thepunktheory
Written on Apr 7, 2023
Finally. FINALLY. It feels like the pace is picking up and we’re getting somewhere. At least that’s what it felt like while reading. Now that I’m done and think about it, actually not that many things did happen, but it somehow felt better. Or maybe I was just getting excited because it’s the last book before Sanderson takes over and I was told that would be way more enjoyable to read.
If we’re being honest, considering the number of pages, it’s not actually a whole lot of plot development that’s going on here. However, in comparison to the last two or three novels it feels like Jordan moved mountains. Getting through this one was way quicker than the last few. There was a point where slogging through these books had started to almost feel like a chore, simply because there are so many novels and they are so long, and nothing is happening. But at the same time, I was curious what would happen in the end and I already invested so much time, so it was too late to quit. We finally reached a point where my initial excitement for this series is starting to come back!
As I said, more things are happening in this one which is good, not just because the plot is finally going somewhere but it also means the characters are less annoying. They are busy doing stuff, so they don’t have time to get on my nerves. And that’s probably what made the biggest difference to me! I know I’ve complained about this a lot in my previous reviews but we’d reached a point where almost everybody in this story had become absolutely insufferable – which certainly is something that has never happened to me before while reading a book series. I’m curious to see how Sanderson is going to improve on this. There are a few little changes that he can make that would already do a lot. For example, there are a couple of things that I appreciate as concepts, as ideas but we don’t need to be constantly reminded of them. Take Mat and the dice rolling in his head. Or Perrin having yellow eyes and smelling somebody’s emotions. Yes, I get it, that’s what’s going on with them, but I don’t need to be told 3 times on every page. It almost felt like Jordan was afraid we might forget if he didn’t keep reminding us.
So, Sanderson won’t have to reinvent the wheel to make me fall in love with these books again. There are little things to tweak that would mean the world. These novels were amazing initially! Obviously, there’s a lot there for him to work with, we just got a little lost somewhere along the way but I’m sure (or at least I hope) he’ll be able to guide us back.
