Conquest: The Second Short Life

On Wednesday, I wrapped up the thirteenth book in the Wheel of Time series, Towers of Midnight. It will be nearly a year before the epic Last Battle is fought -- in other words, the last book will be published sometime next year. Definitely something to look forward to as Brandon Sanderson is a very talented writer who seamlessly picked up where Jordan, "may he live forever," left off when he passed away in 2007.

Reflecting back upon the thirteen books, it is amazing at how much the characters have grown and developed in merely two years time -- from the "wool-headed sheepherder" as the Dragon Reborn to Egwene al'Vere as the new Amyrlin...and even womanizing Matrim Cauthon married to the Empress! ("Blood and bloody ashes!") Other than the Brown sisters, my favorite character is Perrin Aybara, aka Goldeneyes. I am awed by how Jordan created the Wolf Dream -- the concept, the detail, the subplot and how it segways into Egwene's Tel'aran'rhiod. (After all this time walking the world of dreams, they finally "run into" each other in the thirteenth book!).

After all of these years of reading Jordan, I never did ask my dad how he stumbled upon the series...(my guess: "somebody at work.")

After I finished Towers of Midnight, I finally picked up Stephenie Meyer's piece The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner. Since it was published, friends have been recommending the book to me. I purchased the book back in September, but it has been stalled in the queue for awhile. I'll post my comments when I finish reading...