ToM thoughts so far (slight SPOILERS)

[Tim]

I was lucky enough to find a store that was selling ToM already last night! WOOT!!! Decided to share my thoughts in general on the book so far. I will not post specific spoilers in this thread (and ask that others don't as well), but will give a general feel of what I think of what's going on and general comments about characters and things we know are/will be happening (based on knowledge from the Preview chapters).

[Tim]

Read through chapter 18 last night. Good so far. A few somewhat surprising turn of events, including a new prophecy (or at least an interpretation of one...) that will be interesting to see how/if it plays out. More viewings and dreaming too, though many of those seem fairly obvious. Only one Verin letter sighting so far (at least I'm pretty sure, need to check TGS), but we don't learn what it said.

As others have said, the biggest focus of the book appears to be on Perrin and those around him, though Mat's getting his share of screentime too, just not as much as Perrin so far. It's good Perrin stuff though, progressing his character, taking care of things that he needs to finally take care of. Elayne's getting some but not much so far (still early though). Rand & Egwene are there too, but so far no Rand POVs, just those around him observing him and his change in behavior. Pretty much all the major characters and a good chunk of the minor ones have at least been around.

The book jumps around A LOT. Most chapters have multiple POVs, though often it's other characters in the same area. Not always though and sometimes the jumps feel out of place, like it didn't have a good place to go so they tacked it onto another chapter that was short. The timing is also off, as we jump back and forth from Perrin chapters to Rand chapters, with Perrin still lagging behind Rand timeline wise. Especially jarring to see Tam in both places (since he hasn't left Perrin yet in his timeline).

There is definitely a sense that the end is near and that everyone is falling into their place (especially around Egwene and Rand). Major characters are *gasp* TALKING with each other and letting each other know what they're planning and how they can work together. Confrontations, meetings, and revelations that we know need to happen seem to be on course. Few deaths of notable characters so far, but a couple were quite sad (though others may not feel that way; I just always liked the character). Rand pulled a "Winter's Heart" and let known early in the book what he intends for his next step to be. Not gonna spoil that for you though.

Overall, so far so good! Now I just have to make it through the rest of the day at work so I can get back to reading!

[Tim]

Read 2 more chapters over lunch:

Loving Mat so far this book. Mat is Mat. His sections are usually humourous, but some of his moments this book have been hilarious! But still, he's hilarious in a good and true Mat way.

Also, here's my second favorite quote so far. Shouldn't be too big a spoiler...

Wait for it...

"Blood and bloody ashes!" - Olver

[alSeen]

HOW DID U FIND THE BOOK! did the Dark One promise u it if u joined him? huh darkfriend? haha lol

[Tim]

As Almordre said in chat, omniscience has its perks.

[Tim]

Read through chapter 30 last nite:

Storylines are progressing quickly. Most are things we knew would happen, and most of those are happening as expected. A few unexpected departures. Mat, Elayne, and Perrin are starting to catch up timeline wise with Rand and Egwene. I've decided Morgase must be a horrible mother, as all three of her kids (and stepkid)are idiots.

About halfway through, so I figure I'll give my impressions about each major (and semi major) character so far. I'll try to limit myself to one word descriptions.

Rand: Badass (well actually, goodass )
Perrin: Growing
Mat: Hilarious
Egwene: Stubborn
Nynaeve: Awesome
Lan: Humorous
Rodel: Badass
Elayne: Stupid Idiot
Gawyn: Foolish Idiot
Galad: Righteous Idiot

I'll stop with them for now. May add more later.

Oh, and we get to see Veins of Gold from a different POV. Chew on that one.

[Tim]

2 more chapters. 2 more cool action scenes. One thing checked of the list of things needing accomplished.

[alSeen]

whats veins of gold???

[hossla]

last chapter with Rand in it in The Gathering Strom

[Tim]

Read way too much last nite. Not finished yet, but close. Still no sign of Ed... :/

Lots of great stuff covered. Couple more awesome action scenes. I think pretty much all the major chars have been a part of at least one so far in the book. Can't decide which one I like best.

Don't know how many of you have been following Brandon on Twitter while working on the book, but let's talk about chapter 50 (now 49 in the final version). Long story short: BS said it was a hard chapter to write, been a LOT of speculation about what it was. If you made a guess, you're probably wrong. Did not see this coming. Thought something similar might happen (not for this chapter though), but not like this exactly. Don't speculate too much on the chapter title: It won't help you. Didn't get emotional, but my eyes were wide the whole chapter in horror.

A few more partings of ways, groups that have been together for while now splitting. Didn't see that happening, as I figured everyone would be coming together. They're doing that too though, in some surprising ways. One I didn't believe was actually a reunion at first, thinking it had to be a trick or a trap of some kind. The situation was just so odd. Turned out to not only to be real, but to be the punch line of a joke building since TGH. It shows how big of a WoT geek I am that I actually had to wipe a tear or two away from my eyes I was laughing so hard.

Timelines are finally getting lined up. Based on a few reunions, it looks like they weren't quite as far off as I thought. Really need to go back and reassess things now.

A lot of prophecies are being fulfilled, and I know for a fact that a few more will happen before the books done. Can tell it's getting to the end of the series as there are very few things left that we know certain characters NEED to do. Then again, so far we only know the contents of one of Verin's letters, and have seen a couple more... Need to go back and look at the viewings/prophecies we know of and what else needs to happen.

For those that were upset that AMoL was split into 3 books: don't be, as it could have been worse. ToM moves quite quickly. LOTS of stuff happens. Was reading a couple of chapters last night that would have made a really good climax on their own, and then realized I had 300 pages left! Imagine if they had paced things out more and split the book even further!

Another point: I also decided that Mat and Perrin's storylines were cut between TGS and ToM in the right spots. Everything that has happened to them so far this book has needed to be in one book. Perhaps Mat's could have been put in TGS too, but that would have put him ahead of Rand and Egwene timeline wise and really fits pretty good in ToM (and been out of place in TGS).

Not sure if I'll finish the book tonite. Not much left, but am exhausted. Late nights combined with fighting off disease (a lot of people sick around me) and long, early days are taking it's toll. Odds are I'll finish anyways, but I definitely need to make it an early nite.

[Edvar al'Given]

I finished it 2 days ago. My character is in chapter 19. I am not an asha'man and I have an extremely small part, but I can't complain. Great book. Most things I expected to happen happened, with unexpected twists. One big thing I expected didn't. On the plus side...it seems Rand is stronger than I thought possible. Think of the battle in Tear where LTT took over, but with just Rand...with no angreal or sa'angreal. Awesome!