In this book, we only briefly glimpse Perrin, spend a fair amount of time with Rand and Nyneave, get to see a bit of what Mat is up to with his Band of the Red Hand and his new quest to save Moiraine. The main focus of TGS is the conflict between the White Tower and the rebel Aes Sedai—I will save that for last.

Perrin, Faile and company

We only have few glimpses of Perrin’s situation. The first is in the prologue, where we find the Prophet, formerly Masema. I have to say this is one of the few moments I’ve actually like Faile—she usually annoys the blazes out of me with her pushiness and unnecessary jealousy, but at least she finally put down the rabid dog that was threatening both her husband and the Dragon Reborn, something neither one of them had the sense to do.

The next time we see Perrin is in chapter 9, Leaving Malden. Not much movement here. It was basically a touch base, cleaning up a few matters that had not been taken care of in Knife of Dreams, such as the rumors of Perrin being in Berelain’s tent, and the fact that the Aiel protectors of Faile, Alliandre and the others had been killed by Perrin and his forces. I did find myself being more sympathetic to Faile on this occasion—though she didn’t dare tell her husband that he had killed the man that had kept her safe, she still sought to honor him. The scene with Perrin and Faile also helped ease my dislike of her a bit, giving me some understanding on exactly why she behaves the way she does.

All in all, I think the main purpose of this chapter was to remind us of the situation Perrin and his followers were in, and to reintroduce Tam al’Thor to us, who plays a key part in Rand’s story arc much later in the book. Faile has been rescued, the Prophet has been killed and it seems that all that waits for Perrin is whatever roll he must fulfill for Rand in the Last Battle.

Perrin and Faile’s Chance for a Happy Ending: I’m giving this an 80%. I don’t like Faile, and more than once, I wished the Shaido had just killed her. But I guess one of the ta’veren should get a happy ending.

Rand, Nyneave and friends

Rand’s growing instability is particularly disturbing in this novel. I can’t blame him for his anger completely—being tormented in such a way by Semirhage would drive anyone over the edge.

As for his escape from Semirhage…how? How can Rand access the True Power, the power of the Dark One himself? It saved Rand from being used as a tool for the Dark One—or at least, for Semirhage—but why? Is this an effort to tempt Rand to turn to the Shadow?

I was quite shocked by Rand’s suddenly turning on Cadsuane. Certainly, the woman can be irritating, but you would think Rand would understand that what had happened was none of her fault—the male a’dam could not be destroyed, and she had protected it the best as she could. She could hardly count on the appearance of our bizarre Fade friend, Shaidar Haran. Hopefully Moiraine will show up in the next book and be able to set Rand straight.

I’m wondering if Egwene may summon Rand and his company in the next book, now that the White Tower is whole. After all, Elaida did Foretell that the Dragon would feel the Amyrlin’s wraith (she, of course, interpreted this as her own victory, but now we know it’s going to be Egwene!), and Egwene needs to see that Nyneave takes the Three Oaths, and that the Aes Sedai with Rand are not Black Ajah. Perhaps she’ll send Siuan, Gareth and Leane to go fetch them for her: they would make a good small embassy to Rand, two Aes Sedai and Egwene’s general. They would be relatively low immediate threat, as Siuan and Leane are not very strong anymore, though Gareth’s presence would remind Rand that the White Tower is now a military force to be reckoned with. Visiting Rand’s Asha’man would also give Siuan and Leane a chance to meet up with Damer Flinn and possibly be returned to their former strength prior to the Last Battle. Plus, they are the three people close to Egwene that she trusts the most, so it would make sense that she would send them as her embassy to the Dragon Reborn. However, Rand is sitting right outside Tar Valon itself at the end of TGH, so perhaps she won’t need to send an embassy.

Then there is Callandor.  What does it mean that the three shall become one? Rand has a lot of “threes” going on at present. We have his three women: Avienda, Min and Elayne. Then there’s the three men inside his head: himself, Lews Therin and the third man. And then still is the three Powers: saidin and saidar of course…and Rand somehow touched the True Power during the scene with Semirhage. Could these be the Powers that become one with Callandor? Rand, an Asha’man and an Aes Sedai use Callandor, channeling the three together? I don’t see how the Dark One would end up allowing the True Power to be used in his own defeat, but Rand somehow got access to it in the male a’dam scene.

Rand and the His Three’s Chance for a Happy Ending: 10%. Maybe I’m horribly wrong, but I see Rand having a tragic ending, which will be no less tragic for Elayne, Aviendha and Min. Min’s viewings all seem to point to Rand’s death. Still, I’m giving a small hope for them; perhaps the prophecies seem darker than they really are.

Nyneave and Lan’s Chance for a Happy Ending: 30%. It pains me to write that, but Min’s most recent viewing of Nyneave seems to indicate that Lan won’t survive. I hope that they will have the opportunity to see each other at least one last time before his death. If Nyneave can’t have Lan, she at least deserves his child. I worry she won’t even get that.

Mat, Thom and the Band

I’m quite disappointed we didn’t see more progress with Mat and his gang. I always thought Mat would be one to jump right in without looking—in the past he has been. But I guess experience has taught this character to be a bit more cautious. I can’t blame him; as a reward for his past hastiness he’s been hung, had other men’s memories shoved into his mind and ended up with a wife he didn’t want, but knew he would someday have.

Of course, he’s not exactly too keen on the matter of rescuing Moiraine. I have to wonder what his motives are precisely—I don’t get the impression that even he knows. He does have an extensive history of rescuing Aes Sedai in distress, however. Unlike Rand, Mat still has a soft spot for women—any women, no matter how many headaches they give him. Or perhaps his willingness to rescue Moiraine is simply due to the fact he’s tired of seeing Thom mope about. And maybe, just maybe, he wants a little revenge on the Aelfinn and Eelfinn—and taking their Aes Sedai prisoner would be a nice way to deliver it.

Then there’s the question of Verin’s letter. I’m wondering exactly what her request of him might be. Egwene Dreamed of Mat weighing two Aes Sedai on a balance scale, a choice that would affect the world—could this possibly be that Dream come true? Will Mat open the letter, out of impatient curiosity, and find himself having to choose between following those orders and rescuing Moiraine? Rand needs Moiraine for the Last Battle, according to Min—but Mat doesn’t know this.

Mat and Tuon’s Chance for a Happy Ending: 50%. I can’t decide what will happen to them. I think Mat has a fairly good chance of survival, but Tuon still has the Dragon Reborn as her enemy, and he still has to “bind the Nine Moons to him”. Tuon can act as a sul’dam—I’m wondering if she may end up on the wrong end of an a’dam controlled one of Rand’s sworn Aes Sedai. If this were to happen, I’m wondering if this could lead to a confrontation between Rand and Mat, which has yet to happen. Mat seems to have a severe aversion to the a’dam, despite his general distrust of Aes Sedai. I doubt if he would be pleased to see his wife leashed.

Moiraine and Thom’s Chance for a Happy Ending: 70%. The only reason I’ve put it that low is because Moiraine has not yet been rescued. I believe she will be—Rand needs her. Still, there’s nothing to say Thom couldn’t die in the attempt. But Moiraine has worked as hard and has sacrificed as much as Siuan to see the Dragon Reborn victorious—I believe she will be rewarded. I can’t really see Thom as a Warder, however, so maybe they’ll skip that bit.

The White Tower and the Rebels

I have to say this was my favorite in all of it, which was a good thing, because it was really what most of the book was about. In truth, this was two story arcs that were waiting to converge; Egwene and the White Tower Aes Sedai, and Siuan, Gareth Byrne and the rebel Aes Sedai. They often intermixed even before their convergences, with Siuan and Egwene holding their meetings in the World of Dreams, and a Forsaken (apparently Mesaana) now playing with both factions.

Siuan and Gareth

Forgive me if I go on about this one for a bit. They’ve been my favorite pairing since Lord of Chaos, encroaching on Nyneave and Lan’s place in my fan girl heart. One word I have to say about their role in TGS: FINALLY! Though I would not have missed Siuan’s amusing angst over the situation—that was what made them so entertaining in the first place, and it was obvious it would not have been in the nature of either character to yield quickly to the other. Siuan’s rants are wonderfully entertaining, and I can’t help recite them aloud to myself from time to time while reading, and seeing Egwene’s reactions to Siuan’s dilemma with the man whose service she refused to leave never failed to get a good chuckle out of me.

While they have provided comic relief as the series continued darken, their relationship has also given insight to many aspects of Siuan’s character that were hidden away in her role as Amyrlin, and might have not come out otherwise even as Egwene’s mentor. Her persona of the prankster Accepted, touched on in New Spring, comes back to haunt Gareth as she works to pay her debt to him. Thankfully, he takes things much better than Elaida did!

Interesting to note is that I don’t think Egwene’s the only one whose been picking up some of Siuan’s shadier habits: Gareth managed to nicely trump his oath to Egwene by demanding that Siuan bond him as her Warder before he agreed to come along. Neither Egwene nor the Hall can really argue with his actions as Siuan’s Warder, even if they wanted to.  Thankfully Egwene isn’t hardhearted enough to punish Siuan in a formal manner; hopefully she will soon recognize that Siuan’s actions were solely out of a wish to protect one of her few remaining friends, not out of willful disobedience.

Siuan and Gareth’s Chance for a Happy Ending: 95%. It would be very cruel if Siuan lost another Warder, especially one she plans to marry. I don’t see her dying in the Last Battle either: she already once lost as much as it was possible to lose without dying. Besides, Min’s viewing almost seemed to promise the two of them would live—as long as they stay close to each other. If they don’t get a happy ending, I’m going to call it fictional character abuse. Besides, there’s just too much foreshadowing in regards to the two of them starting a family to ignore.

Gawyn

I have to say there is one thing that really bugs me about this arc. As all of us who have read this novel know, Gawyn shows up at Gareth Bryne’s camp after deciding to abandon his Younglings and the White Tower Aes Sedai. He manages to convince the general to allow him to stay, despite formerly being an enemy commander. Don’t get me wrong, the two conversations between Gawyn and Gareth were interesting and necessary–but there is something missing here.

After their second conversation, the next time we see Gawyn is when Siuan decides to solicit his help in rescuing Egwene from the White Tower. But it seems it’s been forgotten that the last time Gawyn and Siuan met, Gawyn held a sword to her neck!

Considering this, it seems a little unreal that Siuan would have dared rush to Gawyn for help, or that Gawyn would promptly agree to assist her (even to save Egwene) without some sort of reconciliation. In fact, I’m left wondering when Gawyn became aware of Siuan’s presence and reclaimed station as Aes Sedai. Gareth never mentioned her by name in either of their conversations—in fact, he almost seemed to avoid doing so both times.

Taking a peek back at The Shadow Rising, I read the account of Siuan’s disposal and her confrontation with Gawyn. Given the level of hatred and bitterness Gawyn held against her at the time, and how it controlled his path between that scene and his appearance at the rebel camp, I think a discussion between the two deserved some screen time, or at the very least, recognition by Siuan, Gawyn or Gareth that the situation had been dealt with.

Egwene               

Egwene shows admirable resiliency to Elaida’s ploys to try to break her. She has truly seemed to learn Siuan’s political skills, and mixed a few of her own into it—and her nerves of steel made her a force to be reckoned with.

Unfortunately, she’s also getting a bit pompous, which is annoying. I think she doesn’t know quite how to pull off the same authority that Siuan managed during her time as Amyrlin without it sounding that way; hopefully Siuan will take some time out to give her some lessons in not sounding like she’s one of the aristocrats that kept bothering Rand during earlier books…otherwise, I’m not going to blame Rand if he attempts to throttle her with his bare hands the next time he sees her. I was a little surprised the Aes Sedai listened to her as much as they did—I understand her refusal to behave like a novice, but I would think even a prisoner would need to show a bit more respect than she did.

I don’t blame her for her attitude around Elaida, however. Elaida could out pompous Egwene with half her brain tied behind her back (which is saying something, considering she only seems to have half a one in the first place). Elaida behaves beyond foolishly, beating Egwene with the Power, who is by her own declaration a novice.

I was a disappointed, but not shocked, that Siuan’s prediction about Egwene being unhappy with her and Gawyn for rescuing her (or “kidnapping” as Egwene called it) became reality. Egwene needs to understand that asking someone who is experiencing a whole other set of circumstances than you are may have a great deal of trouble obeying your orders absolutely when extenuating circumstances come up . Perhaps she will discover this for herself at the Last Battle. As for Gawyn, she’s just going to have to realize that he swore no oath to obey her and was acting only on his love for her.

Egwene and Gawyn’s Chance for a Happy Ending: 80%. Gawyn’s finally back on the right track, it seems. Egwene just needs to get off of her Amyrlin’s Seat for a moment and remember she’s still human and a woman in love. Still, we must remember Egwene’s Dream regarding Gawyn—we don’t know if the road that involved him marrying Egwene was the one where he would live a long life or not. She could bond him and marry him, and he could still die defending her in the Last Battle. I don’t imagine Egwene being anywhere but the front lines, Amrylin or not.

What’s Next?

I predict that Mat and Tuon will be the two main focus of The Towers of Midnight. Mat needs to rescue Moiraine before Tarmon Gai’din, and Rand still needs to bind the Nine Moons to him. What form that latter will take remains to be seen.

While I think this will be the main focus, I am hoping the Egwene and her newly reunited Tower will not be ignored. Rand still needs to feel her wraith and the situation with Gawyn needs to be resolved. Unlike Perrin, I doubt if Egwene and the White Tower will stand for only one or two chapters in the second the last book. There’s far too much to be done, and they have a large, unspoiled army that will likely be key in the Last Battle, something Rand may be grateful for if the Asha’man don’t work out as planned.

Hopefully, we’ll find out the answers to a few more of our unanswered questions soon. If you enjoyed The Gathering Storm as much as I did, I’m sure you’re as eagerly anticipating its release. Light send it is not delayed!

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