The wrapping up of the major story arcs is now a theme continuing on from Knife of Dreams. Only it’s become far more apparent what it means to the visibility of the characters when their arc has become complete. In Knife of Dreams Perrin’s arc, with the Shaido and Faile, was wrapped up and now in The Gathering Storm the face time we have with these characters are minimal. Considering the annoyance level I usually achieve when reading arcs with Faile and Perrin after The Shadow Rising is off the charts, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Going forward are we going to see that much less of Egwene in Towers of Midnight? I see it as a pattern so I fear so.

Speaking of Perrin and Faile, I actually found myself appreciating Faile as a character for the first time since The Shadow Rising for 2 reasons:

1. She killed Masema, a character I found even more annoying than her.
2. She had very limited face time in The Gathering Storm, in fact she was barely in it at all!

This book, more so than any previous books in the series, has been punctuated by darkness and several truly chilling scenes.

One of the most chilling points in the novel is when Semirhage escapes and collars Rand with a male a’dam. This scene also transforms into one of the more powerful Rand scenes and transformations in this book, in several books. Semirhage forcing him to attempt to kill Min was a turning point for him and us as readers. The bigger revelation in this moment is Rand’s ability to touch the True Source.

Mat’s scenes had more to do with (I hope) setting up the Tower of Ghenji arc for the next book than it did with moving plot along within The Gathering Storm. However the scene in which Mat and company enter what I refer to as the “Village of the Damned” was one of those moments that brilliantly highlighted the Dark One’s touch and effect on the world. This was, for me,  the second most memorable scene in The Ghathering Storm.The Bubbles of Evil were a prevalent part of the overarching storyline in The Gathering Storm. The book started with one, and the farmer, and it continued to become worse and worse as the book progressed.

Regardless of strange villages, moving wings at the White Tower, and interesting interrogation, it seems we can continue to count on Mat to provide us with some much needed humor. His explanation of women to Talmanes was remarkably funny.

“Reasoning with a woman is impossible. It’s like… Well, reasoning with a woman is like sitting down to a friendly game of dice. Only the woman refuses to acknowledge the basic bloody rules of the game. A man, he’ll cheat you-but he’ll do it honestly. He’ll use loaded dice, so that you think you’re losing by chance. And if you aren’t clever enough to spot what he’s doing, then maybe he deserves to take your coin. And that’s that.

“A woman, though, she’ll sit down to the same game and she’ll smile, and act like she’s going to play. Only when it’s her turn to throw, she’ll toss a pair of her own dice that are blank on all six sides. Not a single pip showing. She’ll inspect her throw, then she’ll look up at you and say ‘Clearly I just won.’

“Now, you’ll scratch your head and look at the dice. Then you’ll look up at her, then down at the dice again. ‘But there aren’t any pips on these dice,’ you’ll say.

“‘Yes there are,’ she’ll say. ‘And both dice rolled a one.’

“‘That’s exactly the number you need to win,’ you’ll say.

“‘What a coincidence,’ she’ll reply, then begin to scoop up your coins. And you’ll sit there, trying to wrap your head ’bout what just happened. And you’ll realize something. A pair of ones isn’t the winning throw! Not when you threw a six on your turn. That means she needed a pair of twos instead! Excitedly, you’ll explain what you’ve discovered. Only then, do you know what she’ll do?

“Then she’ll reach over and rub the blank faces of her  dice. And then, with a perfectly straight face, she’ll say ‘I’m sorry. There was a spot of dirt on the dice. Clearly you can see that they actually came up as twos!’ And she’ll believe it. She’ll bloody believe it!”

The Forsaken remain the tactile villains within the novels but the Dark One has been starting to make his presence known.  We’re reminded of their presence at the  very beginning of the book, with a gathering of our demented villains. After this meeting of the Chosen we’re left with more questions than answers. It’s instantly clear that Graendel is going to be involved in a confrontation with Rand. The outstanding question remains: Where is Demandred hiding out? What army is he preparing for war?

The promise of a confrontation between Graendel and Rand was cut short in a way we’ve never seen Rand fight or react before. After using balefire against Semirhage Rand’s attention is turned towards Graendel. Semirhage’s attempt to collar and control Rand backfired in a way that no one could predict. Once free of the collar, and having freed himself of Semirhage all together, a suddenly callous and withdrawn Rand prepares a plan to end the trouble that Graendel is causing him. His solution, though, is to locate Graendel and then balefire an entire fortress in an effort to be rid of just Graendel.

Rand’s troubles didn’t end with the balefiring of Semirhage and Graendel for there was still the issue of the Seanchan, and Tuon, to deal with. Only Tuon is as stubborn as Rand is and neither are able to see eye to eye with one another yet. Tuon is convinced that Rand must kneel and serve and Rand would kneel for no one. I foresee a major battle of wills, or else a crushing of spirit. It’ll be interesting to see how the Seanchan arc plays out with their new Empress.

Nynaeve has been one of my Top 5 favorite characters of the Wheel of Time since Eye of the World. Perhaps it’s that she reminds me a bit of myself, with far less sniffing and braid tugging. It could be that  she’s a character who has experienced such tremendous change in her life but still remains very true to the core of herself and her past, as Wisdom of Emond’s Field. To her core she remains the Wisdom and takes charge of watching over all those who she continues to perceive of in her care, particularly Rand. More on Nynaeve when I bring up Tam. Unfortunately I am concerned that she is one of many characters who will not see a happy ending.

The biggest arc in the book centered around Egwene and the White Tower. This is the confrontation we’ve been waiting for since the Salidar Aes Sedai started marching towards the White Tower, perhaps since the moment they split. The silent battle of wills between Egwene and Elaida finally came to it’s conclusion in front of many Sitters of the Hall when Elaida beats Egwene publicly for speaking the truth. A truth that undermined what little credibility  to which Elaida was hopelessly clinging. Elaida’s need for control had gotten out of hand and she was undermining the very nature of the White Tower itself.

I was sure that this was supposed to be the moment of revelation for the Sitters. Just as I had been sure of it three times before in the book.

1. Egwene’s meeting with the Black Ajah Hunting sisters.
2. The previous Egwene/Elaida standoff.
3. Any of the moments to which Egwene was referred to as “mother”.

One of my favorite mini-arcs in this book is the humanizing of the Red Ajah. Previously we’ve been shown that the Reds are not all evil, hateful or full of anger through the arc between Mat and Teslyn Sedai.  The center of the project for humanizing the Red Ajah is the new character Silviana Sedai. We experiencing her through the eyes of Egwene as the Mistress of Novices. Despite administering daily beatings to Egwene there is a camaraderie between the Red and Egwene that sheds light on Silviana’s true nature. The conclusion of the book, with the reunification of the White Tower, is the highest point in the Wheel of Time since the cleansing of the taint. And Egwene’s choice of Keeper in Silviana was one of the most compelling points in the book and it was well set up and beautifully executed.

There was a moment of revelation in this novel that blew my mind above any other revelation in the Wheel of Time.  It was not a complete surprise as it had been hinted at previously in the series. In The Great Hunt we had been left with a contradiction of statements between Moiraine Sedai and Verin Sedai leaving the savvy reader to believe that one or the other of these women were Black Ajah. Having had considered Moiraine to be my favorite character in the Wheel of Time (and perhaps even within Fantasy itself) I stubbornly refused to believe that she was Black Ajah. At the same time I just couldn’t see Verin being lumped in the same category as Liandrin, Alviarin, Katerine, Joya or any of the other known Blacks.

Verin’s confession to Egwene is my favorite scene, to date, in the Wheel of Time. Even though there was speculation over Verin’s allegiance this scene was powerfully written and presented brilliantly to the fans and readers. As Verin’s story unravelled I was shocked, awed, heartbroken and then vindicated within the matter of 2 pages. Verin was Black Ajah for all the right reasons. Verin chose to avoid sub-coming to the Shadow and evil and instead she twisted her objective and loyalty to fit her needs. Verin was true to the Light to the very end. The list of Black sisters she compiled was the sum of her work over the years at the Tower and was positively brilliant, the fact that she only missed 3 Blacks within the Rebels was spectacularly impressive.

Verin did Egwene an tremendous service by presenting her with that list of Black Sisters, which allowed Egwene to make the Tower whole once more. The end of The Gathering Storm sees the reunification of the White Tower, with all Ajahs present, and traditions still respected. I see the power of the White Tower reunified, without the overwhelming presence of the Black Ajah and under the leadership of Egwene al’Vere, as a driving factor in the Last Battle.

At times it felt like The Gathering Storm was a series of huge moments and scenes, even so they were brought together by the overall story and Sanderson’s writing.

Early in the book we read as Rand callously balefired an entire fortress to be rid of Graendel. Following that moment Rand’s outward coldness, and banishing of Cadsuanne from his sight, became a chilling aspect of the story. It felt like he had given up on his own happiness and was set to be the world’s martyr. Until Cadsuanne and the Wise Ones, with Nynaeve’s help, pulled a trick from their sleeve in a major confrontation I’d been waiting for since the Eye of the World: Rand and Tam. There was a hugely terryfing moment when Rand turns on his father but a far more rewarding moment when Tam pushes Rand to begin questioning his fate.

The Gathering Storm was an action packed novel that pushed many storyline forwards and delivered a lot of character development. And like all Wheel of Time books it left us with many unanswered questions:

• Where is Demandred? What army has he prepared for war?
• What did Verin write in her letter to Mat?
• When will Mat and Thom begin their progress towards the Tower of Ghenji?
• What does Min’s revelation about Callandor mean? How will that play into the Last Battle?
• What role will Tam now play in Rand’s life?

The world is changing in the Wheel of Time, and it looks like the changes of good are barely balancing the changes of bad.

Choosing favorites from a book should never be this easy, but let me start with this:

• Favorite Character: Egwene
• Favorite Arc: The White Tower’s unification
• Favorite Scene: Verin’s Confession
• Most Memorable Moment: Village of the Damned
• Favorite Victory: Egwene named Amyrlin