After what feels like an eternity I finally finished The Wheel Of Time this week. I absolutely loved it, but I had a surprising reaction not so much to the writing, but to the real world. I feel empty, like I lost a friend. I've been reading the series for a good bit of time now and have a mixture of accomplishment and a feeling of loss, I'll never get to learn more about these people I've shared the past few years with.
Moreover the last three books hit me extra hard. I'm a man in my mid 40s, a veteran of the military, I've never been one to deny my, or anyone else's mortality, but once I hit the point that Robert Jordan died and Brandon Sanderson took over it ripped right into me. It was saddening to me like few things before. Robert Jordan started a series having no idea that he would be dead before it finished. I know he wrote many notes, tons of info, and guidance for his successor to dollow, but that doesn't change the fact that he was not around to finish it.
Again I've never been one to pretend like I will live forever, but it was particularly painful to get to a point in a man's life, one that I've shared and enjoyed, only to find that he isn't there to finish it with me.
Brandon Sanderson did a wonderful job in my opinion, completing a task that no one could be expected to do, and I don't want to insinuate that it was him or his writing that left me soured. It is just the end of a story for me, one that seems more permanent than any other I've experienced.
No real statement or question here just wanted to share my unusual experience.
by Weissma2005