“Small things were important. Seconds were small things, and if you heaped enough of those on top of one another, they became a man’s life.”

Since sometime shortly after the “glory days” of the first few books of the Wheel of Time saga, the series has taken on the strange aspect of an endless prologue. Sure, there are miniature climaxes and intrigues here and there, but the prevailing mood is one of desultory anticipation. We’re always looking forward to events that, to this reader’s endless frustration, never seem to materialize in a satisfying way. Take, for instance, an early scene in the beginning of Towers of Midnight, in which Rand arrives at the White Tower to announce that he intends to break the remaining seals on the Dark One’s prison. It isn’t all that bad—although one does question how nonchalantly childhood friends Rand and Egwene handle their reunion—but it leads to chapter after chapter of discussions regarding Rand’s stated intentions, their potential repercussions, how he might be dissuaded, and so on. So, regrettably on brand for the series as a whole, rather than actually do the thing, Rand settles from some tactless displays of messianic benevolence.

Other established characters are given mildly consequential actions, often in proportions outweighing their importance to the sloppily-structured overarching narrative. Egwene survives an attempted assassination and accepts a marriage proposal, Perrin hops around in the dreamworld and forges a magical sword, Mat rescues Moiraine by traveling through an extra-dimensional maze along with Thom Merrilin and a disguised Jain Farstrider. But overall Towers of Midnight falls back on the dreadful trend of telegraphing its major plot points while failing to pad out its bloated word count with compelling material. Instead of fun adventures and rich character development we get endless whining and junior high romances as the juxtaposition of Robert Jordan’s ostentatious prose with Brandon Sanderson’s staccato style distracts our attention. It’s all well and good that the authors announce their intentions and take a while getting there, but entertain me, riddle me, school me on the way up the mountain, otherwise the lengthy trek quickly becomes onerous.