REVIEW SUMMARY: For epic fantasy the Wheel of Time stands tall. This book is a solid addition to the series, but it does not stand nearly as proud as some.

MY RATING:

BRIEF SYNOPSIS: Rand al’Thor, the Dragon Reborn, nears the last battle. To save the world he will break the seals and release the greatest evil upon the world that there has ever been. Wherever he walks, light and life push back darkness and death from the Dark One’s ever-expanding touch upon the world.

MY REVIEW:

PROS: Culminating plot points we have waited eons for; every scene with Rand.

CONS: Prose; inconsistency; rushed scenes.

BOTTOM LINE: For fans of the Wheel of Time this is an obvious must-read. The only question is when and where. For everyone else, start at Eye of the World and if you’re hooked, we’ll see how long you last. This one thing I can promise you: if you make it through the slow books, you will be rewarded.

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Harriet McDougal, Brandon Sanderson, Maria Simons and Alan Romanczuk talk about the process behind The Gathering Storm, Book 12 of the beloved and international bestselling Wheel of Time and the first of three books to conclude the magnificent series based on notes and materials left behind by the late great Robert Jordan. The Gathering Storm releases Oct. 27th, 2009.

More after the jump..

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• Interviews & Profiles:
  • Over at her wonderful blog, Sci-Fi Fan Letter, Jessica Strider interviews Freda Warrington, author of Elfland.
  • The latest episode of The Sofanauts features Sean Williams, Mike Wood, and Cheryl Holland.
  • io9 talks with the Next Generation at Locus Magazine, Liza Trombi and Kirsten Gong-Wong.
• Frederik Pohl on the Writers of the Future contest.
• Kurt Vonnegut explains drama. [via Cynical-C Blog]
• Cory Doctorow‘s latest Locus column, Special Pleading, talks about the damned-if-you-do/ damned-if-you-don’t nature of free ebook skepticism.
• Over at the Guardian, Eric Brown reviews The Hurricane Party by Klas Ostergren, The Boy with the Cuckoo-Clock Heart by Mathias Malzieu, Nova War by Gary Gibson, and The Age of Ra by James Lovegrove.
• Over at Omnivoracious, Jeff VanderMeer is asking for book/beer pairing suggestion..
• Gary Farber knows what Damon Knight actually said about science fiction. [via The Crotchety Old Fan]
• Tor.com is allowing you to preview Chapter 1 of The Gathering Storm, the upcoming volume of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series. And more for fans (as per Irene Gallo): beginning October 27th Tor will to release ebook editions of the series…with all-new covers.
• I so want to have Neil Gaiman’s Library. [via John Scalzi]
• @TheBookseller: Publishers cancelling books to cut costs.
• Researcher Lisa Gold in praise of browsing: “Browsing and searching are different- browsing is about the journey, searching is about the destination. Searching is focused on finding specific information quickly and often leads to tunnel-vision, which can prevent you from recognizing useful sources that don’t match your preconceived ideas and assumptions.” [via Gwenda Bond]
• Sean Markey is running a contest: Read his FREE story “Waiting for the Green Woman,” which appears in Sybil’s Garage No. 6., then leave a comment there or at his site, and you can win a FREE copy of Sybil’s Garage #6.
• Cool Art pic of the day: Steampunk Avengers! [via Steam Laughing Squid]
• Puppy on a hovercraft! Puppy on a hovercraft!
• Lists:
  • Mish Sci Fi Musings has a video list of The 10 Best Dystopian Films.
  • Den of Geek has a wonderfully-presented list of The Top 75 Spaceships in movies and TV.