The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

I recently posted about my irritation at having to read three more books to get to the conclusion of The Wheel of Time series. I started reading The Gathering Storm fully expecting another long podding book where the main characters do nothing but plan and ponder, with a few bits of moderate excitement placed throughout. I re-read that old post before I started this one, and I am quite happy to eat each one of those words. The book is fantastic, exciting, eventful, dramatic and intense!

Sanderson's pacing in this book is great, it reminds me of some of my favorite early books in the series like "The Shadow Rising" and "Lord of Chaos." In The Gathering Storm, Sanderson lays the groundwork for the main story lines early, sprinkles in a few exciting side-character stories(Matt and Perrin) to keep the main stories from dragging while he sets them up. He then builds to a fantastic confluence of events that made me a little sad that the series is actually going to be over soon.

The book has two lead story lines. The first follows The Dragon Reborn, Rand al'Thor, and it's refreshing to get so many chapters devoted to him. Tasked with uniting the fractured nations, making peace with the invading Senchan, and destroying the Forsaken; Rand has decided that the only way he can handle what he must do is to cage himself off from his emotions and feel nothing. He's turned into a completely different person as he hardens himself for the final showdown with The Dark One. But before he can get there, he has to come to terms with who he is, and who he needs to be.

The second lead storyline focuses on Egwene and is probably the most exciting story involving The White Tower in the entire series. Egwene is trapped as a novice in the White Tower and is undermining the Amyrlin's authority in an attempt to reunite the tower and make preparations for the impending battle with the Dark One. Egwene's storyline ends with a fantastically exciting event that changes the entire direction of the final two books, and I can't wait for the next book to see what happens.

Robert Jordan's death after writing the 11th book in the series was devastating to many of his fans. Most fans, myself included, were very worried that whoever was picked to finish the series would never be able to capture the feel and tone of Jordan's series. I'm quite happy to say that Sanderson exceeded all my expectations as a writer for The Wheel of Time, and his voice has not only help carry on Jordan's vision, but enriched it.