A Memory of Light

What can you say after you finish a serie with over 4 million words... The journey has come to an end and it was a wild ride with lots of highs, but also some lows.

I personally enjoyed this last book and the ending! However, it is very plot driven and some battle scenes felt useless for me. There is constantly so much happening (which off course makes it really epic) that you get an overload at some point.
It would be more of a 4 star, but rating it 5 because of the overall journey! I will miss Rand Land a lot.

I will definitely need to process it all and look some things up in the wiki.

Overall, I think the whole of The Wheel of Time's plot it a 5/5. However, it's about 5 books too long. The last three books could have been only one, as Robert Jordan had originally intended, and the whole slog (books 7-10 could have also be reduced to just one.

14 books (and a novella), 11,000 pages, 4.4 million words, 15 months. And it's finally over.

Reading A Memory of Light was an emotional rollercoaster, a final rally of light against dark with some brilliant battle tactics and a lot of casualties.

Despite bringing me to tears, it doesn't quite reach the heights of previous moments in the series and at times seems to tick off large moments in a massive list. But this was truly momentous and I loved so many parts of it.

I am definitely not re reading this series however :'-)

5.00/5.00 “I am Lews Therin Telemon, the Dragon. I ruled these lands, unified, during the Age of Legends. I was the leader of the all the armies of the Light, I wore the Ring of Tamyrlin. I stood first among the Servants, highest of the Aes Sedai, and I could summon the Nine Rods of Dominion.”“Duty is heavier than a mountain, Dai Shan”
The Wheel of Time is a wonderful journey, the end of an Age, a story that was woven with worldbuilding, with wonderful characters and epic battles. The last battle is the greatest battle that I have ever read. The ending is satisfying, bringing so many character arcs to beautiful conclusions. A worthy read, I highly recommend all to read this series.

The mind boggling thing about this book, is that there are innumerable open threads in this ending. This is consistent with the tone of this book. A bittersweet ending delivered perfectly. The confusion, the plethora of questions of what happens next! The worldbuilding around what is Rand ? This is an astounding story. A story that will leave you thinking for years. This is not a sweet satisfying conclusion, but a complex and mysterious conclusion which is the perfect choice for this series. How will I move on? I miss these characters so much.

So many twists, deaths, moments of tension that persisted throughout the book. This is a spectacular ending. It is amazing how real this world is. The author maintained realism in every moment of the last book, including the ending.

What happens after ? Will the horror of Aviendha's vision come true? Probably not.

The Wheel weaves as the Wheel Wills. As the wheel turns and the next age comes around, the Lord of the Dawn will be our salvation. Born once more as he was born before and shall be born again, time without end! The Dragon shall be Reborn, and there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth at his rebirth. He shall break the world again by his coming, tearing apart all ties that bind. In pride he conquers, forcing the proud to yield. He calls upon on the mountains to kneel and the seas to give way and the very skies to bow. Pray that the heart of stone remembers tears and the soul of fire, love. Like the unfettered dawn shall he bind us, and burn us, yet shall the Dragon Reborn confront the Shadow at the Last Battle, and his blood shall give us the Light. Let tears flow, O ye people of the world. Weep for your salvation!Let the Prince of the Morning sing to the land that green things will grow and the valleys give forth lambs. Let the arm of the Lord of the Dawn shelter us from the Dark, and the great sword of justice defend us. Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time.

Emotional Impact -> I couldn't believe Egwene died. I really thought she will be the last person to die. Man! what an unexpected twist. What a battle! This is one of the best books I've read, with the sheer amount of battles. Were there some ideas lost with Robert Jordan's death ? Yes, we lost something. Something important.... I am so emotional about this book. The end of all the WoT. It is done so well. Egwene, no no Egwene. The Flame of Tar Valon! Lan's story is just the best story of a king ever. Rand story is incredible. The journey of this chosen one is the greatest of fantasy. Never again will we see this trope done better.

"Aviendha is right", Amys said. "The Aiel will not fight the Seanchan.""Oh? Shall we test it, Fortuona? You said you trained them yourself. You are a sul'dam, I presume? Put the a'dam on your neck. I dare you. If I am wrong, it will do nothing to you. If I am right, you will be subject to its power, and will prove to be marath'damane.""Three thousand years ago the Lord Dragon created Dragonmount to hide his shame. His rage still burns hot. Today . . . I bring it to you, Your Majesty."The Power left her in a quiet, beautiful explosion, washing across the Sharans and sealing the cracks created by her fight with M'Hael. Egwene's soul separated from her collapsing body and rested upon that wave, riding it into the Light.

MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD: Ok, what can I say about this book? Except I friggin loved it!!! I find that some series spend so much time building up to the ending and then the battle or end lasts maybe a chapter at the most. But after 10 years of reading this series of 14, 1000+ page books, I couldn't have been any happier! I mean, 3/4 if this book was the last battle! So satisfying! Also, I'm happy with how they put real stakes into it and add some grimdark elements “nobody is safe”. I truly believe that Sanderson did the finale of this series justice and I found it near impossible to put down. I plan to review the series as a whole soon, so look out for that. As to this book? A perfect ending to a truly amazing series.

Haced que el Dragón cabalgue de nuevo a lomos de los vendavales del tiempo.

Thank goodness this is over.

This series is far, FAAAARRRR too long. There are a million zillion characters and they change names and/or have similar names to one another. They use magic in perplexingly dull ways. Every time the characters turn around they're offering some sweeping statement about men and women. And we get reminded repeatedly about trivial details. Many if not most of the tension and conflicts are the result of characters simply not having frank, honest conversations with one another.

I will say that the last three books, written by Brandon Sanderson, are much more action-packed and seem to actually have a directed plot. But they're still too long.

I know people love these books and I understand it up to a point. But it's far too long. I'm glad I'm done reading it.

The Wheel of Time has one of the best endings I've ever read, to a series I mostly feel very mixed about. But damn. What an experience. I'm glad I didn't completely throw in the towel after book five like I planned. The second half of A Memory of Light are some of the best scenes I've read anywhere

9.5/10

Blood and bloody ashes!

I can't believe it's over

La verdad es que parece mentira haber conseguido llegar hasta aquí tan rápido, es un buen cierre, tiene toda la acción que falta a los anteriores pero realmente no es la saga de mi vida

I'm impressed with the job Brandon did with completing this series. I've had so much time invested in this series I feared it would never end. This final novel closed it out well.

However I'd low to see a “where are they now” small book in the future.

10/10

Wow! I am finally done! What a great ending! I started this series on December 31, 2021. I'm glad I started this as a finished series. I couldn't imagine having to wait between books over so many years.

No words to describe it. I still want to cry over the end of such an epic series. Five stars it is

I have never read a series that impacted me more-so than The Wheel of Time. I encourage ANYONE that has a love for epic fantasy to read it. The characters have become old friends that it breaks my heart to leave behind. It certainly was quite a ride, with a “majestically exquisite” ending. A piece of me has been traded out for a piece of this series. I leave a part of myself behind in it, and I carry it on with me.

Epic, a masterpiece in all senses of the word. If you've gotten this far with the Wheel of Time then you will not be disappointed. This book contains one of the most eagerly awaited chapters in literary fiction and it was well worth the wait. An astounding accomplishment. Thank you Robert Jordan, and thank you Brandon Sanderson!

They say a picture speaks a thousand words. Well that definitely does not include any of the thousand words in this franchise. WOT stands as a scintillating piece of unique fantasy in a genre with huge depth and clutter. With “A Memory of Light” Brandon Sanderson provides a fitting and seamless end that was needed to complete the icing on the cake. Having spent the last two months ripping through 14 months all I can say is that its been the best two months of my life.So many goosebumps everyday and plenty of laughs and tears. I have felt the Void and the Flame with Rand, I have run the Wolf dream with Perrin, rolled the dice with Matrim “bloody” Cauthon, pulled my hair out of frustration with Nyneave, learnt to fight the war of attrition with Egwene and thats just skimming the surface. This series is not just for the bookshelves but for a space in your heart. Oliver Rigney may have gone but his wife and Brandon have ensured that he will never be forgotten. Tolkien has company at last.

I guess I'm disappointed but on the other hand I guess it had to be that way. The Last Battle is just that a battle that takes 900 pages to describe. People die....a lot of people die, and there are still lessons to be learned. Maybe over the last 20+ years I grew out of these books but then again I liked the first 13. But this book was just not for me, it left me thinking: it took 14 books to end this way? I would have just liked more. Maybe if I had read the whole series from start to finish it would have been better received but the length of time between the first book and the last may not have helped. Overall, my feelings are that It was too simple of an ending for the amount of complicated relationships and characters that this series has introduced.

The end.

A classic Sanderson read, he can't write funny and I can't put the damn book down.

There's a few things I could complain about but, ultimately, anything better than “fine” for the finale to a 14 book fantasy epic is automatically 5 stars - and this was definitely better than fine.

I am not sure i can find the words right now to describe how excited I was to finally read this book. I am in awe. Thank you Robert Jordan for getting us started on this journey and thank you Brandon Sanderson for bringing it to an amazing close.

Wow!

December 2020: It's been 7 years since I read this book. And although putting a review here, it was actually the audiobook i've just finished. Thats 17days, 11hrs, 30mins of listening time to listen to the whole series. I started in summer 2018. I've finished in December 2020. I loved it. Absolutely loved it. But what a wrench to finish it up. To put that world to bed and leave it. I could easily read and read and read story after story set in that world, with those character, it feels like home. Having got to the end of the series for the second time (though i've read to various points in the series multiple times over the years) feels momentous, i feel like i understood so much more, and picked up on so much more. I can't wait to feel ready to pick it all up again in the future.

September 2013: What an ask. To bring an end to a 14 book series. To tie off all the ends, and make it as climatic as it needed to be. To have that responsibility not even as the original author.

Sanderson did it. I can't say I'm happy it ended, it's the kind of world you wish could go on forever but Sanderson has managed to use Jordan's ideas and bring about an absolutely superb end to the book. Kudos!