Things you liked, or didn't [WHOLE BOOK SPOILERS]

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Haters gonna hate

I liked the steamwagon, too. It makes WoT seem at home in a larger mythology in which there is much more to come in addition to the vast history we already have heard about.

And the Dragons/Aludra, too.
 

Sorcha Al'Verdan

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Ooh, now I'm all angry and punchy. If only the internet was the real world :P
 
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Right?? Dude doesn't understand. He thought books three and four were boring? Really? Clearly he should not be writing a review of book 14 in a series he hated from the beginning.
 

Asandra al'Terra

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I was actually referring to gay male characters.

I actually really didn't like this, because I felt like they put in gay males just for them to be there - the token character, if that makes sense. I love the notion of homosexuality in Randland, but it felt a bit too forced for me. That being said, I'm a straight female, so I'm looking at it from a purely literary perspective. :P
 
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I actually really didn't like this, because I felt like they put in gay males just for them to be there - the token character, if that makes sense. I love the notion of homosexuality in Randland, but it felt a bit too forced for me. That being said, I'm a straight female, so I'm looking at it from a purely literary perspective. :P

It certainly did have a "check-the-box" feel to it. Just like "Oh, remember Alanna?" did.
 
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Okay so I have to say this. As harsh as it is, I wish Lan would have died! I thought from how it was written that he did die, and when Mat screamed to him in honor, that was the most moving part of the book for me. It hurt when I thought Lan died, but it was so wonderful and riveting too. What a better way to die, saving everyone when no one could stand to Demandred? Does any one agree with that? I know that it is harsh, but it would have made for great drama and nobility.
 

Jaryd Kosari

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I actually really like that review, and as much as I loved this book for being what it is...I agree with a lot of the reviewer's points... :look:
 
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I actually really didn't like this, because I felt like they put in gay males just for them to be there - the token character, if that makes sense. I love the notion of homosexuality in Randland, but it felt a bit too forced for me. That being said, I'm a straight female, so I'm looking at it from a purely literary perspective. :P

It would've felt that way for me to, if it hadn't been for the fact that female homosexuality has been at least implied with the same casualness (even aside from pillow-friends). And RJ has said several times that there are male gay characters, just that there's not been a reason to mention it.

But I agree; it did feel like a bit of fanserivce. But again, a lot in this book did. It was as if he was trying to tie up as many things as possible, mention as much as could be done about things fans wanted to see or know. Which I will actually give him credit for doing.
 

Darim Pelegro

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Lanfear's final power play was a nice little shocker at the end, I thought. I really didn't expect it though I probably should have.

The gay character mentions were definitely tokenism, though I half-expected Sanderson to try and write the Borderlander General into coming onto Lan. It would have been pretty funny. I'm glad he mentioned it, though I wonder if RJ would have. Considering the series' writing spans the time that it did and how much things have changed just in that amount of time, I can appreciate even some half-hearted tokenism at the end.
 
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Didn't like how Mat and Perrin were left. I had lots of questions about what the future held for them.
 
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If Lan would have died, wouldn't that affect Nyneave while circled with Rand? I guess it was too dangerous to mess with.
 
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Apparently Sanderson originally wrote Bela as surviving, but Harriet overruled him and told him to put in that she died.


Such a weird thing for her to do.


Not Happy Harriet!
 

Caliden Al'Waes

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Both times "Oh he prefers men." came up I mentally rolled my eyes. It was forced, it wasn't needed and didn't add anything to the story other than to shut people up about the "Lack" of gay characters in the story.

I really didn't like how it was 900 pages of fighting. I would have prefered 500 pages of fighting, and the first 200 pages some god damn interaction with all of them together, saying goodbye to loved ones and friends and what not or just... you know, existing. And the last 200 I would have liked a better ending. God I hated the ending. Such a cop out. Such a terrible end. I am so unhappy with it for so many reasons.

The girls behaving as they did, the fact that Rand basically just abandoned Mat, Perrin and others instead of thanking them and saying goodbye. The fact that you don't see the future. You don't know anything if anything he set out to do holds true. I hate that. The Seachan were this massive terrorizing group and you don't bloody see if they stuck to their promise or not. I mean even collaring Mogadin shows that some of them will not keep to their word, which means that Tuon will have to punish or ignore which could ruin everything.

I JUST. THERE ARE A LOT OF ISSUES THAT CAN ONLY BE RESOLVED/EXPLAINED BY THE FUTURE AND WE WERE GOD DAMN DENIED IT. I am just so... Unhappy with it. Sigh.
 
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I understand your frustrations, though overall I felt satisfied. I liked how Rand survived, though I wish that it would have explained somehow how he was able to transfer his soul into Moridin's body. Did he do that with the one power or true power, or was it an act of the wheel somehow? That left a lot unanswered. As far as the open ending, I think that there is enough room to speculate that Rand would find his friends and reunite with them at some point. He showed a lot of compassion and appreciation for them before he entered the bore, and they were all on good terms with each other. Rand has too much passion for his loved ones to just disappear from them forever. I wonder what will happen to the Aiel and the waste? Will the climate there shift to something, will they return to the way of the leaf?
 

Toral Delvar

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Rand wanted peace I think, and if he had popped up and said "hey guys' it's me an a different body" his presence could have been the focus for a lot of dissension, so he probably did have to go off and do his own thing a while, though I don't see why he couldn't have at least told Tam, given how it was obvious that Aviendha, Elayne and Min were not acting as though they had lost someone and that didn't make many people suspicious as far as we know.
 
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I actually really like that review, and as much as I loved this book for being what it is...I agree with a lot of the reviewer's points... :look:

:laugh: Well, yes, but then he dissed books three and four which I thought were excellent. :look: He did bring up a lot of valid points, I just didn't like him pissing on my parade.


I wondered about Lan not dying also, but of course I didn't really want him to.

Bela was par for the course, really, though Rand could have ridden her off into the sunset...funny Harriet wanted her to die. Competition???

I definitely keep forgetting Mat didn't die when he killed Fain :look:
 

Megana Vallentin

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I liked how Rand survived, though I wish that it would have explained somehow how he was able to transfer his soul into Moridin's body. Did he do that with the one power or true power, or was it an act of the wheel somehow? That left a lot unanswered.

Yeah that was a big one for me...I was thinking "well, there wasn't really an explanation, so maybe it's just supposed to be obvious how that worked and I'm missing it?"
 
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