MAJOR SPOILERS

My Review

I purchased the Towers of Midnight yesterday (Thursday October 28, 2010) at a small independent bookstore and completed reading the book last night. For those of you who want to get the book early, I would suggest trying a small independent bookstore versus a big box store. Below is my review with plenty of spoilers.

Before I get into my review, I think it would be helpful to you to see the order in which I regard the books (the numbers in parentheses are the chronological order of the books).

1) The Shadow Rising (4)
2) The Fires of Heaven (5)
3) The Great Hunt (2)
4) The Gathering Storm (12)
5) Towers of Midnight (13)
6) Lord of Chaos (6)
7) The Dragon Reborn (3)
The Eye of the World (1)
9) A Knife of Dreams (11)
10) Winter’s Heart (9)
11) A Crown of Swords (7)
12) The Path of Daggers (
13) Crossroad of Twilight (10)

I am not someone who gets caught up in whether Brandon Sanderson or Robert Jordan wrote a particular scene. There are certainly a few times where I think I could tell that Brandon wrote a scene based on the word choice that was used. However, I am not that interested in the feel of the characters as I am in the plot. I know the fandom thought that Mat was off in The Gathering Storm, but I think this time he is more like the Mat we have come to love.

I am going to break up the plot by characters.


Rand
This book’s timeline is the most different as far as where the characters other than Crossroad of Twilight. At the end of the book, all of the major characters are just north of Tar Valon ready to meet Rand and for the most part, to dissuade him from breaking the seals. In the beginning of the book, Rand arrives at the White Tower and is brought to the Hall of the Tower and he announces in one month’s time, he will meet Egwene and he plans on going to Shayol Ghul and breaking the seals. While speaking the Aes Sedai, his tavern effect prevents anyone from speaking other that Egwene.

Throughout the book it becomes apparent that Rand and Lews Therin are one in the same. At one point, after he has removed the exile on Cadusane, Rand says that she should call him Rand Sedai and that he is the only male to have been raised properly and not turned to the Shadow. Nynaeve attempts to heal Rand’s madness as she had with another male channeler (I don’t remember his name), but besides have a black substance on his brain, he has a white substance. There are a few new images from Min, but nothing to different than we have already seen. Rand does acquire the King of Arad Doman – he was not killed as was suspected. I want to say if I recall correctly that the White Tower had him.

Throughout the book, Rand apologizes to everyone that he has wronged – Cadusane, Tam, the Aiel to name a few. He even tells the Aiel that he will not leave without them again.

Rand goes to the borderlands and kills thousands of trollocs by himself while saving Iltuarde (spelling) in the process. He finally meets with the borderland monarchs and they ask him who some woman was in the Age of Legends as part of a prophecy to determine if he is really the Dragon Reborn. At the time of the meeting, he gets slapped by the monarchs. During the visit, they mention him not being able to hurt them because of the Guardian and he says it ONLY stops the One Power.


Egwene
After speaking with Rand, she sets out to convince all of his allies that his plan of breaking the seals is wrong. She asks that the monarchs and their armies meet at the point that Rand specified in one months time. Darlin of Tear is hesitant at first but Egwene promises gateways in case he is attacked by the Seachan.

She summons Nynaeve to Tar Valon to both take Aes Sedai test and to help advise her due to Nynaeve’s experience as a young Wisdom. Nynaeve passes the tests and even channels while not on the six pointed star. She uses balefire during the test. Some of the images that she sees are especially brutal to Nynaeve and the last one was of Lan and was made especially by Egwene to test her loyalty to Lan or the Tower. When she finishes, Nynaeve becomes a sister by a 4-3 vote. While waiting for the Sitters to decide, Nynaeve tells Egwene that she had to help the fake people and that it was worth it to her to do that than become a sister. She realizes it is about doing what is right instead of serving the Tower. Egwene agrees but tells her not to voice that thought out loud. Egwene speculates that the ter'angreal is connected to The World of Dreams and that Nynaeve’s practice there allowed her to override the commands of not channeling.

She also summons Elayne to take the test, but Elayne is worried what would happen to her babies with the oaths. Egwene says she will look into it and as of now, Elayne has not taken the test.

She does not like that Gawyn is trailing her like a puppy and refuses to deal with him until he acknowledges her as Amrylin truly and stops questioning her. She lets Gawyn try to find the killer of the Aes Sedai and even tells him that it is Mesaana. Eventually, she has had enough of him disobeying her and sends him away. Gawyn goes to Camelyn and figures out from the Seachan with Elayne that the killer is not Mesaana. Silvania, on Egwene’s orders, orders Gawyn back to Tar Valon. He refuses to be ordered and Egwene realizes the error of the forcefulness of the letter. Gawyn realizes that Elayne is sleeping and speaking with Egwene and without him there to protect Egwene, she will die from the Seanchan (I forget their name – I think bloodknives) due to her sleeping.

While sleeping, Egwene meets with the Windfinder and Aiel Wiseones and offers to send 2 Accepted to them in exchange for them sending their channelers to the Tower. This deal does not mean that each group gets to keep the channelers, but each person that is sent is allowed to choose to stay. She uses herself as bait to capture/kill Mesaana. It seems to work as she and her allies (Nynaeve included) kill several Black Ajah including Alviarin.

The dreamspike is over Tar Valon because Perrin brought it there. It means that the people in The World of Dreams can not will themselves somewhere outside the dome. The dreamspike also prevents traveling in the real world outside of the dome unless given permission.

Egwene meets Perrin and Perrin warns her that it is dangerous in the Wolf Dream. She tries to tie Perrin up but he is too powerful for her. He even wills balefire to stop that was fired at them by the Black Ajah. This lesson allows her to make Mesaana an invalid.

Mesanna captures Egwene with the a’dam but she refuses to let be real to her. She then makes Mesanna an invalid and they capture her in the real world under the name of Danielle. We are never how she evaded the three oaths, but are given three possible explanations. The one I think is most plausible is that Mesaana inverted her weaves and made it seam like she was speaking the oaths to everyone else, but in reality did not speak the oaths.

Egwene ends up waking up and bonding Gawyn who was close to death due to protecting her while she slept. They do not marry, but to express their love for each other and want to wait for her parents and Elayne to see the wedding.

Egwene and the White Tower end up in the place Rand specifies in the Chapter 3 at the end of the book. She sees the sun at the end of the book and realizes that Rand has arrived.


Perrin
Perrin is not my favorite character, but he does redeem himself somewhat in this book. Perrin does not want to become Noam – the wolfman from the Dragon Reborn who has totally lost himself. He know he must train in the Wolf Dream in order to defeat Slayer. Hopper trains him to track in the Wolf Dream and to manipulate it to his Will. He finds the dreamspike and Slayer in the dream and know that it is preventing his people from traveling. He take the dreamspike to Tar Valon and battles with Slayer and briefly with the Black Ajah. He ends of killing Slayer by forcing both of them into a nightmare on Dragonmount. He pushes Slayer into the lava and destroys the dreamspike in the lava. Hopper dies fighting Slayer.

Perrin meets Galad and the Whitecloaks. They accuse him of murdering two whitecloaks (book 1) and Galad agrees to a trial instead of a battle in which he is outnumbered. Galad recognizes Morgase and she agrees to be the judge. After the end of the trial, Morgase pronounces Perrin guilty as wolfs – his friends – are not the same as humans. She tells Galad to sentence him. Galad at first does not issue a sentence and says he will do it after the Last Battle in which Perrin says he will submit to his sentence.

Perrin realizes that the dreamspike preventing traveling was there to prevent him from leaving. A large force of Shadowspawn attack the Whitecloaks and Perrin and his force save them. Galad pronounces the sentence - $500 gold pieces per death and for Perrin to go and fight in the Last Battle.

Faile challenges Berelain to a fight to the death over Perrin. After bluffing, and Berelain falling for it, she tells Berelain to squash the rumors of Perrin and Berelain. Berelain says that they need to become friends and they discuss Berelain going after someone else. When she sees Galad, she is totally in love as is he.

Morgase and Tallavor marry. The Ash’aman with Perrin and the Wise Ones/Aes Sedai figure out how to link, which helps with bigger gateways. At one point, Perrin is at the forge thinking and building a hammer when the channelers power reinforce it.

Perrin finally meets with Elayne and she is mad at him for trying to rebel against her and Andor. It is brought to Elayne’s attention by her mother that Perrin is a good man and by Perrin that Andor did not help in fighting the Trollocs. They agree that Perrin will be the Dragon’s steward and high lord of the land (second to Elayne, and over the other lords) and will not owe any taxes.


Elayne
Elayne is almost captured by the Black Ajah when she questions them and uses the Mirror of Mists to pretend to be a Chosen. She has the ter'angreal that Mat owns and some imperfect copies. The copies stops weak weaves and prevent the channeler that is holding it from channeling. She negotiates a deal with Mat for the dragons of Aldura (I believe she gets to keep ¾ of them when Mat leaves Andor) in exchange for use of her countries resources. She wanted Mat to become an army subject to the crown, but he refused. After the demonstration, Birgitte says that the dragons will change the world. She removes the titles of the nobles who were against her in the succession and gives them to the Cairhien so that she will not be the only person to hold titles in two lands. She asserts her claim as Queen of Cairhien. She does not agree with Rand’s plan of breaking the seals.


Mat
Mat tells Joline (I believe) that the White Tower has something of his (I suspect the Horn, but it is not said outright) and that he will be coming to get it. Mat uses himself as bait to kill the Gholam. He uses his medallion and the copies that Elayne made to force it onto a skimming platform and push it off into the void.

Mat, Noal and Thom go to the Tower of Ghenjei to rescue Moiraine. They use Mat’s luck by rolling the dice to get to the correct room. Thom grabs Moiraine, who is unconscious and suspended in the air. He burns himself when he grabs her. Mat sacrifices his left eye in exchange for Moiraine and her angreal. He asks for the Foxes not to attack them as they leave and to make it a straight shot with the portal remaining open until they are out. The foxes seem to relish the tavern more than the one power. On the way out, the snakes start attacking the four of them and Noal tells Mat to tell any Malkier that he sees that Jain Farstrider died clean. Jain fights the snakes while giving time for the rest to escape. Mat goes back in his head trying to figure a way out and realizes that he was given something he did not ask for – the ashandarei. When he originally went into the foxes realm (in book 4), he asked for his memories to be filled, to be free of Aes Sedai and the One Power and to be back in Rhudiean. He never asked for the ashandarei. He surmises that it is a key out and he slices the wall and the three of them escape.

Mat never opens Verin's letter, but Olver does. It says that Shadowspawn will be attacking Caemlyn through a waygate and that Elayne needs to destroy it.

Moiraine and Thom profess their love and intention to get married to the surprise of Mat. Moiraine explains that she is weaker than an accepted, but the angreal makes her stronger than she was before. She tells Thom and Mat that a man came in but said she was not who he was looking for (could this be Moridin looking for Lanfear?). She claims that Lanfear is dead according to the foxes. They are outside the Tower of Ghenjei at the end of the book and with Aviendha, are the only main characters not outside Tar Valon.


Aviendha
Aviendha goes through the columns, but we don’t see the past. She know she has the Talent to know what a ter'angreal does and touches it again. She ends up going through the columns twice, but the second time she is shown the future. In the future, the Aiel have been destroyed by the Raven Empire (the Seanchan) and that her direct descendants are responsible. At the time, the choices they made were logical. She does not know if this is really the future and sets out to prevent it. She is still in Rhudiean at the end of the book.


Graendal
Graendal was given control of Slayer by Moridin. She also planned the Shadowspawn attack on Perrin’s group. At the end, Shaidar Haran takes punishes her for her failures. In the book, she is credited with three forsaken kills. In the glossary, she is credited directly with Asmodean’s death.


The Seanchan
Tuon manages to get traveling from Elaida. Other than that, they are not really in the book.


The Black Tower
The Black Tower has a dreamspike on it and there is a small, but weak force loyal to Rand and the rest is part of Taim’s group. The original Tower sisters have not bonded a dedicated or soldier. They have been refused a full Ash’aman. When one of the sister’s attempts to leave via gateway, the dreamspike prevents her from doing so.


Overall I liked the book and think it makes a good penultimate book. My only concern is that there seems to be a lot that needs to happen in the next book and can it all be fitted in.