"Narration No-No's"
Top 25%.
Tieing up all the loose ends was very well done. I had trouble turning off my book to do other things.
GOOD, FAMILIAR but LACKING continuity with prior books.
Yes
When a new book comes out in a series, I try to relisten to at least some of the preceeding books. I am always amazed then to find that the same narrators suddenly have assigned different voices, pronunciations and accents to characters they have established so firmly in previous books. It seems that everytime I am totally entranced by the audiobook, one of those changed characters shows up and breaks the spell. Perhaps Kate and Michael should familiarize themselves with their own characterizations. All in all I enjoyed it but the change is a Narration NO-NO.
"Sanderson does wonders with this junk heap series"
This has been a horribly executed series from book 5 or so (before that it was just bad). Brandon Sanderson has done amazing things keeping such a bloated and diseased story on track and moving forward (GASP!) but in the end Sanderson's honesty and good character work against him. By this I mean he used the ending that Robert Jordan wrote instead of writing something GOOD (which he has proved over and over again he is capable of nothing less than EXCELLENCE). I would bet Jordan's widow made this impossible as she was putting her stamp of approval on every rambling waste of paper published under the WoT even if Brandon were inclined to go his own way (which as I said earlier his good character prevents).
Overall: Meh
Ending: About as bad as you would expect
Upside: I was annoyed by this book WAY less than Jordan's ones
"Hated to see it end"
No just as nice
That would be to big a spoiler to put in a review. The ending was and wasnt as expected.
Matt of course the scoundrel of the bunch.
The Wheel weaves as the Wheel will
MORAINE!!!!!
"Excellent"
I have listed to several books now from the Voice Actors and they are fantastic. They actually have me enjoying the audible version more due to the color and emotion they project into their performances.
Excellent capstone to the series. Middle of the series was uneven and pandering. Probably could have gotten rid of 5 books. Took so long that I hardly remember the earlier books.
Elayne seemed to be the richest characterization and depth. Wish they had spent more on Lan's character.
5 stars is i love and i will read agani and again. 1 is i hate and i never want to hear about it ever again. YES = :))) - NO= :'(
"Its Tarmon Gai’do 5 Stars not enough"
I'm not one of those who started reading this series in 1990, maybe (and thats just maybe) because i was 3 back then, but thats just a maybe.
I started reading this saga last year, and although i fell in love with it, I feel like I HAVE TO read the whole saga another couple of times to catch every single thing.
From the beginning of this book it was war, and I felt part of it, I was with Talmanes, Elayne, Egwene, Gawyn, Galad, Lan Mandragoran, Birgitte, Perrin, and Mat. I felt like I was with every soldier. Honestly I felt tired during this war, and when there was no hope, I really felt it, I was just staring at nothing when I was 75% through, couldn't focus at anything... elt like losing the will to live... I don't think I was ever emerged and engaged with any book as this one.
There were moments here that I felt like shouting saying NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! other times I wanted to dance. This book was packed with everything .
Kate Reading and Michael Kramer as always did a great job with this book, You can feel them loving what they have done, what I mean is these characters were not just characters, they were real people. Kate and Michael gave them life with there narration.
Brandon Sanderson did an amazing job, I'm a big fan of his books and he did a fantastic job with this one. I knew it was going to be a good and a great book, but it was truly an EPIC BOOK. Everything here was EPIC.
Thanks to Robert Jordan for his epic saga and thanks to Brandon Sanderson for doing a fantastic job for giving us a great end to this saga.
"Finally, the end of the saga. Finally. finally..."
Seriously, this went on and on and on. True to Jordan's wordy style, but it was wrapped up nicely, and having read the entire series over the 10+ year cycle, I can say I am satisfied with the outcome.
"The Best Book of an Amazing Series"
Cherry on top
Too many. All of the loose ends were tied up.
You can't fall in love with the characters, especially Matt, without their wonderful performance.
It's too long...
I never expected book 14 to be the best, but it was, without question, the finest book of the series.
"Sitting on the edge of my seat!!!"
Yes, there are going to be things I missed the first time & I've listened to each of the other books in this series at least twice each :)
Also there will come a time when I want to walk through this world again, from start to finish.
Favorites charactersssss! Naturally Rand Al Thor, as he is THE main character, but also Perrin, Mat & Avienda. Secondly Eqwene, Elaine, Nyneve & Lan.
Yes, but this series is the one I'm most familiar with them. I enjoy their narration, although I found that the accents & tones they used with particular characters was not as constant in this book as it had been in past books. Also I would have liked to have them team up a little differently, I would have Kramer voice only & all the male thoughts (narrations) & Reading do the same for the females.
This book was the final battle for the powers of good against evil, all the characters that I'd come to know & love would be in that fight. Therefore I knew that not everyone would make it through alive & so I sat on the edge of my seat, almost holding my breath, as time & time again one or another of them came close to death.
This entire book is the climax of the series & couldn't have been done better!
It is a wonderful ending to The Wheel of Time series and has not left me wondering what will happen next. Nor has it left me wishing that another series will spring from this one.
Kudos to Robert Jordan for leaving notes & instructions on how he wanted the final story(s) to work & to Brandon Sanderson for stepping in so well that you can't tell what parts are his additions.
"The greatest fantasy series ever written."
Michael Kramer and Kate Reading are hands down two of the best audio performers on the planet. They ARE the characters of the Wheel of Time and, although I stopped listening and read the last chapter in print before I listened to it just to savor the printed experience of such a monumental ending, it wasn't complete until I heard them finish it. I've started the Brandon Sanderson fantasy series just because they are the readers.
This is a worthy finale to what is, without a doubt, the greatest fantasy series of all time. It wraps most of the story lines into a sensible, satisfying conclusion.
The last one.
It might be a stretch to say that it made me laugh or cry, but I did feel the weight of concluding a 14 volume, 8,000 page epic. One that I started reading more than 20 years ago. It also is sad to think that Robert Jordan is gone and that, for the first time in my entire adult life, there isn't going to be another Wheel of Time book coming down the road.
"They lost me."
No. I ran out of steam for WoT.
Brandon Sanderson for sure, his other work is great.
This series should have ended in 6 or 7. It went on so long, I don't care any more. Seem like a waste of time in retrospect.