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4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Really enjoyed rereading this instalment of the WoT. It was great to recap over plot points I could remember happening in this book but couldn’t quite remember at which point they happened.
Generally some great points that are close to being series highlights: Mat beginning to show his insane military capabilities, the capture of Moghedien, the beginning of the dynamic shift between Nyanaeve and Egwene, Rand and Aviendha starting their weird Aiel relationship… lots of great points.
However, the ending did feel a little rushed - the capture of Moghedien, deaths of Lanfear and Moiraine, capture of Cairhien, and death of Rahvin all seemed to happen very close to each other and very quickly. I would argue the pacing could have been better had the capture of Cairhien taken place at the roughly middle point rather than close to the last quarter as was actually the case.
Another issue I had (although I can understand why it happens) is the death of Asmodean. I really enjoyed the dynamic that had been built up between him and Rand and would have liked for it to continue for at least one more book. Instead he’s killed off at the very end just after we get a PoV thought from him about how he’s determined to clutch on to the grass of hope that Rand represents. What’s more his death and the circumstances around it are covered in max two sentences. To this day I still don’t know who killed Asmodean and I’m pretty sure it’s not actually made clear at any point.
Generally some great points that are close to being series highlights: Mat beginning to show his insane military capabilities, the capture of Moghedien, the beginning of the dynamic shift between Nyanaeve and Egwene, Rand and Aviendha starting their weird Aiel relationship… lots of great points.
However, the ending did feel a little rushed - the capture of Moghedien, deaths of Lanfear and Moiraine, capture of Cairhien, and death of Rahvin all seemed to happen very close to each other and very quickly. I would argue the pacing could have been better had the capture of Cairhien taken place at the roughly middle point rather than close to the last quarter as was actually the case.
Another issue I had (although I can understand why it happens) is the death of Asmodean. I really enjoyed the dynamic that had been built up between him and Rand and would have liked for it to continue for at least one more book. Instead he’s killed off at the very end just after we get a PoV thought from him about how he’s determined to clutch on to the grass of hope that Rand represents. What’s more his death and the circumstances around it are covered in max two sentences. To this day I still don’t know who killed Asmodean and I’m pretty sure it’s not actually made clear at any point.
Kept thinking this series would get better since the world and premise are interesting but I find most of the characters unlikable and very little interesting actually happens with way too many descriptions of unimportant things or rehashing things from previous books seem to be all that is occurring
It took me awhile to finish this. I don't know if it's because the pacing is starting to get languid or if it's my typical inability to stay interested in the same thing long term. I did start to get more excited about the story in the last third of the book, so I'm up for starting book 6 right away, but I'll admit I was skimming for most of this volume. =X
Score: 6.5/10
Prefacing this with while I did enjoy the major moments of this book, I feel structurally it is the weakest of the 5 so far.
The pacing is God awful, in particular the circus segment in the middle of the book. They just felt like complete filler chapters, where no plot progression happens at all. It doesnt help that this segment routinely features my least favourite character just constantly bitching that she isn't in charge (a grown ass woman by the way.)
This book also has to date the most inconsistent handling of the magic system, particularly with one charcter, although this might get cleared up later in the series, so it's a pending gripe for now.
Also was not a fan with how a certain antagonist was handled. I feel like the book built him up for the whole front section and then just kind of did nothing with it.
However the emotional climaxes of this book are extremely hard-hitting, one in particular, which I won't spoil but I'm pretty sure anyone who's read the book knows what I'm talking about. What I will say about Jordan is no matter how I feel about the pacing or most of the book in general he always lands the ending, at least so far, and I can really appreciate that. Those few epic moments are really what keeps this book score semi decent. Mat finally feels like his own character now though so that's great, his development is a highlight in this book for sure, and I can see why he's a fan favourite.
The ending definitely is going to have some major repercussions for the rest of the series and I'm looking forward to how he explores that.
But damn this book could have easily been 200 pages shorter, and from what I can see online this problem doesn't really get much better from here :'( but I'm five books deep at this point so gamblers fallacy dictates that I have to finish the series no matter what.
Prefacing this with while I did enjoy the major moments of this book, I feel structurally it is the weakest of the 5 so far.
The pacing is God awful, in particular the circus segment in the middle of the book. They just felt like complete filler chapters, where no plot progression happens at all. It doesnt help that this segment routinely features my least favourite character just constantly bitching that she isn't in charge (a grown ass woman by the way.)
This book also has to date the most inconsistent handling of the magic system, particularly with one charcter, although this might get cleared up later in the series, so it's a pending gripe for now.
Also was not a fan with how a certain antagonist was handled. I feel like the book built him up for the whole front section and then just kind of did nothing with it.
However the emotional climaxes of this book are extremely hard-hitting, one in particular, which I won't spoil but I'm pretty sure anyone who's read the book knows what I'm talking about. What I will say about Jordan is no matter how I feel about the pacing or most of the book in general he always lands the ending, at least so far, and I can really appreciate that. Those few epic moments are really what keeps this book score semi decent. Mat finally feels like his own character now though so that's great, his development is a highlight in this book for sure, and I can see why he's a fan favourite.
The ending definitely is going to have some major repercussions for the rest of the series and I'm looking forward to how he explores that.
But damn this book could have easily been 200 pages shorter, and from what I can see online this problem doesn't really get much better from here :'( but I'm five books deep at this point so gamblers fallacy dictates that I have to finish the series no matter what.
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The first 60% of this book felt like exposition, but that’s kind of par for the course for this series. These books always take a while to get through for a number of reasons, but I don’t like them any less for it. The writing and the story make up for it. I especially liked the exploration of Mat and Rand gradually merging with their past lives, and I liked that we got a few new POVs. I found it odd that Perrin wasn’t in this book, but I didn’t really feel that the story was lacking because of it. I did also feel a bit more sexism in this book than usual in that the women characters always seemed to be thinking about men, but we got more time and character development with them than in previous installments. I was also a little let down by the fact that we never really got to see Asmodean teach Rand anything; I ended the last book thinking that would be a much bigger part of this one.