Review: Gathering the Storm by Melissa Craib

I am, like you, an insatiable reader of Robert Jordan’s “The Wheel of Time.” Around one hundred pages into “The Eye of the World” I was pulled into one of the most epic stories I have ever had the pleasure to read. In reading it, I experienced both an incredibly personal engagement with the story and a driving need to talk to others who also enjoyed these pages. I’m a fan, to put it lightly.

We all have in common the journey of being told a most marvelous story by a marvelous man. We’ve been on this road together. Understandably, all are curious as to how this story will be continued and concluded.

I have had the privilege of reading “The Gathering Storm.” I will go into more detail further on, but if you read no further, read this:

THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS IN THE SERIES.

It is one of my top three favorites; and I am not the only one who feels this way.

Brandon Sanderson's voice seemed most obvious to me in the prologue, though this may be because I heard the tape where Robert Jordan describes the prologue in his own words. I'm sure it colored it for me. However, by the end of Chapter 3, I was completely lost in the story. I no longer heard one voice or another. I heard the characters. The characters came across consistently, honestly, and believably. I am frankly amazed at how smoothly this transition happened. Sanderson is clearly not only an exceptional writer, he is a dedicated fan who has taken the time to learn these characters and this world as much as any of us could hope for. And the journey we go on is exhilarating.

Yes, our narrator has changed. Sanderson’s writing is more focused on plot, and his style seems to put more weight on making things happen rather than world building. As we are in the concluding books in our story, this is especially welcome to the reader. Quite simply? Things happen. They happen fast. This book concludes things that have been plaguing me from the very beginning. The story moves forward in a fashion that satisfies and rewards invested readers. Our narrator has changed, and so the pace in which we hear the story has changed. But he serves this final part of the story exceedingly well and the characters speak true.

I dropped my jaw, I cheered aloud, I got up and danced, and I had the HARDEST time not telling my husband what I'd just learned because I was so excited. I’m being quite literal; I did all of these things.

When I was first introduced to this series, I was overtaken by it. Reading "The Gathering Storm" took me right back to my enthusiasm level of ten years ago. This book made me desperately excited about the series again. I felt compelled to talk about it again.

The story moved quickly. The information I read was full, rich and dense. It became obvious very quickly that extending the ending over three books is the right decision. You will find no filler here. To wrap up all the loose ends that need to be wrapped, and to do it right, will take many more pages. The story will be as long as it needs to be, and I am glad it was not cut down in order to finish it in only one final installment.

In this book, we see the real beginning of the end. It may not be the beginning, but it is a beginning. You will have so much to talk about as you read this book. You will be surprised, puzzled, satisfied and tantalized. Theory folk are going to have the best time they've had since book five.

We’re in good hands.

I loved it.
And I can't wait to discuss it with you!!