Harriet McDougal chose the right author.

When Robert Jordan died, eleven books into his Wheel of Time series with one (read: three) to go, I didn’t know what would happen. I felt the tragic loss of a significant author in my life, but I also wondered if I’d ever find out what happened to those characters I had lived with for the past two decades. Thankfully Robert Jordan’s wife and editor, Harriet, phoned Brandon Sanderson and the rest is history!

The previous book, Knife of Dreams, put the series back on track by quickening the pace and tightening the action. Sanderson’s work in The Gathering Storm picks up where Knife of Dreams left off, quickening the pace further. This feels like an authentic Wheel of Time novel.

Most significantly, this book turns the attention back to Rand in a big way! The final scene of Rand on Dragonmount is one of the memories that stuck with me from my first read-through of this volume twelve years ago. Now, with a the whole story in my mind thanks to over a year’s worth of audiobook listening, the scene was even sweeter.

Next up we finally get to visit the snakes and foxes. I should lace up for another run!

Jordan, Robert and Brandon Sanderson. The Gathering Storm. TOR, 2009. The Wheel of Time 12.