discoverycentral:

I just finished the 14th and last book of the epic fantasy saga The Wheel of Time. I started this series about 8 years ago by listening to the audio books which helped get me through 9 hour drives to and from my university and the city where I was employed. The audio books are amazing as they are read by Kate Reading (talk about an appropriate sir name) and Michael Kramer who masterfully take advantage of the first person plot style by dividing the reading between themselves to match the gender of the first person speaker in the books. Their style and voice impersonations make this audio book series as entertaining  as the audio books of the Harry Potter series read by Jim Dale.

When the author Robert Jordan died before he could complete the final book about the struggle between forces of the Light and the Dark One and his followers, many despaired (the blogasphere was grieving for the loss of this writer and the prospect of an unfinished epic saga) until Jordan’s widow announced that she had hired a fan of the series, Brandon Sanderson, to use Jordan’s extensive notes to complete the saga. Sanderson is a published writer in his own right and he split the conclusion to The Wheel of Time fantasy saga into three final books. After an interminable wait for the final (14th) book, the audio book was released in April. I purchased the audio book in May and over the last month have listen to Books 11-14 in sequence experiencing the build up and climax of the Final Battle between the armies of the Light and the minions of the Dark One. And I was happily amazed.

The pictures are where and how the main characters traveled to their places of adventure in the world of The Wheel of Time. The final battle took place in the Fields of Merrilor and at Shayol Ghul (the site where the bore was made releasing the Dark One). Almost all characters at this stage of the saga travel magically through gateways (broken lines) instead of by foot (solid lines), but that only serves to speed up the action instead of appearing as cheating. Magic is part of this world through the use, by talented people, of the One Source which has two aspects that are accessible by the two genders. This saga is always emphasizing the dual nature of yin and yang, embodied in the symbol of the talented who can access the One Power. This dual theme moves into the balance between Light and Dark which is the bread and butter of all good fantasy sagas.

Very satisfy story. Especially loved the political manipulations portrayed throughout this saga. This would be hard to film, but the political intrigues are as good, and in some cases better, than that portrayed in the Game of Thrones. It just would be CGI extensive to produce because of the need to show the use of the One Power (invisible to those without the talent and invisible to the opposite gender) and the forces of the Dark One. I would love to see it done if it could be done well.

(via realhitvz)