A review by maxsebastian
A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

A Memory of Light is the perfect conclusion to a complex and ultimately fantastic fantasy series. While I've had my gripes with The Wheel of Time 
from my annoyance at Rand's perspective chapters throughout the first several books to the endless middle third of each book to the frustrating slow down that the series enters in books 8-10
, I have never read anything so grand as the tapestry painted through these 15 books. While it doesn't tie all the threads together, A Memory of Light is about as great a wrap up to all of this as possible.

I loved this book, but I did have one major complaint. One of my favorite things about The Wheel of Time is the politics. This story is all payoff, mostly in the form of really long battles.
It's telling, for instance, that the chapter "The Last Battle" is longer than The Sorcerer's Stone and yet doesn't actually provide the end of the Last Battle at its conclusion.
I've found the fights in The Wheel of Time be some of the most compelling in the fantasy genre, and these
from the grand scale of Mat and the four great captains' strategizing to the individual sword forms Lan, Galad, and Gawyn use to take on Demandred
are no exception, but their extent in this book does distract from other important elements of the conclusion.
I really wish there had been more time spent with the main cast after the climax of the story. A 20 page epilogue just wasn't enough!


Trying to describe how I feel about A Memory of Light is challenging.
From Egwene learning the Flame of Tar Valon to the tinkers Raen and Ila practicing healing at The Last Battle,
Every character in here gets their moment to shine. Similarly, every culture and geographic region, including those beyond the main continent, feel important to the conclusion of this story. It was wonderful to finally read a book in this series that I could not put down.

As I read the last words of A Memory of Light, I was struck with a sudden desire to start over with The Eye of the World and seek answers to the innumerable open ended questions posed throughout the series.
What did Min's visions really tell us? Were there repercussions for using balefire in the early books? What signs did members of the Black Ajah leave? What questions are left unanswered in this epic's conclusion?
There really is no better feeling than that.