A Memory of Light
The threads of fate finally weave together in A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson. This is the 14th and final book in Robert Jordan鈥檚 epic 鈥淲heel of Time鈥� series, begun in 1990. (The final three books of the series were finished by Sanderson 鈥� using Jordan's notes 鈥� after Jordan's 2007 death.) "A Memory of Light," set in a world based on the 16th century and heavily influenced by medieval Japanese culture, is what you might call 鈥渃lassic fantasy鈥� 鈥� literature heavily influenced by Tolkien, eastern religious principles, and military history.
For readers who have been with "Wheel of Time" from the start, "A Memory of Light" delivers on its purpose: an ending to the epic. But for those who haven't, here's a piece of advice: Go back and start from the beginning.
"A Memory of Light" depicts a world on the precipice of the Last Battle. Nations squabble and fight under the shadow of a much larger danger. Rand Al鈥橳hor, the Dragon Reborn, is the world鈥檚 only hope. Duty and destiny, prophecy and politics, magic and hope all weigh heavy on his shoulders as he strives to save not only the world, but existence itself. The nations of men and the armies of the Dark One collide with the fate of the universe hanging over them. Rand, Mat, Perrin, Elayne, Egwene and the rest of the cast Jordan's readers have come to love over the course of 13 books will face their final crisis. Prepare for the Last Battle!
鈥ut not before about 30 other, smaller battles. The 909 pages of this book definitely start to feel padded with large- and small-scale action scenes after page 500. Sanderson does a good job of keeping the action clean, but still, it gets repetitive.
That being said, it鈥檚 not just one big slaughterfest (think less festival, more thrash metal concert). Heartfelt scenes help keep the reader emotionally invested in the battles. Rand鈥檚 relationship with his father and the drama between childhood friends are great examples.
Sanderson definitely inherited some big problems from Jordan. The sub-plots and loose ends that the series often gets criticized for are only symptoms of the larger problem: Robert Jordan was too proud of his creation. He wanted the reader to see all of it.
Jordan was a writer with an eye for specificity and a master world-builder. Every nation in his book has different military tactics, fashion, governmental structure, and idioms. He was ambitious in his scope and sometimes superfluous in detail. Reading his work is often less about the destination and more about the journey. The long, long journey. (I would put more 'o's in the word long to make it longer, but I wouldn't want to seem unprofessional.)
Jordan crafted every aspect of this world with love and precision. A lot of his ideas and characters are novel and magnetic. But it is this attachment to his own ideas that has forced fans of the stories to read through seemingly endless descriptions of cultures and minor disputes that don鈥檛 have much to do with the super-objective of the series. As the major characters spread out across the lands in earlier novels, sub-plots and loose ends appear everywhere, never to disappear. Jordan rarely could bring himself to move his creations back to the 鈥渕inor characters鈥� shelf (or kill them off). This is where Sanderson stepped in, taking on聽the gargantuan task of pulling together every loose thread left by Jordan after his passing.
He has definitely given the last three books a sense of direction, but Sanderson may have imbibed a bit too much of the spirit of Jordan. An example sans spoilers from 鈥淢emory of Light鈥�: four similar plot twists that must each be described in great detail, even though the reader knows what鈥檚 going to happen the next three times. There were a few scenes I felt could have been summarized. The climactic action of the novel pulls so many threads together that sometimes I鈥檇 completely forgotten about minor characters, or I would lose track of who was who.
For all of its weaknesses 鈥淎 Memory of Light鈥� does not disappoint. I won鈥檛 give anything away, but I will say that the ending made me smile 鈥� although I can already predict that some mega-fans that will be upset about the series鈥� conclusion.
For those who haven鈥檛 read any of Jordan鈥檚 books, I encourage you to pick up the series opener, 鈥淭he Eye of the World,鈥� and give it a try. You will be starting a very long but worthwhile journey.
Ben Frederick is a Monitor contributor.
