The Gathering Storm is the first book in the 'Wheel Of Time' series written by Brandon Sanderson after the death of longtime author Robert Jordan due to cardiac amyloidosis. Right from the start, Sanderson begins his book with a direct letter to the reader, promising to not emulate Jordan's style, but to think of the book as a new director directing new scenes for a movie, using the existing actors and screenplay.

The change in writing styles between Sanderson and Jordan is subtle, but noticeable; Jordan had employed a slow, detail-oriented writing style, while Sanderson's is much more direct and faster paced. This fits with the tempo of the book; the final battle is coming! The story is very much still Jordan's; Sanderson used notes written by Jordan himself, and the narrative remains true to the original source material.

Rapidly-changing character POV helps keep us up-to-date with not only events occurring around the world, but also illustrates character growth. Twelve books into this series, and the characters that started this journey are much different than the characters we have now; seeing their maturity (or lack there of) through the eyes of others helps solidify who these characters have become.

The Gathering Storm is not perfect; characters and multiple story arcs were glossed over completely. But seeing as how this book was part of the final installment before being split into one of 3 final books, it's easy to forgive knowing that this is a piece of the overall whole.

Tarmon Gai'don is coming. There were a lot of bumps along the way, but The Gathering Storm breathes new life into the story as perhaps the best installment of the series up to this point.