Towers of Midnight: Wheel of Time, Book 13

And so we come to the penultimate book. Even though this book had a few typo errors throughout it was still an excellent read. Faster paced than some of the last books . You can finally see things building to the big conclusion. So on to the last I go ….

Now, there are a few problems with this book and I wasn't sure whether I should detract a star because of it, but by the end I thought it should deserve the full five.This book concentrates more on Perrin, Mat and Elayne than the previous book did and for the most part all their stories are brilliant. It takes time to get there, but the destination is worth the wait.PerrinIt is widely known that these last three books were originally meant to be one. In the Gathering Storm, it wasn't obvious and Sanderson had done a good job of choosing certain story lines to elevate over others. Perrin's wasn't one of them, so his story has been placed in this book. However, because of this we now have quite a huge continuity error. The first half of Perrin's story takes place during the events of the previous book and as such, certain things that you believe have already happened...haven't. It's like a huge flashback, which i wouldn't mind, but it's not styled like one. Again, I wouldn't mind if there were no crossovers, but the character of Tam al'Thor appears in both Perrin's story and Rand's story which is a continuation of the previous book. So you're reading along one minute about how he's gone back to the Two Rivers, and the next minute find him speaking to Perrin! In Ghealdan! While I would think anybody would be stupid to pick this book up first as it is clearly marked as book thirteen, I would think a new reader would get confused over this (though, to be honest, it's probably their fault anyway. I mean who reads book thirteen before even book one!). It could even get confusing if you hadn't read the Gathering Storm in a while. Fortunately these matters are put into perspective when we find out that Perrin witnessed Rand's activities on Dragonmount.These niggles aside, Perrin's story is by far the best it's been since Shadow Rising, perhaps ever. He has to confront much of his past with the Whitecloaks, Slayer, the Wolves, all the while preparing his armies for the Last Battle and finally accepting the role of Lord.ElayneThe weak point of the novel. After gaining the Lion Throne, Elayne now has her sights set on Cairhien. So we have to go though yet another fight for the crown. Fortunately, this portion of the story is relatively short.MatAside from the ending, this is the best part of the book. Mat, Thom, and Noal set off for the Tower of Ghenjei. Once there the climax with the Aelfinn and the Eelfinn is exciting and quite creepily terrifying. The creatures were creepy in Shadow Rising, but here we see them really come to life.The overall climax to the book is something that we've been waiting for since the Eye of the World. Throughout the book, we've got huge exciting battles with shadowspawn, but they're mere skirmishes compared to witnessing the start of the actual Tarmon Gaidon. However, that's not what I like about the ending, it's the less action oriented things. The fact that we get to see the armies of at least eight nations rallying together. A short and terrifying dream sequence that shows just how evil the Dark One can be. But my favourite has to be the end quote. It all leads to a feeling of dread and despair, leaving you truly scared for the Last Battle. This is a point few writers can accomplish. Most will have this kind of scene with a feeling of hope, epic potential, or just plain action, but not one of impending doom. This book scared me. But not because of the monsters, or the concept, or even the Dark One himself. I was scared for the characters. I was scared for Rand, Mat, Perrin, Faile, Elayne, Min, Aviendha, Egwene, Lan, Nyneave, Thom, Everyone. I have read this series on and off for the past ten years and I have grown to know and love these characters. The moment they have dreaded throughout thirteen books has finally come. And I am terrified they're not going to make it.That is writing you don't read every day.This is a truly epic book. In every sense of the word and I am looking forward to starting Memory of Light tomorrow. I'll probably end up in Waterstones and begin reading it knowing that it has already been delivered to my house while I was at work. Damn you Amazon! Get this stuff to me quickly! I'm sure you can get someone to open a Gateway instead of bothering with those pesky slow lorries!

Finally there is an injection of pace into the saga again. Despite the brilliance of the first half a dozen books the latter half of the series has felt like it has been treading water for a long time. With the penultimate book the story seems to come together just in time for the finale. Whether this is anything to do with Brandon Saunderson or whether Robert Jordan already had things laid out to go this way doesn't really matter. What is relevant is that between them, and Jordan's widow, it seems like the saga is back on track to deliver a great conclusion.It is obviously tricky to say much about this book without giving away spoilers. But it seems safe to say that it concentrates more around the activities of Perrin and Mat and those that surround them. Rand continues his strategies but his appearances are brief and clearly not yet the focus. Elayne, Egwene and Nynaeve get a fair share of the book and some Aes Sedai issues become resolved. Gawain and Galad are also featured heavily, more than they ever have been before. There is also some focus on Aviendha but I was left feeling uncertain about what was going on in her sections. There doesn't seem to be much of a need for them and I wonder if in some way they are to do with Jordan's proposed trilogy focussing on the Seanchan; which will now never be written.Disappointingly there isn't much action from the Forsaken. Out of the few that remain some of them have still hardly been featured. Moridin still does very little, his appearances brief. But he and some of the other leading villains loom in the background hopefully ready to take on a more major role.There is still an awful lot of seemingly unnecessary arguing between the various heroes of the saga and the undercurrent of latent sexism continues. I'm finding it a little annoying and textually repetitive that all the male characters think all women behave in a certain way and vice versa. It is particularly annoying with the Aes Sedai at times. After all the events across the series of books I would have expected at least some of the characters to have grown out of this. Surely all their horizons have been broadened by their experiences.The above aside, this is a very enjoyable read and it is probably a better book than the previous five or six in the series. It's a promising sign that the final book might equal the greatness of the first few.

Good set of books

I was thinking these last 3 books might not be as good. I was thinking I'd have to endure them, but it's actually really well written.He's got mats character down pat, the book runs at a great pace, and ties up lots of loose ends.I really really enjoyed this one..

Good book on a long series.

The book is very dynamic, chapters are divided with several events, and as the final book is approaching, some minor and medium plots are getting closure. Looking forward (and sad) to the last book of this fantastics serie

Accattivante, coerente, pieno di colpi di scena e super articolato, uno dei migliori fantasy mai letti

I have no words to express how important it has been reading this book at the present juncture in my own life story. It helped me out of my own darkness and find hope within my own soul.

Great read