Author Topic: The Gathering Storm - First Impressions *SPOILERS*  (Read 51536 times)

readerMom

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The Gathering Storm - First Impressions *SPOILERS*
« on: October 27, 2009, 08:20:06 PM »
After ignoring my family for 6 hours I am happy.
And satisfied. It is nice to have so many long awaited events finally happen.
It was a good book.

Anyone more eloquent than I have opinions yet?
« Last Edit: October 28, 2009, 06:22:03 PM by Brenna »

Adrienne

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Re: The Gathering Storm - First Impressions
« Reply #1 on: October 28, 2009, 01:12:47 AM »
I just read it in one sitting as well.  I'm happy to see sine things resolved.  I felt like the writings were done mainly by Brandon.  I'm so ready to know the series ending.

Adrienne

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Re: The Gathering Storm - First Impressions
« Reply #2 on: October 28, 2009, 01:21:57 AM »
Sorry, it's hard to reflect immediately after such a ling read.  I loved the twist about Verin.  I always believed her intentions pure. 

I was really let down about not seeing the part where morg came out about her true identity.

Bookstore Guy

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Re: The Gathering Storm - First Impressions
« Reply #3 on: October 28, 2009, 03:40:43 PM »
You guys/gals may want to put a Spoiler warning in the heading.
Check out our blog, Elitist Book Reviews at:
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toddbodz

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Re: The Gathering Storm - First Impressions
« Reply #4 on: October 28, 2009, 05:33:30 PM »
Ya, Spoilers would be nice, I'm about 250 pages in and now I'm Dying to see the Verin reveal, but alas work gets in the way... 

Brandon,

If you happen to read this, I just want to say that I too, am a long time fan of RJ's, I first got involved in in the WOT books back around 1994 and have been hooked since.  So far I think your attempts to get the "voices" of the characters down have been pretty spot on with a few exceptions (Suian being too "Suianish" for my taste).  Thank you for taking up the challenge to complete this story that million's of fans love and adore.

Congrat's on what so far ( IMHO) is turning into a wonderful addition to the WOT world.  I eagerly look forward to your future works.

Sincerely,

Todd

P.S.  Since learning of your involvement in the WOT work, I have read through and thouroughly enjoyed your Mistborn trilogy, Elantris, and Warbreaker novels.  Keep up the good work!

apbadd

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Re: The Gathering Storm - First Impressions *SPOILERS*
« Reply #5 on: October 28, 2009, 06:30:55 PM »
I must say i am actually enjoying the change in author.  Brandon is a great author (as was RJ) but he does it a different way.  I feel we are getting in the character's heads more.  I do not believe there is much useless detail here as was sometimes present in the past.  Even if I didn't feel this way it is kind of nice to have a change after so many books in RJ's voice.  It is keeping things really fresh for me after a 1 year long re-read of the series.

Adrienne

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Re: The Gathering Storm - First Impressions *SPOILERS*
« Reply #6 on: October 28, 2009, 07:34:27 PM »
Sorry about Verin - I never did specify what happened at least :)

Apbadd I understand how you feel.  For some reasons after getting used to it for so long, it was just odd for it not to be there. 

I loved the book and feel like Brandon was a perfect choice.

Roberts

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Re: The Gathering Storm - First Impressions *SPOILERS*
« Reply #7 on: October 28, 2009, 09:00:10 PM »
It really feels like one unified series, rather than separate books. The series sure has matured.

Why did they change Brandon Sanderson's book jacket photo from his own books? He looks way too serious. :P
« Last Edit: October 28, 2009, 09:02:52 PM by Roberts »

mofojar

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Re: The Gathering Storm - First Impressions *SPOILERS*
« Reply #8 on: October 29, 2009, 12:36:51 AM »
Brandon I got to hand it to you.  There isn't much in this world that will make me stay up until 5 am on a day when I start a new job, but this book was great!  Part of me wanted to save it for a few days worth of savouring but I couldnt put it down, I had to know what happened.  Very balanced, very awesome!  I think I'll start re-reading it tonight to let it sink in! 

mack

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Re: The Gathering Storm - First Impressions *SPOILERS*
« Reply #9 on: October 29, 2009, 02:09:52 AM »
First of excellent book Mr. Sanderson and very well done with smooth transition of writing styles.

Now my few complaints are how the plot seemed very easily predictable. I guess after 3 years+ waiting and speculating most people who are forum participants and theory fans knew the main plot of the book. But even so it was quite predictable. I know you have to cut the books in thirds but I wish a fewer surprises would have happened in this section. The only thing that really surprised me was Rand's Epiphany and Verin's double crossing of the black ajah ( sort of a loophole plot filler though... like it was crammed in there) .

All in all one of the great books of the series.... and can't wait to see what happens in the next one with Matt ( my favorite character)  

Mack

PS Why no Elayne chapters? Guess she doesn't have much to add to the plot after seizing the throne.... and WHO KILLED ASMODEAN?????  >:(

cybes

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Re: The Gathering Storm - First Impressions *SPOILERS*
« Reply #10 on: October 29, 2009, 02:41:07 AM »
I ignored my family too and got it finished.  Great book Sanders.  I thought it moved nicely.  with the promise before RJ's death the last book was last I can understand all the suprises and the need for 3 books.

it was a great book.  I was hated by my family for not seeing them all night.

Czanos

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Re: The Gathering Storm - First Impressions *SPOILERS*
« Reply #11 on: October 29, 2009, 07:44:14 AM »
Just finished reading the book myself, and it was wonderful. It certainly felt like a cohesive part of the series, and while I noticed a few of Brandon's writing quirks (Such as a minor Brandon Avalanche) I felt like they enhanced the book rather than degraded it. Writing too much out of style would have been a bad choice.

All in all I'm quite happy with everything involved.
I came because I heard stories, tales of a lengendary man.
A man who was known as the Lord of the Mists, a man they named Survivor.
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Ari54

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Re: The Gathering Storm - First Impressions *SPOILERS*
« Reply #12 on: October 29, 2009, 10:10:22 AM »
I wrote this for my blog, but it fits here so I'm gonna repost it. :)



I've just finished reading The Gathering Storm.  I'm now going to rant about how I feel about how the book was written, having finished reading.

Firstly: Oh my god, what a great read. Without getting into spoilers, the plotline for Rand, and Egwene's struggle, and finding out exactly what was going on with Verin Sedai are simply full of win. The plotting here is so spot-on that more and more I can't understand the perspective of fans who were, presented with preview chapters, trying to nitpick what was written by Sanderson and what by Jordan. It might help that I was familiar with and liked both authors before coming to this book, but there is simply too much right here to justify anyone doubting that Brandon can get this project over the finish line. Hopefully everyone who liked the series has given him a chance to prove that.

Secondly: Brandon stayed true to and made good on his promise to make this a Wheel of Time book, but not try to pretend to be Jordan. There were short chapters here that Jordan would never have published- he favoured long threadlike chapters that he wove together slowly. There are names that don't quite sound the same as others in the Wheel of Time universe. But nothing that doesn't work. There is nothing that makes this a bad story. Every time I felt I was going to be thrown out of the story because events had twisted away from my expectations, Brandon recovered me by showing me that it was just good tension and plotting that left me guessing. I was feeling as if I was about to be thrown out of the story because the events were fulfilling promises in unexpected ways, which is exactly what any author worth their salt would do- it's just that the twists are getting much bigger now that the series is wrapping up, so the tension was good enough that it had me questioning if what I was guessing would even happen. And of course, in those cases, it didn't. ;)

The rules that Wheel of Time characters follow- that revelations are dramatic, that secrets are important, that the genders feel mutually incomprehensible to each other, that earning trust is hard- it's all still there. Nobody acts wrong. All the characters have their same motivations, and the new ones we discover make perfect sense. There were even things that had eluded me in previous novels that I picked up in this book, because Sanderson got into the character's heads a bit more, rather than telegraphing their feelings with body language or reactionary thoughts, and leaving the motivations behind them undescribed. The advantage of being near the end of the series! It all builds properly on everything that came before it, and it fits so deliciously in. There is no "McDune" problem here, not that I had expected to find one, but I was surprised to find that I didn't have time to worry once I had a chance to sit down with the book. I was too busy wanting to get back at the next chapter when I needed to break from reading.

There are a few parts where you can tell we're going at what for Jordan would have been breakneck pace. A lot more seems to happen "off-camera" than generally happened in the middle of the series, (There was certainly a lot of off-camera action at the beginning, however. This is still within the bounds of how The Wheel Of Time was written) and, as earlier, the chapter structure seems a little bit different from other Wheel of Time books. That's as much as I really want to say that skirts comparing Jordan and Sanderson; I'm not going to spoil the experience of the rest of this series by trying to figure out in much detail what's changed since Knife of Dreams, and the things I've mentioned are small changes of focus that any author could choose to make during their own series. The awesome lingering reminders of the Mat/Tuon relationship and the fast pacing are both still there from Knife of Dreams, which frankly, would have been enough for me on its own.

The Aes Sedai acted like Aes Sedai. Perrin was appropriately torn. Mat was a rascal with a heart of gold. And that's all you're getting without spoilers. There was, however, a small amount of Brandon's tendency to do a lot in his endings, but this wasn't the usual traffic jam that he wields at the end of a book, tying everything up neatly in parallel. There was still the usual serene close of Wheel of Time books, with the usual relaxed room to ponder just exactly what is coming next.

The novel excited me. I didn't want to put it down. (I managed, however, when I had to get off the bus. Somehow.) If you were still on the fence, I simply want to say this: The pattern is in good hands. Brandon's earned the trust that Harriet put in him, and then some. :)

Braus

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Re: The Gathering Storm - First Impressions *SPOILERS*
« Reply #13 on: October 29, 2009, 07:47:02 PM »
Loved the book, forced me to stay up all night :P Everything was great except the Legends chapter... for some reason it really didnt feel like Mat, but w/e :)

Valkynphyre

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Re: The Gathering Storm - First Impressions *SPOILERS*
« Reply #14 on: October 29, 2009, 08:19:34 PM »
SPOILERS

a few at least.



Just finished the book. I really could tell that there was a change in authors. The book moved much faster than any previous WoT book, with less words spent lingering on the texture of the world. I think Brandon did an incredible job. Every chapter was necessary, foreshadowed, strong, and never superfluous. The characters' personalities are excellent, if a bit more understanding and less opinionated (Nyneave). I especially loved Mat's 4-5 page metaphor for what dealing with women is like and his attempt at role-playing.

The scene with Semirhage and Rand's afterward willingness to resort to... well weapons of last resort were necessary and appreciated. I liked that he got harder, and hid his anger. It made him less of a man and more of a legend.

Egwene was perfect in this book. Absolutely awesome. An Amyrlin such as Creation has never seen before, nor ever will again. She IS the Aes Sedai, and always will be.

All in all, incredible story, and even though it wasn't the same as Robert Jordan, It is one of the best books in the series, if not the best. Actually, I think I do consider it the best in theseries.
Bow before The Worldbringer, Squirrel King![/color]