The Gathering Storm is the 12th book in the Wheel of Time series begun by Robert Jordan with The Eye of the World nearly 20 years ago. Mr. Jordan passed away in 2007 without having completed his epic work. His widow and editor chose Brandon Sanderson to finish the story using detailed notes and partial manuscripts left by the late author. I have been reading this series sense 1998, and it has been an anxious four years waiting for the next installment.

This Review is Spoiler Free. At least as far as plot is concerned, I do intend to mention which characters are in the book however.

I have now read through the book twice. The first time was really just to find out what happened. The second time I did it to enjoy some of the great storytelling the this fusion of authors has created. Mr. Sanderson has said himself that the best person to finish this book would have been Robert Jordan. On the other hand, Sanderson's writing style gives a much faster tempo to a series that needed a push forward. For the first time ever in the series, no new plot threads have been added. A number of them get resolved.

There are a few action sequences and the one in the Egwene thread is fantastic. When Sanderson was chosen to finish The Wheel of Time, I bought his Mistborn series and read it. One thing that became very clear is that Sanderson knows how to write compelling action. I think in this respect, he is superior even to the original author.

The feel of the books is also true to the previous. There is no doubt that you are reading a book that belongs in the Wheel of Time set. I was worried that there would be a shift in styles that would jar the narrative, but that has not proven to be the case.

Not all is roses however. There seemed to be a lot of pressure to keep the word count under control. even splitting what was to have been a single final volume into three, seems to have left not enough room for tension to develop to it's fullest before resolving. There is one particularly tense and character driving episode with Rand (the most central of several main characters) which lasts hardly a page. It is in my opinion resolved too soon and with too little support for the eventual outcome. I think at best there will need to be some back fill on this moment, and I wish it had been more fleshed out.

Mr. Sanderson is also not as subtle as his predecessor. Jordan was willing to risk his readers missing something the first time through and even the second. Sanderson feels like he is need to put the little extra bits in to ensure that the plot points and especially the theme moments are clear to the readers. In doing so it feels like you are beaten over the head with a "this is significant" stick.

Finally, Sanderson simply hasn't gotten Mat's voice and personality down. This is most unfortunate as Mat is centeral to something known as the "outrigger" series that may not see the light of day if Mat does not get more in the grove. Sanderson's Mat is to snide and belligerent. He has lost the sense of being unwittingly brilliant, and instead come off as bumbling. Mat who use to use his trickster attitude to try to keep his skin out of trouble now seems to be back on his Pa's farm, looking all the character development of the he has made since leaving Ebou Dar. There is a part of me that would dearly love to sit down and try to do some source criticism around this book. I think that may have to wait until more people have read it through. I will say however that I think much of Mat's play in this book is Sanderson's. Mat's plot really does not progress that far in this book, but I think Sanderson felt the need to have all three boys in this volume to keep the audience in sync after four years away. My hope is that Mat will improve as Sanderson learns the Charictor, and as the character gets back into part that Jordan will have had a stronger hand in.

My conclusion, Buy the book and read it. The series is alive and likely to be finished in a most satisfying way. Old fans should consider ourselves very fortunate that a talent such as Brandon Sanderson was available to finish Robert Jordan's work. Readers who are knew to the series can start at the beginning knowing that there will be an end to look forward to, and everyone can look forward to next November when the penultimate volume will be released.