So here we are at the end. I’ve finally gotten around to reading the final book of the Wheel of Time saga. That’s more than 20 years since I read the first book. The whole series amounts to fourteen books and over four million words. So it’s with relief that I can bring this chapter of my life to a close.

The best thing that can be said about this book is that it competently brings the whole thing to a definite end. No loose ends, no equivocations. True, there are questions like what happens to the Seanchan Empire and whether the Dragon’s Peace will hold, but they’re not stories that really need to be told. In any case, there are enough hints between Avidendha’s visions and the alternate worlds shown within Shayol Ghul to guess at how things might turn out.

As expected, the book is dominated by the Last Battle itself. It’s appropriately massive and there is more than enough action here to satisfy anyone. There are also plenty of character deaths but actually more characters survived than I would have expected. I felt that some of the survivors were cheap saves that weaken the overall dramatic structure. But overall, everything was about what I expected and I don’t have any major complaints.

Oddly enough, my favorite parts of the book were those that involved Androl and Pevara beginning from their struggle to free the Black Tower from Mazrim Taim up to and including their involvement in the Last Battle. As I understand it, Brandon Sanderson specifically asked for characters for which little guidance had been left from Robert Jordan to mould as he saw fit and these were the two characters he was given.

My least favourite part is the epilogue which was supposedly written by Robert Jordan with only minor additions by Sanderson. While it does finish the story plot-wise, it’s too short to provide meaningful emotional closure. It’s odd that the characters have nothing to say to one another after everything that has happened. I also think that the characterization feels off. I guess it’s no surprise now that Rand survives. But why would he keep it a secret when he had invested so much in the Dragon’s Peace and could continue to work to maintain it?

Finally, there’s the question of whether or not this finale redeems the series as a whole. I have to say that it does not. The series is entertaining enough, in a lightweight sort of way, but it’s ultimately still juvenile fluff. That wouldn’t be too bad except that some of the books are genuinely awful and the whole thing is just far too long and too convoluted. I’m one of those feel disgusted that the series as a whole has been nominated for the Hugo Awards.

I’m glad that it’s over and I’m glad that I stayed for the ending. I’m also very happy with how Sanderson ended the story but I feel that the ending would have been even better if he had not been so constrained by Jordan’s original plans. But I still wouldn’t recommend that any new readers pick it up. There are far better fantasy books out there.