Scan barcode
rikuson1's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I Really Liked It 😄
-★★★★☆- (4.00/5.00)
My Grading Score = 80% (B+)
The Shadow Rising I had a lot of hype going into this one because I had been told that this is either the best entry in the entire series or at least a top-tier one. And when I first started it, the first 15% or so I was really enjoying. I would go as far as to say that it's probably my favorite starting to any of the books so far. I was really engaged with the random turmoil that was going on with each of the male leads. Matt's cards attacking him, Perrin's Axe attacking him and Rand's reflection attacking him. It can be seen as the things that have been heavily connecting to each of the characters up to this point. I also really enjoyed the Rand vs. Lanfear fight, it's one of my new favorites. So, at this point, I was really feeling it and could get behind the hype that it was having. Then, the next part started up, and the pacing went into the super slow burn that I felt all of the books (except for the Great Hunt for me) entered.
Perrin's Portion
This portion felt like the Shire from The Lord of the Rings, but better to me, let me elaborate.
If there's one thing that I was constantly told about The Shadow Rising is that this is the entry that really different than the series it's heavily inspired from TLOTR, with most also saying it's really it's own away from it. And to that, I agree to a degree. I honestly think all of the books up to this point aren't clones of TLOTR, but simply, they have their fair share of homages to it. And I feel like the Shadow Rising is not an exception to that statement. This brings me to this comparison. Perrin going back to Emend's Field to me definitely felt like a homage to the Shire Arc in TLOTR, but instead of everyone going back, it's just Perrin. Now I have my issues with this portion because this is where the slowburn of this book begins as when we arrive here RJ spends a lot of time trying to remind us on basically every single member of Emend's Field and I just didn't care for most of that. Now, I did enjoy the back and fourth between Perrin and Faile. I was not sold on them being a couple in The Dragon Reborn since they butted heads, and then something happens to Faile at the end, and Perrin basically breaks down and loves her, then they are together. But I feel in this book their back and fourth—although annoying which was obviously intentional—, especially since we spend so much time doing it made them as a couple grow onto me and it helped with the slow burn of this portion setting up everything that ends up occurring eventually. I also think Perrin (like the Hobbits) showcased that he can be a leader to the people that needed it, I personally liked that execution of it here more than the Hobbits did in the Shire since there it honestly that arc felt tacked on at the end while here it did not, just another character development moment for Perrin for more to come. One irk I had was Loial and another character who's name I'm forgetting right now, going off to close the way-gates without Perrin and coming back successful happened off page and it felt like if they jumped between their POV and Perrin's would have made the setup to this portions conclusion a bit more engaging to me.
The Girls Portion
Min didn't get a lot of showcase in this entry, but the little we got of her, the fall of the White Tower and them taking Logain was interesting and engaging enough. Another character I felt didn't get too much this entry was Egwene as she went off with Rand and sort of took mostly a backseat learning more in the background same thing with Lan, Moraine and Elyane, they all had very small moments though.
Going back to Egwene, her and Rand's relationship seemingly coming to a close was a bit surprising to me seeing as though usually in these types of stories—especially classic fantasy—the childhood friend is usually the one to get to the main character by the end. So them seemingly mutually coming to the conclusion to not be together was different. And also Elyane wanting to be the rebound, I'm here for that since I like Elyane the most out of all of the young female characters, probably because she not bitchy or annoying as Nynaeve, Egwene and Faile can get (Min's alright too but she had here moments of bitchiness in previous books). Speaking of Nynaeve and Elyane, they go off to continue hunting down the Black Ajah, and similar to the Perrin portion, them arriving to Tanchico create a slow burn that I had to struggle through. Thom and Gawyn were there, and they somewhat helped with the slow burn, but not enough for me. The ending to this portion though was great with Nynaeve going up against a new Dark One, holding her and winning, it's probably my new favorite moment for her, even though the Dark One got away (because of course they did). There was another character that this book (or maybe the last one I can't remember) introduced and we followed her POV, her name was Egeanin since I didn't really know much about her, her chapters wasn't really something I was invested in since it was just her. Then she gets pulled into the POV with Nynaeve's crew, they have their little time together and then she gets exposed for being apart of the Seanchan, they have they hatred for her but by the end, end up settling in with her. I felt the amount of time they spent with her wasn't convincing enough for me to feel anything when she is somewhat accepted into their crew, so that fell kind of flat for me.
Rand's Portion
Rand, Matt, Moraine, Lan, and Egwene had a portion, and it also had its chunk of slow burn at the start as well. One detail that was a double-edged sword aspect in regards to this part came in the form of the location they were in. Being the location of the Aiel, RJ decided this is the moment in the series where he's going to absolutely lore dump you into oblivion on their location, culture, lore, and characters. Although this aspect significantly makes the lore and world-building that much stronger, this was done in a very slow, burned way. Which is understandable. There's a lot to unpack with them, but it doesn't mean I was super engaged when it occurred. I respect the ridiculous amount of effort put into it all but it was extremely overwhelming at first to consume it all regardless of how slow he took with his time to present it all on top of the large amount of Aiel character names that were introduced and tossed my way during this portion, I feel it reached a point of overkill and resulted in me resenting the consumption of it all to a degree which I've come to find out I'm not the only one who felt that way about this regardless to how interesting it all was. Rand going into that realm to his culture's history was interesting nonetheless even though it's presentation probably could have been easier to digest in it's revelation about his people's history and do like the role it played in the conclusion of this portion though so I guess it was worth it. Matt played a smaller role in this entry especially in comparison to how much time he had in The Dragon Reborn, he essentially tagged along with Rand and went into his own realm and basically got a power up which I guess is good for him since compared to Rand and Perrin it was definitely falling behind in terms of power, now having this new spear is cool. He did say the phrase "Burn me" a bit too much, though, that got a tad annoying. The Climax I'm glad was not a Ba'alzamon fight again, that was getting repetitive. Rand's final clash was with another Dark One that has been hiding amongst his company. That fight was entertaining enough and probably my favorite final clash fight of any of the books thus far. I also liked the way Lanfear orchestrated the whole thing to get that Dark One to be with Rand to teach him more. It was clever on her part, and I liked it.
Verdict
There was a LOT that happened in this book, which I think is the largest one thus far, so it makes sense. At first, I thought a lot of fat could have been cut to help the pacing, but with the amount that apparently needed to be covered, it's hard to debate certain parts weren't necessary. It probably could have been presented in a more shorter and concise way as RJ does have his long winded style of prose that make it drag more than it probably should have, that mixed in with how much needed to be covered I think why some people who don't see the hype in this book left feeling disappointed because I was definitely feeling that way myself for a large portion of the slow burn start up parts of each of the POVs which is a large amount of the middle of this book. Even with all of that being said though, the starting and the ending of this book to me are the strongest beginnings and endings of the books so far and sleeping on this book and letting everything process and digest in me, left me feeling like this to me didn't live up to every single bit of it's hype (at least not right now maybe with more time away, reading the other books and comparing it to this one and in hindsight will I think otherwise), but I do agree that—so far to me—this is the strongest entry thus far and I know when I look back on this book I will confidently be able to use the phrase...
I Really Liked It
-★★★★☆- (4.00/5.00)
My Grading Score = 80% (B+)
The Shadow Rising I had a lot of hype going into this one because I had been told that this is either the best entry in the entire series or at least a top-tier one. And when I first started it, the first 15% or so I was really enjoying. I would go as far as to say that it's probably my favorite starting to any of the books so far. I was really engaged with the random turmoil that was going on with each of the male leads. Matt's cards attacking him, Perrin's Axe attacking him and Rand's reflection attacking him. It can be seen as the things that have been heavily connecting to each of the characters up to this point. I also really enjoyed the Rand vs. Lanfear fight, it's one of my new favorites. So, at this point, I was really feeling it and could get behind the hype that it was having. Then, the next part started up, and the pacing went into the super slow burn that I felt all of the books (except for the Great Hunt for me) entered.
Perrin's Portion
This portion felt like the Shire from The Lord of the Rings, but better to me, let me elaborate.
If there's one thing that I was constantly told about The Shadow Rising is that this is the entry that really different than the series it's heavily inspired from TLOTR, with most also saying it's really it's own away from it. And to that, I agree to a degree. I honestly think all of the books up to this point aren't clones of TLOTR, but simply, they have their fair share of homages to it. And I feel like the Shadow Rising is not an exception to that statement. This brings me to this comparison. Perrin going back to Emend's Field to me definitely felt like a homage to the Shire Arc in TLOTR, but instead of everyone going back, it's just Perrin. Now I have my issues with this portion because this is where the slowburn of this book begins as when we arrive here RJ spends a lot of time trying to remind us on basically every single member of Emend's Field and I just didn't care for most of that. Now, I did enjoy the back and fourth between Perrin and Faile. I was not sold on them being a couple in The Dragon Reborn since they butted heads, and then something happens to Faile at the end, and Perrin basically breaks down and loves her, then they are together. But I feel in this book their back and fourth—although annoying which was obviously intentional—, especially since we spend so much time doing it made them as a couple grow onto me and it helped with the slow burn of this portion setting up everything that ends up occurring eventually. I also think Perrin (like the Hobbits) showcased that he can be a leader to the people that needed it, I personally liked that execution of it here more than the Hobbits did in the Shire since there it honestly that arc felt tacked on at the end while here it did not, just another character development moment for Perrin for more to come. One irk I had was Loial and another character who's name I'm forgetting right now, going off to close the way-gates without Perrin and coming back successful happened off page and it felt like if they jumped between their POV and Perrin's would have made the setup to this portions conclusion a bit more engaging to me.
The Girls Portion
Min didn't get a lot of showcase in this entry, but the little we got of her, the fall of the White Tower and them taking Logain was interesting and engaging enough. Another character I felt didn't get too much this entry was Egwene as she went off with Rand and sort of took mostly a backseat learning more in the background same thing with Lan, Moraine and Elyane, they all had very small moments though.
Going back to Egwene, her and Rand's relationship seemingly coming to a close was a bit surprising to me seeing as though usually in these types of stories—especially classic fantasy—the childhood friend is usually the one to get to the main character by the end. So them seemingly mutually coming to the conclusion to not be together was different. And also Elyane wanting to be the rebound, I'm here for that since I like Elyane the most out of all of the young female characters, probably because she not bitchy or annoying as Nynaeve, Egwene and Faile can get (Min's alright too but she had here moments of bitchiness in previous books). Speaking of Nynaeve and Elyane, they go off to continue hunting down the Black Ajah, and similar to the Perrin portion, them arriving to Tanchico create a slow burn that I had to struggle through. Thom and Gawyn were there, and they somewhat helped with the slow burn, but not enough for me. The ending to this portion though was great with Nynaeve going up against a new Dark One, holding her and winning, it's probably my new favorite moment for her, even though the Dark One got away (because of course they did). There was another character that this book (or maybe the last one I can't remember) introduced and we followed her POV, her name was Egeanin since I didn't really know much about her, her chapters wasn't really something I was invested in since it was just her. Then she gets pulled into the POV with Nynaeve's crew, they have their little time together and then she gets exposed for being apart of the Seanchan, they have they hatred for her but by the end, end up settling in with her. I felt the amount of time they spent with her wasn't convincing enough for me to feel anything when she is somewhat accepted into their crew, so that fell kind of flat for me.
Rand's Portion
Rand, Matt, Moraine, Lan, and Egwene had a portion, and it also had its chunk of slow burn at the start as well. One detail that was a double-edged sword aspect in regards to this part came in the form of the location they were in. Being the location of the Aiel, RJ decided this is the moment in the series where he's going to absolutely lore dump you into oblivion on their location, culture, lore, and characters. Although this aspect significantly makes the lore and world-building that much stronger, this was done in a very slow, burned way. Which is understandable. There's a lot to unpack with them, but it doesn't mean I was super engaged when it occurred. I respect the ridiculous amount of effort put into it all but it was extremely overwhelming at first to consume it all regardless of how slow he took with his time to present it all on top of the large amount of Aiel character names that were introduced and tossed my way during this portion, I feel it reached a point of overkill and resulted in me resenting the consumption of it all to a degree which I've come to find out I'm not the only one who felt that way about this regardless to how interesting it all was. Rand going into that realm to his culture's history was interesting nonetheless even though it's presentation probably could have been easier to digest in it's revelation about his people's history and do like the role it played in the conclusion of this portion though so I guess it was worth it. Matt played a smaller role in this entry especially in comparison to how much time he had in The Dragon Reborn, he essentially tagged along with Rand and went into his own realm and basically got a power up which I guess is good for him since compared to Rand and Perrin it was definitely falling behind in terms of power, now having this new spear is cool. He did say the phrase "Burn me" a bit too much, though, that got a tad annoying. The Climax I'm glad was not a Ba'alzamon fight again, that was getting repetitive. Rand's final clash was with another Dark One that has been hiding amongst his company. That fight was entertaining enough and probably my favorite final clash fight of any of the books thus far. I also liked the way Lanfear orchestrated the whole thing to get that Dark One to be with Rand to teach him more. It was clever on her part, and I liked it.
Verdict
There was a LOT that happened in this book, which I think is the largest one thus far, so it makes sense. At first, I thought a lot of fat could have been cut to help the pacing, but with the amount that apparently needed to be covered, it's hard to debate certain parts weren't necessary. It probably could have been presented in a more shorter and concise way as RJ does have his long winded style of prose that make it drag more than it probably should have, that mixed in with how much needed to be covered I think why some people who don't see the hype in this book left feeling disappointed because I was definitely feeling that way myself for a large portion of the slow burn start up parts of each of the POVs which is a large amount of the middle of this book. Even with all of that being said though, the starting and the ending of this book to me are the strongest beginnings and endings of the books so far and sleeping on this book and letting everything process and digest in me, left me feeling like this to me didn't live up to every single bit of it's hype (at least not right now maybe with more time away, reading the other books and comparing it to this one and in hindsight will I think otherwise), but I do agree that—so far to me—this is the strongest entry thus far and I know when I look back on this book I will confidently be able to use the phrase...
I Really Liked It
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Toxic relationship, War, and Xenophobia
Minor: Death of parent, Bullying, Racism, Hate crime, and Sexism
More...