Book reviews: The Gathering Storm/ Towers of Midnight

Now I have to admit, I'm not the biggest fan of the Wheel of Time. I found Robert Jordan's writing, while full of detail, to be bloated and overwhelmed with that same detail and almost dull in delivery. Yes, the world he created is epic in scope, but when you go into as much meticulous detail as he did, it can get old. If, like me, you've read past books in the Wheel of Time series, and got confused by what character did what and where with who, well, I know the feeling...trust me.
Since his death, two books have been released: The Gathering Storm and Towers of Midnight, both co-written by Brandon Sanderson, and I have to say that, while not reading any of Sanderson's past works, he has breathed some much-needed life into this series that has been around for decades.






I found both books (read them this weekend) to be fairly fast-paced, and both tied up loose ends that had been left untied for quite some time (Would Elayne find out what happened to her mother? What happened to Moiraine? Would Egwene finally retake the White Tower and become Amyrlin Seat?) without seeming to be rushed, which would be understandable as there's only one more book in the colossal series. I know that I, for one, look forward to reading the last book, known as A Memory of Light.