Hello again, Starla (and others)! If I can narrow in on a detail which may provide some extra motivation during a time of potentially flagging enthusiasm (alongside the more abstract points shared in my first post on the last page), I would note that through your lack of preconceptions on Sanderson you now have a unique perspective to offer us as you approach the final instalments of the series - a perspective which at minimum this one correspondent will look to keep abreast of with sincere interest. There is clearly space for re-examination of the rich corpus of the Wheel of Time, and a great hunger for analysis, re-visitation, and vicarious extraction of insight by the contrast of opinions on the various plot points and narrative decisions the author(s) took. We, or at least I, do not take your opinions for granted, and will be very glad of your honest appraisals of these last few works. Wishing you the fortitude to see this project through, then, And hoping to contribute in some fashion to your joy, I will wish you a pleasant week-end. -Stéphane Gérard (Friday, August 14th, 2026.)

Hello Starla (and others) - thank you for sharing the added perspectives of your re-reading! Since you mention it, since I have discovered this series of posts at a surprisingly convenient place to hopefully discuss it in real-time going forward, and since DojoToad has already offered a counterpoint with which this potentially biased opinion of mine may be tempered: I would be very keen to re-examine how Sanderson's writing differs from Jordan's, as well as the effect - almost violently disconcerting, in my opinion - of the authorial change in custody on the series as a whole. To disambiguate my primary focus (though I will gladly follow along with any other nostalgic re-visitations associated with this incredibly complex narrative) I will share that, though I have re-read Jordan’s books between three and five times each, I have never even come close to feeling anything but discomfort at the prospect of opening up the wounds left in my psyche by the trio of Sanderson titles which capped off the series. The prose styles of the two differed enough that I felt at times as almost physical the need to reject and disavow, in some still-nameless way, the alien hand at the helm of the final Wheel Of Time narrative. The metaphor I have established for myself, though definitely exaggerated by the depth of my disappointment at this specific failure to foresee the clash, relies on illustrating the juxtaposition with Michelangelo's David... If its unfinished head had been posthumously completed using "googly eyes" (or, in a more even-handed attempt to respect the colossal magnitude of Sanderson’s task, simply in an "art-deco" style), leaving one with an overwhelming impression of the whole harbouring an utter and aberrant mismatch. My chief reason for not supporting the nomination of series as a unit for a Hugo award in 2014 boiled down to some version of this logic, though many of the individual installations had been more than worthy of such recognition. I do not fault the attempt, and I can compartmentalize my own quibbles long enough to express gratitude that we are able to enjoy any completion of the structure at all, yet I hope that sufficient time has passed at this point since publication for us to be able to speak objectively on these matters without risking offense. Hoping this sparks an interesting perspective for your renewed outlook on readership, And looking forward to whatever discussion might arise, then, I will wish you all a very good day. -Stéphane Gérard (Saturday, August 2nd, 2026.)