How Long, O Lord? (D.A. Carson)

We all suffer and know others who have. And so esteemed scholar D.A. Carson wrote How Long, O Lord?, "a book written by a Christian to help other Christians think about suffering and evil." It is not "a comprehensive guide to the problem of suffering;" the goal is to help "Christians establish patterns and habits of thought that are so strong that when the hardest questions batter the soul there is less wavering and more faith, joy, and hope." He divides the work into three sections: 

• thinking about suffering and evil, 
• parts of the puzzle: biblical themes for suffering people, and
• glimpses of the whole puzzle: evil and suffering in the world of a good and sovereign God

Select Highlights

What follows cannot be called even a summary, as I must for sake of brevity forsake the nuance the topic calls for (and Carson conveys in the book). I thus call it 'select highlights.' 

Carson starts by exploring false thoughts- sometimes our difficulties with this topic reveal that we ignore the biblical framework. For example, suffering can compounded by our surprise that it happens (or that it happens to us). Yet nobody- the Christian included- is immune from evil or suffering in this fallen world. And Scripture never indicates otherwise; we need look no further than the cross. "From any Christian perspective, our theoretical and practical approach to evil and suffering must fasten on the cross, or we are bound to take a false step."

So what does Scripture say? In a nutshell, that sin has serious consequences. "Between the beginning and the end of the Bible, there is evil and there is suffering. But the point to be observed is that . . . the two are profoundly related: evil is the primal cause of suffering, rebellion is the root of pain, sin is the source of death." We suffer because we are evil; we are a fallen and rebellious people, completely at odds with a good and faithful God. We could end the matter there- "we have no fundamental right to expect a life of unbroken ease and comfort"- but (mercifully) there is more to the story. "The Bible itself centers on how God takes action to reverse the dreadful effects and their root cause, sin itself." That is wonderfully good news, and we see its culmination in Jesus on the cross. Jesus paid for the sins of those who believe in Him . . . but that does not end earthly suffering. What does He say about suffering?

Jesus treats things that cause suffering (like wars and natural disasters) "as incentives to repentance." He does not treat them as unfair (as we often do) or shocking. (We would do well to remember that the unfair and shocking thing about life is not suffering but the inverse- God's goodness and forebearance towards a wayward people.) In fact, God can use suffering as a means of discipline and growth for His children- it can be used to encourage repentance, produce perseverance (see Romans 5:3-4), shape us, engender compassion, and develop maturity (see Hebrews 5:7-9, where it says Jesus learned obedience from what he suffered- whoa).

The gospel perspective of eternity and the life to come is also a comfort. We live in the 'in-between' time of the already and the not yet- Christ has already come once, died for sins, and rose again, but he has not yet returned (as he promises) to usher in the new heavens and earth. He has already won over death and evil, but we will still experience suffering until His return. When we see things from the 'vantage point of the end,' things looks different for the Christian, as we yearn to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. And so "when we are bereaved . . . our sorrow turns, rightly, on our loss and loneliness, on the wrenching separation, on the frustration of hopes and plans, on our personal emptiness." But we do not sorrow for the person gone so long as they are in Christ. We should be "homesick for heaven."

All this is NOT to say that our reaction as Christians to the horrors of the world should be a stoic acceptance of this grim reality. We should never shrug off these things as though they didn't matter- the Bible doesn't.* In the numerous sufferings shown in Scripture, God never minimizes it or tells His people to 'grin and bear it.' Look at Job, where we see that "God does not blame us if in our suffering we frankly vent our despair and confess our loss of hope, our sense of futility, our lamentations about life itself." More importantly, look at Jesus. He suffered (again, look to the cross) and cried out to God about it. God knows about suffering through His own experience. If he suffered horrifically (and unfairly!), should we not expect the same?

It is necessary to develop a strong framework of thought before suffering comes. Even so, when it does, it is a shock to our system. What can our friends do then? As Carson mentions at numerous places, "there are many forms of practical comfort and support that thoughtful people can show." I'll mention five of the things he references:

• "Grief normally passes through predictable stages." 
• Know the stages (and the signs of each) to help respond appropriately.
• "Some grief takes a long time to heal." 
• Don't give people a few months and then expect them to move on. It may take much longer.
• "The most comforting "answers" are simple presence, help, silence, tears."
• "It is important to help people live one day at a time."
• "Above all, we must help people know God better."

Review

I picked this up as the pandemic and Ukraine have been on my mind. There is so much suffering today. And here Carson looks at both 'big' topics like poverty, corrupt governments, war, and disease, and 'focused' matters like personal bereavement and loss.

As with his other books, this is solid. Carson writes well- he is succinct, direct and profound. It is heady in places- my mind was spinning at times. He is confident and biblical, yet he frequently qualifies his statements- not to be wishy-washy, but because he rightly understands the nuances, tensions, and complexities of wisdom. I especially appreciated his discussion on compatibilism (the paradox that God is absolutely sovereign & humans are morally responsible creatures), introduced as he looked at the suffering through that lens. God is in control- that is comforting. Man is still responsible for our conduct- that is sobering. Come quickly, Lord Jesus.

Rating: A

*Still less should we assume that when an unusual tragedy befalls someone, it is necessarily due to their sin (Jesus addresses this point in John 9).

The Mitchells vs. the Machines

The Mitchell family is a mess. They're a group of weirdos, each with character flaws, and look in envy at other families who appear to have it all together. And as the oldest child, Katie, heads off to college, it looks like her relationship with her dad may be beyond repair . . . but all is not lost. 

As the Mitchells head west, a greedy tech CEO unintentionally invites disaster when his robots go rogue and seek world domination. As the robots seek to round up all humans, only the Mitchells escape and can save the world. But what hope is there in a family this messed up? 

There was a lot of good in this film. Its portrayal of family dysfunction felt authentic and poignant. I liked to see how they struggled with selfishness but fought for reconciliation. The film did not present the child as the one in the right (as films so often can)- both parents and children needed to repent. The humor was quite good, if over-the-top in places. It wasn't all gold, but you can tell this is from the same team that produced solid movies like The Lego Movie and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

Rating: A-

Pawn of Prophecy (David Eddings)

Long after seven gods created the world, young Garion enjoys a simple life on Faldor's farm, living with Aunt Pol (who runs the kitchen) and other workers with their families. But it is not to last . . . one day, Mister Wolf comes to the farm, with tales of ancient battles, powerful gods, and wonderful heroes. Garion finds himself swept up into the story soon thereafter, as his companions (Durnik, Barak, Silk, Aunt Pol, and Mister Wolf) set out on a mysterious quest, looking for one who has stolen the legendary Orb of Aldur. Garion doesn't understand all that's going on around him, but he learns that there is more to his heritage than he realizes. He may, in fact, play a great part in what's to come- something that will change the world.

I read this ~14 years ago, I think. I don't recall much, but re-reading it was fun. This if the first of the Belgariad pentalogy. Today, it is classified as teen/young adult fantasy. The story moves along briskly, and the characters are interesting. Mildly humorous, the author does a good job presenting the concerns a boy would have who is both coming of age and caught up in a strange new world. My only dig is that this volume doesn't stand alone- its conclusion definitely left the reader looking to the next book for more- but it's good.

Rating: A

Batman Arkham: Ra's Al Ghul

Ra's Al Ghul collects 9 comic book issues about this Batman villain told over the decades ('70s, '80s, '00s, '10s). From his first appearance in 1971 to present, we see snippets of Ra's as he squares off against "the Detective," often with his beautiful daughter Talia by his side. Deducing Bat's identity from the start, Ra's respects him even though they are (usually) on opposite sides. He has no powers save resources and near-immortality due to rejuvenating dips in his 'Lazarus pit.' Known as the Demon's Head, his goal is simple: remake the world, correcting the failings of man through annihilation and societal rebirth. And, often, only Batman stands in his way.

As with the other Arkham collections (see the main Batman page), I really like the concept of this series- seeing how both villains (and art, and storytelling) have evolved over the decades is fun and interesting. Ra's is a latecomer to Batman, appearing 30 years after many of the other iconic villains. And, unlike the others, he never goes to Arkham Asylum (as far as I know). He generally operates in more exotic climes, well away from Gotham. His stories and schemes are elaborate if common in goal, involving layers of plans that span centuries.  My only dig is that only snippets of story arcs are presented here, meaning you generally don't get the full picture of any one story. I suspect it was a nice representative sample, but more closure from story to story (or at least a page of backstory introducing each) would have been nice.

Rating: B

Atlantis Rising

Today's review is of the 2019 release, Atlantis Rising (second edition). For 1-7 players, it takes 1-2 hours. 

Overview

The ancient gods are furious that the Atlanteans have abandoned the old ways and embraced technology. As the gods pummel the island to systematically sink it, you and the other councillors (players) have one goal: save the inhabitants before the island sinks. To do this, you work cooperatively to place workers to gather resources to build 9 components and a power core to turn on a cosmic gate and allow everyone to escape to a faraway land. But can you do it in time?

In Atlantis Rising, there are six peninsulas, each with six segments. Three peninsulas are 'wild,' granting resources (gold, crystal, or ore) to those players who place workers there and roll the required number on the dice. The other three:

• forges, enabling a player to turn ore to Atlantium, a substance you'll need to build the components.
• libraries, enabling a player to draw cards with powerful one-time or permanent effects.
• cities, enabling a player to recruit more workers to play in future turns.

the peninsulas and come components; image from here

Each turn, perform the following actions:

1. Place Atlanteans
• Place your workers on free spaces on peninsulas of your choice.
2. Suffer Misfortunes
• Draw one misfortune card for each player. Most cards flood a given peninsula; when that happens, flip over the segment of that peninsula furthest from the center that is not yet flooded, removing any workers on that segment.
3. Take Actions
• Each worker that survived then performs its action, be it rolling a die in an attempt to gather resources, drawing library cards, recruiting more workers, or forging Atlantium
4. Endure Wrath Of The Gods
• Flip over segments (players' choice) corresponding to the number on the wrath of the gods track (0-3)

For phases 1 and 3, players perform their actions at the same time. This is a cooperative game, so all are free to discuss their actions or debate when there is a conflict. The first player (which rotates clockwise each turn) makes the final decision should players be at an impasse. 

The game ends when everything floods (losing the game) or players can build the cosmic gate to escape.

Review

This is a good game. We played a 6-player game, and it seemed brutally difficult, but we eked out a victory. This is essentially a worker placement game, and it's done well. It seems like a lot of rules, but it's pretty straightforward once you play a round or two. The misfortune cards can be crazy; I'm shocked we won. But it made the victory more satisfying. This is the rare strategy game that is better (I think) with more people and doesn't take forever, as players perform many actions simultaneously. Finally, replayability is high, as it comes with 10 councillors (each with their own special ability) and many more components than the 9 needed for a given game. Highly recommended.

Rating: A

The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game

 

Today's review is of the 2011 release, The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game. Also called Lord of the Rings Living Card Game. Or LOTR LCG for short. For 1-4 players, it takes 30 minutes per player. This review is based on playing the revised core set, released in 2022.

Overview

From the Learn to Play booklet, LOTR LCG "is a game of heroes, perilous journeys, and adventure set in the lands described in the epic fantasy masterpiece created by J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings. During this game, players assume the role of a party of heroes who are attempting to complete dangerous quests." Your goal is to complete the quest or scenario (represented in stages by a series of cards) before your threat dial reaches 50. A cooperative game, only one player must complete the quest for all to be victorious. 

To start, each player has their own deck (50-card minimum) with 3 starting heroes. Place the heroes on the table in front of you in the 'ready' state (characters 'exhaust' when used for an action like questing, defending, and attacking), add up their total threat cost and set your threat dial to that starting number (somewhere between 24-35, probably), and draw 6 cards. Players collectively choose the scenario upon which to embark. The corresponding card labeled 1A tells players which cards to use to build the encounter deck, which contains enemies, treachery, and locations they players will encounter throughout the game. Follow the instructions on the 1A card for both threat deck construction and any other initial conditions, flip it over to 1B, choose a first player, and you're ready to begin the first round.

Each game round consists of the following seven phases, simplified here: 

1. Resource 
• Place 1 resource token on each of your heroes and draw 1 card.
2. Planning 
• Spend your resource tokens to play allies, attachments, or other things to aid your heroes and bolster your side.
3. Quest  
• Choose character(s) to attempt to make progress on the current quest (1B to start). Any character(s) chosen are exhausted (tapped or turned sideways).
• Place 1 card per player from the encounter deck into the staging area.
• Each character has a willpower value; if the total value exceeds the shadow's total threat value in the staging area, advance the quest (or location if present) by placing progress tokens on it equal to the difference. If the progress tokens meets or exceeds the value on the quest, you advance to the next stage (2A comes after 1B, for example. Most quests end at 3B) and follow any instructions on that new card.
4. Travel
• If there is no active location, you can choose to move 1 location in the staging area (making it active) next to the active quest. this reduces threat in the staging area (making the Quest phase easier), but also is an impediment, as you must place progress tokens on the active location before you can do so on the active quest (see prior step).
5. Encounter 
• Enemy characters in the staging area, one at a time, can enter a given player's area to engage a given player's characters. This can be done voluntarily or is forced by game conditions.  
6. Combat 
• Enemy characters attack, one at a time, the player to which they are engaged. 
• Players choose one (or zero) characters to defend a given attack. Exhaust them. Characters may take damage.
• Once all enemies have attacked, players then choose one (or more) characters to attack a given enemy. Characters exhaust to attack.
7. Refresh Phase
• Ready all exhausted characters, increase each player's threat dial by 1, and pass First Player clockwise. Begin the next round.

The play area for one player, taken from the Learn to Play book

Play continues until one or more players win (defeat the final stage in the quest) or everyone loses (reaches 50 threat). 

Review

I like this game. It's a typical Fantasy Flight offering, meaning there is good production quality, interesting decisions, and thoughtful rules. It may seem like a lot to take in at first, but it is easy to get the hang of, and after a few rounds, it flies by.

I played 4-5 solo games- and won only once. This game is hard. But I used the preconstructed starter decks, each of which featured only one 'faction'. Each has their specialty, and successful decks will mix two or more factions (there are four) to leverage different strengths and increase likelihood of success.

This is a "living card game," meaning more cards are released in defined packs (so there is no randomness; you know what you'll get). The game has been going strong for 11 years, and the revised core set indicates they have a lot more planned. In addition to the main Fantasy Flight website, here are a handful of resources I found helpful as I navigated the game, rules, and releases:

Hall of Beorn- a great site to search for individual cards or view cards by expansion.

Tales from the Cards, Cardboard Clash, or Vision of the Palantir- sites with opinions on which sets to buy if you're new and exploring the game.

LoTR LCG Comprehensive Card Reference and Unofficial FAQ

Rating: A

Coach Pop

Coach Pop with Dejounte Murray; image from here

With all the craziness in the world right now, it's nice to have something to celebrate. Yesterday, San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich became the all-time winningest NBA coach with his 1,336th victory. I've been a Spurs fan for years- a huge admirer of Pop, David Robinson, Tim Duncan, and the teamwork that San Antonio consistently displays. They won five NBA championships from 1999-2014, and while their current team hasn't done as well,  they've been model teammates and citizens throughout it all. Pop plays a large part in that.

A US Air Force Academy graduate, Pop is in his 26th year as head coach of the Spurs. His first 22 seasons fielded winning teams- an NBA record. (Not to mention that five of those years resulted in championships.) Success is nice, but faithfulness is better- and that is what makes Pop great. 

Pop cares about his players. He spends an inordinate amount of time bonding with them on a personal level. He mandates team dinners:

"We go to dinner without phones, people actually talk to each other, ask questions and learn about how each other grew up, that sort of thing."

His players come from all over- his success drafting Europeans and Australians changed how the NBA viewed overseas talent. He connects with people from these various cultures and expects all to do the same. From Spurs General Manager R.C. Buford:

“Pop uses these moments to connect us. He loves that we come from so many different places. That could pull us apart, but he makes sure that it makes us feel connected and engaged to something bigger.”

He's honest. He's fiery. He knows the game. And most importantly- he cares. And the players know that. 

Faithfulness in this world does not guarantee success. But it is nice to see the two align. Characteristically, when asked about his most recent achievement, Pop responded:

"Something like this does not belong to one individual. Basketball's a team sport. You preach to your players that they have to do it together and that's certainly been the case in my life with all the wonderful players and coaches, the staff that I've been blessed with, the support of this wonderful city. The fans support us no matter what. All of us share in this record. It's not mine. It's ours, here in the city."

That's not false humility- he means it. Good job, Coach. Thanks for all you do.

Compassion & Conviction (Giboney et al.)

Compassion & Conviction was written as a "resource to help believers engage the civic space as faithful Christians and informed citizens." Everyone is political, "government is a God-ordained institution," and "Christians should engage politics because doing so provides us with a robust opportunity to love our neighbor by acting justly, promoting human flourshing, and seeking the prosperity of our community." This book provides a framework for how to engage in politics.

Highlights

How do Christians participate? What about separation of church and state? "No one makes political decisions from a neutral position." "Many people have misinterpreted the separation of church and state to mean that religious views shouldn't play a role in public discussions and lawmaking . . . [but] whether political views derive from religious tenets or secular philosophy, invoking values to influence the legislative process violates neither the constitution nor the spirit of the deliberative process." "In fact, all policies and laws come from some set of values." So what does that mean for Christians? How should we apply Biblical principles to our political decisions?

We'll start with the obvious: for the Christian, "the gospel of Jesus Christ is the ultimate authority in all arenas of life, including politics. This means the gospel should be the foundation and staring point of our political decisions." Yet "the Bible does not provide a political platform, and we should be careful to not confuse our personal policy preferences with religious doctrine. Two Christians can disagree on an important policy without one or the other necessarily being unfaithful . . . even when the Bible does speak directly to an issue, Christians might disagree on how to apply the principle in the public square. It's a mistake to suggest that Christians should always come to the same political conclusions. However, all Christians should make those decisions from a biblical framework . . . that emphasizes love and truth, compassion and conviction, social justice and moral order." So what is that framework?

First, Christians must frame questions of the day correctly. A common political tactic is to frame complicated issues deceptively by presenting a false choice (like "do you love the poor or do you believe in personal responsibility?"). In America's two-party system, such false choices are common on both sides of the aisle and must be rejected by the Christian. Parties can make it seem as though two concepts are "somehow at odds with each other" when in fact they are not. It is possible to think biblically- but doing so may result in a conclusion that aligns with neither political party. So question assumptions and frame questions correctly, being fair to both sides of the argument in so doing.

In general, all Christians should "evaluate all political issues through the love and truth of the gospel. This is a both-and proposition, and not either-or." This means (among other things) that "we must seek justice for our neighbors" while we remember that moral "truth is established by the Bible; it must frame our civic engagement." (Though "how to apply moral standard to politics can get complicated . . . sometimes it is wise to accept that the best use of the law in a given situation is not to enforce morality but rather to allow for the freedom to be moral.") 

Evaluating issues through a gospel lens will likely run afoul of both of today's main political parties. "Neither progressivism nor conservatism satsifies the love or truth imperatives of the gospel. Both fall outside of a biblical framework. Christians must recognize the failings and blind spots in their own political party and ideological tribe in order to avoid indoctrination and to faithfully correct unexamined assumptions." We must also remember that "the Bible doesn't speak to every politcal issue. We might have political preferences that the Bible neither affirms nor forbids. We need to be honest about that and not use the Bible to fortify a position that faithful Christians can see differently." We must fight against a common trend- that "some Christians are more willing to defend their ideological tribe than the Christian faith."

The book proceeds to discuss tips on:

• partnering with non-Christians on issues of common concern, 
• faithful and effective communication (messaging & rhetoric),
• racial reconciliation,
• advocacy and protest, and
• civility and political culture.

Review

This short (130-page) book is an excellent introduction to faithful political engagement. The framework is very high-level; they will not tell you how to vote on a given issue/etc. Written by (and to) Americans, the intent is to suggest a better way of approaching politics than many Christians (on either side of the aisle) have shown in recent years. Highly recommended.

Rating: A

The Batman

It has been two years since Batman assumed the cape and cowl. A serial killer is loose in decaying Gotham, targeting high-level officials and claiming their lies will soon be exposed. Batman and Jim Gordon are on the case, racing to get ahead of the mastermind before he can kill again, while trying to figure out which public figures can be trusted. But in a city this corrupt, will these riddles be beyond the Bat?

Long-anticipated and critically-acclaimed, I expected this to be amazing. It was good, if long (almost three hours). It is a raw and gritty noir film, with a focus on sleuthing- it's more of a layered mystery than anything. (Batman is called the world's greatest detective, but other films seldom highlight that.) The action here is good and not over-the-top; it reminded me of the Bourne trilogy in its goal of 'realism.' Batman and the other characters (Riddler, Penguin, and Catwoman) are portrayed quite well. Music is powerful and haunting, if repetitive (oscillating between the movie score, Nirvana's Something in the Way, and Schubert's Ave Maria). 

Mild spoilers (on message, not plot): the film explores how Batman and his focus on vengeance isn't so very different than the Riddler he hunts- both want the same goal (a city rid of lies and crime), and their methods differ less than Batman would care to admit. He grapples with that and realizes that part of his charge must include bringing hope to the people- by helping them vs. focusing on 'getting the bad guys.' It's a good concept and I wish they had fleshed that out more. In addition, you learn more of Batman's family past, with surprises contributing to the Dark Knight's angst.

Overall, there is a lot of good here. As I sat in the theater last night, though, something didn't ring true, and I'm having a hard time identifying what. It could be that the movie was long and I found the ending a touch lackluster. Or that the message wasn't as fleshed out as I would have liked. I may change my mind, but for now: this film is solid, but I'm not ready to call it spectacular. Christopher Nolan's trilogy still reigns supreme in Batman lore.

Rating: A-

The Wheel of Time

Finally; yesterday, I finished the Wheel of Time (WoT) high fantasy series. It was quite the commitment, running 14 books (12,456 pages). Weaving those into my reading plans, it took me 29 months (Oct. 2019- Mar. 2022) to get through them all. Click on a book cover to see my review of a given title: 

Here are charts with the page counts and my ratings, respectively, for each book:

Thoughts on the Series

Published between 1990-2013, WoT is a product of a recent yet bygone era. Everything about the series, to include the art for each cover, reminds me of the nineties. I like it.

This is a solid (if typical) 'hero's journey' story. Jordan weaves elements of Buddhism, Christianity, and literature or pop culture (Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Arthurian lore) in a unique combination to deliver the tale. 

As is shown by my ratings, the series starts and ends well, but the middle is a mixed bag. My ratings for books 5-7 are probably generous, giving the author the benefit of the doubt and riding the wave of previous entries. But they're slow. By book 8, I was getting fed up, and remained so through book 11. Sadly, Jordan passed away before he could finish, leaving Brandon Sanderson to take over and do books 12-14. Those were much better and brought the series to a fitting conclusion. (I must say, I'm impressed with Brandon Sanderson. It is an achievement to take up another's story and finish it well.)

My impressions remain remarkably similar to what I felt when I was halfway through the series. Those thoughts reprinted here, with minor updates:

What I liked:

• Compelling story
• The overall world, with intriguing elements and the impression of depth
• To include ruins, lost knowledge, and strange artifacts
• Cool magic system
• Interesting characters with differing abilities or strengths
• Character development (of Rand and Perrin especially)
• You see these characters wrestle with self-doubt, responsibility, and the gifts they've been given, and there is notable maturation
• Variety of cultures and customs among the different peoples
• Multiple perspectives revealing the faults, doubts and internal struggles of the main characters (even some evil ones)
• Balanced power struggles and mysterious motives within and between the 'good guys' and 'bad guys'
• No graphic depictions of sex, violence, and language
• Limited knowledge. The characters (good and bad) don't know about events outside their immediate situation, and act with the best knowledge they have. I like that- some novels have heroes whose intuition is suspicuously complete and correct. You don't have that here.
• Rand's Christlike attributes. Especially towards the end [mild spoiler alert], you see him restoring things around him.

What I didn't:

• Uneven pacing. Especially true in the middle books, plots would plod along for hundreds of pages, then suddenly accelerate.
• Uneven development. Major characters or plotlines would 'disappear' from entire books. Several elements felt rushed, ignored, unsatisfactorily addressed, or insufficiently foreshadowed.
• Over-reliance on certain focus and phrases (in Jordan's books). I've gotten used to it, but it's mildly annoying that Jordan always focuses on the same aspects of clothing, same descriptions of characters, same phrases to describe certain things, etc. 
• Sheer number of characters combined with inadequate appendices to keep track of them all
• Wikipedia has a character listing. It claims there are 2784 distinctly-named characters.
• The appendix in each book is appreciated but not updated- nobody I looked up was in there. The main characters have entries, but they're the least necessary.
• Difficulty in understanding "the One Power" and the limits of those who use it. This is similar to the problem I have with the Force in Star Wars. The power-wielding characters alternate between shockingly strong abilities and standard weaknesses. They can move mountains, then get easily surprised or overpowered. It seems inconsistent.
• The handling of religion. They mention a 'Creator' and say things like "the Light willing" throughout, but the WoT's god is deistic- there is no participation in the world. The Dark One, however, is quite active, even while imprisoned. That bothered me.
• Overall length. One critic called this "the wheel of too much time." I agree.

Resources

WoT has its own wiki.

Dragonmount has nice book summaries.

Regular wikipedia has a series of pages, of course.

Conclusion

Overall, I'm glad I read this- but also glad it's over. It's a good story, just too long in the telling. Jordan originally planned for it to be 6 books . . . he died after book 11 and it took his successor three more to finish it off. The 14 books could be condensed to 10 easily- maybe fewer.

A Memory of Light (Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson)

The Wheel of Time saga concludes! Shortly after Towers of Midnight . . .

The Last Battle has come. As Rand faces off against the Dark One at Shayol Ghul, his allies and their armies take up the fight against the Shadow across the continent. The odds are overwhelming. There are traitors everywhere. The Forsaken weave their schemes. Blood will run. Heroes will fall. Yet not all hope is lost . . . Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time.

So ends the Wheel of Time. I'm filled with a range of emotions. I'm happy and sad. I long for more but am glad it is done. I don't want to spoil the ending, but it was satisfying and unexpected. I'd imagine that it is hard to wrap up such an epic tale, but Sanderson did a great job. (He mentioned that Jordan had written some of the ending before he died- I don't know how much of this final book was the original author's. Either way, they both did well.) There are a few plotlines I wish to know more about, but such is the way of good stories- you want them to go on, but they must end.

In a future post, I'll reflect on the series as a whole. For this book specifically, it is a fitting and solid conclusion.

Rating: A