The Gathering Storm, WoT Book 12 (Spoilers)

[sir archely]

Well, my copy of Gathering Storm came in the mail today. This made it the first book i have ever bothered to pre-order. (really, i only pre-ordered because my wife was ordering some books anyway, and this saved on shipping.)

Though, it's going to have to sit and taunt me for a bit, since i haven't even started rereading KoD yet. whoops.

and yeah, the cover art is still terrible.

[Amelia]

I totally forgot that the book is coming out, my coworker whom I hooked her into the series called me and woke me up all excited because she just found out. It fun to be able to call somebody and talk about it.

[Corvus Corax]

I'm past the first two chapters and so far it's good in my opinion. Of course no real big things happened, but at least one known character kicked the bucket.

It'll be slow reading for me, but who knows, it might end up being comperable with KoD. I wonder if I'll notice a difference in writing style somewhere along the line.

Don't know what cover art you've got, but mine isn't that bad, just some shopped clouds with the symbol of the wheel with the snake biting its own tail entwined in it.

If it is any help Arch, KoD is faaaaaar better than crossroads of twilight, although that doesn't say much...

Edit: just checked the American cover art and indeed, as Stephen Fry would say: there's not enough vomit in the world.
Added mine for comparisson.

[sir archely]

yeah, i've read KoD before, just ignored it on my reread for some unknown reason.

and i wonder what sort of research it is that tells publishers the europeans like simple covers with symbols and those sorts of things, while the americans like elaborate scenes with people. (and apparently really bad art.)

[Kalle al'Tear]

So not fair that the Europeans get the pretty book covers.. but like Ameila said its tradition for the US to get really crappy art covers.

[Eyreplenh]

I'm about 200 pages in and think I'll finish it tonight or tomorrow. I've not read RJ for three years or something but just finished Sandersons Mistborn trilogy, so my view of style is quite skewed, but... Brandons an apt writer -and maybe just one thing I've detected so far, he's also a tad more direct than Jordan...

[Amelia]

So not fair that the Europeans get the pretty book covers.. but like Ameila said its tradition for the US to get really crappy art covers.

I still stand by my statement, besides I like it when all my series covers match.

[Anita Blake]

ha. I just looked at the cover, (my copy should be arriving tomorrow or the next day) and yup, filled with suck. Then I looked at Darrel K Sweet's website. Dude is 75 years old! Also, all of his art looks kind of like that. I think he just doesn't know how to draw people's faces very well. It looks very much like he learned one style of artwork, figured he was good at that, and kept with it. Unfortunately, that style was "1950's pulp sci-fi/western" and it really doesn't hold up well with the times. Thougn, I guess, for 1950's pulp sci-fi/western art, it's actually pretty good.

But then again, I feel bad for criticizing his work because.... he's 75! He probably should have retired or something by now. Instead, he's doing shitty book covers for Tor. It's... kind of sad.

[Corvus Corax]

about halfway through and yesterday I already re-read chapters 22 and 23 since they're quite..... well, you'll see

Loving it so far.

I had already guessed that the problem Rand was trying to solve for the long term solution would be solved with the stuff in chapter 22.

Now I've got another week and a half off of work, so I'll probably finish it tomorrow .

[AquaFizz]

And yet you don't come when I summon you. ...fear my wrath. (most likely consisting of sulking and fuming)

I was going to post about how awesome Brandons Sanderson is but...BABY!

[Amelia]

my coworker, bought the book, she actually woke me up to tell me but she isnt going to read it right away cause shes re-reading the series and wants to read it after so she said I could read it but its been a week and SHE HASNT GIVEN ME THE BOOK YET!

Shes such a tease.

[Eyreplenh]

Well, I'm done anyway

Don't know what I can say other than that great review Arch linked to, but I'll add my vote to the upsides.

No more of the chapters starring Gawyn Trakands third cousin

Not one mention of Elaynes dress in that annoying way

And lo and behold -when a chapter ends with something like "the sword fell against his neck", the next one is actually about that neck -you don't have to read half the book to find out!

Credit goes to Sanderson, it's him writing this book, no doubt, but the story stays true. Reading this one actually took me back to age twelve, when I would have to sneak up late to finish reading in the middle of the night (I shared a room with my brothers, so I couldn't keep the lights on), running for the bathroom if I heard the parents stirring. It was exciting and fun, and to be honest, it's at least three books since that last happened. At least...

No big negatives really, the only thing that still annoys me is the way Rand is sinking into madness. The whole deal where he's always pushed further down by someone saying "green", whereas if they'd sayd "blue" it would have been a step to recovery. No biggie, that whole thing always felt to simple to me.

Now, I do hope Sanderson stays healthy and keeps to the plan and the script. I want the next!

[Corvus Corax]

Just done reading. A bit too soon to be commenting, or maybe a bit too late.
I might go into it all more detailed later, but for the moment I shall be curt:

A change in pace: we've gone back to the jogging rhythm of the first books, or even faster, compared to the speed of fingernails growing in books 9 and 10.

Characters changed, but only with Mat did this irk me somewhat. A bit too Hollywood cop-buddy movie for me not to notice the change in style and I'm a bit dense that way. Not saying I didn't like the changes overall

I'm curious how Rand will be in the next book.

and one more, small observation:

plenty of OMGWTFBBQ moments

....back to waiting now

EDIT: just wanted to say one more word..... Verin

[Amelia]

maybe we should start a spoiler thread or make this one a spoiler thread.

ooooh my friend came into work today and gave me THE BOOK!!! I HAVE THE BOOK!

[sir archely]

Finished the book earlier today. I have to say, hooray for some resolution!

i definitely agree with corvus' first thoughts. especially how some characters changed, and yeah, Mat was one of the more noticeable ones. i also didn't like what i perceived as change in Tuon. maybe i just never really got her before though.

also, go Egwene. she kicks ass in this book. the Salidar AS vs. Tower AS plot was always sort of boring to me, but Gathering Storm makes up for a lot of that. Egwene had a lot of great moments in here, imo.

The "swirl of colors" thing in each of Rand/Perrin/Mat heads got a little old, but i did find it interesting that things sort of happened in "real time" as it were, rather than continuously going back in time to see stuff live as it were. hard to explain but, Rand would see Perrin doing something, and that would be done then, we wouldn't go back to see Perrin do it from a closer perspective. definitely sped up the pace a good bit by eliminating some of the perspectives.

and yeah, Verin.

all in all, i am quite satisfied with Sanderson's take on WoT. It's definitely different, but it's good.