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4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
In the fifth book in the Wheel of Time, Rand is finally taking up the mantle of the Dragon Reborn - leading armies in the Aiel Waste against those who would take him down, all while under the watchful eye of Aviendha. Mat, at his side, desperately wants to get away from the dangerous life, but can't help using the knowledge imparted to him. Nynaeve and Elaine attempt to learn about the dream world while hiding in a circus. Siuan is on the run, while the White Tower suffers from its split. Meanwhile, the Forsaken and the Dark One are collecting strength...
I've decided to continue on in this series solely through audio (although I do want to own the new cover of this one...) and it's definitely the way to go. They are very well-performed and make the length easier to get through, even as an avid fantasy reader. Let's run through the things I liked. Rand and Aviendha are the first compelling romantic interests in this series - they even get a "there's only one bed" situation. Everyone else paired with Rand is set up in a juvenile way. I liked the addition of balefire: I love anything remotely to do with time travel and thought that this is a really interesting plot device. For some reason I really like Nynaeve still, even though she makes some awful choices? I thought the exploration of the dream world, especially with Birgitte, was a good expansion on the world's magic. I also feel like I've finally got a grasp on the Forsaken. Now to things I liked less. The number of mentions of women's chests! And necklines! Dear god! I wouldn't believe this was edited by a woman if it wasn't true. The fact that Game of Thrones was coming out at the same time as this with such different gender dynamics makes this inexcusable. I could go on ad nauseum about this but I already have in previous reviews. I thought the circus setting was such a weird shift in pace that felt really out of place. The Lan shift at the end also felt a little cheap (but we'll see how I feel in future books once it plays out).
Overall, this is on the better side of this series for me. I'm glad I decided to go with the audiobooks.
I've decided to continue on in this series solely through audio (although I do want to own the new cover of this one...) and it's definitely the way to go. They are very well-performed and make the length easier to get through, even as an avid fantasy reader. Let's run through the things I liked. Rand and Aviendha are the first compelling romantic interests in this series - they even get a "there's only one bed" situation. Everyone else paired with Rand is set up in a juvenile way. I liked the addition of balefire: I love anything remotely to do with time travel and thought that this is a really interesting plot device. For some reason I really like Nynaeve still, even though she makes some awful choices? I thought the exploration of the dream world, especially with Birgitte, was a good expansion on the world's magic. I also feel like I've finally got a grasp on the Forsaken. Now to things I liked less. The number of mentions of women's chests! And necklines! Dear god! I wouldn't believe this was edited by a woman if it wasn't true. The fact that Game of Thrones was coming out at the same time as this with such different gender dynamics makes this inexcusable. I could go on ad nauseum about this but I already have in previous reviews. I thought the circus setting was such a weird shift in pace that felt really out of place. The Lan shift at the end also felt a little cheap (but we'll see how I feel in future books once it plays out).
Overall, this is on the better side of this series for me. I'm glad I decided to go with the audiobooks.
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
3.1/5 Stars.
Dang we really got a filler arc today, didn't we?
Let me summarise the important things that happened in the first 600 pages of this book;
A few scenes of Logain, Siuan, Leane and Min joining arms while Aviendha and Rand finally fucked. And yup, that's pretty much EVERYTHING we got from those first 600 pages. The final act happened to have some important factors to the plot, but all-in-all this book had more fillers in it than my great aunt!!!
I wasn't feeling this book at all. Robert could've easily cut out a lot of scenes and by "a lot of scenes" I mean 99% of Nynaeve and Elayne's storyline. Birgitte and Nynaeve's finale was the only important part of their POV so I wouldn't mind if we started off waaay later into their journey.
AND DON'T GET ME STARTED ON THAT FUCKING STUPID TRAP WITH THE AES SEDAI HEALER NYNAEVE AND ELAYNE GOT THEMSELVES INTO. Dear God I wanted to stomp on my book and spit on those pages. How could they literally be THAT stupid!? I might've excused their mishap if they didn't know that Aes Sedai could be "evil" BUT THEY WERE HUNTING THE BLACK AJAH FOR GOODNESS SAKE! HOW COULDN'T THEY SEE THROUGH THE SHEER STUPIDITY OF THAT TRAP!?
Rand was starting to become a bit repetitive for me and I honestly wish we'd gotten more scenes between him and Asmodean or even Moraine bc, to be real, there was a lot of potential between those two characters considering Asmodean is an evil guy now working for the "good" side and Rand just wants to exploit every single one of his human assets.
Speaking of exploiting ass, Rand and Aviendha did it. Was it any good development-wise? Nope. Aviendha is still the Tsundere we all know and love and she counted it as a 1-time thing. Okay... I wish she would stop talking about Rand belonging to Elayne tho bc tbh, Elayne is as flavourful as a cardboard box no matter how many summersaults and kullebyttor she performed throughout this book.
We didn't get into as much politics as I wish we had gotten either. Most of the politics were just mentioned in 1-off lines like "Carhienin people care about their throne" and "The Aiel are very loyal". Like, yeah yeah, we already know this, tell me something new.
The absolute best scene was, of course, the scene by the docks between Rand, Moraine and Lanfear. That whole escalation was amazing and I couldn't have asked for it to be any better. However, "killing off' such an important character with barely 1 remark on a funeral or even a minute of silence is an obvious joke. We all know Lanfear and Moraine survived. No bodies = no deaths. But otherwise, it was a pretty dope scene.
Siuan and Leane's story was also a bit slow and too half-assed. We're spending scenes between Logaine and fucking Siuan Sanche and we barely get a good interaction between these two. Absolutely pathetic. Siuan acted like a 17 y/o for most of her journey and although I'm fine with her looking young, I don't want the ex-Amyrlin to actually act as bratty as she did in this book.
All-in-all, there was too much filler in this book and you could've easily fit the first 600 pages into a 50-page intro. Also, Perrin was literally absent throughout FoH and I cried at the mention of the Two Rivers and the fact that "someone" is building a house right next to the Appletree. Jesus, I'm fragile like that, okay?
A lot of missed opportunities ending with a good scene or two. So sadly, this book ain't getting over a 3.1 from me.
Dang we really got a filler arc today, didn't we?
Let me summarise the important things that happened in the first 600 pages of this book;
A few scenes of Logain, Siuan, Leane and Min joining arms while Aviendha and Rand finally fucked. And yup, that's pretty much EVERYTHING we got from those first 600 pages. The final act happened to have some important factors to the plot, but all-in-all this book had more fillers in it than my great aunt!!!
I wasn't feeling this book at all. Robert could've easily cut out a lot of scenes and by "a lot of scenes" I mean 99% of Nynaeve and Elayne's storyline. Birgitte and Nynaeve's finale was the only important part of their POV so I wouldn't mind if we started off waaay later into their journey.
AND DON'T GET ME STARTED ON THAT FUCKING STUPID TRAP WITH THE AES SEDAI HEALER NYNAEVE AND ELAYNE GOT THEMSELVES INTO. Dear God I wanted to stomp on my book and spit on those pages. How could they literally be THAT stupid!? I might've excused their mishap if they didn't know that Aes Sedai could be "evil" BUT THEY WERE HUNTING THE BLACK AJAH FOR GOODNESS SAKE! HOW COULDN'T THEY SEE THROUGH THE SHEER STUPIDITY OF THAT TRAP!?
Rand was starting to become a bit repetitive for me and I honestly wish we'd gotten more scenes between him and Asmodean or even Moraine bc, to be real, there was a lot of potential between those two characters considering Asmodean is an evil guy now working for the "good" side and Rand just wants to exploit every single one of his human assets.
Speaking of exploiting ass, Rand and Aviendha did it. Was it any good development-wise? Nope. Aviendha is still the Tsundere we all know and love and she counted it as a 1-time thing. Okay... I wish she would stop talking about Rand belonging to Elayne tho bc tbh, Elayne is as flavourful as a cardboard box no matter how many summersaults and kullebyttor she performed throughout this book.
We didn't get into as much politics as I wish we had gotten either. Most of the politics were just mentioned in 1-off lines like "Carhienin people care about their throne" and "The Aiel are very loyal". Like, yeah yeah, we already know this, tell me something new.
The absolute best scene was, of course, the scene by the docks between Rand, Moraine and Lanfear. That whole escalation was amazing and I couldn't have asked for it to be any better. However, "killing off' such an important character with barely 1 remark on a funeral or even a minute of silence is an obvious joke. We all know Lanfear and Moraine survived. No bodies = no deaths. But otherwise, it was a pretty dope scene.
Siuan and Leane's story was also a bit slow and too half-assed. We're spending scenes between Logaine and fucking Siuan Sanche and we barely get a good interaction between these two. Absolutely pathetic. Siuan acted like a 17 y/o for most of her journey and although I'm fine with her looking young, I don't want the ex-Amyrlin to actually act as bratty as she did in this book.
All-in-all, there was too much filler in this book and you could've easily fit the first 600 pages into a 50-page intro. Also, Perrin was literally absent throughout FoH and I cried at the mention of the Two Rivers and the fact that "someone" is building a house right next to the Appletree. Jesus, I'm fragile like that, okay?
A lot of missed opportunities ending with a good scene or two. So sadly, this book ain't getting over a 3.1 from me.