Wheel of Time 14: A Memory of Light

A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Brilliant, I want to read it again straight away.

I have been reading and rereading the Wheel of Time series for roughly the last 10 years. I started reading it because a book shop had a 3 for 2 offer on fantasy books, and there were only 2 books I needed from another series, I can't even remember which series that was. I am so glad that I picked up The Eye of the World and thought, this might be a good read. Yes it bloody well was, and the series has had me hooked since.

I have been so excited about this book, I read all of the preview bits that were released and thought they were brilliant, they just made me more excited about the actual book. I preordered the book from amazon last May, and for the week before release day I kept checking my amazon account to see when my copy had been dispatched. When I finally saw that it had been dispatched, I made a strange excited squeaking noise. On the estimated delivery day, I couldn't leave the house in case I missed the postman, I couldn't have the TV or radio on in case I didn't hear the door bell. When the postman arrived with my book, I about hugged him.

Now with the final book of the Wheel of Time in my filthy little mits, I was overcome with mixed emotions. Excited to find out what happens, sad that the series is ending and that I will never again be able to read this book, or another book in this series for the first time, worried because characters that I have grown very attached to would probably die in the last battle. So I just sat hugging the book, and smelling its booky goodness for about half an hour.

When I started reading it, I tried to read it slowly, 1 chapter, do something else, another chapter. I wanted to savour this book. By a third of the way through that plan went out the window, I needed to gorge myself on this book. I could not put it down, I needed to know what happened next.

This book did not disappoint at all, thank you so much Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson, this series will always be part of my life, I can see myself still rereading it in 20, 30, even 40 years time.

I really hope that at some point there will be more prequels to go along with A New Spring, I would love to find out how Moiraine and Lan found the Dragon Reborn in the Two Rivers.



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His Dark Materials 1: Northern Lights

Northern Lights
Philip Pullman
1995
5/5
BBC Top 100 Books - Book 3 (part 1)

This book is set in a world very similar to our, however the world is very different to ours. The story revolves around the adventures of a girl called Lyra and her travels through this steampunk dystopia from Cambridge to London, and on to the Fens, and eventually to the Arctic.

This is the second time I have read this book, and it is a good as I remember, I can't wait to read the next two books in this series again.

The Lord of the Rings 1: The Fellowship of the Ring

The Fellowship of the Ring
J R R Tolkien
1954
5/5
BBC Top 100 Books - Number 1 (part 1)

I first read this book just after the film was released in 2001, I had waited a number of years to read it because I didn't want the film to be a disappointment like most films based on awesome books are. At the end of the first LOTR film, I couldn't wait until the next film was released to find out what happened, so I read the books. Despite loving the books, I didn't read any of them again until now. I had forgotten how much brilliant stuff the films had left out!

I love this story and I can't believe I went for so long without reading it again, this series will probably have to go onto my read every year or two list.

Birdsong

Birdsong
Sebastian Faulks
1993
5/5
BBC Top 100 Books - Number 13

 It is very rare for a book to bring me to tears or cause me emotional pain, this is one of these books. The naive optimism before the battle of the Somme made me want to scream at the characters in the book to warn them not to go over the top.

I loved how this book switched between a pre-war love affair, the horrors of World War 1, and the story of a young woman trying to understand what her grandfather had experienced during this war.

Sebastian Faulks has created characters that feel very real, he makes the read feel their joy, their sorrow, their fear and their pain. I couldn't put this book down and felt emotionally drained after reading it.

Wheel of Time 2: The Great Hunt

The Great Hunt
Robert Jordan
1990
5/5

The second book of the brilliant Wheel of Time series begins in Fal Dara where our protagonists are resting after the events in book 1. Rand, Perrin and Mat join the hunt for the Horn of Valere and are for a while on their own without (so it seems to them) Aes Sedai interferance. While Egwene and Nynaeve travel with the Aes Sedai to Tar Valon to learn to control their use of Saidar and become Aes Sedai. This book switches frequently beween the adventures that the boys from Emond's Field are having and those that the girls are having. Towards the end of the book all of these characters are drawn together again on Toman Head.

This book is as brilliant as the first book, it left me totally hooked and wanting to find out more. I have read this book several times (9 to be precise) and every time I read it (and any of the other Wheel of Time books), I find more layers to the story.           

Inheritance Cycle 4: Inheritance

Inheritance
Christopher Paolini
2011
5/5

This is the final book of the Inheritance Cycle, and having read the other books in this series a few years ago, I was looking forward to reading this. I was rather pleased when it appeared as one of Christmas presents.


This is the best book of the series and I can't wait to read future books by Christopher Paolini.

Inheritance Cycle 3: Brisingr

Brisingr
Christopher Paolini
2008
5/5

Yet another brilliant book from Christopher Paolini, even more enjoyable than the first two books in this series. The world and magic system created and expended in the first two books of this series have matured and have a real sense of depth.

Wheel of Time 1: The Eye of the World

The Eye of the World
Robert Jordan
1990
5/5

This is one of my favourite books of all time, and this must be at least the 9th time I've read it.

The Eye of the World is the first book in the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan, the series will consist of 14 books when it is completed in November 2012. Sadly the author died before he was able to complete the series, however the final books have been written by Brandon Sanderson.

The lives of 5 young people from a tiny village in the woolly-backs-of-no-where are turned up-side-down, in the days leading up to the spring festival of Beltine mysterious strangers are seen by the young men of the village, at the same time a lady, a swordsman, a gleeman and a peddler arrive in the village. An attack that evening by creatures thought to be myths changes the lives of the 5 young people forever. Their fate and that of the world is intertwined...

The Eye of the World tells the tale of their flight from home with the forces of evil of their tails and the adventures they have along the way.

Each time I read this book, I get more out of it, I will probably read this book, and the others in the series, once a year for the rest of my life.