(Spoiler Alert!)
For those not in the know, Robert Jordan's newest Wheel of Time novel Towers of Midnight came out in November. I was saving up to buy it for my birthday, and I finished it a few days ago. It's been stuck in my head ever since.
The first time I picked up a WoT book was at a book fair in seventh grade. Lemme see... that would be in 2002. It was The Great Hunt... and I've been reading WoT ever since. Although I, like most other fans, are well aware of the flaws in Jordan's writing, I still find these books addicting. They've changed in flavour just a bit since Jordan died and Sanderson took over, but I still get the same thrill, reading them.
Towers of Midnight was both awesome and confusing. The time lines for each character group (those surrounding the three ta'veren, as always, and then the groups around the SuperGirls), were slightly out of sync, which was kinda odd. And there are some things that I just don't understand. Like the title. WHY was it called Towers of Midnight!? The towers are in Seanchan, and this book barely has any Seanchan in it at all! It kinda felt like reading an essay without a thesis, lol. Which was kinda disappointing... I love Tuon's character, and I can't wait to see what happens with her and Mat, who is another of my favourite characters.
And oh, poor Mat! I guess now we know what "One half of the light of the world" means. I'm still burning with curiousity to find out what the other half of the answer means "to save the world"... but I knew Moiraine would be back and now she is. Interesting.
I loved Perrin's parts in this book... last book I skimmed everything to get back to Mat, but this book I really enjoyed watching Perrin. And the hammer forging was just so cool. I'm also glad that Galad has taken over the Whitecloaks... hopefully they stop being so looney and get their act together.
But as much as I loved it, this book didn't really answer any questions. We didn't really hear anything from the Seanchan, Mordeth (who I'm convinced will turn up and screw over somebody yet), any of the still living Forsaken except for Graendal and Mesaana (and Graendal's fate remains a mystery), Shaidar Haran... really anyone on the bad side. Aside from Egwene's defeat of Mesaana, Perrin's fight with Graendal's Trollocs, and the battles in Saldaea, we don't really see any activity from the Darkfriends or Forsaken at all. I feel like this book was probably just to wrap up some loose ends (like Perrin and Slayer) whilst setting the stage for the LB... but I feel like I'm missing a lot of information.
I'm going to have to re-read the series now... Although I've been reading these books since I was 12, I only own The Great Hunt, The Gathering Storm, and now Towers of Midnight. I'll have to round up the others so I can read them, and I think that these books are worth buying, finally. I've read them all via the library, but I'm realizing that if I owned them I would re-read them enough times to make it worth the price.
And, in a final blow of nerdiness, I'm seriously considering making an Ajah shawl, so I can wear it while re-reading and feel awesome. If I can find a pattern I think would fit, I'm totally doing it. If I get into the Harry Potter House Cup on Ravelry, I think I'm going to submit an Ajah shawl as an O.W.L.
The final question then... what Ajah would I be?
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