Following the recent massacre at a US Army base in Texas by a psychologist gone crazy, (emphasis mine) The Pentagon has responded… by deciding to screen all United States defence services for staff who are unstable and potentially violent. Pause for effect. You’re looking for people who are potentially violent… in the Army. (sauce)

Ok, ok, no mucking around with an introduction for real this time. (and in case you’re coming here out of order, here’s part 1, and part 2, and part 3) But before I do that… I have finished reading the book. And it is good. Later parts - indeed, parts that start to get discussed here - of the book are a… little more gripping, shall we say, and the idea of stopping after 6 chapters was blown out of the water. So here’s a few extra chapters of action from Randland… ...

There’s nothing more fun than reading an 800-page novel on the way down from level 21 in the lift - when the lift comes to a stop on an interim floor, the look on the face of the person entering gives away so much, primary amongst which has been something akin to “Wait, if he’s reading that book in the elevator, how long could the lift have possibly taken that it’s like a commute to this guy?!” Of course, they don’t know that I could read while walking through bushland by the light of the pale moon, but that aside…! ...

Well, after Part 1’s overly extended meandering get-nowhere introduction, I really shouldn’t be attempting a second round of introduction. So if I said here that I wanted to go through and try to introduce the Wheel of Time series to those who hadn’t read it, you wouldn’t like that, right? Thought so. So for those who haven’t read the Wheel of Time, you … might not want to read the next, oh, 6 or 7 posts about this. On the other hand, if you’re looking to draw yourself into an epic fantasy series, you might want to go down to the library and borrow The Eye of the World. (or if you’re looking to get into an epic fantasy series that’s not endless, go borrow Magician by Raymond E. Feist. And stop reading after Shards of a Broken Crown.) ...

A Prelude, or What on Earth is The Gathering Storm? When I heard Robert Jordan had died, I gave up on the idea of ever getting a satisfying conclusion to the Wheel of Time series. Here was an author who had stretched and stretched a story over 11 meaty volumes, one which apparently at the start had only been destined for 3 books, but due to burgeoning sales managed to get extended. Every book introduced new characters, new plot threads, and somewhere around book 7, I found myself thinking I should only ever pick up new series when they’ve already been finished or the author is dead and I know there’s no more coming. ...