Well, not totally unimpressed, there were a few great moments in A Memory of Light that really worked in the context of the series, but overall I was very underwhelmed (which may have been unavoidable given the scope of the series and how long I'd been waiting for it to end).
So many things that had been foreshadowed for the entire series were dismissed off hand instead of getting the pay off they deserved, things such as viewings and prophecies just totally ignored, and I don't think that spending practically the whole book on the Last Battle really worked in terms of the narrative.
Do the Tinkers find their Song? The Towers unite? Whatever happened to "three in a boat"? Did Hawkwing ever talk to Tuon? We spent seven and a half books waiting for Moiraine to get rescued, just so she could recite the Prophecies in one of the opening chapters and then basically add nothing to the plot the rest of the way?
(Speaking of Moiraine, there's no emotional pay off for us when she returns! She shows up, everyone is surprised, and then the plot moves on after two pages. With the wait we had, and the weight of the foreshadowing of her return, we deserved far more than that. And that in a microcosm is A Memory of Light.)
Mat's last scenes in the entire two-plus-decade-long series were completely inadequate. He shows up at Shayol Ghul, magically kills Mutant-Fain (who showed up with absolutely no build up, which is completely unfair to the rest of the series), and then goes back to Tuon, finds out he's a dad (after which we get a whole three sentences about his reaction to this news- gee, you couldn't have cut out a couple pages of Trollocs being lit on fire to actually focus on the characters?), and then...nothing, the series ends for him.
Who the hell is Nakomi? No resolution of the mini-plotline/conflict between Egwene and Tuon? (Talk about an intense set up with literally no payoff...) Speaking of which, are we really leaving all the damane in captivity? Jesus Christ, this is worse than Harry Potter ending with Dementors still running around. After THIRTEEN books of every single non-Seanchan character being horrified at the thought, disgusting human rights abuses, and damanePTSDEgwene, we get...absolutely no resolution as to the single worst non-Shadow issue of the entire series.
I can't be the only one disappointed with where Demandred ended up having hid out the whole series, can I? He's been teased as being this huge behind the scenes villain since at least Lord of Chaos, and then it turns out he actually spent the whole time on the other side of the world, barely affecting the main plot until he shows up in the last book, playing the over-done cliche "No, my minions, I will fight him in single combat!" card...
Gah! Deep down, I didn't really have my hopes up for a perfect ending, because in all honesty it's hard to imagine a series this epic and deep ever really getting a "perfect" ending. But by the same token, that doesn't make me feel better about the ending that we got. I can't help but feel that if Fires of Heaven-era Robert Jordan had written A Memory of Light, it would have been the same length but had three times the plot resolution (the entirety of the plot we did get should have been condensed to about half the size, with the rest of the space spent actually building up to things like "Alanna is kidnapped!" or "Fain is back!" or "Oh by the way, Rand totally planned out his whole body-switching death with a bunch of people beforehand!", or "Oh yeah, btw Darkhounds!", or a host of other things that never got the attention they deserved, or following up on what happens the day after the Last Battle (Perrin and Faile in charge of Saldea? What happens in Seanchan? The Sea Folk-White Tower-Aiel? The White Tower-Kin? How do the Aes Sedai deal with finding out the Oath Rod cuts their lives in half? What is the fallout from opening the Novice Book? So many other things that seemed important throughout the series, only to end up being red herrings or unused Checkov's Guns...
The whole book felt "light", I guess (this could just be because I read all three of the Sanderson-authored books for the first time this week, and so the difference in writing style is fresh and more pronounced for me, but I think it's mostly because the plotting and pacing are just nowhere near RJ levels). More like a "check the boxes and have everyone make a cameo in the end!" piece of fan fiction than the conclusion the series deserved. Seriously, compare how well-plotted and paced and put-together the 4th, 5th, and 6th books are compared to the last one. It's like comparing There Will Be Blood or No Country for Old Men to the Pierce Brosnan Bond movies. I don't know how to describe it better than that.
And it kinda sucks, because it's literally the best we'll ever have, when the series had the potential to be so much better.
Overall, the series still kicks ass, but I'll never be able to read it again with the same "HOLY SHIT THIS IS AMAZING" feeling like I have my whole life up to this point, because of how completely anti-climatic I know the ending is.
So many things that had been foreshadowed for the entire series were dismissed off hand instead of getting the pay off they deserved, things such as viewings and prophecies just totally ignored, and I don't think that spending practically the whole book on the Last Battle really worked in terms of the narrative.
Do the Tinkers find their Song? The Towers unite? Whatever happened to "three in a boat"? Did Hawkwing ever talk to Tuon? We spent seven and a half books waiting for Moiraine to get rescued, just so she could recite the Prophecies in one of the opening chapters and then basically add nothing to the plot the rest of the way?
(Speaking of Moiraine, there's no emotional pay off for us when she returns! She shows up, everyone is surprised, and then the plot moves on after two pages. With the wait we had, and the weight of the foreshadowing of her return, we deserved far more than that. And that in a microcosm is A Memory of Light.)
Mat's last scenes in the entire two-plus-decade-long series were completely inadequate. He shows up at Shayol Ghul, magically kills Mutant-Fain (who showed up with absolutely no build up, which is completely unfair to the rest of the series), and then goes back to Tuon, finds out he's a dad (after which we get a whole three sentences about his reaction to this news- gee, you couldn't have cut out a couple pages of Trollocs being lit on fire to actually focus on the characters?), and then...nothing, the series ends for him.
Who the hell is Nakomi? No resolution of the mini-plotline/conflict between Egwene and Tuon? (Talk about an intense set up with literally no payoff...) Speaking of which, are we really leaving all the damane in captivity? Jesus Christ, this is worse than Harry Potter ending with Dementors still running around. After THIRTEEN books of every single non-Seanchan character being horrified at the thought, disgusting human rights abuses, and damanePTSDEgwene, we get...absolutely no resolution as to the single worst non-Shadow issue of the entire series.
I can't be the only one disappointed with where Demandred ended up having hid out the whole series, can I? He's been teased as being this huge behind the scenes villain since at least Lord of Chaos, and then it turns out he actually spent the whole time on the other side of the world, barely affecting the main plot until he shows up in the last book, playing the over-done cliche "No, my minions, I will fight him in single combat!" card...
Gah! Deep down, I didn't really have my hopes up for a perfect ending, because in all honesty it's hard to imagine a series this epic and deep ever really getting a "perfect" ending. But by the same token, that doesn't make me feel better about the ending that we got. I can't help but feel that if Fires of Heaven-era Robert Jordan had written A Memory of Light, it would have been the same length but had three times the plot resolution (the entirety of the plot we did get should have been condensed to about half the size, with the rest of the space spent actually building up to things like "Alanna is kidnapped!" or "Fain is back!" or "Oh by the way, Rand totally planned out his whole body-switching death with a bunch of people beforehand!", or "Oh yeah, btw Darkhounds!", or a host of other things that never got the attention they deserved, or following up on what happens the day after the Last Battle (Perrin and Faile in charge of Saldea? What happens in Seanchan? The Sea Folk-White Tower-Aiel? The White Tower-Kin? How do the Aes Sedai deal with finding out the Oath Rod cuts their lives in half? What is the fallout from opening the Novice Book? So many other things that seemed important throughout the series, only to end up being red herrings or unused Checkov's Guns...
The whole book felt "light", I guess (this could just be because I read all three of the Sanderson-authored books for the first time this week, and so the difference in writing style is fresh and more pronounced for me, but I think it's mostly because the plotting and pacing are just nowhere near RJ levels). More like a "check the boxes and have everyone make a cameo in the end!" piece of fan fiction than the conclusion the series deserved. Seriously, compare how well-plotted and paced and put-together the 4th, 5th, and 6th books are compared to the last one. It's like comparing There Will Be Blood or No Country for Old Men to the Pierce Brosnan Bond movies. I don't know how to describe it better than that.
And it kinda sucks, because it's literally the best we'll ever have, when the series had the potential to be so much better.
Overall, the series still kicks ass, but I'll never be able to read it again with the same "HOLY SHIT THIS IS AMAZING" feeling like I have my whole life up to this point, because of how completely anti-climatic I know the ending is.
I won't say much here, because I'm on my phone and don't want to type up an essay, but I loved this ending. We always knew that there would be things left unsaid, plot lines unfinished. Mat and Tuon were supposed to have their own trilogy, for heaven's sake. However, I found Demandred to be more than satisfying. Yea, he fought one on one...and beat two blademasters, and nearly a third. He also single handedly killed probably fifty thousand people in that battle.
I loved the book. This was, I thought, a very fitting end to the series that has consumed my reading life for the last twelve years.
Here's to keeping the spirit of Wotmania alive...cheers to RAFO
Anyone else totally unimpressed?
09/01/2013 04:58:39 AM
- 2111 Views
I couldn't disagree more
09/01/2013 05:32:41 AM
- 1066 Views
I enjoyed the book as entertainment
09/01/2013 05:47:22 AM
- 1001 Views
I found the ongoing Trolloc killing a bit tedious.
09/01/2013 06:14:25 AM
- 865 Views
Re: I found the ongoing Trolloc killing a bit tedious.
29/01/2013 11:01:11 AM
- 767 Views
I had extremely low expectations, which I guess were sort of met.
09/01/2013 06:12:05 AM
- 1095 Views
Mine weren't, even with the low expectations
09/01/2013 05:04:07 PM
- 1215 Views
I don't remember you being such an arrogant prick years ago on WoTmania
11/01/2013 05:28:07 AM
- 902 Views
Pardon, but I don't even recall who you are *NM*
11/01/2013 08:39:54 AM
- 471 Views
You are a...
18/01/2013 08:21:54 AM
- 857 Views
Uh...
18/01/2013 12:19:13 PM
- 883 Views
Rather...
18/01/2013 09:11:11 PM
- 864 Views
Why does any of this matter to you?
18/01/2013 10:35:18 PM
- 939 Views
Oh sure...
19/01/2013 06:43:19 AM
- 743 Views
No, not quite
19/01/2013 08:57:47 AM
- 807 Views
LoL @ Larry
19/01/2013 09:21:13 PM
- 727 Views
Ummm....
19/01/2013 10:05:30 PM
- 798 Views
That was a dodge.
20/01/2013 01:40:59 AM
- 788 Views
Nah, more like me cutting this short.
20/01/2013 02:30:28 AM
- 780 Views
I thought it was fantastic
09/01/2013 07:46:16 AM
- 989 Views
I'm surprised you are so happy with it. It was action packed, but sloppy. Usually you dislike that
20/01/2013 01:55:17 AM
- 801 Views
I wouldn't go so far as to say TOTALLY, but I was not satisfied.
14/01/2013 06:04:30 PM
- 831 Views
I will say that the battle was well constructed in certain places
14/01/2013 06:10:54 PM
- 807 Views