The Wheel of Time: Lord of Chaos review

    I tend to consider The Wheel of Time one of the greatest works of fantasy ever completed, even though it does have its serious flaws. These include over-reliance on stock characters, everything being just a little too twee, and the fact the morality is Black and White with the only occasional smattering of gray. Despite this, it's an amazing work which contains hundreds upon hundreds of characters interacting with their own distinct plotlines in various ways which sometimes turn out quite different from the way you'd expect. While the series slows in the middle, Lord of Chaos is still when the pacing was going strong.

    The premise is Rand al'Thor has conquered Andor and now rules over the third largest territory in the history of the continent after Arthur Hawkwing as well as the False Dragon he defeated. Unfortunately, consolidating his control is more difficult than it might appear because his plans to secure his position involving giving Andor's crown to Elayne and she's offended at the thought of being "given" what she considers hers by right. Furthermore, he has the territory of Sammael the Forsaken right on his doorstep but can't trust his own nobility not to turn on him should he move against it.

    Things aren't noticeably better with the Aes Sedai as Nynaeve, Egwene, and Elayne all wish to overthrow Elaida due to her manifest unfitness to lead the White Tower. Unfortunately, even as they are securing their positions among the Rebels, they are being pressured by Rand to swear allegiance to them. None of the women's pride tolerates this sort of insult and they, ironically, forestall efforts to ally with Rand which was the entire purpose of the Rebel Aes Sedai to begin with. They also become interested in a mystical bowl which has the ability to fix the continent's weather. Moghedien, one of the Forsaken, remains their captive as Nynaeve uses her to learn lost secrets of the One Power.

    Rand Al'Thor's problems don't limit themselves to his inability to deal with a insoluble political situation, however. He has decided he needs male channelers to serve as weapons against the Dark One. To that end, he grants amnesty to all of the ones around the world who will come to serve him. This attracts Mazrim Taim, one of the False Dragons who preceded Rand, who is practically screams evil but is highly competent with reasonable answers as to why he would want to work with our hero. Rand's insanity is getting worse, though, with Lewis Therin's personality goading him on almost constantly. Throw in Elaida's White Tower allying with the renegade Shaido Aiel armies and things are getting very-very complicated.

    Lord of Chaos is probably the tightest of The Wheel of Time novels. It avoids getting bogged down in many of the minutia of subplots to focus on the larger struggle between Rand and the White Tower. As such, the story is probably my favorite of the series. There's also a good deal of attention paid to the flaws of our all-too-often flawless heroes. Rand's insanity is accompanied by his pride, anger, and disdain for anything which stands in the way of victory. Egwene can't let go of her own pride which refuses to let herself believe she has to subordinate the Aes Sedai to anyone, let alone someone she knew back in Two Rivers as a callow youth. Elayne can't bring herself to overlook the fact Andor is no longer her family's since it's conquest and she needs Rand to take it back. Nynaeve and Mat are, well, Nynaeve and Mat.

    I was quite fond of the Queen Morgase subplot. Having fled from Andor due to her Forsaken captor mind-controlling her, she has found herself unwittingly falling into the hands of the Children of Light. As their "guest", they would very much like her to sign a treaty legitimizing their claim to serve as Andor's police force in exchange for helping her "liberate" her country from Rand. Believing Rand to be another False Dragon who has usurped her crown, she believes she has no choice but to cooperate despite her attempts to stonewall them for as long as possible. Morgase is also unaware of the split between the White Tower or that her daughter is neck deep in Aes Sedai politics. This is another story which really does a good job of showing the ambiguities and complexities of politcs in Randland as well as how good can be as big an impediment to change as evil.

    We get some really good new villains this time around with Graendal, Sammael, and (possibly--at this point) Mazrim Taim. The first two are fairly weak-tea compared to Ishmael and Lanfear but that's kind of their point. One is a decadent hedonist and mental rapist while the other is a blustering blowhard with too high an opinion of himself. Mazrim Tam, by comparison, is a cool and calculating planner with a great knowledge of military tactics. I look forward to seeing how all of their plots develop. I also like Lord Niall, the leader of the Whitecloaks, and his principled stand against Rand which has led him to do some genuinely repulsive things like conduct false-flag operations against innocent villagers to turn them against the Dragon Reborn. Two other villains, Sevanna and Demandred, don't get much development this time around.

    Fans of the Aes Sedai won't be too happy with their portrayal as they're at their most obstructive this time around. The White Tower and Rebels dig in their heels to fight over who gets to be the "True" Aes Sedai while the apocalypse is right around the corner. Worse, our heroes, as mentioned, are part of the problem rather than the solution. We get some progress to fixing the situation but not nearly so much as creating new divisions as well as anger that may turn the entirety of the world against them.

    In conclusion, this is a really impressive book and probably Jordan at his best for politics and complexities. Good and evil are still things in his world but that doesn't mean they get along with their own "teams." Good is incapable of cooperating the same way evil is and the story is all the richer for it. The action is okay this time around with a somewhat low-key battle at the end versus the more intimate spell-fights we're used to. Still, I'm going to go out on a limb and say this is my favorite book in the series.

10/10

The Wheel of Time: The Fires of Heaven review

    The Wheel of Time series is one which is a hefty time investment even for those who devour books quickly. Nevertheless, it is a collection of books which contain a fascinating array of characters both silly and serious. If I were to make a comparison, it's less a single series of books than several main books and a dozen spin-off series or trilogies which have been pushed together. This doesn't make the books bad, quite the opposite, but it does mean that they tend to meander and go in directions which aren't always conducive to the plot being resolved. In English, the books are going to drag in places and that's going to be doubly the case from this book onward until the resolution.

    The Fires of Heaven picks up with Rand al'Thor consolidating his hold over the Aiel people when he receives word that the Shaido Aiel, those who refuse to follow his lead as the Dragon Reborn, are now attacking a nearby nation. Raising his armies to stop them, Rand pauses to deal with his increasingly close relationship with Aviendha, who struggles with her attraction to Rand while hating herself for it (due to her friendship with Rand's quasi-girlfriend Elayne). Elayne and Nynaeve, meanwhile, try to get in contact with the Aes Sedai who have fled from the White Tower. They are hunted by a Forsaken, though, who intends to avenge her prior defeat. Siuan, Min, and Leane are on the run from the White Tower with a new pursuer in Lord Bryne.

    The conflict with the Shaido is, sadly, a little underdeveloped as we never really get to see Rand interact with them. They don't recognize him as the Dragon Reborn but one of their own instead and thus are going to fight to the bitter end. However, they decide to go pillage the people which Rand is protecting instead (sort of). Some more development would have been appreciated about them but they're really just an excuse for giving Rand something to kill. Honestly, the majority of villains this time around are the Forsaken and we get a decent amount of insight into what makes these petty psychopaths tick.

    I will say, though, I'm not too sold on the Rand al'Thor romances. Since Rand is destined to get with Elayne, Min, and Aviendha all three then I'm not sure where the source of the tension is supposed to come from. I'm pleased to say we get some resolution and progress, which was desperately needed. Sadly, the progress isn't quite to a resolution, which is a shame since I was over the 'will they, won't they' before it became since they're fated to get together anyway. Really, I was much more interested in Rand's relationship with his "tame" Forsaken Asmodean. Having purified one of his mortal foes of the Dark One's taint, Rand has since started using Asmodean to re-learn the many magical powers lost to time. Asmodean's own motivations remain questionable even to him as a part of him wants to reform but evil has become such an ingrained part of his personality.

    The side characters of Siuan, Min, and Leane actually proved to be one of my favorite parts of the series so far. While divorced from much of the main plot, I enjoyed how the characters played off one another. Siuan is coping with the loss of not only her magic but her political power, Min is stuck away from her friends as well as destined lover, while Leane is, well, deeply interested in getting laid as a coping mechanism. It's kind of hilarious, even before when Lord Bryne becomes their pursuers. I also enjoy all of the various high lords and ladies which gravitate around poor Mat, who is doing his best (and failing) to avoid his destiny. I hated Mat in previous books but he's rapidly risen to become one of my favorite characters. Perhaps my favorite part of the book was giving Morgrase, the imprisoned Queen of Andor, a chance to rescue herself from the Forsaken who is holding her prisoner.

    New villains are introduced throughout the work which include some genuinely interesting ones like the Prophet and Graendal. I'm looking forward to seeing more of these two and how they play off of the heroes. Sadly, I think we don't get nearly enough Perrin or Fail this time around, which is a shame because they are some of my favorite characters. The Seanchan play almost no role in this book and I feel this is a shame since they're a very enjoyable set of hateable villains. The final climatic confrontation with evil in the book is rather lacking, however, since none of the villains have quite the same punch as Ishmael from the first few books. I also think the character of Liandrin, one of my favorite villains in the series, is badly misused here. Her threat level is rapidly reduced to make another villain look good and I hate when authors do that. Still, there's quite a few great moments of karmic justice in this book and that's always good.


    World-building-wise, there’s not much new this time around. We’ve established most of the characters, countries, politics, and interactions. The biggest problem I have is so much stuff is going on that the characters spend a great deal of time communicating with each other in dreams in order to keep everyone on the same page. It gets annoying because they keep trying to insist dream-walking is dangerous but have to do it constantly so they don’t completely lose track of where everyone else in the plot is.  I'm really interested in the character of Birgitte and look forward to what sort of insights the character can bring regarding events in the Age of Legends as well as other time periods which current inhabitants have forgotten the details of.

    In conclusion, I'm still enjoying series but I feel like the story has lost some of its forward momentum. I hope this won't prove to be a deterrent to my enjoyment in the future but I'm still involved in this story. While I tend to prefer grimdark over high fantasy, I'm really-really enjoying this epic.

9/10

The Wheel of Time: The Shadow Rising review

    The Shadow Rising is the fourth novel in the Wheel of Time series, following the events of the climatic third book which has seemingly killed the Dark One's strongest Forsaken as well as resulted in the crowning of Rand al'Thor the Dragon Reborn for all of the world to see.

    The book opens with Rand struggling with his new-found position as the King of Tear as well as his friends' struggle to deal with these new changes to his personality. Perrin has begun a relationship with the beautiful noblewoman Faile, their personalities contrasting as well as cultural background. Mat, despite having been healed by Aes Sedai, maintains a great distrust for channelers and avoids associating with any of his former friends who now can, Nynaeve as well as Egwene struggle with the Black Ajah, and there is increasing tension at Tar Vallon which will soon boil over into outright civil war within the Aes Sedai.

    It is Robert Jordan's greatest talent to be able to weave together hundreds of minor plots and characters into a single coherent tapestry. Usually, in these sorts of books, there's always one or more characters I find intensely annoying. Instead, almost all of the Wheel of Time's characters are extremely likable. The only member of the group I want to sometimes punch in the face is Mat and that's only intermittently, oftentimes when he's displaying the qualities of a faithless friend or ungrateful jerkass.

    The Wheel of Time's protagonists may be unrealistically good but they have a Clark Kent, Luke Skywalker, and Princess Leia-like decency which reminds us why we're supposed to root for the side of right over wrong. Likewise, while the villains may not be as interesting as the heroes, Robert Jordan avoids making them two-dimensional.

    Lord Bornhald's motivations are a desire to avenge his father, no matter how misguided his belief Perrin is responsible for his death may be. Lanfear is motivated by her ambition and lust for power but also a desperate desire to be loved. Elaida may be acting against our heroes in the White Tower but the extremist has a point about how their actions must look to outsiders.

    The book provides us with a lot more insight into Aiel culture as well as the events surrounding the Breaking of the World. While I, initially, was a little nonplussed by the insertion of post-apocalyptic imagery into the otherwise feel-good series, I came to like how it highlighted how so much of the past had been forgotten. Discovering the Aiel had been a very-very different sort of people worked well to illustrate that. Rand's arrival brings the possibility of them learning from their forgotten past as well as the change promised by a tradition-bound culture which discovers most of their ideals are based on lies.

    The book expands on the character of Aviendha and I'm very interested in her coming relationship with Rand. Robert Jordan is not subtle in his foreshadowing of a marriage between Rand, her, Elayne, and Min. Aviendha's relationship with Rand is complicated by her extremely strong females for Elayne which, while not intended by Jordan, could easily be subjected to a queer reading. The conversations between them get a bit on the monotonous and repetitive side but I think she's probably my favorite of Rand's girlfriends.

    We also get a humanizing look at the Seanchan with the way the revelation that their traditional hatred of channelers may not, in fact, be as justified as they've traditionally believed. I hate slavery, even in fiction, perhaps because I grew up in the South and know how it can be rationalized away in cultural memory, so I am personally hoping for a series of dramatic rocks to their society. I, genuinely, hate the Seanchan far more than I despise the Dark One's forces and look forward to seeing them brought low.

    If the book has any major flaws, it's that not much really happens this time around except for the events in the White Tower. Which, shockingly, is handled in all of one chapter. Robert Jordan's work always moves at a languid pace but I felt this one was even slower than usual. I also disliked the removal of any moral ambiguity from Lanfear and was hoping there might be something redeemable to her.

    Despite this, there's genuinely affecting moments throughout. I, especially, loved the plotline in Two Rivers where events remain close to home for our heroes. I also liked the developing romance between Faile and Perrin. They may come from different worlds and have different attitudes to love but you can tell they have a deep affection for the other.

    In conclusion, The Shadow Rising is yet another installment I greatly enjoyed. I will continue this series right up until the very end.

10/10

The Wheel of Time: The Dragon Reborn

    The third book in the Wheel of Time series moves at a much faster pace than the previous volumes. Which isn't to say it moves quickly, mind you, but the main characters are firmly established and so is plot. The Wheel of Time still moves at a languid pace, however, with Rand al'Thor nowhere near close to fulfilling his destiny. Robert Jordan manages the feat of making you feel like you're moving forward, however, and that's all I require from this volume of the story.

    The book begins with Rand al'Thor having assembled an army of followers after defeating Baal'zamon over the skies above the Seanchan last volume. Heroes of legend joined him in battle and he announced to the world he was, in fact, the Dragon Reborn. Progress since then has been limited with Rand mostly sitting around his camp, struggling to deal with his madness. As a male channeler, he is doomed to insanity and there's nothing he can do about that.

    Well, nothing except decide to leave. In what is the least enjoyable part of the book, Rand decides to abandon his army and just go off somewhere else to do anything else. Thus, Perrin and Moraine are forced to track him down for an extended part of the book. I'm not a fan of this plotline since Rand is almost incoherent during the entirety of it, trapped in his tormented visions and self-pity.

    The other parts of the book make up for it.

    The best part of The Dragon Reborn deals with Egwene, Nynaeve, and Elayne dealing with their induction into the Aes Sedai. The Aes Sedai are the most powerful political movers and shakers in the land but are torn by infighting. On one hand, they have the Amyrlin Seat working covertly to support the Dragon Reborn while the majority of them believe it is their duty to prevent the Dragon from taking over the world. On the other, you have the Black Ajah which serves the Dark One and could be any member of the organization but our heroines.

    There's some genuinely strong passages during the Aes Sedai portions of the book like Egwene's trials to become one of the Accepted. These hint at likely story points in the future and also give her some serious character development. As bad as her trauma at the Seanchans' hands were last volume, it is nothing to what she suffers forging herself into someone capable of redeeming the Aes Sedai.

    We also get a lot more insight into the Aiel race who are noted for being the people who birthed Rand al'Thor as well as being fanatically loyal to him. Unfortunately, they are not Robert Jordan's best creation being little more than fantasy-ized version of Dune's Fremen. I'm not saying that he got the idea from them and they don't have their own character after awhile but the similarities were distracting.

    The big change in the book is the redemption of the character Mat. For two books, Mat has been nothing but an enormous load on the group. This is mostly due to the influence of a cursed dagger but it made me hate him to a ludicrous level and hope for his conversion to the Dark Side so Rand could kill him. Instead, the book managed to turn the character around completely and make him quite likable.

    I was also a fan of new character Faile, who is a hunter of the (already found) Horn of Valere. The fact she's desperate to find it only for the heroes to not reveal her quest is in vain is as much a part of her enjoyment as her saucy personality. I do think she's a bit too harsh on Perrin but being a fan of anime, I get that she's just a woman who doesn't know how to speak to people without berating them.

    In conclusion, The Dragon Reborn is a book which shows Robert Jordan settling into his role as a master storyteller. We don't need as much explanation as we did in previous volumes and this plays into his strengths. There's perhaps too many characters and too much foreshadowing (almost to the point of telegraphing) but more than enough for me to say this is my favorite book in the series thus far.

10/10

The Wheel of Time: The Great Hunt review

     I was very fond of The Eye of the World, the first novel in the series and one which managed to nicely encapsulate a lot about what I enjoyed about high fantasy. It wasn't the most original fantasy novel in the world but it gave us likable characters, believable interactions, and a fun climax which heralded things to come. The Great Hunt is an excellent follow-up but suffers, in some respect, by the fact is meant to be the second installment in a twelve-part series with a lot of the twists already telegraphed by the book's blatant foreshadowing.

    The premise is hero Rand al'Thor trying to ignore his recently discovering channeling. Given male channelers invariably go mad, this is understandable. Unfortunately, Rand is also the Dragon Reborn so there's no getting around his destiny. It's his job to punch the Dark One, Satan more-or-less, in the face. Complicating this inevitable showdown between good and evil is the fact the continent is being invaded by an eastern empire called the Seanchan.

    Basically, evil Knights of the Round Table, the Seanchan are descended from past conqueror Arthur Hawkwing and believe themselves entitled to all lands in the continent. When two magical artifacts are stolen from the Aes Sedai, Rand and company must go off to find them before his best friend Mat dies of a magical curse. It may seem like I'm spoiling a lot but I'm not even touching on the various twists and turns this book possesses.

    The Great Hunt's plot amounts to a very extended chase scene with a lot of fascinating diversions. I've seen worse plots for a book, though, and many of these diversions go in fascinating directions. For example, there's tests which take place in alternate timelines and worlds as well as a question of what would happen to this one if events played out differently. Parallel realities and alternative history is nothing new to science fiction but is a surprising addition to a epic fantasy series like The Wheel of Time.

    The book's primary appeal is in its characterization of the cast as well as introduction of many new figures. We get a lot of new insight into Egwene, Nynaeve, Elayne, and some characters I didn't expect to see a return of like Domon the boatman. Rand is struggling with his channeling and needs his friends more than ever but none of them are there. Instead, he is befriended by a beautiful and mysterious newcomer to the group who promises him the world. Poor Rand is way, way out of his league with her and why she's interested in him can only relate to his terrible destiny.

    I also like how Robert Jordan expanded on the Aes Sedai from their rituals and practices to specific members. The Black Ajah is a great idea and one which adds an immense amount of tension to our heroes' interaction with their nominal greatest allies. I do think a reveal toward the end of the book would have been more effective if the identity of the traitor hadn't been revealed earlier, though, and we get a much better one latter on down the line. The Darkfriends are getting a surprising amount of characterization despite being literal servants of the Devil, showing how one might go from being an otherwise normal person to a member in a doomsday cult out to destroy the world.

    There's a lot of great moments in this book with my favorite being what happens to a character who falls into the hands of the Seanchan. While no physical violence is done, the sheer emotional abuse done to a sympathetic and lovable character is horrifying. It made me hate the Seanchan with every fiber of my being and I hope they get what's coming to them in future books. It's strange but I hate the imperialist conquerors more than I hate the literal servants of evil. I also loved the character of Selene, the aforementioned mysterious woman, who brought a very different energy to the book and Rand's adventures.

     Less enjoyable was the diversion of the heroes to the nation of Cairhien, which ostensibly is mired in intrigue from top-to-bottom. The problem isn't the premise but the fact the Cairhien seem to be less astute players of politics than a bunch of catty high-schoolers who just so happen to rule a country. Rand's complete disgust with the whole thing was one of his more enjoyable moments. I also thought Rand's self-pity and angst about being a channeler went a little over-the-top in places.

    I'm hoping Rand will be better about seizing his destiny in the next book but I'm not hopeful. It's hard to believe not only are men willing to follow Rand but four women are already in love with him. The downgrading of favorites from the last book, Thom Merrilan and Moraine, was also unwelcome. Thankfully, both characters still got important scenes which furthered their character arcs.

    In conclusion, The Great Hunt was a bit slow in places but I came to love numerous characters inside it. It's still a heavy complicated read for those individuals who prefer things a bit snappier but if that's what you're looking for, The Wheel of Time probably isn't what you're looking for anyway.

9/10

The Wheel of Time: The Eye of the World review

    Because I don't have enough lengthy series to review, I'm going to take a crack at reading and reviewing Robert Jordan's unfinished (by him) magnum opus. I last tried to read these books when I was ten years old and the first had just come out, which may have been a bit much for my developing mind to handle. I didn't get through half of it before I decided they just weren't for me. As a more mature reader, I'm hoping they will prove to be more engrossing.

    Having just finished the first book, I have no doubt I'm going to finish the series now but it is going to be a serious commitment of time and effort. Not so much it's going to interfere with other projects, reviews, or works but enough it requires effort. The first book in the series is dense and I don't mean in size. No, in fact, it's a book which is filled from top-to-bottom with detail which you need to fully engross yourself in.

    J.R.R. Tolkien was able to fit massive amounts of detail into relatively few words. So much so that many readers, myself included, would swear to you they know the Shire or other locations as well as their hometown. This, despite the fact Tolkien only so many pages on them. Robert Jordan isn't that good but is able to achieve the same effect with many more words devoted to fleshing out his locations. By the end of the first book, I could tell you a massive amount of detail about Two-Rivers, Cairhien, and the Borderlands. This comes, at times, at the expense of anything happening for chapters.

    This isn't to say the book is ever boring. Quite the contrary, I was able to immerse myself in the setting's details and atmosphere. If I were to draw a comparison, it was a bit like hanging around with friends and discussing nothing in particular hours at a time. The Eye of the World was a treat for me as a fan of world-building but its differently paced from the vast majority of fantasy out there today. Ironic, given the Wheel of Time was so influential to present-day classics like George R.R. Martin's Westeros.

    The premise is Rand al'Thor, Mat, and Perrin are dragooned by a mysterious woman named Lady Moiraine into coming with her to Par Valon, the home of the Bene Gesserit-meets-White Council Aes Sedai. They are joined by her companion Lan, Rand's kinda-sorta girlfriend Egwene, a traveling performer named Thom Merrilin, and later their too-young-for-her-position wise woman Nynaeve.

    I'm skipping over a massive amount of stuff here but bear with me. One of these individuals, or all of them, is extremely important to the war against the Dark One and may be related to the prophecy of the Dragon Reborn. It's not really a secret which one of these characters is the Dragon Reborn, any more than Rosebud is a sled or the Matrix is a giant computer simulation but I'll respect the author's intent this is supposed to be a spoiler.

    The book is a classic "Chosen One will save the world" storyline, which isn't bad and Jordan shows why the trope is there in the first place. Jordan spices things up with the fact the Dragon Reborn is also cursed with madness. Not just quirky madness but, "kill everyone I know and love before blowing a giant-sized hole in the world" crazy. Seeing how this develops kept me going along with all the hints this is an eternally recurring pattern of Monster, Hero, and Insanity. You know, wheel of time.

    One thing I like about the book is the amount of estrogen is a good deal higher than your typical fantasy fair. Lady Moiraine is a great Gandalf/Obi Wan Kenobi substitute and I adore Nynaeve. There are a great number of well-realized female characters, many of which are in positions of authority. Robert Jordan isn't breaking any long-standing taboos but it's rare enough to deserve remarking on.

    Much of the book will feel familiar to people who have read The Lord of Rings in-depth. Doorstopper fantasy wasn't yet a thing when Jordan wrote this book so he was trying to lure in his readers with the trappings of the familiar. While some things are a little too familiar, he starts veering away around the halfway point to his own thing. I also like how he subverts several common storytelling tropes throughout the book which, given the otherwise standardized plot, come from left field.

    Readers should understand this is a classic story of good versus evil, romanticized past, and possibly romanticized future. It's pretty much the opposite of my usual fantasy leanings but done so well I'm willing to make the fourteen-book commitment necessary to see this through. I'll keep you abreast of my progress as we carry through.

    It's going to be awhile.

9/10