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To start, I will state that this review contains no spoilers. Mostly, I want to answer a question I'm sure many readers of the Wheel of Time series are thinking: "Has the wait been worth it?" A valid question. It's been years since the last WoT book came out, and with Robert Jordan's untimely death and Brandon Sanderson taking over to finish the series, does The Gathering Storm promise a solid conclusion to this staggeringly epic story?
Answer: Absolutely.
Here's an image to describe The Gathering Storm--picture a car. Now picture the driver's foot mashing the gas pedal to the floor. Now picture you, the reader, hanging onto to the back bumper as the car hurtles towards the nearest cliff or brick wall. Disaster is coming in many nasty forms, but you can't do anything except hang on and hope you get thrown clear on impact.
Lots of criticism was leveled at previous books where it seemed that, despite the hundreds of thousands of words, nothing happened. Anyone who claims this about The Gathering Storm is either lying or someone tricked them by placing the dust cover on a different novel. Yes, there's the usual page after page of characters' internal monologues, pondering emotional subtleties and various plotting, but, somehow, this didn't slow the pacing down. Everything lends itself to the feeling that the roller-coaster just reached the top of the first incline and now it's time to raise your hands in the air and start screaming. Perhaps this is an energy that Sanderson has brought to the story, or maybe it was my own excitement from knowing the story is progressing once more, and the end is in sight.
It's hectic at times, yes. It's sometimes confusing when you come across a character or subplot you forgot existed. Brandon Sanderson not only had the tough job of writing this thing based on Robert Jordan's notes and outlines, but he also had to take into account the amount of time passed since the last book in the series came out, and how much of a mental gap some readers might have concerning various characters, subplots and other details. There is a lot of ground to cover here, but it is done well. Right from the very beginning, you sense that all those hundreds, if not thousands of plot threads that Jordan wove out are beginning to be brought back together, and eventually will be knotted off or woven together into a single, strong cord. The Gathering Storm focuses the reader on the goal line--the final battle--and gives some heavy promises that it is going to be reached soon, whether we're ready for it or not. Each chapter builds on this sense of momentum. It was, for me, an incredibly fast reads despite the book's intimidating size (door-stopper is an understatement).
Also, if anyone is worried about the differences in author styles, there's no need to be. There shouldn't be any point where you'll want to pitch the book across the room because Sanderson's writing somehow ruined the experience for you. Yes, his personal style and word choice comes across at times, but for the most part, he succeeds at having transparent pose which lets one simply enjoy the story without triggering any mental alerts that there's a different man behind the curtain now.
The Gathering Storm does an excellent job of sucking the reader back into the story, reintroducing all the familiar faces and dilemmas Rand and his friends/enemies are in the middle of, and then giving the whole gang a big kick in the rump to get them sprinting for the finish line. The official release date is tomorrow, Oct. 27th. Get ready for the Wheel of Time to start turning yet again, and hang on tight.
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