I waited 18 years for THIS? (no spoilers)

[Rick of mudbottom]

I started reading the series in 1995 and faithfully waited and read every book.
I visited many sites, one that had Jordan and his wife that actually posted and was promised basically one of the best endings in fantasy history.
What I got was 8 too many books, and a story that could and should have ended before Jordan died. If THIS is what he had planned all along, I'll NEVER believe another fantasy writer and won't read books longer than 3.
At least Tolkien had the sense to end his story instead of milking it for money.
To be honest, I've read better endings in "Star Trek" fan fiction that I did from Jordan/Sanderson.

Signed: Bitterly dissappointed

 

[Toral Delvar]

Anything in particular you didn't like?
The last section was all Jordan, so the "ending" as such was what he planned, but much of the rest of the book was Sanderson, though I don't think we know how much of an outline there was and how much he just had to make up

 

[Jodea Kegan]

While I agree that most of the book was lacking, I am not angry and up until RJ died I enjoyed all of the books. Some more than others for certain, but I did not hate any of them. This last one is my least favorite by far so i get your feelings on that.

I did rather like the ending though, even if it was not what I expected.

 

[Martin Alvito]

At least Tolkien had the sense to end his story instead of milking it for money.

Tolkien didn't have much of an audience when he wrote those books in the 1940's. As hard as it may be to believe now, the books had some initial impact upon publication in the 1950's, but didn't really take off until counterculture took hold in the 1960's. So there was no financial incentive to drag it out.

One could argue that his family and his publisher milked the story for all it was worth after his death, with all the releases of (the same) uncompleted works in (different) heavily edited forms.

 

[Deiria Sha'Veer]

I think, it is not the ending, but the journey. Sure I would have liked to know the resolution for every people, however that is not reality. This story ended when Tarmon Gaidon ended. Rebuilding the world is entirely a new story. Probably Team Jordan did not have information enough to even include few pages satisfying way what happens everyone. Besides we are given a lots of information what happens everyone (ie. Mins viewings).

I have read books I enjoyed 200 pages until finally the resolution was wrapped into couple of sentense like this: "Evelyn and Richard married, had five childern. Evelyn's sister, never re-married, was a constant trouble, always asking money, but they refused to talk to her..." and so on for every charater in a book. Now, that hurts!

 

[Tazren Talamar]

Deiria: I agree with you.

I don't think WoT was ever intended to have a long epilogue explaining what happened to everyone. Since RJ apparently wrote a lot of the ending, and there wasn't any of that. Like you say, there are enough hints that we can make qualified guesses about what happens afterwards.

I'll take this ending a 100 times over than the rotten Harry Potter epilogue where we saw what happened to everyone.

 

[Taika Vinh]

I don't think WoT was ever intended to have a long epilogue explaining what happened to everyone. Since RJ apparently wrote a lot of the ending, and there wasn't any of that. Like you say, there are enough hints that we can make qualified guesses about what happens afterwards.

I'll take this ending a 100 times over than the rotten Harry Potter epilogue where we saw what happened to everyone.

^word. I find the books where the ending is too neatly wrapped up somehow anticlimactic.

In fact, in my opinion the ending was one of the best parts of aMoL, but that's just a matter of taste. I like Brandon Sanderson's style (nowadays more than RJ), but in the last few books, and including most of aMoL the characters felt unfamiliar. RJ had a very distinctive way of writing certain characters, like Padan Fain, or Mat, and when Sanderson wrote them they weren't the same. The ending, though, felt "right" for the series.

For me, reading the aMoL was a bit of a struggle at times. There were awesome scenes, but I never got the "have-to-keep-reading-until-small-hours-to-find-out-what-happens" feeling that I very often get with fantasy books. I think this is because as a reader I'm always most interested in characters, and what happens to them. More than i.e. politics and intrigue, or some concept like how the magic works, and certainly more than big battles . The whole aMoL was a giant battle, and because it was so action-packed there wasn't much time to spend with characters. Except Androl and Pevara, whose scenes I really enjoyed. I think it's partly because they were Sanderson's characters in the end. RJ wrote Pevara, but it was ages ago, and a minor character, so BS was freer to write her than some main character like Mat.

And I feel totally wrong writing BS for Brandon Sanderson. Too used to read those letters meaning something completely different.

 

[Deiria Sha'Veer]

I'll take this ending a 100 times over than the rotten Harry Potter epilogue where we saw what happened to everyone.

^That was a crap one.... If I remember correctly it was written very early (long before many of the books) to remind Rowlings that she has to end the story one day. In my opinion epilogue really stands out, like it belongs to another book. Maybe because it was written early, but her writing style had been slightly developed on the way to the end.

*is too lazy to check the reference...but I know its there somewhere*

 

[Raeviendha al'Toma]

I think I wasn't so much disappointed as just numb. I think I expected an answer to all the questions and an ending or epilogue telling me what happened to everyone. To me, the last book in a series means the end... no more, and therefore some kind of resolution is needed. But, that's just me, I'm way to used to reading books where everything is tied up neatly and everything is explained. With AMoL, I was dumbfounded as I closed the book. I literally had no thoughts about it one way or the other, but later, I was thinking, "What happened to Aviendha's vision? What about Elayne's babies? What about Min? Where's Mat?"

 

[Tazren Talamar]

I guess that depends on what you expect to be resolved. For me, I never expected to get to know what happened to every character. It would have been nice to see what happened to some of them, but I didn't expect it. I was sure it'd be much too long to get into in detail. So, I got what I wanted - a closure to the main plotline, and a lot of minor ones. There were also good indications as to what might happen to several characters. What might happen with Mat and Tuon, what might happen with Cadsuane, with Nynaeve, with Logain. That is more than enough for me.

 

[Raeviendha al'Toma]

I guess that depends on what you expect to be resolved. For me, I never expected to get to know what happened to every character. It would have been nice to see what happened to some of them, but I didn't expect it. I was sure it'd be much too long to get into in detail. So, I got what I wanted - a closure to the main plotline, and a lot of minor ones. There were also good indications as to what might happen to several characters. What might happen with Mat and Tuon, what might happen with Cadsuane, with Nynaeve, with Logain. That is more than enough for me.

I want closure. I want to KNOW what happens! ~sigh~ I need facts man!

 

[Graf al’Ton]

I think AMoL was my favorite but I think that is only because it is so fresh still and I like Sanderson's style. There were some characters that did feel a little off, but I don't think it ruined the experience. In a way I am happy that Sanderson wrote the last books because I wonder how many more books it would have taken RJ to get to the end. Although I am sad that the series is now done and don't have anything to look forward to.

 

[Matriz Ca'zon]

I didn't have to wait as long for the ending. I only started reading the series back in 2006, but I have done alot of re-reads so I fell in love with the characters. My curiosity is definitely stoked. I want to know what happens with everyone too especially Rand. However, I feel that the main story was closed brilliantly. I wish RJ was still alive to get the sequal to this series.

 

[Caendha al'Milr]

Raeviendha, I totally get it. I liked the Harry Potter ending. I like my series to be complete! Especially when I've devoted ten years of my life to falling in love with these people

 

[Eluial Aldaran]

Even though I 100% disagree with the OP and any Brandon Sanderson haters (well, maybe haters is too strong a word. Dislikers?), I do kind of get some of the points.

I have my fair share of complaints and why-wasn't-this-includeds, but overall I loved this book. However, it felt very, very different from all the others. And not just cause Sanderson wrote it. It felt different from the previous two books as well (which, in my opinion, fit in quite well with the rest of the series). Because this book had closure. It had answers, it had endings, and it had DEATHS. Oh my goodness did it have lots and lots of deaths, and permanent ones at that (because we all know how bad RJ was at permanent deaths). It just had a different feel. It was no longer posing questions, it was answering them (though, granted, not all of them).

And fair enough, because it was the Last freaking Battle (...man). It was grueling and long and there was a lot of fighting, with very little time for goodbyes or long winded speeches or finding yourself or whatever. And I think Sanderson captured that feeling quite well.

So, hopefully maybe some people who were disappointed at first can look at the book in a new light. It was the last book in a series, yes, but it was also very different from the rest of the series, and I think on purpose.

Besides, I don't know what you were expecting, but both those who were expecting the world to end and those who thought Rand would kill the DO... come on, do you not read ANY other fantasy?

Frodo couldn't destroy the ring (it was an accident/Gollum's fault)
Harry couldn't kill Voldemort (he killed himself)
And Rand couldn't stop the Wheel of Time from turning (by killing the DO and thereby ending the cycle)

(OK, only 3 examples... my broken brain can't think of more.)

 

[Aulrick Vendour]

Eluial - that makes no sense to me.
For one thing, Rand wasn't infested with an evil inside that corrupted him, like Frodo was.
We don't know if Harry COULDN'T kill Voldemort, just because Voldemort killed himself first.
Rand was lied to by the DO. I believe he could and should have killed him, and that was one of my biggest disappointments in the book, 'till I realized just how brilliant it was to have the DO basically winning.

 

[Raeviendha al'Toma]

Raeviendha, I totally get it. I liked the Harry Potter ending. I like my series to be complete! Especially when I've devoted ten years of my life to falling in love with these people

Oh my gosh right?!! I *know* rationally that the ending was probably the best way for it to end, BUT, I STILL WANT TO KNOW. *Brown at heart?*

 

[Eluial Aldaran]

Eluial - that makes no sense to me.
For one thing, Rand wasn't infested with an evil inside that corrupted him, like Frodo was.
We don't know if Harry COULDN'T kill Voldemort, just because Voldemort killed himself first.
Rand was lied to by the DO. I believe he could and should have killed him, and that was one of my biggest disappointments in the book, 'till I realized just how brilliant it was to have the DO basically winning.

It's not supposed to be a direct analogy like, what happened in this world also happened in that world. It's more a meta-analysis of the fantasy genre and how things unfold in the stories. As in, that thing you think is supposed to happen, it's not gonna happen how you think it should happen.

But, anyway, I have read your thoughts in that other thread, and think you're wrong (though it did make for an interesting read). But I'm pretty positive at this point nothing I or anyone else says will convince you otherwise, and others have made most of the points I would make anyway.

 

[Aulrick Vendour]

:P
I need to read the comming encyclopedia with things from an out side view to be convinced :P Too many things about the ending simply don't make any sense.

 

[AnAnonymousWOTFan]

:P
I need to read the comming encyclopedia with things from an out side view to be convinced :P Too many things about the ending simply don't make any sense.

Can you explain again why you think Rand's PoV is superseded by the PoV of the author of the GWB? And why is the DO winning brilliant?