Towers of Midnight
The Wheel of Time, book 13
by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
Rand and Egwene disagree on a plan, Perrin enters the Wolf Dream while pursued by Slayer, Mat enters the Tower of Ghenjei to rescue Moiraine.
This one went a little off the rails in my opinion, but with only one book left there’s no way I’m backing out now. Hopefully Sanderson reigns it in for the ending. There are some wonderful story moments and plotlines in this installment, so I certainly didn’t dislike it, but the writing was noticeably different and I can’t say I was crazy about the change of pace.
This book is the setup for the ending, the buildup to the series climax. It’s a lot of planning and preparing for the Last Battle, so it felt odd that it was paced so quickly. I think Robert Jordan’s detail-oriented, intentional writing style would have painted this part of the journey better. Brandon Sanderson’s direct, matter of fact writing style made all the perspectives and plotlines feel more chaotic than the events happening. This may be to the benefit of readers who think this story tends to drag, but when we’re getting this many perspectives in one book I think the slower style makes everything more focused and immersive.
That being said, I did enjoy this installment because we get the plans for the Last Battle, some old characters return, Mat and Egwene have a number of shining moments, and Perrin advances his abilities. Elayne makes some major contributions, but also some incredibly foolish mistakes. I like the progress that was made in this book and I’m excited to see how it all plays out for the ending.
<3D
LessthanThreeD 