The Gathering Storm - First Impressions *SPOILERS*

[Comfortable Madness]

Also, and I forgot to mention this earlier: how about Elaida? I totally did a "whoop" when she got captured by the Seanchan. Totally served her smug little self right. 

Oh, heck yeah. Best part of the book. Period. I was hoping for Elaida's fall for quite some time, couldn't come fast enough.

Yeah I did the same. I was always confused by her character progression though. She went from the stern, strict, overbearing, motherly figure to a complete psychopath.

[Eerongal]

Also, and I forgot to mention this earlier: how about Elaida? I totally did a "whoop" when she got captured by the Seanchan. Totally served her smug little self right. 

Oh, heck yeah. Best part of the book. Period. I was hoping for Elaida's fall for quite some time, couldn't come fast enough.

Yeah I did the same. I was always confused by her character progression though. She went from the stern, strict, overbearing, motherly figure to a complete pyscopath.

I honestly think that her "captivity" by the black ajah after she became amyrlin had a lot to do with her shift in character, that and the sudden rise to power.

[douglas]

I'm with douglas and Eerongal on the whole Moiraine issue. She is held in high regard because Rand came to trust her.

Not just that.  He trusted her, and she earned that trust.  The only other characters with any claim to that are his three lovers, and I'm not sure how much that counts given that they got it mostly because he happened to fall in love with them.  He trusts Perrin and Mat too, and probably most of the Emond's Fielders, but only because he grew up with them and trust was established before the series even started and they haven't broken it yet.

I was always confused by her character progression though. She went from the stern, strict, overbearing, motherly figure to a complete psychopath.

At least part of the psychopath change was due to Fain's influence, remember.

[Comfortable Madness]

At least part of the psychopath change was due to Fain's influence, remember.

Good call. I completely forgot that they ever even met. That and with what Eerongal said could explain it I suppose.

[mtbikemom]

At least part of the psychopath change was due to Fain's influence, remember.

Good call. I completely forgot that they ever even met. That and with what Eerongal said could explain it I suppose.

Oh, yeah, I forgot about that, too.  But that's not surprising.  I rely heavily on EWOT to keep up with most things WOT.  I think Elaida's rapid descent into megalomania/hysteria was a bit over-written, but attributable to Fain (now that we've been reminded), ill-gotten power and other above-mentioned corrupting influences.  Won't it be interesting/satisfying to catch up with Elaida's POV for a bit?  I think there will be a chance for her redemption, though.  She was never downright evil and we'll see how much conscience she's retained and how capable she will be to recognize her errors. 

There will have to be a little tea party at the very, very end with Cad., Moiraine, Nynaeve, Elaida and the ghost of Verin all promising to stay the heck out of everyone's business from then on.  Just be glad I'm not writing this.

Oh, and where did I get that Cadsuane will teach Rand to "laugh and to cry"?  Did I make that up?  Min's viewing originally said that she'll teach him "something," but wasn't that eventually revised?

[Eerongal]

Oh, and where did I get that Cadsuane will teach Rand to "laugh and to cry"?  Did I make that up?  Min's viewing originally said that she'll teach him "something," but wasn't that eventually revised?

If i remember correctly, that was something she resolved to herself, she swore she would make him do the above.

[Patriotic Kaz]

And while i fit into the group of young single males I am frankly offended that you would categorize me in the fashion of a simpleton... i can deal with elitist pig but a bloddy moron hell no! (note this is a damn rant not a joke i'm genuinely annoyed not mad but irritatated that this generalization was made) I don't want people bowing to the main character and i abhor it when ppl do so to me. I'm an individualist and believe in an educated and opinionated public that is still open minded. I don't dislike Cadsuane but she annoys me on a regular basis for the above reasons which i find more irratating in most of the other Aes Sedai.

[Pygmalion]

There will have to be a little tea party at the very, very end with Cad., Moiraine, Nynaeve, Elaida and the ghost of Verin all promising to stay the heck out of everyone's business from then on.  Just be glad I'm not writing this.

bahaha.... that would be nice.

[Seaoftrouble]

Lets just say I whent out and bought the Mistborn series after I read The Gathering Storm.

Note:
I love the WOT books because I always felt Robert Jordan was going to wright the books the way he thought they should be told and never caved to those readers who constantly scream I want it now I want it now!!!!!!

[ajcanada]

Having now read TGS i can't be happier, what a great addition to the series. The major plot lines that were tied off show the series is well on it's way towards the final battle, and the characters and there development was bang on for me. I was most impressed with the subtleties that were incorporated into the characters, Matt for me showed the necessary changes to bring him into battle fully focused, previously i felt both he and Perrin had been running. Each hoping to somehow avoid the responsibilities of the situations they found themselves in. Matt after the events in Hinderstap and then the subsequent meeting with Verrin appeared to turn the page for me, it showed in my opinion that he was no longer going to run. It was time to start fighting. The other small change for him is he is starting to realize he is in love with Tuon, and that is definately conflicting with his natural  inner rogue.
As for Perrin he has been the most stubborn of character's, and as a result has had a very difficult time adjusting to his new lot in life as the leader of  the rekindling nation of Mantheran. Towards the end of the book however the stage appears to be set for him to finally come around, i expect he will very early in the TOM deal with both his wolf half and his leadership fears.

As for Rand i think in the next book he will have to do some damage control, his deep rooted anger and the dual personalities were leading most of his allies to fear for his sanity. By the end you feel that the games of power and control that existed well before


Just speculation but i also feel between Mat and Perrin and the reforming of  Mantheran might play a major role in the end of the series. Mantheran was a previosly a majopr thorn in the dark one's side, and all the main character's aside from  Rand are descendants of that former nation .

[ajcanada]

Lost part of my post somehow so i'll finsih it off here
 
As for Rand i think in the next book he will have to do some damage control, his deep rooted anger and the dual personalities were leading most of his allies to fear for his sanity. By the end you feel that the games of power and control that existed well before the coming of the dragon have begun to take fester amongst his followers. His lack of compassion was like a wedge and he'll need to re-engage his allies and reforge the trust and confidence that was lost.

Cadsuanne will have to suck it up in the next book and abandon her need for control, in this book she embodied the old ways of the tower, control, manipulate and expect absolute obedience. These attidues led to the near downfall of the tower and the near fall of the Dragon Reborn, as the effect they had on Rand were nearly fatal. Egwene has been the catalyst for change in the tower (i'd speculate there were 4 taveran from Emond's field?) And it is time for that change to catch up with Cadsuanne i'd say.

As for Verin "Awesome"

Egwene "i'd say the battle ajah need to line up and take some lessons!

To some up i can't wait for TOM
   

[Patriotic Kaz]

Just b/c someone forces change doesn't make them taavern or however you spell it. If that was the case Suian Sanche is one along with some of the memories in Mat's head.

[ajcanada]

In terms of Egwene It is only speculation that she is taveran, however in terms of the overall story to this point she has been a very dominent character. And she has contributed far more than Matt and Perrin to the cause of the light.
Without her the tower fractures, the Aes Sedai as a result would be a very ineffectual group for the Dragon in the last battle.

[Patriotic Kaz]

The Aes Sedai are, in my view, working against the light even with Egwene as the Amrylin. She wishes to control everything including Rand, she can she exist to serve and yet the Aes Sedai have forgotten this and just impede the work that needs to be done.

[hamateur]

OK, I think I've caught up with all the posts so far, and won't be going back over old ground, much.

Communication

I agree with RedMars11 #42 that there are some good and refreshing conversations in TGS.  In particular, I like:

• the developing romance between Siuan and "You lout!" a.k.a. Gareth; Brandon does seem to have a knack for low-key romance subplots: there were at least three good ones in Mistborn
• the deadpan humour from Talmanes, something other than WoT's usual mix of solemnity and rants
• the straight shooting from Tam despite being menaced by the might-makes-right channelers Rand and Cadsuane.  Tam in particular had me thinking "Yes!  At last!" after Rand's repeated refusal to explore his own motivations beyond the dreaded "Because I must" mantra.

An important piece of communication yet to come is for the Ta'veren and the Seanchan to compare notes about their prophesies, and try to reconcile them.

Subversion of Rand

I agree with happyman #198 et seq, that the DO's trying hard to subvert Rand.  It was a goal worth sacrificing Semirhage for - which looks like a very deliberate move, as Shaidar Haran itself was involved.  It also fits with something Verin said on p600 of the novel, about the DO being subtler than people think.

My predictions

I saw 2 things coming that happened, and one that didn't.  Aviendha's pointless chores were to provoke her into defiance: yep.  Silviana as Keeper (rather like the way Henry VII married Elizabeth of York to stop The War of the Roses from flaring up again): yep.  The Seanchan extracting the Horn of Valere from the White Tower for Mat: nope.

Verin

Mmmm, I do like a good 'torpedo' character.  There are a few of them dotted around in Dickens's novels, for example, and I was impressed at how Verin went the same sort of way.

Perrin's anecdote

The bit about enjoying the anticipation of the wooden horse, even more than eventually having it, was a good little reflection and nicely in character.

Bloodknives

For all we know, Siuan may have saved Egwene from the bloodknives, so Egwene's reproach of "You should've left me lying in the corridor", or whatever it was, was a bit off.  Still, maybe Egwene didn't know about bloodknives.

Saa

The last book I read before TGS was Catch-22, and one of its catchphrases is "He's got flies in his eyes!" - so that's what I was thinking every time saa were described.

Sleete

Brandon had something up on his website last year, about putting a sponsored character into TGS as a charity fundraiser.  He/she would be a peripheral character resembling the auction winner, and would have a display of awesomeness, much like Charlz Guybon in one of the previous books.  My guess is that it went ahead, and that the warder Sleete is the sponsored character.

Moiraine

Moiraine's still my favourite character in the series, mainly because she was an active and dedicated field operative, in strong contrast to the usual exasperating Aes Sedai style of sitting back and making machinations based on bad intelligence.  It was comforting to read that some of the other characters were missing her too.

Overall

I'm feeling very satisfied with TGS.