Yesterday I finished reading The Gathering Storm, the 12th installment of the Wheel of Time series. Many of you know that author Robert Jordan died before finishing his super-series, but did you know that his editor (and wife) and his publishers found an excellent writer to finish it?

Brandon Sanderson has done what many thought impossible — seamlessly meld his own style with a near-perfect emulation of Jordan’s. The Gathering Storm is easily one of the better of the recent volumes. Sanderson handles Jordan’s bloated cast with deft assuredness. Though focusing mainly on events surrounding Rand and Egwene, all of the important characters get a nod.

Working from Jordan’s final notes, this first novel of the final three ties up a lot of threads and brings us on an emotionally charged ride with a nice parallel plot that sets Rand’s inner turmoil beside Egwene’s outer struggle.

It may be simply because the 11th book is a somewhat distant memory, but it may be that Sanderson’s effort is a better read than the last few volumes. At the least now, the ending seems much closer than the horizon.