Brandon Sanderson a Welcome Closer for "The Gathering Storm" and Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time"

Warning: this review is moderately spoiler-heavy. I'm not trying to give away the ending, but I do need to make references to things that happen in the book. If you want to buy it and go in cold, you should probably consider not reading further.

"As they entered, Cadsuane used her threads of Air to turn Semirhage around across her knee. And then she proceeded to spank the Forsaken" (p. 279).

This quote made me cringe, and apparently it made Sanderson cringe, too, which says something about the awkward way this book was written. The Wheel of Time was Robert Jordan's legacy, but he passed away of amyloidosis in 2007 and novelist Brendan Sanderson was picked to finish the series. At the same time, the last volume of the series, A Memory of Light, quietly became three volumes (such stretching is depressingly common in this series which has now been going on for most of my life). The Gathering Storm is the twelfth book overall, the first written largely by Sanderson, and, if his promises can be trusted, the first of the final three books we loyal readers will be forced to buy.

But everyone wants to talk about Sanderson. I'll have to, too, eventually, but for the moment I want to look at the book itself. Because for the first time in many years, I actually finished a new volume of The Wheel of Time feeling unequivocally that the investment in hours had been genuinely worth my time.

Summary of the Plot(s)

Sanderson does his level best to advance as many of the increasingly varied subplots as he can. This book in particular focuses on two: Egwene's reunification of the Aes Sedai at the White Tower, and Rand al'Thor's gradual descent into coldness and, arguably, madness. Tuon and the war with the Seanchan receives some mention, but mostly in connection with the above plots. Aviendha, Mat and Perrin feature in a number of chapters but don't play central roles. And Elayne, the new would-be queen of Andor, has vanished from the narrative entirely, at least for the time being. So have Logain, Mazrim Tam, and the Black Tower. And Lan Mandragoran, of all people, aside from frequent references to his army heading fatefully closer to the Great Blight.

The most important thread in this book revolves around Rand's story. Previously, his force captured the Forsaken woman Semirhage, masquerading among the Seanchan, and are now attempting to interrogate her for information (leading to the startling moment I opened this review with). But Rand has other troubles on his mind. In this book he takes his decision that he must be hard as steel farther than ever before, and eventually cracks under the strain. The result is several extremely dark moments, including the Balefiring of an entire palace on the suspicion that Graendal is hiding within, the near-murder of his own father Tam, and, eventually, a near-suicidal but apparently climactic self-encounter with Lews Therin on the slopes of Dragonmount.

In the meantime, and nearby to that final moment, Egwene al'Vere is using her position as "demoted" novice within the White Tower to sow dissension against the contested rule of her rival Amyrlin Seat, Elaida. With the help of her training at the hands of the Aiel Wise Ones, Egwene is frighteningly successful in her task. After a disastrous raid by the Seanchan and the startling unveiling of what appears to be the vast majority of the Black Ajah through the help of a long-lived double agent within its ranks, Egwene effectively looks able to achieve her objectives bloodlessly.

To be honest, I did not pay much attention to the Perrin and Mat subplots, though I did read them. Their wanderings continue, essentially, although they become much more problematic. Aviendha's was impressive, for a reason I will discuss below; it seems she is much further on her path to becoming a full-fledged Wise One, but must return to shattered Rhuidean on a final quest before that can happen.

In the process of these plots, several major disclosures occur related to the overall narrative of the series. It is revealed, for example, that the reason the Hall of Sitters in Salidar was dominated by young Sitters was because of an attempt by the Ajah heads in Tar Valon to secretly control both sides of the budding Aes Sedai civil war (with the goal of limiting the damage and eventually allowing reunification). On the Forsaken side, it is apparently open season on Mat and Perrin, but Moridin and Shaidar Haran all but disown Semirhage for harming Rand (more on this later). There are a pair of extremely insightful philosophical discussions on the nature of good and evil and of the Wheel of Time universe in this book, one between Rand and Moridin (now explicitly revealed as the reborn Ishmael, as we all expected), and another between Egwene and Verin Mathwin.

Analysis of the Plot(s) and Writing

Sanderson teases out several themes that Jordan had clearly introduced before but had trouble engaging with directly. First and foremost, in my mind, is the relationship between freedom and authority. Both Egwene and Aviendha, to the greatest extent, struggle here and come to some resolution; however; it's also central to the last episode in Rand's near-fatal collapse, including his violent reunion with his father, his startling visit to the Seanchan stronghold of Ebou Dar, and finally his epiphanies on Dragonmount. How, in essence, does one cling to freedom when circumstances try to claim it from you?

Both Tam al'Thor and Gareth Bryne, in separate conversations with very different people, advance the point that freedom is in your head. Even for the lowest soldier, both claim, there is still the freedom to choose why one acts, even if one cannot choose how or whether one acts. For Egwene, the dilemma is much starker: can she cling to some measure of freedom and power by refusing to acknowledge her demotion to novice and subjugation to Elaida? Ultimately, it seems, she can. The answer, helpfully supplied by a Red Aes Sedai, is that you are not truly inferior until you accept the rightness of your inferiority, and allow others to do so without challenge.

Aviendha experiences a similar dilemma as the Wise Ones set her a series of increasingly grueling punishments without offering any explanation as to what wrong she has committed. Eventually Aviendha rises above her instincts to be more-Aiel-than-any-other-Aiel (itself, I would say, a subconscious reaction to being forced to leave the ranks of the warriors, whom she regarded as the true Aiel), rejects the punishment, and demands that her superiors justify their actions. As the attentive reader has no doubt guessed pages before, this is precisely what the Wise Ones are hoping to goad her into: as one explains to her later on, they would never accept as an equal anyone who did not demand recognition as an equal, because anyone who believes they are inferior cannot be relied upon to defend her beliefs against firm adversity.

There are similar moments in Rand's plot, but I'll let you discover those for yourselves.

Ultimately, I still think I was left with more questions and uncertainties after reading The Gathering Storm than I had before I started it. Unlike similar feelings after most of the more recent books, however, in this case I was still left feeling satisfied about where the plot was and what my understanding of it was. Some of the new questions are of a much deeper nature. For example, we have more or less now covered the important theme of freedom and authority on the side of the Light.

Raising the obvious question, frequently alluded to in this book, of the motivations of those who fight for the Shadow - and most especially the motivations of the Dark One himself. Normally this was something Jordan never put much thought into (or rather, I imagine he did, but not on paper), aside from some occasional mad ramblings from Ishmael. Particularly through Verin, we are invited in this book to begin to consider what is really going on in terms of the bigger picture. Is the Dark One's intention actually to destroy the Pattern altogether? Moridin thinks so, and claims that he has joined the Shadow because this victory is logically inevitable and he will at least enjoy a few brief moments of unprecedented power before all of time comes crashing down around him. Verin, who seems to have put much thought into the matter, is less certain, and actually says she is mystified by it. I imagine that we will have to ponder this more and more as the series goes on from here.

Sanderson as Replacement "Director"

To be honest, I would have no idea whatever how to approach picking up a literary work where a previous author had left off, especially one who has passed before his time and left only notes and scattered draft chapters to work with. Sanderson's task was an ugly one as well as a sad one.

And in general, I think he accomplished it well. I'd pretty much have to say that, anyways: any accomplished author could have made something out of the mess, and he has. The style is not Jordan's, and while that detracts from the usual flavour of a Wheel of Time novel, that's not necessarily to say it's worse. Sanderson's attention to detail is quite different than Jordan's; in this book you will almost never find yourself bogged down in the minutiae of formal clothing and rules of etiquette, for example.

And some of the characters feel more honest, too. Honest with the reader, I mean - not necessarily with each other. Jordan's characters often do not share all of their feelings in print; many of their thoughts are taken up with rather petty complaints about the supposed illogical behaviour of others. Sanderson's characters tend to think through their beliefs and motivations much more clearly and explicitly, which is helpful to the reader. Not that being misinformed has stopped being important; as with Jordan, Sanderson repeatedly and excellently portrays characters making important decisions on the basis of being utterly misinformed.

Jordan initially stated that he could finish the series with one volume. I now believe that was unbelievably optimistic of him: Sanderson is attempting to do it in three, and is simultaneously telling the story probably more quickly than Jordan would choose to do so.

Sanderson continues to complete the Wheel of Time with the next volume, Towers of Midnight, expected to be published in late 2010 or early 2011.

All quotations are from Jordan and Sanderson, The Gathering Storm (Tor, 2009).