And we're finally here. We've reached book fourteen (of an originally planned six) and the end of the epic saga of The Wheel of Time. The Last Battle, Tarmon Gai'don, has arrived. There is no more time for posturing or positioning. The fate of time itself rests in the balance.

Towers of Midnight is our final “breather” instalment. As the Last Battle begins, our characters get one final chance to wrap up their business and get everything ready for the climax. But as they do, we must deal with the narrative snarl Jordan left Sanderson to clear up.

And so we come the the final push. Part 4 of The Wheel of Time. The Final Battle, Tarmon Gai’don approaches. And, along with everything else, a new author to take up the mantle of the fallen.

With “Knife of Dreams” not only do we wrap up Part 3 of The Wheel of Time, we find a welcome return for form for Robert Jordan’s final novel.

As I said in my review of Winter's Heart, I was ready for Crossroads of Twilight to be one of the worst entries in the series. But I have to admit that it's not nearly as bad as I remembered.

In my last post, I talked about the series entering The Slump, the section of The Wheel of Time where everything drags for a few books. But then, of course, Winter's Heart comes along and perks things right back up again.

The Path of Daggers isn't the worst entry in The Wheel of Time series, but it lacks the drive and excitement of the ones we've had up to now. Instead, it feels like Jordan is getting the characters in place for what is coming next. 

A Crown of Thorns has a lot to live up to, coming as it does after the literally explosive finale to Lord of Chaos. We have a lot of momentum going, and this next instalment does not disappoint.

This was a book it took me a little while to get into. Clearly emulating the dense, gothic style of the period it is set in, it starts off rather impenetrable. But once I pushed myself through, I found the characters and story emerged, making Affinity an incredible pleasure to read.

I was excited for this book. I absolutely loved Red Sister and had been wanting to get my hand on the second book in the series. However, as much as I still enjoyed it, it couldn’t shake the feel of being Part Two of a trilogy. 

I like stories that are told in interesting ways, and this promised something like that. I didn’t quite know what to expect and having finished it, I’m left with the weird feeling I shouldn’t have liked it, but I really did.

I enjoyed The Evening and the Morning, but it’s not Follett’s best work. And unfortunately, comparisons with the previous books in the series only serve to highlight its flaws.

With Sword of Fire, Kerr manages to hit all the same notes I loved about the Deverry books, but it’s missing that uniqueness of the original series.

Sometimes my favourite book of the year is one that had the best story. Or maybe its one that displayed the most engaging writing. Or perhaps it will have introduced me to a new writer I know I’m going to love.In 2020, it’s a book that was exactly what I needed at exactly the time I read it: Hazel Hayes’ "Out of Love"

I am a sucker for stories told out of chronological order, so Out of Love caught my eye a while ago. I don’t know why the concept appeals to me so much. I think it’s something about examining cause and affect, playing around with what the reader knows and when, that somehow suits my sensibilities.

Finding books about non-monogamy is tricky. When you’re polyamorous, one of the things you notices about popular culture is how must it simply doesn’t get what polyamory is. A lot of resources out there are trashy, focusing on nothing but the sexual aspect. Others seem to have decided that they have worked out exactly what polyamory is, and make you feel that if you don’t want exactly what they say you want then you’re doing it wrong.

Book six done, and we’re almost halfway through the series. In the last book, The Fires of Heaven, it felt to me as if Jordan was taking a breath before setting up the next round of story arcs. Now, with Lord of Chaos, things start to get moving again.

Jo Jakeman’s debut, Sticks and Stones, was about facing the truth about your life and how you free yourself from the shackles that hold you down. Now her second book is about the next steps: trying to create something new in the shadow of your past.