Today is a big day for fantasy!
The Gathering Storm, the first book in the conclusion trilogy of the Wheel of Time, is now published in fine bookstores!
The Wheel of Time is a defining series. Like Lord of the Rings, Narnia, Pern, Shannara, Harry Potter, Ice & Fire and a few others, the opus by Robert Jordan has been one of the bestselling and most closely followed fantasy series of all time. No matter your feelings about the middle books of the series, the release of The Gathering Storm today—which is the first book in the Wheel of Time series since October 2005—marks the culminating beginning of two decades worth of reading for a great many fantasy fans.
It has been two years since Robert Jordan passed away, leaving author Brandon Sanderson a huge role in completing the Wheel of Time. Up until now there has been an embargo on early-posted reviews. Now that October 27th has come, the blogosphere is alive with reviews!
What are they saying? Here is a gathered list of them thus far:
- OF Blog of the Fallen
- Dragonmount
- Fantasy Hotlist
- Grasping for the Wind
- Neth Space
- Only the Best Sci-fi/Fantasy
- TarValon.net
- Tor.com
Reviews seem to be mixed but lean toward the positive. No one is calling it great; no one is calling it terrible. It seems there are a great many people who think the middle books of the series lacked the magic the first four books possessed, and I think a lot of those fans want a return in these last three books to the quality of tale written early on by Jordan.
I just hope that Brandon doesn’t take the brunt of any displeasure some fans are going to have with a series that has so much to wrap up!
Go out and buy your copy of The Gathering Storm today and make up your own mind!
Happy Release Day, Mr. Jordan & Mr. Sanderson!
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