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A Memory of Light (The Wheel of Time, #14)

Robert Jordan,

Brandon Sanderson

Start date: January 7, 2013

Finish date: January 31, 2013

Discussion: Book Discussions

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What Members Thought

Feb 22, 2012 seak rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2021

Holy cow, I finished! Only took me 15 years!

Hey, I have a booktube channel (Youtube for book reviews!) and I discuss the latest trailer for the new Wheel of Time TV show from Amazon here. Please subscribe, it helps a ton! ...more

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Aug 24, 2014 Tracey rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, completed-posthumously

I can't believe it's over. I've said it all before, but there's no better place to say it again: I first read The Eye of the World while working at a pharmacy, my first job, and saw the chunkster on the small paperback rack. It was 1991. This series has outlived that job, that pharmacy (and its owner), I hesitate to say how many other jobs, AND its own author and cover artist. Twenty–four years later, I don't even know how to handle having read the last chapter of this behemoth.

Another thing I I can't believe it's over. I've said it all before, but there's no better place to say it again: I first read The Eye of the World while working at a pharmacy, my first job, and saw the chunkster on the small paperback rack. It was 1991. This series has outlived that job, that pharmacy (and its owner), I hesitate to say how many other jobs, AND its own author and cover artist. Twenty–four years later, I don't even know how to handle having read the last chapter of this behemoth.

Another thing I will have said before (if I ever finish and post reviews of the other books comprising the finale): it was often fairly obvious to me where Brandon Sanderson had to take on full authorship of a section or chapter. Say what you will about Robert Jordan – and there is plenty to say – in my opinion he was a fine writer, skilled at exposition and description (maybe a little too skilled at that latter), and at dialogue; when things got a bit clunky I suspected Sanderson. (Sorry, BS fans; I haven't joined those ranks yet.)

So, one might ask, how was it?

Um.

I don't know how to answer that, entirely.

Twenty–four years. It would have had to be mind–blowing to live up to that kind of lead–in.

I wouldn't say it was mind–blowing. There was still too much meandering off into random characters' brains; I'm sorry, but after all those thousands of pages and thousands of characters I object to new characters still being introduced in the final book. There was, as mentioned, an unevenness to the writing, where Sanderson's writing filled in gaps, like patches mending tears in not–quite matching cloth. There was a coolness to the handling of a few of the main characters that was difficult to take; I've spent a long time with these characters, known them longer than I've known most actual humans in my life today, and for their personalities to shift, even slightly, was disturbing.

The biggest disappointment to me was not really in how it all ended – that was a little confusing, but how could it not be? – but in how it all ended for certain characters. Again, I've known these folks for over twenty years, more than half my life. For some of them – not "NPC's" but POV characters, characters who have had scores if not hundreds of pages devoted to them – to die not with a bang OR a whimper but just sort of a "poof" offstage and almost unremarked … that hurt. I mean, yes, there are so damned many characters in this saga that to spend time on every death would mean the series would have to outlive (or wear out) young Mr. Sanderson in his turn – but (view spoiler), for two?? They deserved better, especially the former. The latter got to go out fighting, but the former… poof. There was no grieving for them, not for their compatriots – it felt like they were unremarked; and not for me – I was too angry. And rushed. After a billion and a half pages, suddenly events began to hasten toward the end about halfway through … in spurts, at least. Then they'd go back to a more leisurely pace for a while. Then hurtle onward again. I don't know.

Writing this, I thought about going back and adjusting my rating. Fresh from the last pages I gave it the full five stars, but putting some of my thoughts on "paper" had me thinking I ought to bump it down. But … no. After all, awful as the film of The Return of the King was, it deserved the Oscars it won as representative of an at times magnificent (and at times downright execrable) movie trilogy; whatever its faults, Memory of Light was the grand finale. And it was kind of grand. ...more

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Oct 07, 2012 Jeffrey rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read-in-2013, fantasy

A critique.

This fourteen and final volume of the Wheel of Time was a fitting ending to the series. The Wheel of Time started with a bang. In a field where typical story lines were ended tied tight and limited to three volumes, Jordan chose to tell a huge story that was not easily reduced to a three volume set. There were 6 main characters and like a Cecil B. DeMille movie, there was a cast of thousands of minor characters. No minor characters were lightly drawn. The political infighting and jous ...more

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Mar 24, 2018 Tani rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, male-author, five-stars, epic-fantasy, 2018-novels, sff-2018, sff-completion-2018

We are reborn, Rand thought, so we can do better the next time. So do better.

I struggled with getting into this book. A big part of that, I think, was just fear. I've been reading this series for more than half my life. The Eye of the World was one of my first fantasy books, and an experience that I'll never forget. It was the longest book I'd encountered at that time, but it was also one of the best. I remember hiding away in the spare bedroom and spending a single sun-soaked day reading the e We are reborn, Rand thought, so we can do better the next time. So do better.

I struggled with getting into this book. A big part of that, I think, was just fear. I've been reading this series for more than half my life. The Eye of the World was one of my first fantasy books, and an experience that I'll never forget. It was the longest book I'd encountered at that time, but it was also one of the best. I remember hiding away in the spare bedroom and spending a single sun-soaked day reading the entire thing. It was a formative series for me, like Madeleine L'engle's Time Quintet, or Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. So what would happen if this book didn't live up to my expectations?

And to be honest, for a good chunk of it, it didn't. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't blowing me away, either. I found myself upset with some of the characters, or bored with them, or just uninterested. I'll admit, I was pretty angry with Egwene for a lot of the book. Which is funny, because her arc a few books previous was one of my favorites. I just felt like she was too unsympathetic to Rand, and too rigid in her thought patterns. I also didn't really care for the initial part of the battle, where the 4 great generals tried to each master a separate battlefield. It felt repetitive and too drawn out.

Of course, I compounded the problem by trying to read a million books at once. I made my own progress on this book too slow, and increased my own frustration with it. (Note to self: STOP DOING THAT.)

However, regardless of those criticisms, I ended the book thinking that this was definitely a worthy ending to the Wheel of Time. (Not the ending. But a ending. Haha, Wheel of Time humor.) I laughed. I cried. I read the last section of the book in an obsessive haze, unable to put it down. The stakes were raised continuously, and a lot of characters got a wonderful chance to shine. I loved the way that it came back to the three boys. I loved that Min got a more significant part to play than simply hanging around Rand. I loved the epic stakes, and that some people don't make it out on the other side. I loved that Rand continued to learn and grow, something that for a time I thought he was never going to do. I loved that even at the end of this series, I continued to find new characters to care for and root for. (Special shout-out to Androl and Pevara, my end of the series faves.)

Then, after all the epicness, I liked that the ending was able to give so many characters what they deserved, be that unexpected leadership, or a quiet life of anonymity. Was it everything I hope for when I started reading this series at the tender age of 12? Yeah, I think it was. So, thank you, Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson. I loved it. ...more

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Mar 28, 2022 Alan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75

It’s over..! What a series in general. This final volume had some failings, some storylines and major villains got snubbed out far too quickly, but equally there were other moments that were incredible.

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Apr 24, 2014 Shhhh... Books rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy

Annnnnd it's finished! Ah. I really enjoyed all 900-something pages of this. There were only a few boring parts and they were pretty skimmable. Really, overall this was a MASTERFUL tying up of the series. One of the most satisfying things as a reader is to see all of those plot threads that an author has come up with during a series tied together in the end, and MoL was that in spades.

So what I liked:

1. This book was a mastery of battle in fiction. I normally hate/skim battles (see: Lord of the ...more

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Aug 23, 2014 Deborah rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sf-fantasy

Hmm. A thousand-word climax. Although I enjoyed parts of this, the ping pong of repetitive scenes became tiresome after a while. It was nice to see it end, finally, after so many years, but it would have been better if I didn't feel relieved when it ended. Ah well, back to Game of Thrones. ...more

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