After more than ten thousand pages, several million words, hundreds of hours of audiobook listening, and - for some of us - twenty-two years of waiting, the end of the Wheel of Time is finally here. For all my enthusiasm for Brandon Sanderson's contributions to the series to date, I couldn't help but approach this last installment with real concern. I had to wonder whether Sanderson's execution, and Robert Jordan's vision for that matter, could live up to the tremendous buildup and my seemingly insatiable expectations. Having listened to the unabridged audio version of A Memory of Light, I am thrilled to be able to report that my concerns were largely unfounded. Though not perfect, Jordan and Sanderson have delivered a finale worthy of the books that came before it and the expectations of their readers.

I will resist the strong temptation to wax poetic about particular scenes here, but suffice it to say that A Memory of Light is chock-full of the best elements of the series: edge-of-your-seat large-scale battle sequences spanning a four-front war (perhaps as many action scenes as the previous books in the series combined), duels of epic proportion, One Power blowouts, prophecies fulfilled, theories confirmed and debunked, high drama and low comedy, betrayal and renewal. Unlike most of the books that came before it, A Memory of Light also includes lots of death: among common soldiers, secondary characters, and at least one critical character who has been with us since The Eye of the World. Put succinctly, you would do well to keep a tissue box handy and your seatbelt fastened.

For all its strengths, numerous as they are, A Memory of Light does fall slightly short on a couple scores. The occasional plot development and turn of phrase feel slightly out of place, as has been the case with Sanderson's prior contributions to the series, and some figures and details appear not quite to add up. Still, these quibbles are tertiary when taken together with a story that, as Robert Jordan said of another fantasy classic, "grabs hold and doesn't let go."

Having enjoyed the Wheel of Time audiobooks since my first exposure to the series in 1999, it came as no surprise to hear longtime narrators Michael Kramer and Kate Reading deliver their best in concluding the series they started so many years ago and, in so doing, put in performances of a lifetime. Kramer and Reading's voices have become nearly as strongly associated with the series to me as the plot itself, and their readings here bring the series full circle. In addition to the benefit of hearing brilliant performances of spectacular scenes, the audiobook comes with the added benefit of helping fans resist the strong temptation to devour A Memory of Light, instead allowing listeners to slowly savor what will likely be their last journey into Robert Jordan's world.

There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time, but this particular ending exceeded my expectations and marks the end of an era in modern epic fantasy. Kudos to Brandon Sanderson, Team Jordan, and Michael Kramer and Kate Reading for bringing us an ending worthy of the sum of the parts that came before it.