I finally finished the latest novel in the long-running The Wheel of Time series.  At 784 pages, it’s one of the longer volumes. After Robert Jordan‘s death, the series’ publisher and his family decided (with his blessing) to allow the series to be finished by another writer. The writer they chose for the job was Brandon Sanderson.  Working from significant written materials and recordings made by Jordan, who knew he was dying, Sanderson continued writing and along with the publisher decided to write two more novels after this one.

I enjoyed The Gathering Storm immensely. Perhaps my enjoyment may have been colored by the joy of finally getting the next book in the series but as I read, I kept thinking about how the characters, dialogue, and plot points felt exactly the same as the previous novels.

All was not perfect, of course. Some differences were obvious, a few chapters read a bit odd and there are still two more books before the series is “finished”. Robert Jordan wanted to write two more prequels and had considered writing a series taking place after the Last Battle, which concentrated on Mat and Tuon.  That being said, the storyline advanced quite a bit in this latest entry, some plot points from previous books were wrapped up nicely and overall I felt that progress was made.

If you are a fan of The Wheel of Time books, I believe that you will enjoy this one.