Holy, freaking cow. Wow. Fabulastic.

First of all – the cover. Michael Whelan is the artist. When you go to this link you will get a look at how cover artists work and how little they actually get to work with. And still he manages to provide something that captures the dynamics of the novel.

My goodness, what an ending to a series I have loved. I do not think I was alone in worrying when Brandon had to finish the Wheel of Time series. My worries were laid to rest with his first installment: The Gathering Storm. A Memory of Light is amazing. No wonder Sanderson teaches creative writing.

What is it that makes A Memory of Light so good? As I have told you in my About page, I am terrible at analysing. Really, really bad. But there are aspects to the art of writing that I might have gotten a feel for.

A Memory of Light is tight. It’s not difficult to see that this novel must have been edited time and again to get that flowy feeling that I always go on about. There are very few mistakes and Brandon shows us that you can write a novel more than 900 pages long and still feel as though you could have read more.

The jump from character to character is flawless. Perrin‘s over-carefulness, Mat‘s playfulness, Egwene‘s “I know best” attitude and Rand’s “I must die” attitude are all incorporated into the writing without detracting from the plot.

Be prepared for fighting, lots and lots of fighting. We are, after all, at the ending of the world and the final battle. People die. People I have grown to care about. I hate that, because I really do love the quirky set of The Wheel of Time. But I see the necessity of it. I still hate it.

Once again we are exposed to friends who betray and friends who risk their lives for you. In a sense, that is what The Wheel of Time has been about for me. This group of four (five) characters from Two Rivers stays loyal to each other in spite of huge differences of opinion. Friendship, what a precious gift to bestow on each other.

I am going to say something I do not often say: Please read A Memory of Light. You’ll have to read the first 13 novels for it to make sense, but it will be worth it. That is how good I think A Memory of Light is.