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4.11 AVERAGE
4.11 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It's been a few entries in the WoT series since I can say I genuinely enjoyed one, but I'm pleased to say the last one penned entirely by Robert Jordan before his death was an exciting and worthy credit to his name.
Incredibly, even as Jordan neared the end of his popular series, he continued to expand the size and scope of his world. This novel sees even greater insight into the geopolitics and culture of the Seanchan, much of it indirectly through the person of the Daughter of the Nine Moons.
His ambition is impressive considering he barely moves the series' meta-narrative forward at all. Tarmon Gaidon is still coming, but the seals are in place and we only get gestures at what might come on that front.
Only three novels left (which I understand were split out of what was supposed to be one final volume), so I am looking forward to seeing resolution here soon enough.
Incredibly, even as Jordan neared the end of his popular series, he continued to expand the size and scope of his world. This novel sees even greater insight into the geopolitics and culture of the Seanchan, much of it indirectly through the person of the Daughter of the Nine Moons.
His ambition is impressive considering he barely moves the series' meta-narrative forward at all. Tarmon Gaidon is still coming, but the seals are in place and we only get gestures at what might come on that front.
Only three novels left (which I understand were split out of what was supposed to be one final volume), so I am looking forward to seeing resolution here soon enough.
This is the last Book by Robert Jordan, and now I am ready for the final stretch with Brandon Sanderson. I
hope Sanderson does justice to the series and maybe even end it with a bang.
Many pieces are starting to fit, some of them very satisfyingly. I got a little bit lost on this volume, truth be told, maybe because I read a few other books in between. This made me a little sad, because I felt I skimmed a lot before getting to a some exciting point… and was to lazy to turn back
hope Sanderson does justice to the series and maybe even end it with a bang.
Many pieces are starting to fit, some of them very satisfyingly. I got a little bit lost on this volume, truth be told, maybe because I read a few other books in between. This made me a little sad, because I felt I skimmed a lot before getting to a some exciting point… and was to lazy to turn back
Jordan gave us a really great send off to his authorship and a great jumping off point for someone to come in and finish what he started.
slow-paced
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.5/5
I waited a while to rate this one because I couldn’t decide what to give it. I want to give it 3 stars, but that doesn’t feel fair, because I also gave 3 stars to the Slog books, and this book is definitely a huge improvement from those. But I also don’t think this book is as good as Shadow Rising, which I gave 4 stars. KOD was hyped up a lot as possibly Jordan’s best novel in the series, and I was disappointed in that sense. I think I will settle on 3.5/5 and click the 4 star button as a courtesy to the book.
First, pros:
Egwene. I. Cannot. Believe it. I was a certified Egwene hater for most of the series. In just 1.5 books, she has rocketed up into my S tier. I feel like I finally understand the character now. Everything that used to irritate me about her, I now accept and respect, even the less savory aspects of her personality. The fact that Jordan made me go from hate to love in basically one book is a feat of character work that warrants respect. Anyway, she’s awesome in this book. I have really missed the absolute badass lady energy Moiraine used to bring to the series, and now I feel like another character (Egwene, not Cadsuane) has finally lived up to that legacy. (Nynaeve and other women are also badass but in a different way from Moiraine and Egwene.) Egwene is That Bitch. And the series needs her.
Perrin and Faile’s Shaido arc from hell is FINALLY concluded, in a quite satisfying way. There is still a little too much dragging and buildup in this book, but the end, when it comes, is quick and satisfying. Jordan has a way of making conclusions to long-running arcs feel rewarding but also realistic.
Rand. Do I need to say much about Rand? (Looking at paragraph below, apparently yes.) I used to hate him, you know, basically up until Dumai’s Wells, if I’m being honest. At first I hated him because he was so boring and was basically written like a Gary Stu/self-insert. Then he suddenly became really interesting around the end of book 3/ beginning of book 4, but I still hated him because of his arrogance, the way he treated Moiraine, his conviction that his only choice was to conquer the world in order to save it, and most of all, his garden variety misogyny (at one point it felt like his every other thought was some targeted jab at women as a whole gender, and yes, it irritates me just as much when the women do the same to men, but we’re talking about Rand now). I was enjoying his chapters because I found his character fascinating and well-written, but I also wasn’t enjoying them because I didn’t like spending time in his head. But then, something shifted. I suddenly “got” Rand. Everything about him clicked. I think, in part, the darker the character became, the more I started to relate to him on a personal level. And with literally every subsequent book, I have just grown to love him more. He is my Poor Little Meow Meow. I will protect him. By the end of this book, Rand was in my S tier. And what a satisfying ending. He loses something important, and it feels more significant than usual this time. The war against the Dark One is literally destroying his body bit by bit.
Nynaeve has always been my favorite character. I liked her from her first appearance in book one. Many people had to warm up to the character over time. Not me. I instantly clicked with her. Yes, she makes a lot of obnoxious jabs at men, which is part of the series’ larger problems with gender fundamentalism and general sexist shit slinging on both sides. But everything else about her is so great that that barely registers. (You see, around halfway through the series, I finally realized that I had to pretend all of that stuff didn’t exist and turn my brain off in order to enjoy the story and characters. Probably part of why I finally fell in love with Rand.) I love her for her heart, but I love her even more for her flaws. She is often irrational, hypocritical, arrogant, and stubborn to a fault. She has serious anger issues and temper tantrums. And I love her for all those things. If she never changed at all, I would still love her. She is a powerful woman who also feels like a real person, and is in my opinion one of Jordan’s greatest contributions to fantasy, up there with perennial queen Moiraine. But Nynaeve DOES change and grow. She has pivotal moments of character development and catharsis. She learns to surrender to things she can’t control. She learns to swallow her pride when necessary. All without changing the core of who she is. In my opinion, Nynaeve is the “Sam Gamgee” of the Wheel of Time, in a way. Sam represents the Shire, and all that is good about it. He grows but remains himself at his core despite extraordinary circumstances. Nynaeve plays that role in this series. She embodies the Two Rivers and all that is good about it. She is the only one of the original five that still only ever sees Rand as just himself, as a kid from her village. She is the only one who doesn’t drop him like a hot potato the instant they learn who he really is. The others all go through dramatic identity changes and take on enormous mantles: Rand is the Dragon Reborn, Egwene is the Amyrlin Seat, Perrin is the Lord of the Two Rivers, Mat is the Prince of the Ravens with the memories of genius generals. Nynaeve gains magical power and joins the Aes Sedai (in name) but she is still only ever Just Nynaeve. Rand knows that he needs her for that. And in this book, Nynaeve ascends to the next level yet again. Her insistence on protecting Rand even at the cost of leaving Lan, even though logic tells her that Rand is doomed to die, is extremely sweet and touching. The whole sequence where she drops Lan off in Saldaea and then goes to raise the banners of the Golden Crane nearly had me hollering. Top tier character shit.
Mat!!! Maaaaaaaat. This may be the last book I get to read the “real” Mat, based on what I’ve heard about Sanderson’s writing of Mat being iffy. Mat became one of my favorite characters, and he’s mostly great in this. Unfortunately:
Cons:
The decision to make Mat’s genuine honest to god actual love interest a slaveowner/pro-slavery person is a character assassination to me, so losing some of Mat’s characterization in the next book won’t bother me as much anymore because I dislike him now anyway.
I don’t understand how people can look past this. No, Mat is not Tuon. No, Mat does not approve of slavery. Yes, he actively fights against it. But just the mere fact that he is able to put Tuon’s views aside, that he is able to tolerate her views as simply a difference of opinion, is a huge red flag. Who you allow to be in your life, let alone your intimate circle, says a lot about you. By accepting Tuon’s views in order to be with her, Mat is basically indicating that he finds her views tolerable. Of course, he is not directly affected. If he were a woman who could channel, he’d probably feel quite differently about her. But he’s not. That also says a lot about him.
Mat is supposed to be one of the heroes of the Light. We are supposed to like him. He’s outwardly an asshole, but he has a heart of gold. When the dice fall, he’ll always do the right thing. That’s the essence of his character. To make his love interest a slaveowner is a straight up assassination of his character. It doesn’t make sense.
To clarify, I like the plot of Mat getting entangled in Seanchan politics. I think him becoming Prince of the Ravens is perfectly ironic, and it plays a crucial role in the story. But all of this still could have happened without Mat GENUINELY falling in love with Tuon. It is the latter that is the true character assassination.
Finally, I was told the pacing is finally better in this book. I don’t think it is. Yes, many of the plot lines set up during the Slog are finally resolved in this one. But the pacing is still problematic. We still have chunks of hundreds of pages in this book where virtually nothing happens. A lot of this book still feels like build up to resolutions that all happen within the last 100-150 pages.
Finally, Gawyn is literally the worst character in this entire series.
***
RIP Robert Jordan.
Dear Robert Jordan,
It took me a while to warm up to this series, but once I did, I fell in love with your characters and had a great time with your plot. Thank you for crafting an enormous cast of kickass women with diverse personalities who are just as well written and important to the plot as the men. Even though I hate your gender fundamentalism with a fiery passion, you have done more for women in fantasy than most.
You have also partially inspired me to take up writing again myself. Thank you.
Thanks for 12 books and countless hours of entertainment.
Sincerely,
Hoodles Mcnoodles
I waited a while to rate this one because I couldn’t decide what to give it. I want to give it 3 stars, but that doesn’t feel fair, because I also gave 3 stars to the Slog books, and this book is definitely a huge improvement from those. But I also don’t think this book is as good as Shadow Rising, which I gave 4 stars. KOD was hyped up a lot as possibly Jordan’s best novel in the series, and I was disappointed in that sense. I think I will settle on 3.5/5 and click the 4 star button as a courtesy to the book.
First, pros:
Egwene. I. Cannot. Believe it. I was a certified Egwene hater for most of the series. In just 1.5 books, she has rocketed up into my S tier. I feel like I finally understand the character now. Everything that used to irritate me about her, I now accept and respect, even the less savory aspects of her personality. The fact that Jordan made me go from hate to love in basically one book is a feat of character work that warrants respect. Anyway, she’s awesome in this book. I have really missed the absolute badass lady energy Moiraine used to bring to the series, and now I feel like another character (Egwene, not Cadsuane) has finally lived up to that legacy. (Nynaeve and other women are also badass but in a different way from Moiraine and Egwene.) Egwene is That Bitch. And the series needs her.
Perrin and Faile’s Shaido arc from hell is FINALLY concluded, in a quite satisfying way. There is still a little too much dragging and buildup in this book, but the end, when it comes, is quick and satisfying. Jordan has a way of making conclusions to long-running arcs feel rewarding but also realistic.
Rand. Do I need to say much about Rand? (Looking at paragraph below, apparently yes.) I used to hate him, you know, basically up until Dumai’s Wells, if I’m being honest. At first I hated him because he was so boring and was basically written like a Gary Stu/self-insert. Then he suddenly became really interesting around the end of book 3/ beginning of book 4, but I still hated him because of his arrogance, the way he treated Moiraine, his conviction that his only choice was to conquer the world in order to save it, and most of all, his garden variety misogyny (at one point it felt like his every other thought was some targeted jab at women as a whole gender, and yes, it irritates me just as much when the women do the same to men, but we’re talking about Rand now). I was enjoying his chapters because I found his character fascinating and well-written, but I also wasn’t enjoying them because I didn’t like spending time in his head. But then, something shifted. I suddenly “got” Rand. Everything about him clicked. I think, in part, the darker the character became, the more I started to relate to him on a personal level. And with literally every subsequent book, I have just grown to love him more. He is my Poor Little Meow Meow. I will protect him. By the end of this book, Rand was in my S tier. And what a satisfying ending. He loses something important, and it feels more significant than usual this time. The war against the Dark One is literally destroying his body bit by bit.
Nynaeve has always been my favorite character. I liked her from her first appearance in book one. Many people had to warm up to the character over time. Not me. I instantly clicked with her. Yes, she makes a lot of obnoxious jabs at men, which is part of the series’ larger problems with gender fundamentalism and general sexist shit slinging on both sides. But everything else about her is so great that that barely registers. (You see, around halfway through the series, I finally realized that I had to pretend all of that stuff didn’t exist and turn my brain off in order to enjoy the story and characters. Probably part of why I finally fell in love with Rand.) I love her for her heart, but I love her even more for her flaws. She is often irrational, hypocritical, arrogant, and stubborn to a fault. She has serious anger issues and temper tantrums. And I love her for all those things. If she never changed at all, I would still love her. She is a powerful woman who also feels like a real person, and is in my opinion one of Jordan’s greatest contributions to fantasy, up there with perennial queen Moiraine. But Nynaeve DOES change and grow. She has pivotal moments of character development and catharsis. She learns to surrender to things she can’t control. She learns to swallow her pride when necessary. All without changing the core of who she is. In my opinion, Nynaeve is the “Sam Gamgee” of the Wheel of Time, in a way. Sam represents the Shire, and all that is good about it. He grows but remains himself at his core despite extraordinary circumstances. Nynaeve plays that role in this series. She embodies the Two Rivers and all that is good about it. She is the only one of the original five that still only ever sees Rand as just himself, as a kid from her village. She is the only one who doesn’t drop him like a hot potato the instant they learn who he really is. The others all go through dramatic identity changes and take on enormous mantles: Rand is the Dragon Reborn, Egwene is the Amyrlin Seat, Perrin is the Lord of the Two Rivers, Mat is the Prince of the Ravens with the memories of genius generals. Nynaeve gains magical power and joins the Aes Sedai (in name) but she is still only ever Just Nynaeve. Rand knows that he needs her for that. And in this book, Nynaeve ascends to the next level yet again. Her insistence on protecting Rand even at the cost of leaving Lan, even though logic tells her that Rand is doomed to die, is extremely sweet and touching. The whole sequence where she drops Lan off in Saldaea and then goes to raise the banners of the Golden Crane nearly had me hollering. Top tier character shit.
Mat!!! Maaaaaaaat. This may be the last book I get to read the “real” Mat, based on what I’ve heard about Sanderson’s writing of Mat being iffy. Mat became one of my favorite characters, and he’s mostly great in this. Unfortunately:
Cons:
The decision to make Mat’s genuine honest to god actual love interest a slaveowner/pro-slavery person is a character assassination to me, so losing some of Mat’s characterization in the next book won’t bother me as much anymore because I dislike him now anyway.
I don’t understand how people can look past this. No, Mat is not Tuon. No, Mat does not approve of slavery. Yes, he actively fights against it. But just the mere fact that he is able to put Tuon’s views aside, that he is able to tolerate her views as simply a difference of opinion, is a huge red flag. Who you allow to be in your life, let alone your intimate circle, says a lot about you. By accepting Tuon’s views in order to be with her, Mat is basically indicating that he finds her views tolerable. Of course, he is not directly affected. If he were a woman who could channel, he’d probably feel quite differently about her. But he’s not. That also says a lot about him.
Mat is supposed to be one of the heroes of the Light. We are supposed to like him. He’s outwardly an asshole, but he has a heart of gold. When the dice fall, he’ll always do the right thing. That’s the essence of his character. To make his love interest a slaveowner is a straight up assassination of his character. It doesn’t make sense.
To clarify, I like the plot of Mat getting entangled in Seanchan politics. I think him becoming Prince of the Ravens is perfectly ironic, and it plays a crucial role in the story. But all of this still could have happened without Mat GENUINELY falling in love with Tuon. It is the latter that is the true character assassination.
Finally, I was told the pacing is finally better in this book. I don’t think it is. Yes, many of the plot lines set up during the Slog are finally resolved in this one. But the pacing is still problematic. We still have chunks of hundreds of pages in this book where virtually nothing happens. A lot of this book still feels like build up to resolutions that all happen within the last 100-150 pages.
Finally, Gawyn is literally the worst character in this entire series.
***
RIP Robert Jordan.
Dear Robert Jordan,
It took me a while to warm up to this series, but once I did, I fell in love with your characters and had a great time with your plot. Thank you for crafting an enormous cast of kickass women with diverse personalities who are just as well written and important to the plot as the men. Even though I hate your gender fundamentalism with a fiery passion, you have done more for women in fantasy than most.
You have also partially inspired me to take up writing again myself. Thank you.
Thanks for 12 books and countless hours of entertainment.
Sincerely,
Hoodles Mcnoodles
The chess pieces all advance by one move.
Also, how can you reveal that [name redacted] is probably still alive 1/3rd of the way through the book and then not mention it again for the last 600 pages?!? Gahhhhh!
Also, how can you reveal that [name redacted] is probably still alive 1/3rd of the way through the book and then not mention it again for the last 600 pages?!? Gahhhhh!
I’m glad I got to hear mr.Jordan at the end of the audiobook. Review to come
I am just going through the motions at this point.
However very excited for the next books with Sanderson. Except I am also doing a break to do New Spring real quick first. Eeek.
However very excited for the next books with Sanderson. Except I am also doing a break to do New Spring real quick first. Eeek.