The "OMG I just finished!" Thread

[RandyDeese]

Egwene died, which was good.

 

That stupid horse finally died.

 

Demandred was awesome.

 

The Dark One was shown to be what evil always is - small, scared, and cowardly.

 

 

 

Overall, I was very happy.

[harshitvaria]

I just finished the book and 100% loved it. The scope of the battle was huge. I am glad we finally have the ending to this series however I am sad to leave this world behind. I can always re-read the series but that's different. Thanks to everyone who made this happen.

[phoenixtrinity]

Just finished about two hours ago and I must say - wow. I didn't like the body swap, as that was one theory I was hoping wouldn't come true, but all in all it was pulled off a bit better than I expected. The book as a whole, however, was really amazing, I felt. Perhaps that was because I am so attached to it, or maybe it was the plot content, but I just really enjoyed it. I'm definitely going to miss this series.

[balefired-ed2]

Meh.

 

At least it is done.

 

I am always going to be dissappointed with the series falling off a cliff and needing overcorrection. A tighter pace would have helped this series so much. This entire book just felt rushed to me.

[eXSPiKeX]

Overall it was great!  It was really moving in certain parts. During the initial meeting at Merrilor, I actually felt frustrated by the interaction/confrontation between Egwene and Rand- it felt just right!  And the Last Battle was truly great. Honestly, I had my doubts whether the LB could live up to all the hype and build of the previous 13 volumes.  Those 200+ pages did it more than justice. Demondread was awesome- just the villain we needed!  Androl and Pevara are my new favorite couple, and wow... I am currently overwelmed by feelings of gratitude and satisfaction. Thanks RJ & BS

[Suttree]

 

That stupid horse finally died.

 

Bwahaha AWESOME!

[RandyDeese]

 

 

That stupid horse finally died.

Bwahaha AWESOME!

 

 

I can't be the only one who got sick of everybody loving that damn thing.

[Suttree]

 

 

 

 

That stupid horse finally died.

Bwahaha AWESOME!

 

 

I can't be the only one who got sick of everybody loving that damn thing.

Oh there are plenty of us along side you there. You and Mr Ares will get along great. Dude throws in a *kneecaps "insert poster name"* every time someone makes a Bela=Creator joke.

[Sarlic]

I finished it just about a week ago, coming away for the most part incredibly satisfied. I was bothered a little by Fain being a somewhat non-event, and also a little bothered by Demandred just being in Shara the whole time (although upon reflection, I guess there's nothing else that could have happened there.)

 

Like many of you, I've been with the series for a decade and a half, and what I feel is bittersweet. I love this series, my favorite series, and I've felt like I've just said goodbye to great friends. (I have the same feeling at the end of Stephen King's It.)

 

But now, a week later, what's really interesting is that I'm trying to immerse myself into another series, and I simply just *can't* do it -- I am constantly dwelling on the Wheel of Time. (Granted, my choice for a read was to re-read Lord of the Rings, starting with the Hobbit, which has a "kiddie" tone that makes it difficult to get drawn in. I wanted to re-read the Thomas Covenant series, but I'm frustrated that White Gold Wielder still isn't in eBook, so I haven't begun.) All that aside, I can't get Wheel of Time out of my head; not just the last book, but the experience of the entire series. It had incredible highs and incredible lows, but there's no denying that the story and its characters have been with me for half of my life, and I'm going to miss them.

 

I guess the best way to describe it is that, even though the story is over, I'm having trouble finding closure; not through any fault of the writers or because so many things were left open ended, but because I just *don't* want to let go.

 

Hard to put into words.

 

I can tell you that my immediate feeling upon completion was complete exhaustion -- not because I stayed up late and rushed through but because SO MUCH happened. A lot of people complain about Brandon, but he wrote the Last Battle in a way that I *felt* I'd been through a battle. I was mentally and emotionally exhausted by everything that I'd read. To be able to evoke that kind of response reflects a remarkable talent.

 

Even so, for the rest of my life, likely, I'll be wondering what this series would have been like had RJ lived to finish it. That's no criticism of Brandon; it's just a statement of fact. I'm immensely grateful that Brandon was brave enough to accept such a great responsibility, and he had to know full well that this would be a challenge that could never satisfy all of the fans. But he did it, and while yes there are flaws, we have an ending; we know where these people were meant to go. And for that, I have no words to express how grateful I am.

 

Thank you Harriet. Thank you Brandon.

 

But most of all, Thank You Robert Jordan. You shared with us all an incredibly personal story, something that you lived with for many decades. Something that you loved and cherished. You shared with us a piece of yourself, a vision so moving, so alive, that it lives on even when you tragically have left it behind.

 

I wish you were here to experience and share this moment, the sense of triumph and of loss, with us, your devoted fans, who will be eternally grateful for the gift of these characters, this story, your vision.

Edited January 11, 2013 by Sarlic

[Entreri]

Bela dying was great. 

 

Egwene dying was better. 

 

I always like to see a high death toll for the final novel of a series. 

[The Wolf]

This book easily lived up to 15 years worth of waiting.  That’s a pretty huge accomplishment as far as I’m concerned.  Personally, I would have liked Elyas to have more of an impact as well as Perrin having more of a role in the last battle, but that’s only cause I’m a huge fan of these two.  My only real regret is that more wasn’t done with Padan Fain.  I’m not sure what the original plan was with him, but I feel like it didn’t get executed. 

That being said, I really liked how in the end it was just another age in the turning of the wheel.  I also really appreciated that nothing of the future was jammed in at the end.  Pretty much was left up to us to guess at.

I do hope some details get filled in with the encyclopedia, but all things considered, it was a fantastic end. 

[doihavepotential]

dam you RJ and your abrupt endings!! 

[Mark Al Thor]

@ Sarlic

 

Im 100% with you....on all points. Theres no way though, that I can read anything else right now. Gonna be a lil while first. Im re-reading and taking it slow as far as details and the overall Last Battle. At first i was so damn glad to have the book, now im gonna enjoy all the little details i missed. (Lack of sleep due to the nonstop action didnt help with the little details lol)

 

Another book? Ya for me.....but not for a while.

Edited January 11, 2013 by Mark Al Thor

[Ozzie_aiel]

Reminded me a lot of Mass Effect 3; wholesale destruction, lots of my favorite characters dying. Egwene biting it was a shock. Can't say I particularly liked it (got too attached to the world to want it to burn) but I enjoyed it

[Myrddraai]

Greatest Series ever, hands down. Lot of characters bought the farm, but the scene where everything rebounded was amazing. Rj always kept it darkest before dawn, and Sanderson/Rj truly followed through with this book. Wondering if Rj left any notes detailing the future of Randland, but happy about the body swap theory. Saddest death of all was Gawain for me, he was always trying to be somebody important, but he ended up just dying without making a huge name for himself. Sure he was Egwene's warder and a prince, but he never beat Galad or did anything super amazing. I hope his sacrifice isnt forgotten. Lan's charge, by far one of the most awesome parts in the book, ever!

[Lady Beslan]

I cried at every single death, even Egwene's and I freaking hated Egwene. I think Gawyn's might have upset me the most though, mainly because Galad was there maybe? I dunno. I never even liked him either. Ughhhh. Help.

 

I'm just so sad it ended though, you know? There will never be another WoT book. I dunno what's going to happen now; I can imagine, sure, but it's not the same really.

 

Oh, but the Mashadar/Mat/Fain thing. I actually imagined that happening when I first read the series. Not exactly the same but I knew he'd be immune. I may or may not have literally fist pumped the air at that bit.

 

Feel a little annoyed at the Rand/Moridin body swap but what can ya do? I knew I should never have read any of these forums, then I never would have seen it coming!!

 

I feel emotionally drained. Going to go cry some more now and not sleep because I'm too sad.

[Exception Collection]

Speaking personally, I think it would have been a very interesting twist/change if the protagonists had failed, allowing the DO to end the world...  and have "The Dark One spoke, and said "the world is not"" as the last sentence of the series.  It would've resulted in bloody revolt by a lot of readers, but it would have been one of the most talked about endings in the history of literature (though it would likely end up a "It was his sled" moment).

[Exception Collection]

Silly doublepost.

Edited January 11, 2013 by Exception Collection

[Suttree]

Speaking personally, I think it would have been a very interesting twist/change if the protagonists had failed, allowing the DO to end the world... and have "The Dark One spoke, and said "the world is not"" as the last sentence of the series. It would've resulted in bloody revolt by a lot of readers, but it would have been one of the most talked about endings in the history of literature (though it would likely end up a "It was his sled" moment).

Have you read the Sundering duology by Jacqueline Carey? Starts with "Banewreaker" think you might enjoy it based on the above.

[Dakota]

The past several years, I haven't been as heavily into the series as I used to be. Winter's Heart was the last book that really held my interest, ever since then I've just been wanting it to wrap up.

Still, now that it's older, a sliver of my life that's been there for the past 20-ish years is now empty. All things come to an end, but I do still feel a bit melancholy about it.

 

 

As for the book itself.

 

 

Demandred being the ultimate badass did seem a little bit forced to me. But I can understand why, after being the mysterious figure the whole time that he's been, he needed to be a little bit over the top to make up for all the hype. Same thing with the Sharans. His being there the whole time wasn't -that- much a suprise, but mostly because after decades of speculating it was one of the only places that made that much sense. Less of a shock than who killed Asmodean.

 

 

I really don't like the whole notion about how a world without Shai'tan would be such a hollow and dead world. It was said many times that the pattern contained both good and evil, and that the Dark Lord was an outside influence warping and twisting it. Without that influence, there would still be good and evil in the world. Destroying him would have hardly led to such a desolate world that was implied, if anything it would be setting the world on course free from outside influence. After all the build up about how certain things were new to the pattern and had never happened before (ie Fain, Rand's face to face showdown with the Great Lord), I was looking forward to the dark one being destroyed and the world allowed to move forward free from it's neverending cycle. I do feel a bit let down about this, as I did with the ending of Stephen King's Dark Tower. For all the pain, suffering, death and destruction, nothing was solved, only delayed until it repeats again.

 

 

So many of the main characters starting to drop dead, while understandable given the scope of the Last Battle, did start to lose some of its impact after a bit. Felt more like certain characters were just being thrown away for the sake of it. Suian's death for one felt like a "She's more or less expendable, kill her to up the danger factor".

 

 

Bela died. She died a decade ago, the fans have just been beating her this whole time.

 

 

Chapter 37. Holy god Chapter 37. 200 pages to a single chapter? Guess which chapter I found myself on when it was late, work in the AM, and I was in "Soon as this chapter's done I'm going to bed" mode. I know how big a deal it was, but seriously, it couldn't have been split up?

 

 

Aside from those, I'm still satisfied with the book. Sanderson might not have been able to do it the same as the way RJ would have, but he still did it as well as anyone else could have. There were a few parts that could have been done better, but on the whole I still think it was the appropriate conclusion to this saga.

 

 

The last paragraph to the novel had already been predicted on these forums somewhere, but it was still the perfect way to close it off. RJ, I may have been frustrated as hell with you towards the end of your run, but despite that you still made a world that will be a part of me forever, and for that, I thank you.

Edited January 11, 2013 by Dakota

[Red Hand Man]

I loved it.

 

I loved the little homages to different parts of the series throughout and the hinting at what would come after and not having a 200 page denouement like Tolkien.

 

I laughed aloud a number of times, I chuckled, and yes I did well up, twice (Aviendha's farewell wave to Rand and Tam's farewell at the pyre).

 

Say what you will about Sanderson, he did an admirable job trying to make everyone happy.  He certainly couldn't.

[Exception Collection]

I loved it.

 

I loved the little homages to different parts of the series throughout and the hinting at what would come after and not having a 200 page denouement like Tolkien.

 

I laughed aloud a number of times, I chuckled, and yes I did well up, twice (Aviendha's farewell wave to Rand and Tam's farewell at the pyre).

 

Say what you will about Sanderson, he did an admirable job trying to make everyone happy.  He certainly couldn't.

 

Yes, the homages were rather nice.  Still, I wish we'd seen more of the minor characters that *didn't* fight.  There were a few that were just plain missing.

 

 

 

 

Speaking personally, I think it would have been a very interesting twist/change if the protagonists had failed, allowing the DO to end the world... and have "The Dark One spoke, and said "the world is not"" as the last sentence of the series. It would've resulted in bloody revolt by a lot of readers, but it would have been one of the most talked about endings in the history of literature (though it would likely end up a "It was his sled" moment).

Have you read the Sundering duology by Jacqueline Carey? Starts with "Banewreaker" think you might enjoy it based on the above.

 

No, I haven't read it.  To be honest, I like the uplifting endings more - the end of WoT was good, though the huge battles were getting rather annoying.  I read it in (almost) one sitting, though - had to spend half an hour eating, but otherwise sped through it at 120 pph.

 

I just think that it would have been FUNNY.  The Wheel of Time, one of the longer single-storyline epics of modern fantasy literature, ending with the world being completely destroyed.  With the entire series having been *pointless*.

[Miss Kasha]

Finished the book, and must say I'm satisfied. Are there things I would have preferred to be done differently? Probably. Parts of it did seem rushed. Some of the deaths seemed crammed in there, not giving you enough time to take them in (especially at the pace I was reading). But there aren't that many books that can make me consume all of my free time reading, and this one did. I both laughed an cried, which is how it should be. And now it's time for another, slower read through. 

[Cephia]

just finished my second readthrough.. now its time to sit back and digest all until the E-book format comes out.

 

after my first readthrough i was a bit dissapointed 

 

 

but after my second, i feel content ---  i really find that i like the somewhat hectic pace of this offering. and that even after just the first few chapters you can just feel that no one is "safe" throughout this book... i would have loved to see a few characters come out alive (bela 'sob').. but overall i find that the simplicity of some of the deaths really seems to fit with the flow of the battle.

 

Nearly 23 years of reading waiting for this scene are at an end.

[Gatewayinyourhead]

Loved it, But it should have been split up into like 3 more books, that's what RJ would have done! and also that way I could read more Wheel of time and it wouldn't be over yet.