A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson is the final book in the 14-part series, The Wheel of Time.
To say the end of the Wheel of Time series left me with mixed emotions is the gravest of understatements. It ranks right up there with ‘water is wet’ or ‘french fries are delicious!’
A part of me was finally able to let out a breath that I’d been holding for over a decade. 14 books, many, many hours and millions of words. No, seriously. The entire series is over 4 million words. They’re big books. You can’t even call them ‘dead tree’ books. More like ‘dead forest’. If you think that’s insane, this final book had a chapter, ONE SINGLE CHAPTER, which was 80,000 words long! That’s a few thousand words more than Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, and it was just a chapter.
Another part of me is torn up that it’s over. Sure, I can go back and read them all again whenever I want, but there won’t ever be a new installment to look forward to. With this main story wrapped up, and the original author already moved on to the next life, there couldn’t be more.
Sure, someone else could write sequels. There are authors out there right now that I’m sure could write an incredible sequel, but it still wouldn’t be the same. It wasn’t dreamed up in RJ’s head. Another book would be like eating someone else’s fudgicle, after they had already been licking it, and then they let it there, letting it melt. Now it’s a mess, and no one wants to lick it off the table. I might be getting lost in my own terrible metaphor.
On a side note, I thought Brandon Sanderson did an incredible job with the final three books. He kept everything in the same vein as Mr. Jordan would have done himself. The flow of the chapters, the dialogue, the level of description. It all felt on-point and it’s left me wondering what touches Sanderson put into it and which were original Jordan.
For that those don’t know, Robert Jordan died in 2007 due to heart disease. He had enough warning to make extensive notes on the “final book” which was so long it was split into three. Brandon Sanderson was chosen by both the publisher, TOR Books, and Robert Jordan’s wife, Harriet McDougal.
Enough digression. Memory of Light was the book fans had been waiting 23 years for. All the questions answered. All the battles fought. All prophecies fulfilled.
It had moments that made me want to curl up and cry, and moments that made me want to stand up and cheer!
We’ve been told for 14 books of the immense power possessed by some of these characters that we’ve come to love. Finally, we get to see that power. It’s put up or shut up time, and the bad asses have no plans on closing their mouths. And it all happens in the final battle.
If you’ve read any of these books, you’ve heard of the final battle. It’s where we’ve been told the entire time everything, and everyone, is going. It’s the battle to end all battles, and to end the final war. It’s good vs. evil. Life vs. death. Pepsi vs. Coke.
And it. Is. Awesome.
There are only a very few, minuscule things that left me wanting.
Some of the main heroes seemed to sit out more of the battle than I would have liked. Some people had their own path to walk, but I felt like they could have walked it while doing some cool things along the way. If you can chew gum and walk at the same time, you can serve your purpose and kill a trolloc of two.
Androl was such a great character, and he showed up so late in the series. Looking back, the timing was probably right, and he’s featured heavily in this final book, but I just found I wanted to see more about him. I wanted more scenes that featured him. And I wanted more importance to be placed on him. Apparently, I want Androl to be the Dragon Reborn instead of Rand.
I’m not going to give anything away about the ending. And to be honest I’m not sure how I feel about the ending. It’s been a while since I finished it, and I still don’t know. I don’t think it upset me, but I also didn’t feel like all was right with the world.
But as we all know, there is neither a beginning nor an ending to the wheel of time. But it was an ending.
