Book Summary

Title: The Gathering Storm
Author: Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
Series: Wheel of Time (Book 12)
UK Release Date: 27th October 2009
Recommended Prior Reading: Wheel of Time Books 1-11 and New Spring

Background

The Gathering Storm is the 12th main Wheel of Time novel, and the first to be co-authored by Brandon Sanderson following Robert Jordan’s death. While the 12th book was intended to be the final Novel entitled A Memory of Light, it became clear when it was being “finished” by Brandon Sanderson that the volume needed to be split into 3 in order for it have a satisfactory conclusion, and despite Robert Jordans statements that there would only be 1 more novel it was likely he would have had to make the same decision.

Character Arc’s

As readers of the Wheel of Time will know, there are multiple character arc’s ongoing in the books, and in The Gathering Storm, Brandon choose to concentrate on Rand’s and Egwene’s, with only token reference to other main characters in unlinked story lines.

What did you think of it?

My early impressions of the book are that it is much faster paced than recent installments with Rand and Egwene’s story lines only needing a little further development before “the final battle” occurs and I expect that we may not see much if any progress in their story lines in the next book. Taken as a whole, for the most part I could not tell which parts of the book where written by who though Mat’s scenes did appear slightly off on a couple of occasions. I am reassured though that I will be satisfied with the final two books in the series.

I only had two issues with the book as a whole, which are linked to the same source, the emphasis in the book on Rand and Egwene. This emphasis meant that Perrin and Mat’s parts in the book were limited to the point that for Perrin’s part in particular I felf they were only put in as it has been so long since the last book Brandon felt he should put a glimpse of them in.

Unfortunately this problem is exacerbated by Rand’s “flashes” of Perrin and Mat jumping ahead of where we see them in their story lines and towards the end of the book we see a character who is currently with Perrin meeting with Rand and also gives Rand some spoilerish information on what happens with Perrin after we last see him. While I cant say without reading the next book I do wonder if it would not have been possible to end Rand’s and Egwene’s story lines earlier and gone further with Mat and Perrin’s stories so that they are more in sync.

Aside from this problem though I was more than happy with the book as a whole

Whats your Recommendation?

If you enjoy the Wheel of Time series Buy, if you have never read the Wheel of Time series buy or read the first 11 book then buy!

Your Rating

8/10

SPOILERS

Speculation on the next book Towers of Midnight (Note contains Spoilers for The Gathering Storm)

From comments on Brandon’s blog and the sparsity of their POVs in this book, the emphasis for the most of the next book will probably be on Mat and Perrin. For Mat we know that he is in Caemlyn and has to wait there for at least 10 days before he opens a letter from Verin and follows its instructions or he does not open it and waits 30 days there. This means he is likely to run into Elayne and so may get dragged into the aftermath of the succession struggle or she may try to order him around again which may tempt him to follow Verin’s instructions to get away from her! There is also the Moraine rescue attempt, but I get the feeling this may be saved for the beginning of A Memory of Light (Final Book) before the Last Battle proper begins.

For Perrin we know for certain he meets with Galad and that Morgase gets “outed” and will be visited at some point by Cadsuane and Nynaeve, but more than this it is difficult to say. It is possible given what Rand is told that the Seanchan and the remnants of the Prophets forces come back into play, but that could also refer to the events of Crossroads of Twilight. Given how his very small role in The Gathering Storm ends I suspect that his storyline will concentrate on him finally accepting being a leader of men and adapting to this role, dealing with the loss of control during the wolf dream and resolving his problems with the Whitecloaks. Hopefully we will also have the Broken Crown issue confirmed once and for all!

Given that Morgase has been revealed and Galad is going to meet up with Perrin, it also raised the prospect that they will head to Caemlyn as well, however the number of people currently attached to Perrin make it unlikely that if they do they will make it their in time to meet up with Mat though it is a possibility. Another possibility is that depending on if Rand’s story is continued in Towers of Midnight he is sent to negotiate with the Borderlanders given his ties to Saldaea through his marriage to Faile, the Seanchan are also a possibility through working with Tylee but Mat is a better candidate given his marriage to the new Empress.

In terms of other plots, the Black Tower is likely to feature as in The Gathering Storm we find that both the Red Ajah and Rebel “embassies” to The Black Tower have not returned indicating that some problem has occured and we will probably learn what it is in the next book. There is also the prospect of glimpses of Lan and Loial. I suspect if Elayne has a new arc, it will tie into Mat’s given that he is going to be back in Caemlyn. If other story lines proceed further will depend greatly on if Mat and Perrin’s arcs in The Towers of Midnight end at the same point in time or just after the end of The Gathering Storm or if this point is reached earlier in the book.

I personally suspect their is not enough “meat” in Mat’s story prior to rescuing Moiraine which is unlikely to occur before this point or Perrin’s to account for more than half a book even if a Black Tower and an Elayne arc is included. This makes me think that the first half of Towers of Midnight will deal with these story lines with perhaps a little progression on the Egwene and Seanchan story lines before all the main story lines are picked up in the second half of the book, which I suspect will close with the “opening shots” of the final battle.