The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass...

[rjblue]

The key point for me

Spoiler

is that they got Tuon to agree that girls who can channel are going to be allowed to leave the Seanchan if they don't want to be collared. And the knowledge that sul'dam can also channel is going to very quickly destroy the feeling of safety that the Seanchan get from collaring their women. It's not stated literally in the book, but I can comfortably extrapolate it as a dying evil.

[Evilynn]

I finished, and I'm very ambivalent too. I assume we're stuck with the new character POVs because it's easier for Sanderson to write the ones Jordan never wrote, but it does leave me feeling rather cheated. I don't give a tiny rat's ass about Gawyn or Galad and while I didn't mind Pevara & Androl or Talmanes, I would've rather read Nynaeve, Moiraine and Siuan. 700 pages of endless battle descriptions and

Spoiler

Nynaeve and Moiraine are barely in the book at all. What was the point of bringing back Moiraine in the first place? Surely some other (stronger) female channeler could've helped Rand at the Bore and we could've cut the last three books down to two?

Ummm. . . . Not really.

Spoiler

The Seanchan only agree not to enslave Aes Sedai. They can keep damane in their own territories and, as shown with Moghedien after the battle, take the position that they can enslave any woman who is not Aes Sedai.

I think

Spoiler

Egwene's agreement with Tuon was actually that they couldn't take any women from outside their territory without their explicit consent? So Moghedien being collared was pretty damned awful, even if I think the only thing we're meant to read into it is that she got her just desserts.

The key point for me

Spoiler

is that they got Tuon to agree that girls who can channel are going to be allowed to leave the Seanchan if they don't want to be collared. And the knowledge that sul'dam can also channel is going to very quickly destroy the feeling of safety that the Seanchan get from collaring their women. It's not stated literally in the book, but I can comfortably extrapolate it as a dying evil.

I certainly hope so. I really wish the book had spent some of the 700 pages it spent on battles trying to resolve that issue, or at least starting to resolve it. As it stand the very last thing said on the topic is that

Spoiler

everyone not wearing an Aes Sedai ring is fair game, including the Kin. I was waiting for Tuon to have to face that she could channel, but it never happened, eventhough they had a perfect opportunity when the command post was attacked

. I also wish they'd spent a little more time resolving

Spoiler

the men vs women theme that's been running throughout the series. I always thought that in the last book they'd realize they could achieve greater things if they just worked together, and instead the only thing even close to something like that is Galad and Perrin killing women and Aes Sedai and Asha'man bonding one another + Rand using all three powers to seal the Bore. So basically all characters just had shitty communication skills and acted like children all through 14 damned books?

It seems like a lot of people hated the epilogue, but that played out pretty much exactly as I thought it would

Spoiler

except the magic pipe. I did not guess the magic pipe.

. My biggest gripe was probably the Sharans.

Spoiler

Not only are the pseudo-Africans the only people to fight on the side of the Shadow, the Sharan channeler that Mat catches is mentioned again, only to point out how quickly she accepted her role, and how unusal that was! If you're very charitable while reading that, I guess it could be interpreted as "they have a shitty caste system", but it really came across as "pseudo-Africans make good slaves", which is not what I want to read, ever, least of all in a book written by two white guys. I don't know what Sanderson and his editors were thinking in letting that stand (it certainly didn't add anything to the story). Mat has some "Oh, I suppose I shouldn't have gotten my own slave if I'm trying to convince Tuon to stop enslaving people, and then sort of shrugs it off.

It left a bad taste in my mouth.

The fate of Padan Fain and Alanna also felt like afterthoughts.

In all I thought it was an okay end to the series, but it really drove home how the last three books could've been 2 with some editing and how much I would've liked Jordan to finish his series himself. I'm not sure I'd re-read the series again, even if I still love the first 6 books.

[Spinner]

I hope that readers who meet him give him many thanks. I've read his blog and am impressed by his dedication to his readers. He feels it is his duty to deliver a book every two years and sometimes writes 18 hours a day. He published the first book of his own major series in between completing WOT - I forget the title now, but it was excellent. In fact, discovering Sanderson was even more exciting to me than knowing he would wrap up WOT. The Mistborn series was wonderful.

It was a GREAT event! HUGE turnout, the fans were fun, and Brandon was so accomodating to them all. A nice surprise was having Harriet MacDougal (Jordan's widow and editor of the entire series) and Maria Simons (Jordan's assistant and "continuity editor") along for the event too!

[rjblue]

It must be a relief for them to finally be able to answer any question with Jordan's answer or plotting. A lifetime of answering "Wait and see," has ended. It would be so much fun to go a fan event. I envy you.

More gripes upon reflection:

Spoiler

Really it only was Perrin who was essential to Rand's success. His dreamspike was what kept the dreadlords from joining in the fight against Rand.

Aviendha and Elayne got a fair amount of coverage, and they are the major female characters I find least interesting. Her interlude with Rand was annoying. So the world is at risk, and Rand prepares by having sex with her all night. Bleh.

Things I liked:

Spoiler

Tuon's reaction to Min, and Min not being a pushover.

Logain's holding out against the circle, and his stuggle to understand his place and his power.