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Sep 07, 2011

Alfonso rated it:

Do you know about Naruto filler episodes??? They were so horrible that they manage to make me hate a show I actually liked a lot! They grab awesome characters that I loved and put em in retarded situations that had nothing to do with the actual original plot of the show! That got me mad! Mad to the point that I decided to stop watching it… you know maybe that won’t reach anybody here! I mean! I think I have like 1 friend on my friend list who knows what a filler episode is! Maybe I should explai More...

9 comments like (10 people liked it)

Sep 07, 2011

Lori rated it:

I dreamt I got a serpent ring. Ya think I'm reading this incessantly? You'd be right!

Finished - Seattle had a severe cold front with snow so I had the opportunity to just settle in with this book, which was perfect. Look, admittedly I'm a fangirl of this series, yet how many years has it been since the first? A long long time. As everyone knows the last several books were all over the place, too many characters - instead of focusing on what we had, Jordan just added yet more characters More...

8 comments like (6 people liked it)

Sep 07, 2011

Danielle rated it:

Tor is apparently refusing to issue this as an ebook. Guess I'll have to see. I like the series, but I won't read large paper novels anymore. I simply don't have the space or the wrist strength for it.

11/20 - Found the hardback in a used book store. Bought it, will sell it again when I'm done, then buy the ebook in a couple years (maybe). Tor will NOT have my money twice (and maybe not at all), and I don't want to support the hardback format. It's so difficult to hold and trans More...

7 comments like (6 people liked it)

Sep 07, 2011

Isk rated it:

Oh god, half of this book must have been devoted to Perrin. Even wishy-washier than ever.
What was up with the ending? Totally random and failed attempt to do something exciting.
Nothing happens in this book. I never really understood when people said that about Jordan before, but it's quite obvious in this one.

The last one by Sanderson was awesome. This one is pure drivel.

The way Egwene defeated Mesaana was pathetic. She barely tried.

The way everyone except More...

3 comments like (5 people liked it)

Dec 27, 2011

Carrie (Care) rated it:

The Towers of Midnight is a completely different beast than The Gathering Storm. In the 13th instalment of The Wheel of Time series we have a much lighter tone (at times), which surprised me. I think it was needed though after the shadow cast over the last few books. The shadow is still there, but we have a bit of a reprieve from the madness, decay, and darkness that has spread over the world. It seems like the calm before the storm. And this coming storm could be the storm to end it all.
More...

16 comments like (4 people liked it)

Sep 07, 2011

Julie rated it:

No matter how long I've been reading these books (now over 20 years) they hold my attention. I can't wait until the last book comes out and I can read the whole series again and completely. This book combines all the storylines into one. There isn't the usual seperation of storylines. Some of the books just would focus on certain characters, now they are all coming together for the Last Battle. There isn't much on the Seachan but I expect that they will be tied up in the last book as well. More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Sep 07, 2011

Duffy rated it:

If feels like a different series now. The pace is moving at least three times as fast as the later Jordan books. And that's being charitable. Let's face it. There's a about one hundred pages of Crossroads of Twilight where the sum total of the action was that Elayne took a bath. There are seemingly endless stretches where Jordan would devote a page or two to an Aes Sedai raising an eyebrow -- or worse, almost raising an eyebrow.

On top of that, the emotional range of the character More...

1 comment like (6 people liked it)

Sep 07, 2011

Ryan rated it:

Narrative structure is taught in middle school and refreshed in high school. So surely it would safe to assume that it's standard stuff.

Exposition, rising action, climax, falling action.

I'm sure someone's about to correct me.

Before you do, I'll note that when I was a kid, there were five parts of plot. Most textbooks that I come across now list four. And different names and charts are used in different textbooks.

What controls all of this? Tension. More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Sep 07, 2011

Steven rated it:

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0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Sep 07, 2011

Mary-Ann rated it:

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0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 07, 2011

Bill rated it:

I started reading the Wheel of Time series in 1989. Twenty-one years ago and, yet, I stick with it. Some people would think I am a glutton for punishment however, books like "Towers of Midnight" serve as a reward for my patience.

Sanderson took over the writing duties for the series in the previous book, "The Gathering Storm" and he took a while to get comfortable with each of the characters which is why I felt the second half of that book was much better than the fi More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 19, 2011

Mike (the Paladin) rated it:

****** Prelude to the actual review and doesn't need to be read before the body of the review ********* :

I'm about a third of the way through this book and I've got to say that while there are some wonderful moments, Sanderson is carrying on Jordan's tradition of beating a subject or plot point not only to death but till it falls apart and starts to stink!

I am heartily sick to death of Perrin's self flagellation and flat refusal to accept ANY reality...after 10,000 pages More...

8 comments like (3 people liked it)

Sep 07, 2011

Chad rated it:

The Wheel of Time has been my constant companion through life since I was about 13 years old. I can still remember the sense of wonder the first book brought me way back when. I have read, and re-read the series countless times, growing up with my favorite characters, Rand, Perrin, Mat, Egwene, Nynaeve, Faile, Gaul, and so many more. The series had lots of ups and downs, and waiting years between each book was sometimes difficult, especially as storylines became so fragmented little action was p More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Sep 07, 2011

Peter rated it:

If I knew 13 years ago what I know now, I probably would never have begun reading the Wheel of Time series.

It's really fun. It has some terrific ideas. I can't wait to see how it's going to end. I'm committed.

But that's the problem. I don't really have much more motivation to read the series anymore beyond the fact that I'm committed to it.

This book was fun. Some exciting things happened that we've been waiting for for a long time. But it took 500 pages More...

4 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 07, 2011

Servius Heiner rated it:

Don't send the mob to my house but... I think it was best for Jordan to go off and die before finishing this series. The series as a whole started off great, but somewhere around book five it went stagnant. Part of the problem was Jordan was dragging his feet the second problem was there was no character maturing. All the main characters continued to act like they did in the start of the series.

Sanderson turns this around with a flare of despair. The characters mature and the story l More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Aug 05, 2011

Stewart rated it:

I started this book expecting to read (finally) about Mat and the Tower of Ghenjai. I didn't expect it to take 800 pages before Sanderson finally got around to telling that tale. In fact, by the mid-700s, I was starting to wonder if it hadn't gotten shuttled to the next book. I also didn't expect about 75% of this book to take place before the end of the previous novel. While it's possible that this was a better order to structure the novels in, and while the occasional back-and-forth is a w More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Sep 07, 2011

Gregory added it

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0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 07, 2011

Paul rated it:

There's no question now, after this second book, that Brandon Sanderson has fully taken Robert Jordan's style and done what Jordan himself was having great trouble doing: progressing the story, and yes, even wrapping it up. And this climax is fulfilling all the promise that the series has had during its best moments. Finally, we get the denouement that we've been waiting for. Characters are finally coming into their own, and showing real growth rather than the stale stubbornness that was beco More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Sep 07, 2011

William rated it:

“The Gathering Storm”, the first “Wheel of Time” to be released after Robert Jordan’s death, was a surprisingly good entry in the series and probably the best Wheel of Time book for at least a decade, so I was looking forward to “Towers of Midnight”. I wouldn’t say it was quite as good and it had a few more flaws, but overall I still thought it was a good read and I thought Brandon Sanderson did a good job of finishing Jordan’s work. A lot of long-standing plot threads are resolved in preparatio More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 07, 2011

Christy rated it:

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0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 07, 2011

Alex rated it:

So, first up: You know if you're going to read this book or not, because it's number 13 in a series. If you someone managed to get through books 8-11, which were the serious low point in the series, then you're going to read #13. So it doesn't really matter whether I review it or not. But I'm going to, because I'm going to.

So Jordan left ~150 plot threads to be tied up in the "last book" of the series, which this is the second part of, because Jordan never wanted to end it. I More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 07, 2011

Andrew rated it:

This is something of a puzzle. It shouldn't work. Book thirteen of a series that we were promised would defiantly, absolutely, have number 12 as it's last. Then the author died, and now it's going to be 14 (I am assured, 14, defiantly, absolutely, the last). There seems like there should be something wrong here.

So, thoughts. It has some typographical errors, which is entirely excusable. It has some minor continuity errors, which is possibly pardonable. It has no discernible structure More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 07, 2011

Oroboros72 rated it:

OK, love the Wheel of Time.
This book is no exception. In fact it might be my favorite so far.
There is no sense in summarizing it for someone who hasn't read the rest of the series, so I am going to take it for granted that anyone reading this has read at least some of the wheel of time books.
The best thing about this book, besides a number of much-anticipated story arcs finding completion, is that it caused me to really start liking some characters that have so far been on More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 07, 2011

Paul rated it:

This book covers maybe three weeks at most in the lives of the characters, however, it encompasses quite a few events, many of which are key to the Last Battle.

I finished it in only three days. Now I've got to wait another year for Memory of Light! Blood an' bloody ashes!

Anywho, I am glad to say that B. Sanderson has really researched the time period from which RJ derived the settings for this series. He delves into and describes the processes of blacksmithing, fletching, lea More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 07, 2011

Riannon rated it:

I almost wanted to give this book a five. The writing is really good, and the plot moves forward a nice amount during the course of the book. I like quite a few of the characters in the story better as Sanderson writes them than I did as Jordan wrote them.

The only things preventing me from giving it a five star rating are: 1. Since Sanderson started writing the series, the characters have all become a lot more introspective. This difference is intrusive sometimes. 2. I felt like the p More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Sep 07, 2011

Brian rated it:

When the powers that be decided to have Brandon Sanderson complete the Wheel of Time series upon the death of Robert Jordan, I was curious to see how the new voice would fit within such a well established universe. The decision to split the final volume into three parts smacked of a Harry Potter last film move despite assurances that the two extra books were needed to properly end the saga.

The first offering, The Gathering Storm was a wonderful continuation of the saga. Several of t More...

9 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 07, 2011

John rated it:

Wow. I could not put this book down. After finishing the Gathering Storm my first thought was that there is no way Brian Sanderson and Robert Jordan are going to be able to wrap this up in 2 books, even if the y are enormous. I have now changed my opinion on that. A lot and I mean a lot happens in Towers of Midnight. Easily my 2nd favorite book in the series. From what's happened in Towers of Midnight the final book in the series will in all likelihood be my favorite in the series.

Spoi More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 07, 2011

Tracey rated it:

I'm very happy that the plots on one of my favorite SF series is finally wrapping up, unfortunately, it can never be the same as if Jordan had finished it himself. I enjoyed this book immensely, and am eagerly awaiting the last one next year. Sanderson is a good writer overall, and he did a good job. It is just unfortunately an entirely different style of book from the Jordan ones. No matter how hard he tries, the characters thoughts, actions, and descriptions have changed. Not necessarily for t More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 07, 2011

Matthew rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 07, 2011

Dawn rated it:

I finished this a couple days ago, but had to take a breather from it before I came and wrote my review. This was for two reasons: (1) If I had written it right away, I would have never been able to do it without spoilers (and I hate putting spoilers in reviews); and (2) If I had written it right away, it would probably have been at least half as long as the book itself.

But let's keep this short. I mean what really can I say? This is a review to the 13th book in the series. If you've More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)