This book feels like the point where the series starts pulling everybody toward the end.
There are so many characters, promises, relationships, and unfinished storylines by now that it could have felt like Sanderson was just checking boxes before A Memory of Light. A lot of the time, though, it feels more like the series finally cashing in things it has been building for years.
Perrin probably gets some of the most satisfying development here.
He’s spent so much time being uncomfortable with what he can do and with the idea that people look to him as a leader. At some point, though, refusing to deal with your own strength doesn’t make that responsibility disappear.
I liked seeing him finally start accepting that.
Perrin has always been the quieter one of the three boys from the Two Rivers, and I think that sometimes made his story feel like it was moving more slowly than Rand’s or Mat’s. Here, a lot of that finally starts paying off.
Mat’s story works for almost the opposite reason.
Mat will complain about responsibility until the end of time, but once he gives somebody his word, it actually means something to him. He can spend all day telling himself he’s not a hero and then turn around and do something incredibly dangerous because he promised he would.
That’s probably one of the biggest reasons he stayed one of my favorite characters.
His loyalty usually shows up in what he does, not in some big speech about honor.
I also liked how much this book depends on relationships that have been around for a long time. By this point, when somebody shows up for another character or finally fulfills a promise, it means more because you remember where those people started.
The series is enormous, but moments like that are why the size works for me.
There are definitely times where keeping track of the timeline gets a little weird, especially because some events overlap with things happening elsewhere. And you can sometimes feel just how many pieces Sanderson is trying to move into place before the Last Battle.
But that didn’t bother me much because so many of those pieces are characters I’ve been following for eleven books already.
Towers of Midnight feels like the series taking a second to remember all the friendships, promises, grudges, and loyalties that actually made me care about the larger war in the first place.
The Last Battle might be what everything is heading toward, but I don’t think it would matter nearly as much without all of those relationships behind it.
Who I’d recommend it to: Anyone this deep into The Wheel of Time, especially if Perrin or Mat are among your favorites. Both of them get some really satisfying material here.
Caution: There are a lot of storylines being lined up for the ending, and the overlapping timeline can occasionally be confusing.
Discussion question: Who had the better book for you here—Perrin or Mat?
— Cory Lane