The Gathering Storm Review (WOT 12) 

She said, "Tell Shai'tan. I want him to know it was me."

Yeah I found myself right down there with Rand, questioning the purpose of it all and almost hoping he would rewrite the pattern to never cycle again and let mankind live once and have peace.. but then the Dragon’s words hit all the way home.

@@shortassbd I don’t think it was so much rewriting the pattern, so much as he was willing to use the access key to effectively nuke everything from existence.

Totally forgot that

@@shortassbd lol me too, this series is insane! I wish I could just remember the things that I need to.

I remembered that throughout the whole thing, it really explains nicely why Elida went totally nuts, combined with her already-bitter temperament.

@@ChristmasLore who cares about spelling a name slightly off, that has no effect on the enjoyment of the series

Totally forgot that. You are right - that does make her actions so much more understandable. Thanks.

"I'd name you Darkfriend as well, but I suspect the Dark One would perhaps be embarrassed to associate with you." No weaves exist that can heal such a sick burn. Not even in the Age of Legends could such a blow be soothed.

My mouth dropped the whole chapter

The best part is love Egwene or hate her, that scene is one of the most adrenaline packed moments in the series.

Her entire Elaida saga is literally the best writing in these books. If not for Verin, on this saga alone Egwene could be considered the best female in the series.

@@EdoDave Ter'angreal tape can't fix that

I'm not sure the GOAT will ever truly leave RJs hands for me but I was also introduced to Brandon during this book and have read everything of his since. He's certainly been passed the torch and is my favorite living author

Same!! My heart hurt for Jordan... but it soared when I saw how honor and legacy was preserved by Sanderson. I read Mistborn first, and then Stormlight. Love Jordan, love Sanderson!

I almost did not read Gathering Storm because I simply did not think any other author could pull off completing the series as well as Jordan would. I didn't want to be disappointed with the series as I have with other books series/universes that have required multiple authors to complete them. It took the reviews of several trusted friends who had read it for me to finally take the chance. I'd not read anything at all by Sanderson at that time, had no idea who he was when the announcement was made that he was taking over. It was his work on WoT that turned my attention to him and thus reading Elantris and the Final Empire around 2009 or so.

Thanks for this Sean, I'm just starting The Gathering Storm today with apprehension, and I think I'll give it a good chance despite it not being Jordan completely at the helm.

Yeah, that scene is really cold. Let's just do this the easy way...

Omg yes!!! I forgot! And also I think that was the scene where he used balefire so hard that (i think it was) Nyneve started swaying saying that he was unraveling the pattern. It really showed you the true dangerous power of balefire. Sooooo good omg.

"We don't know the names of the women who were in Graendal's palace " Lews Therin said "We can't add them to the list. "Rand tried to ignore the madman. That proved impossible Thats when I saw how much Rand has truly changed.Lews Therin was saner at the time.

Also, isn't it implied that he used the True Power when killing Semirhage? Of course the trauma of almost killing Min put him on this books downward spiral, but if I understood correct he tapped into the Dark One's source and that also contributed to him growing darker. Idk if that's expanded on in the rest of the books since I have just finished this one...

The part where Mat says 'Aes Sedai-ness) made me realise Sanderson hadn't 'figured out' the character of who Mat was at that point. He is a character who you need to read throughly on or actually have written him in mind to have understood who he is. As the reading went on for me, I saw Mat become more in-line with who he actually was supposed to be, which was awesome.

@@Iceman-135 Sanderson cropped out 8 books worth of character development with Mat. Mat isn't irresponsible. Once he takes on any responsibility he see it to the end; he just tries to avoid having responsibilities he doesn't want.

I cry at “Veins of Gold.” Every. Single. Time.

The banishment of Cadsuane is one of the happiest moments of my life!

Based on Sanderson's comment here, I think Sanderson probably wrote it. The comment is specifically about Veins of Gold, but seems like it would also apply to this scene. www.reddit.com/r/WoT/comments/enfoiv/veins_of_gold_wow/febmfqx?

From RJs blog - , I had two nicknames in 'Nam. First up was Ganesha, after the Hindu god called the Remover of Obstacles. He's the one with the elephant head. That one stuck with me, but I gained another that I didn't like so much. The Iceman. One day, we had what the Aussies called a bit of a brass-up. Just our ship alone, but we caught an NVA battalion crossing a river, and wonder of wonders, we got permission to fire before they finished. The gunner had a round explode in the chamber, jamming his 60, and the fool had left his barrel bag, with spares, back in the revetment. So while he was frantically rummaging under my seat for my barrel bag, it was over to me, young and crazy, standing on the skid, singing something by the Stones at the of my lungs with the mike keyed so the others could listen in, and Lord, Lord, I rode that 60. 3000 rounds, an empty ammo box, and a smoking barrel that I had burned out because I didn't want to take the time to change. We got ordered out right after I went dry, so the artillery could open up, and of course, the arty took credit for every body recovered, but we could count how many bodies were floating in the river when we pulled out. The next day in the orderly room an officer with a literary bent announced my entrance with "Behold, the Iceman cometh." For those of you unfamiliar with Eugene O'Neil, the Iceman was Death. I hated that name, but I couldn't shake it. And, to tell you the truth, by that time maybe it fit. I have, or used to have, a photo of a young man sitting on a log eating C-rations with a pair of chopsticks. There are three dead NVA laid out in a line just beside him. He didn't kill them. He didn't chose to sit there because of the bodies. It was just the most convenient place to sit. The bodies don't bother him. He doesn't care. They're just part of the landscape. The young man is glancing at the camera, and you know in one look that you aren't going to take this guy home to meet your parents. Back in the world, you wouldn't want him in your neighborhood, because he is cold, cold, cold. I strangled that SOB, drove a stake through his heart, and buried him face down under a crossroad outside Saigon before coming home, because I knew that guy wasn't made to survive in a civilian environment. I think he's gone. All of him. I hope so. I much prefer being remembered as Ganesha, the Remover of Obstacles.

@@GeorgeWrightau Blood and bloody ashes. Holy fuck.

@@GeorgeWrightaui sometimes forget i’m reading the words of a man who has killed more people than i can count on my hands.

Well put, mate, well put.

I admired that scene where he's on top of the precipice and he is holding both of the angreals and he has the epiphany of love. Without reading it, it's hard to explain how large of an event that is. But it was such a massive character development. You can feel the magnitude of it when Egwene tells someone to mark the event in a calender because she knows how important it is in their history.

@@Iceman-135 Ooh, I forgot all about that part. In the epilogue right? Makes me think of that moment in The Towers of Midnight as well.

I think it's so powerful because throughout the rest of the series previously, Rand was marching his way to Tarmon Gai'don out of duty and nothing more. Not really because he saw the world as worth saving, or loved everything in it, but because HE HAD TO. And that's why his rage began to grow: he felt like he was being forced to do it, instead of doing it because he wanted to, because he knew it would be worth it in the end. And so the point of his realization is to understand what is actually worth saving about the world, to change his actions from ones of dry and impersonal duty to ones of obligation born out of love for others and a hope for himself, hope of a second chance. A key part of that, too, was understanding that the wheel doesn't just repeat every cycle of ages identically, it weaves the important components in. It preordained the high points, but as Tam said, everyone gets to choose how to get between them.

Some of the Foresaken were fairly pathetic, Be'lal and Sammael particularly especially for being two of the main generals. They really do pull it back though in the later books

But no one does build up and foreshadowing like Jordan I agree. There's a throwaway conversation in one of the very early books calling the Seanchan court the court of the nine moons and naming Tuon as heir. Completely forgotten even by Rhuidean let alone what book 9 when she finally arrives

@@nickywal so, while they're defeated relatively anticlimactically to some degree, they still have influence on Rand's progression, which is my point. Though I don't want to get into it too much here as I want to avoid soilers. I do think a problem with WoT is that having some hidden layers of plot is good, but you still have to keep the superficial layers rewarding enough so that readers keep going. There are lots of things in the slog that come to matter later in the books, but it shouldn't be a slog to get through it. I'm sure this discussion can go a bit further after AMOL.

That's almost literally what Verin said... that the Forsaken are like children fighting for approval and wanting to be better than the other forsaken... but that the Dark One himself isn't that simple. :)

Semirhage was the greatest of the Chosen for her role in (almost) breaking Rand.

This is interesting too, if you have read Stormlight Archives, Sanderson has his own version of this. What is the most important step a man can take.

Agreed. And I'll go further to say that reading the Lan chapters make me think Sanderson would be an exceptional Heroic Fantasy(I'm thinking David Gemmell style) author.

Also I love your videos!

Lane Sevy Me too! I’m 400 pages away from finishing A Memory of Light on my first read through. I feel like I have the same tremor of excitement/passion in my voice while I’m talking my friends’ ears off about reading the series. Amazing books.

Yeah, this definitely threw me off the first time reading ToM. I was like "how is this character here, is a forsaken in disguise?"

It was kinda like Crossroads of Twilight. How the first two-thirds of the book was happening during the cleansing.

Yeah, I was pretty shocked at how Rand went after Graendal. Not just at the ruthlessness of it, but it was a pretty genius move. Something that Demandred or Ishamael would have done.

@@cdubbau135 Well, to be honest, I was impressed with him as well, finally using the Choedan Kal to its full potential And the same scene from the other point of view was amazing, "What is that gigantic beacon of power? I've never seen anything like it (haha lol)"

I'd argue that you see how far hes fallen in a way

@@carterdahl9654 Oh yes, he didn’t give a damn about anyone else anymore, and only cared to bring an end to his mission

Sure I would, it's very interesting!

I agree though, whatever the reason for the choice, it definitely has a negative impart on his character development and storyline.

SPOILER Yup...after the scene was over, I sat back and thought..."Holy crap, this is what the Dark One wanted all along." He sacrificed Semhirrage in order to force Rand to bathe himself in the Dark One. Genius. Really puts Shai'tan's true regard for his toys in sharp relief.

Totally an audiobook listener :p Eguaine, Swan Sanchez :D