difficult task in it.  The third option looks to me like the easiest:  Write a prequel, but use the future as a framing device.  That way we would still get to see the Light fight against the Shadow before the bore was sealed, but we would also get to see what happens afterwards to all our beloved characters from the main series.

 

 

But forgive my Ogier tendencies, as I digress.  Um, um, yes, I should speak of AMOL.

 

 

It seemed like far too many good characters died in this book, and not because of Egwene.  Actually, I'm fine with Egwene dying, and Gawyn too.  He was never a particularly endearing character for me.  Egwene was likable in the first few books but had grown increasingly self-righteous as the series progressed.  It made a kind of sense that she would die in battle.  But having Siuan and Brynn die really left me in the lurch.  I wanted to see those two have a future together.  And for some reason it really bothered me when Hurin died.  That seemed totally unnecessary.  Also, I was really upset when Hopper was killed, which is odd since I wasn't a huge fan of the wolfbrother story arc.  At least my most favorite characters all made it through alive though.  My very favorite characters are probably Nynaeve and Mat, and they're both still kickin'.  Lan and Moiraine too.  Rand and Perrin still live, as do Min and Elyas.

 

And thank goodness Androl and Pevara made it through alive!  Their story arc was by far my favorite of the characters developed in the final books, and I thought the psychic connection thing they had going was extremely cool!  I was very pleased to see their story given such attention.

 

Now as I said, by biggest beef with this book is that we didn't get to see enough of what happened to the main characters after the last battle; and then my second-biggest beef is that there was too much action and not enough drama.  But my third-biggest beef with this book is that there just weren't any "special" moments, except the one at the very end when the wind whips around Rand as he rides off to live his new life.  In fact, that goes for TOM as well.  Maybe that's just me getting older though.  I'm in my mid-30s now, but I started reading this series when I was 15.  At the time, LOC had been released, and so I read six books in a row right from the start, with only a short wait for ACOS.  But as I got older, the second half of the series seemed to become less exciting as it wore on.  Don't get me wrong---I still experienced those special moments with great excitement!  But they became fewer and further between, and less and less exciting when they happened.  I think before the epilogue of AMOL, the last really "special" moment for me in the series was when Perrin visits So Habor in COT.  That was really, really cool, and brought back some of the mystery I originally felt during EOTW.  I guess I should be thankful that this book contained a special moment at all, since the previous three didn't.

 

Again, though, I want to stress that I still enjoyed the last half of the series.  It just wasn't as freaky-amazing as the first half.  And that may be due to my getting older, which for all their other talents, Jordan and Sanderson are powerless to stop.

 

Finally, I think it's really cool that there are online communities like this where I can turn immediately after reading the series.  That wasn't the case back in the 1990s, but now I have you fellow WOT fans out there to help me cope with the end of an era---the end of the last book of the Wheel of Time.  Thank you all.

[cmo999]

I just finished the book.  I was worried that when I finally finished this series, I would be left with an unbareable sense of emptiness, almost like running out of air.  But I don't feel that way at all, if left me with a smile on my face and looking forward to reading more epic fantasy.

[hatsoff]

I just finished the book.  I was worried that when I finally finished this series, I would be left with an unbareable sense of emptiness, almost like running out of air.  But I don't feel that way at all, if left me with a smile on my face and looking forward to reading more epic fantasy.

 

 

Good!  I wish I had been left feeling that way.  Instead I'm nonstop sad sad sad.

[Scott A. Ferguson]

Wow. Just finished. Totally thrilled with the story as a whole. Glad and sad I've now reached the end. I realized recently that WoT has been in my life for longer than it hasn't. And now it's come to an end. Weird.

 

 

I thought the Sanderson books reclaimed the amazing energy the first six books had. I feel Jordan could have put books 7-11 into about two books. The pace slowed down SO much I found it difficult to keep the excitement level up.

 

However, these last few books really picked it up. I couldn't put them down.

 

This was a great story. The Last Battle chapter...intense.

 

Not sure how I feel quite yet that Rand turned into Moridin. Why? Weird storyline.

 

But overall this story was great!! Kudos.

[Rhienne]

I think it's possible that Nynaeve wouldn't have realised how close to dying Lan came as it appears that the bore warps the bond somehow.  [when Rand approaches the bore (or enters, can't remember which) he senses something through the bond and wonders if one of his girls is in trouble, I believe it's Alanna he sensed, yet despite the fact she was closest he couldn't identify her.  It's possible that it had something to do with the effect of multiple bonds, but I think that the bores warping effect and the distance between them would have shielded Nyn from some of the effects of the bond).

 

This isn't to say that I think this should affect how the characters act, they had no way of knowing that the bond would be warped or masked, but it could explain the lack of a reaction from Nyn.

 

I think Lan briefly thinks about how he can feel Nynaeve's pain and fear just as he blacks out, so she is obviously aware that something is very wrong.  But yes, that doesn't seem to match up very well with Rand only being vaguely aware that something is wrong with one of his bondmates when Alanna has been stabbed and is bleeding to death, i.e, a very similar situation.

[Rhienne]

But yes, I do have some more complaints.  Chief among them:  I really REALLY wanted to see more of what happened after the last battle.  I still do.  If Sanderson wants to focus on his own worlds---which is totally understandable, by the way---then Mrs. McDougal can choose a third author to carry the series forward.  The only problem is that with the bore sealed, it doesn't really make sense to have the Shadow active as a villian.  And while there are other potential villians, none of them except perhaps Fain/Mordeth/Mashadar are as cool and awesome to see fought as was the Shadow.  So having a sequel where, say, the Seanchan are the villians, wouldn't work at all IMHO.

Very unlikely there will be any more books as RJ was and Harriet is massively against it.

[Suttree]

I thought the Sanderson books reclaimed the amazing energy the first six books had. I feel Jordan could have put books 7-11 into about two books. The pace slowed down SO much I found it difficult to keep the excitement level up.

 

 

 Well comparing the conclusion of the story arc to books 7-10 is apples and oranges. The pace increased because of where we were in the arc, it has little to do with a change in author. Further funny how some people forget the pace had already turned around in KoD and was ramping up towards the finish.

[hatsoff]

 

But yes, I do have some more complaints.  Chief among them:  I really REALLY wanted to see more of what happened after the last battle.  I still do.  If Sanderson wants to focus on his own worlds---which is totally understandable, by the way---then Mrs. McDougal can choose a third author to carry the series forward.  The only problem is that with the bore sealed, it doesn't really make sense to have the Shadow active as a villian.  And while there are other potential villians, none of them except perhaps Fain/Mordeth/Mashadar are as cool and awesome to see fought as was the Shadow.  So having a sequel where, say, the Seanchan are the villians, wouldn't work at all IMHO.

Very unlikely there will be any more books as RJ was and Harriet is massively against it.

 

 

Maybe so.  But stranger things have happened.  For my own part, I will always have hope.

[Suttree]

 

 

 

But yes, I do have some more complaints. Chief among them: I really REALLY wanted to see more of what happened after the last battle. I still do. If Sanderson wants to focus on his own worlds---which is totally understandable, by the way---then Mrs. McDougal can choose a third author to carry the series forward. The only problem is that with the bore sealed, it doesn't really make sense to have the Shadow active as a villian. And while there are other potential villians, none of them except perhaps Fain/Mordeth/Mashadar are as cool and awesome to see fought as was the Shadow. So having a sequel where, say, the Seanchan are the villians, wouldn't work at all IMHO.

Very unlikely there will be any more books as RJ was and Harriet is massively against it.

Maybe so. But stranger things have happened. For my own part, I will always have hope.

See I don't get this. We know RJ was very much against any shared world scenario and it wasn't until the very end he even allowed the books to be finished. There is no source material and the last thing they want is to turn it into a Star Wars situation where the quality varies from ok to dreadful. That would be doing his legacy a huge disservice. To my mind we have to respect his wishes.

[Finally]

Been reading these since the late 90s, had A Memory of Light on my shelf for a while now as was reluctant to close out the series for good but picked it up a few days ago.

 

I thought it was okay, the whole thing plays out well but it lacked any resolution. Several elements annoyed me.

 

 

- Firstly, I liked how the story wasn't afraid to kill characters off like Egwene, Gawyn, Birgette Siuan etc. but found it disappointing that characters I'd warmed to over the years like Bashere and Byrne weren't even given a few lines of narrative to show their deaths. Killing some of these guys "off screen" just seemed cheap.

 

- Demandred suffering from a terrible dose "silly bad guy" syndrome. Firstly, although he had to dispatch Logain, fighting the 3 sword fights was incredibly pointless and stopped him from commanding his armies, not to mention the destruction he was channeling down. This guy fights 4 duels, mortally wounding 3 opponents yet he is the only one who dies where the duels occur. I would have expected less mercy from one of the most evil men remaining alive ;) He lets Gawyn leave and have his final few dying words, Galad is pointlessly allowed to continue living in the story, and as for the Lan moment - this was the single worst part of the entire series. It served no purpose to keep him alive, just let the man die already. Gah. And finally, this is one of the greatest general masterminds ever, yet he manages to lose a battle in which he had overwhelming numbers even before the Sharans arrived. Hmmm!

 

- Perrin and bloody Slayer. This has to be the most boring drawn out duel i've ever read, occuring throughout several books. I groaned each time I saw Perrin's name at the beginning of a new POV. Let's be honest, we all knew Perrin wins so why did it have so many chapters both in this book and others dedicated to it. Just kill Slayer already so we can get back to the less predictable action already! It was tedious.

 

- Faile survives.

 

- The Seanchan arc is left unresolved. The rest of the world is depleted and exhausted while these natural conquerors are still relatively fresh. It is only "dealt" with insofar as the agreement Tuon made with Rand in the space of 2 minutes. Hardly convincing, not to mention the implications of Aviendha's vision.

 

- Aginor / Osang'ar... where is he? Come to think of it, why hasn't Asmodean been reincarnated either? And Mesana, her mind was broken but any darkfriend could have slit her throat and let Mr Dark Lord stick her in a brand spanking new body. Three Forsaken who would surely have come in handy what with, you know, the last battle happening 'n all

 

- Shaidar Haran goes out with a whimper, I almost missed it entirely.

 

- And finally back to the resolution, or lack thereof. To me it seemed that you're reading hundreds of pages of non-stop action and commotion, carefully following each characters fate page by page through chaos... and then it's all over in a blink with Rand riding into the sunset on a horse. There was no consolidation at the end, counting the dead, reuniting characters in victory and seeing the human side of their stories and getting some type of closure or dealing with their losses. One simple chapter showing characters in the aftermath when everyone is picking up the pieces after the dead have been laid to rest wouldnt have gone amiss, if BS was running out of pages he could borrow from that damn Perrin / Slayer duel. I would've very much liked to see what the characters do afterwards, such as Gaul, Pevara, Logain, Flinn, Talmanes etc or how they view the previous few days now that they have had time to rest and properly absorb everything that has occured.

[hatsoff]

See I don't get this. We know RJ was very much against any shared world scenario and it wasn't until the very end he even allowed the books to be finished. There is no source material and the last thing they want is to turn it into a Star Wars situation where the quality varies from ok to dreadful. That would be doing his legacy a huge disservice. To my mind we have to respect his wishes.

 

If he were still alive then I would probably agree with you.  I think the man himself deserves our respect and gratitude for producing this wonderful series of books!  Sadly though, the man himself is no longer with us.  All we can do now is pay respect to his memory.  And while that's a nice thought, I don't think it weighs very far against the desires of all the fans who are still here, and who would be overjoyed to have the series continue.

 

As for the quality of a continuation, I see no reason to think it would suffer.  And even if it did, well, I think many fans (including myself) would still enjoy it immensely.  We don't need everything to be perfect.  WOT is a consumable intended to entertain, not a holy book to be venerated.

 

Nevertheless, I sympathize with your point of view here.  We do naturally want to respect even just the memory of Jordan, and I can certainly understand the hesitation of handing off the series to yet another author.  But ultimately I think it would be better for almost everyone if the series were continued.  So if Harriet, against all odds, changes her mind and allows that to happen, then I will be very happy indeed.  And so, I think, will thousands of other fans, perhaps including yourself!

[shortkut]

 

See I don't get this. We know RJ was very much against any shared world scenario and it wasn't until the very end he even allowed the books to be finished. There is no source material and the last thing they want is to turn it into a Star Wars situation where the quality varies from ok to dreadful. That would be doing his legacy a huge disservice. To my mind we have to respect his wishes.

If he were still alive then I would probably agree with you. I think the man himself deserves our respect and gratitude for producing this wonderful series of books! Sadly though, the man himself is no longer with us. All we can do now is pay respect to his memory. And while that's a nice thought, I don't think it weighs very far against the desires of all the fans who are still here, and who would be overjoyed to have the series continue.

 

As for the quality of a continuation, I see no reason to think it would suffer. And even if it did, well, I think many fans (including myself) would still enjoy it immensely. We don't need everything to be perfect. WOT is a consumable intended to entertain, not a holy book to be venerated.

 

Nevertheless, I sympathize with your point of view here. We do naturally want to respect even just the memory of Jordan, and I can certainly understand the hesitation of handing off the series to yet another author. But ultimately I think it would be better for almost everyone if the series were continued. So if Harriet, against all odds, changes her mind and allows that to happen, then I will be very happy indeed. And so, I think, will thousands of other fans, perhaps including yourself!

They are not happy with what he currently have. That being said, there is a difference between having a rough outline of what needs to happen and having nothing at all

[BFG]

 

- Aginor / Osang'ar... where is he? Come to think of it, why hasn't Asmodean been reincarnated either? And Mesana, her mind was broken but any darkfriend could have slit her throat and let Mr Dark Lord stick her in a brand spanking new body. Three Forsaken who would surely have come in handy what with, you know, the last battle happening 'n all

 

 

I understand that there are specific circumstances that need to happen for the DO to reincarnate someone, that's the reason that balefire prevents the DO from reincarnating someone, because you're dead before you die, so balefire makes you 'slip' through the net before the DO can 'catch you'.

 

Mesana's mind was broken, it's possible that that would carry through with her into a reincarnated body, making it ultimately pointless, I also don't see any reason for him to resurrect Asmodeon - he turned traitor, I know he had no choice, but none of the other Forsaken seemed aware of that other than Lanfear who wasn't telling. 

 

The wiki says that the DO made it clear to Aginor that he'd only be reincarnated once, but I'm not sure what the source of that is, or if there are any reasons behind it.

[FulfilledDeer]

Hey everyone, I'm new here. I'll be honest, I might not be posting a lot - my M.O. is to lurk for a while, register for a board, and then never visit again. I finished the book (and series) a couple of days ago. I'm not going to really write a review except to say that I think had RJ been alive to finish, there probably would have been at least 1 more book in the series. I loved it, but it felt a tiny bit...pruned to within an inch of its life. Still really enjoyed it.

 

 

I registered because I'm despondent and I'm looking for support. I say that like half jokingly. Maybe a quarter jokingly. For whatever reason, I feel this real sense of loss now that it's over. It feels so silly and cliched, but I had friends I'm not going to see again. I could re-read, but the spark has gone out of them. Now that it's finished, it's...finished. Does anybody else get that?

 

Also, if anyone has any recommendations for other series like this (in terms of how much you like them, not necessary content or style) I would be grateful. It's like I'm trying to get a new puppy because I just had to put my dog down....

[Suttree]

Also, if anyone has any recommendations for other series like this (in terms of how much you like them, not necessary content or style) I would be grateful. It's like I'm trying to get a new puppy because I just had to put my dog down....

 

Welcome to DM.

 

Here is a good place to start on suggestions.

 

http://www.dragonmount.com/forums/topic/81212-need-reading-suggestions/

[Rhienne]

 

See I don't get this. We know RJ was very much against any shared world scenario and it wasn't until the very end he even allowed the books to be finished. There is no source material and the last thing they want is to turn it into a Star Wars situation where the quality varies from ok to dreadful. That would be doing his legacy a huge disservice. To my mind we have to respect his wishes.

 

If he were still alive then I would probably agree with you.  I think the man himself deserves our respect and gratitude for producing this wonderful series of books!  Sadly though, the man himself is no longer with us.  All we can do now is pay respect to his memory.  And while that's a nice thought, I don't think it weighs very far against the desires of all the fans who are still here, and who would be overjoyed to have the series continue.

 

As for the quality of a continuation, I see no reason to think it would suffer.  And even if it did, well, I think many fans (including myself) would still enjoy it immensely.  We don't need everything to be perfect.  WOT is a consumable intended to entertain, not a holy book to be venerated.

 

Nevertheless, I sympathize with your point of view here.  We do naturally want to respect even just the memory of Jordan, and I can certainly understand the hesitation of handing off the series to yet another author.  But ultimately I think it would be better for almost everyone if the series were continued.  So if Harriet, against all odds, changes her mind and allows that to happen, then I will be very happy indeed.  And so, I think, will thousands of other fans, perhaps including yourself!

 

I respect your opinion, but I am one of the fans who feels the complete opposite.  Part of me is glad that we got an ending to the WoT, but I also feel that is has lost something major by not being finished in the way RJ would have done it.  I am left reading some scenes and thinking ''I'm sure that is not how RJ would have written that line", or "That character is totally wrong.".  At least with TGS-AMoL we know that the bare bones major plot points were as intended.  I would be really upset to have the series continued at this point and would definitely choose not to read any sequels that came about in this way because, a) I think it is disrespectful to RJ first, and the rest of his team who support his wishes, to go against something that he really didn't want for his series, and b) I would not want to read someone else's fanfiction of Mat in Seanchan, or Nynaeve and Lan brining Malkier back, or Cadsuane as Amyrlin.  Once you've read something you can't unread it, and I prefer my visions of the characters futures to be left to my imagination, as RJ intended, rather than have someone else's fanfiction become the end of this series for me.

[FulfilledDeer]

 

 

See I don't get this. We know RJ was very much against any shared world scenario and it wasn't until the very end he even allowed the books to be finished. There is no source material and the last thing they want is to turn it into a Star Wars situation where the quality varies from ok to dreadful. That would be doing his legacy a huge disservice. To my mind we have to respect his wishes.

 

If he were still alive then I would probably agree with you.  I think the man himself deserves our respect and gratitude for producing this wonderful series of books!  Sadly though, the man himself is no longer with us.  All we can do now is pay respect to his memory.  And while that's a nice thought, I don't think it weighs very far against the desires of all the fans who are still here, and who would be overjoyed to have the series continue.

 

As for the quality of a continuation, I see no reason to think it would suffer.  And even if it did, well, I think many fans (including myself) would still enjoy it immensely.  We don't need everything to be perfect.  WOT is a consumable intended to entertain, not a holy book to be venerated.

 

Nevertheless, I sympathize with your point of view here.  We do naturally want to respect even just the memory of Jordan, and I can certainly understand the hesitation of handing off the series to yet another author.  But ultimately I think it would be better for almost everyone if the series were continued.  So if Harriet, against all odds, changes her mind and allows that to happen, then I will be very happy indeed.  And so, I think, will thousands of other fans, perhaps including yourself!

 

I respect your opinion, but I am one of the fans who feels the complete opposite.  Part of me is glad that we got an ending to the WoT, but I also feel that is has lost something major by not being finished in the way RJ would have done it.  I am left reading some scenes and thinking ''I'm sure that is not how RJ would have written that line", or "That character is totally wrong.".  At least with TGS-AMoL we know that the bare bones major plot points were as intended.  I would be really upset to have the series continued at this point and would definitely choose not to read any sequels that came about in this way because, a) I think it is disrespectful to RJ first, and the rest of his team who support his wishes, to go against something that he really didn't want for his series, and b) I would not want to read someone else's fanfiction of Mat in Seanchan, or Nynaeve and Lan brining Malkier back, or Cadsuane as Amyrlin.  Once you've read something you can't unread it, and I prefer my visions of the characters futures to be left to my imagination, as RJ intended, rather than have someone else's fanfiction become the end of this series for me.

 

 

 

I'm not sure where I fall on this. I'm pretty sure I agree with Rhienne. Having said that, just for the sake of argument, what if the book had no bearing on the original books? Inhabiting the world, but not with the characters.

 

Huh, even as I write that I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want it. 

[Porter]

Just finished. Hard to know what to do. I've read these books for 10 years, and they've had quite a bit to do with my development as a person I think. I've never been so fully immersed in anything. I respect the job that Sanderson did. He did a fine job of finishing this. It does piss me off that I never got to see Tuon meet Hawking, she may have been my favorite character. All in all, I did want more, but there had to be an ending. I'll of course read this series again this summer when I have the time, but for now, it's good to have an ending. I halfheartedly wish there would be more books, but maybe this is enough. I could enjoy spending the rest of my life immersed in this world, as could most of us I imagine, but we have things to do, places to be, people to see.

 

All I feel now is gratitude, sadness, but still, a sense of purpose. Life is good my friends.

Edited May 23, 2013 by Porter

[Saafir]

There were so many quality characters which I grew to admire in this series.  However, I was always partial to both Tam and Lan so I was relieved to discover that they had survived the series.  I found myself fascinated by the moral code that they lived by and how both seemed oblivious or somehow undeserving of the esteem others held for them. I could not help wondering if they had unknowingly crossed paths in battle before A New Spring.   I think the combination of their mentoring and the overall personality of Two Rivers folk combined to turn Rand into a unifying force rather than a divisive force.  He resisted Aes Sedai influence no matter how many times they questioned him.  He never stopped asking "Why?" and he ended up finding a way to battle the DO in his own way.  Of course he shows tons of character development over the life of the series but I could still see a glimmer of the young, somewhat naive lad from the Two Rivers.  His character arc and the control he kept over his power had a lot to do with the older mentors in his life.  The word mentor is first seen in the Iliad when Odysseus asks the goat herder  (I think it is Athena in disguise) to mentor his son.  By mentor he meant "make him fit to be a king".  In my opinion both Lan and Tam accomplished this goal.  "Tai'shar Malkier!"  Tai'shar Manetheran!"

[kaiman]

Have read it soon after it was released, and I was impressed how well the Last Battle was depicted. I believe that was the first time in the entire series where I felt that the Shadow really was a threat to Randland. Well done, Mr. Sanderson!

 

Unfortunately, as a whole I think the book quite missed the point. To me, WOT was always foremost about the (main) characters, their struggles and relations. It was always fascinitating to see how stubborness or egoism on part of this or that protagonist made things difficult and hindered the good side probably more than all Forsaken and Darkfriends combined. It was great, because it is so human and something you hardly see in other series. But with AMOL, the characters and their motives where suddenly pushed into the background. Most of the pages seemed to be about fighting and manoeuvering and grand scale military tactics. There was simply too much of that and most of it was too detached from the actual characters.

 

Compared to that, my remaining complaints are minor:

* What was that superhuman thing Talmanes pulled of near the beginning!? Should have dropped dead and be done with it.

* The constant repetition of some Ogier or other "laying about him with his <weapon of choice>" felt more jarring and obnoxious than any amount of tugging ones braid or folding ones arms in the entire series before! Honestly, how could the editors let something so blatant slip through more than once?

* And what about Androl? What has such a stereotypical nice guy, a jack-of-all-trades without any appearent flaw lost in the WOT series?

 

On the bright side, we finally get a reason for the whole Hinderstap madness. Doesn't make that particular chapter of TGS any better, but at least I know now that it was included for a purpose and not just because Zombies where the rage back then.

 

The end was ... in order ... I guess. Kind of odd how Rand rode off without his GFs, but maybe I'm just hopelessly romantic ;-). Certainly sad to see the series end and at the same time relieved to finally see the end of the series.

 

 

Reading through some of the other posts, some of the opinions voiced here are valid as well:

* Moraines and Fains appearences: too short, too meaningless

* Perrins battle: drawn out too long (but so was the whole campaign of rescuing Faile before)

* Deaths of important characters: often too impersonal (even off screen) and pointless

 

 

All in all, I will always keep WOT in good memory. And I'll never start a new series unless the last book has been written ;-).

[cronus]

Bittersweet.

 

Language fails me right now, and that is the only word I can come up with that fits.

 

Bittersweet.

 

I've read the series for half of my life.

 

It really is like losing a friend. 

They'll always be there, and I can always reread them again, but they'll never be fresh to me, I know how the story ends. 

 

That is both a wonderful and a terrible thing.

 

I'd like to thank Mr. Jordan. 

In a very real sense, he helped shape the person I am today.

 

I cried.

I could't help it. 

Characters died, and it hurt me. 

Characters lived, and I wept for them.

 

The Last Battle was a loss for me. 

I lost a whole world.

 

Thank you again, Mr. Jordan, for dreaming me dreams and telling me tales these past 20 years.

Thank you Dragonmount, for giving me a place where others might understand of what I speak.

 

My world will never be the same.

[Los Mandril]

I have to say after reading all 14 volumes it was worth the journey.

My ONLY complaint was the ending...RJ pour so much emotion and feelings and built such a strong relationship between Rand and his friends....

 

For Rand to just walk away from Tam, Perrin and Matt...that was one of the biggest annoyance to me.

Aside from that awesome story through long winded at times but well worth it.

 

@cronus I cried as well my friend several times...thank you RJ for taking me into this journey

[DaoineSidhe]

Numbness.....

 

I don't know how to feel....

 

It is over...  There won't be any new journeys to the Wheel of Time.  It may keep on turning, but it will do so without me getting to look in on its turnings to see what happens...

 

The constant tension of continuous battle throughout the book was fairly good, although I do feel like we didn't get to see any of the main characters resolve or deal with any of the consequences of what happened throughout the last book because of its frenetic pace.

 

The plot of turning the "great Captains" against the Light was without a doubt the most brilliant move the Shadow made throughout the entire series.  I just wish it didn't require so much build up in description of battle tactics to pull off.  I don't dislike the way it was handled, or really think that plot could have been shortened and still be effective, but now that I'm done with the series, I feel like I didn't get to see any of the main characters deal with the end of the Last Battle, or the consequences resulting from it.  I almost felt like I was reading a history of the Last Battle by Loial, son of Arent, son of Halan.  I'm glad I got to see how it ended, but I never felt like I was in the characters heads and experiencing what the were as I felt in the rest of the series.

 

Numbness... That's really the best word to describe how I feel.  tWoT is over as a literary series, and i will need weeks if not months to truly come to grips with that.  For all the growing pains, faults, and problems resulting from having a different author finish the series than Robert Jordan, I am still very thankful that Team Jordan found a way to bring this ending to us, warts and all.  Was it everything I hoped for?  No.  Were there things that I think should have, and reasonably could have, been done better?  Gods yes!  But for all that, the Wheel continues to turn, and I am extremely thankful and joyous that I got to see how those three farm boys from the Two Rivers played out their final moments as ta'veren.  I may not get to see new stories of the Wheel, but I can always return there by opening up these books, and Rand, Matt & Perrin will continue to be important people in my life forever more, no matter how the Wheel Turns.

[clutzyninja]

I think it ended the only way it could.  If the story went a single step further, I think it would only serve to start new plots that would, by necessity, be either left hanging, or force the author to begin an entire new series of book.  Either that, or you'd have an entire novel's worth of reflections by the characters on the end of the LB, and while we might think we want that, I think it would get boring pretty quick.  Just my opinion, of course.