Towers Of Midnight is the penultimate book in the epic Wheel Of Time Series. A strong entry in its own right, Towers Of Midnight does suffer from a case of "the wrap-ups", reading the same as how someone playing a video game might scramble to finish all the side-quests before confronting the final boss.

While the overall plot of Towers Of Midnight may feel like a giant side-step at times, there is huge satisfaction in the resolution of ongoing plot points spanning 13 entire books (14 including New Spring). Despite being written by a new author, these payoffs feel genuine and organic to the characters that experience them. Most importantly, these conclusions do not feel rushed; they happen naturally during the course of the book.

Speaking of pace, tempo once again receives a major overhaul. Where once we may have spent several hundred pages at a time through a character's POV, we may now go as few as 5 pages before rapidly changing perspective. Focus remains tight, but we can sense the impending doom as Tarmon Gai'don rapidly approaches.

However, Towers Of Midnight is not a perfect book. The final proposed book in Robert Jordan's series was condensed into 3 smaller volumes. Because of this, there remain a handful of inconsistencies and overlapping issues; characters show up in places they should not be and events that have happened in previous books have not quite happened yet. Perhaps the most notable change in Towers Of Midnight is the shifted focus; because multiple plot points are concluded in this book, focus is turned away from the central character and aimed towards the supporting cast.

In my opinion, Brandon Sanderson has breathed new life into the Wheel Of Time series. His writing style compliments Robert Jordan's remaining notes, and adequately sets up the final confrontation between the forces of good and evil. Fifteen volumes later, will the payoff be worth it?