Books: Towers of Midnight

Spoilers abound!

The Wheel of Time is a really special thing to me, because I think it's the only, I don't know, fun thing that has persisted from much earlier in my life. I started these books a long time ago - though not nearly as long ago as some people - so in a way, I come at these books like I did when I was 13 or 14, when I started reading them. Which is not at all the case with any other book I read now. Sometimes it feels like that sense of fun has been entirely replaced. When it's all said and done, I'll have spent ten years with these characters. The books certainly have their low points, but, overall, they're just flat out enjoyable and escapist.

Which is why, I think, this book has taken me aback a bit. This is the first time I've ever even entertained the possibility that this series will not end well. I mean, people die in this series and are brought back to life. Constantly. The good side hasn't sustained too many losses, and the ones they have taken have been in such a glorious way - Verin, for example - that they're almost better for it. There are very few truly menacing threats in this series, compared to, say, A Song of Ice and Fire. There's danger and intrigue, but there's a very thick sense that it'll turn out okay.

Not so much anymore. And the scenes that drove that home were, for me, some of the best in the series. Aviendha's second set of visions in Rhuidean was rather devastating. I mean, to have defeated the Dark One and still be left with that world? The sad fact is that the next book is the end. It'd be very unsatisfying to me if we were left with the hanging thought that after the last book, it's still not going to be okay for these guys. Maybe it'd be a stronger story, in a certain light, but less satisfying. But even with the bumbling Forsaken in this book - I mean, seriously, Graendal had such potential to do something badass, and she botched it, while Mesaana was pretty weak - the sense of menace was upped so much in this installment. The Black Tower scenes were legitimately creepy. Taim's been building up a huge army for the Shadow right in the Dragon's camp and they're only just noticing. That's bad news. And so are those guys with the sharpened teeth at the end. And I somehow get the sense that Cairhien will not be a good move for Elayne. I don't know why. The only other thing I can think of that was creepy in the series was when Egwene was first kidnapped by the Seanchan, and that passed quickly. This is a lingering atmosphere.

But even with that trepidation, we must give credit to Brandon Sanderson again. He took up a heavy mantle and delivered, even on long-awaited stuff. I've been anticipating the Aelfinn and the Eelfinn scenes since the second Moiraine barreled through that archway, and to have closure, finally, is nice. That whole sequence - the creepy atmosphere of that other world, Mat's luck, Jain Farstrider, Mat sacrificing an eye, the importance of the ashandarei - all great. I have been so invested in that scene for so long that when Mat didn't make any specifications about the snake people, I literally groaned. I knew he slipped up right there. So good. Nynaeve's raising was great, too. I even mildly enjoyed the long Perrin sequences, and I can't stand Perrin. His little picnic scene with Faile was nice.

The constant coupling-off did get a bit irritating, but I guess people really do that in the face of a big war, so I let it slide. But it got to, like, David Eddings level. Berelain, Galad, Morgase, Thom, Moiraine, Egwene... Everyone's got a mate. The Forsaken were, on the whole, rather disappointing, though the Slayer fight made up for it a bit. The Asmodean reveal was lame, I thought. I wanted Graendal cackling out her confession while rubbing her hands together menacingly, Edgar Allen Poe style. It's always been obvious that she did it, if you really looked at it, but to give total confirmation in the glossary for one of the most obsessively argued aspects of the series was, for me, weak. And Moridin gave the impression that he'd known all along. I thought that was odd. That teaser with Lanfear at the end was intriguing, though. Is there hope for her, or was that a trick?

It's hard for me to rate this book against the others since it does feel like such a lead into the last book, but I did enjoy it very much. Not in the way I thought I would, and I'm still left with that niggling sense of nervousness, but still, great installment.