“The Gathering Storm” by Brandon Sanderson and Robert Jordan- A Christian (re)-reads The Wheel of Time

“The Wheel of Time” is a massive fantasy series by Robert Jordan (and, later, Brandon Sanderson) that is being developed into a television show for Amazon Prime. It’s cultural impact is huge, the series having sold more than 44 million copies. Here, I continue my series exploring the books from a Christian worldview perspective. There will be SPOILERS in this post for the series.

The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

The twelfth book in the Wheel of Time, The Gathering Storm is the first that was written by Brandon Sanderson after Robert Jordan’s death. The series is fully in gear here, as Sanderson pushes towards the Last Battle. Almost every scene reads like it adds hugely to the overall plot, and while there is still some filler, it feels more like breathing room in between nearly relentless action scenes rather than all fluff.

Plowshares into Swords?

In The Gathering Storm, we find a dramatic reversal of the biblical theme of coming peace (found in passages like Isaiah 2:4) which speaks of a day when swords will be beaten into plowshares. Instead, the people of the Wheel of Time must prepare for a day of chaos and war:

“take your best scythes and turn them into polearms…” [advises one farmer to another]
“What do I know about making a sword? Or about using a sword, for that matter?” [the other replied]
“You can learn… Everyone will be needed.” [The first responded] (page 8)

The Last Battle is a day in which the nations will unite, but they will unite for war. Contrast that with the biblical theme of coming judgment and peace. Christ will come to bring peace for eternity, and the need for weapons and warfare will be no more.

Fighting Evil from Within

[Huge spoilers here for the series]

I think this book might have my all-time favorite scene in any fantasy novel when we discover that Verin Sedai is, in fact, of the Black Ajah. It has such intensity to it, shows how Verin manipulated even the Dark One, and asks some big moral questions. Verin Sedai’s clever operation within the vows she made as a Black Ajah sister are impressive–in the hour of her death, she could betray the Dark One. Verin delved perhaps a bit too deeply in her explorations of the Black Ajah, getting captured and forced to pledge or die. She took a pragmatic approach from within her beliefs as a Brown sister–one dedicated to learning:

[Verin said:] “You see, one rarely has a chance as this, to study a beast from inside… They [darkfriends] have many agents among us… Well, I thought it time that we had at least one of us among them. This is worth one woman’s life.” (836, 839)

Verin had sworn herself to evil, but did so in order to bring about great good. Her life was forfeit in order to expose wickedness within the ranks of the Aes Sedai. Her sacrifice forestalled a major weapon of the Dark One. The moral quandary of this is largely passed over through this book and the rest of the series. Though Verin acknowledges doing great evil, Egwene and others make her fully into a martyr. Verin’s repentance for the evils she committed isn’t drawn out; instead, it seems to be found in her actions. Her repentance is found in working to expose evil and bring it to justice.

Conclusion

The Gathering Storm is a remarkable entry in the Wheel of Time series. It features one of my all-time favorite scenes in any fantasy novel ever with the revelations regarding Verin Sedai. It has action all the way through, and it sets up even more exciting events to come. I can’t wait to dive in to the next book!

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The Wheel of Time– Read all my posts on The Wheel of Time (scroll for more).

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SDG.

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