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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
funny
inspiring
tense
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
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
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
I will always enjoy a read of the wheel of time books especially when narrated by Michael Kramer and Kate Reading
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
tense
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
emotional
mysterious
tense
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
4 stars. 8 out of 10.
I’m definitely entering what is referred to as the “slog” segment of the Wheel of Time (WOT). The pacing for most of this book was so slow and I found myself struggling to keep track of all of the different named Aes Sedai and Aiel. That being said, WOT is still gripping and rich in the slow parts; it just takes longer to read. The ending sequence really picks up the pace as well which made finishing the book a treat. I’m unenthusiastic about the anticlimactic death of one of the main villains, though. He has been built up for so many books and it feels like he goes down too easily or even by accident. 1 point off for that and another for spots of dreadful pacing.
I’m definitely entering what is referred to as the “slog” segment of the Wheel of Time (WOT). The pacing for most of this book was so slow and I found myself struggling to keep track of all of the different named Aes Sedai and Aiel. That being said, WOT is still gripping and rich in the slow parts; it just takes longer to read. The ending sequence really picks up the pace as well which made finishing the book a treat. I’m unenthusiastic about the anticlimactic death of one of the main villains, though. He has been built up for so many books and it feels like he goes down too easily or even by accident. 1 point off for that and another for spots of dreadful pacing.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
🫣🙃😵💫🤔🧘♀️
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
The general perception witht he Wheel of Time is that it gets terrible for a while, and I think I'm in that terrible section of the series.
The novel takes place over the course of about a week, but it feels like much longer. One of the biggest issues with this series is how it uses time. Every day that's recounted that moves action forward in one POV must be then recounted from a different POV. Literally the first 100 pages of this book just look at the last thirty pages of the previous book from several different POVs.
It's an astounding waste of the reader's time.
One of the other big problems is that there are simply too many POVs. While this book is nearly 900 pages, each character only gets about 20-100 pages of their narrative, and so the narrative seems to shuffle forward at an obscenely slow pace, since every minute of every day from every possible perspective must be accounted for.
It's why the minor problems become big problems. Like his characterization of women, or how certain characters seem to spend the entire book pulling their braid, rearranging their skirts, and putting their fists on their hips. Also, people have the most bizarre habit of stating their name and title dramatically, as if that, in and of itself, should be enough to persuade someone.
In the earlier books, this wasn't as noticeable because, you know, characters were doing other things. They were going on adventures, fighting monsters, or whatever else. Now, they seem to mostly just be talking awkwardly and as inhumanly as possible.
I also get the impression that Robert Jordan either truly hates women or just has never spoken to a women that didn't berate him for how he was dressed. It's shocking, really, how contentious every single woman in the series is. Again, this was less noticeable when things were happening, but now that the novels are spent with people arguing in rooms about inane things it becomes glaringly problematic. Not just in, like, a human way, but in a narrative way.
It actually confounds the work he's done in worldbuilding, since the whole world is sort of matriarchal. But we get the sense, more and more, that the natural state of men and women is for men to be in charge and women to fight them for that supremacy. If these societies were truly matriarchal, we'd see some sense that men don't feel entitled to power in every interaction they have. But instead men behave like patriarchal assholes and women argue with them about why they should have power. Which is really not interesting, since the worldbuilding leads us to believe that women would naturally take roles of power, considering how many countries are matrilineal and matriarchal.
There's also the issue with how women can be badasses, but only until they fall in love. Then all they care about is their cleavage and how its shown or not shown, and the material of their clothing. It's like women can be amazing generals and leaders, but once they fall in love, they become ten year old pageant contestants.
But, yeah. This one is dumb. It ends with a lot of interesting threads hanging, but it's still mostly dumb. I know this is the bad section of the series, but I think I'm nearly through it, so I may soldier on for another one. Maybe because I hate myself and want to suffer through terrible fantasy.
Edit:
Just remembered that this book includes a character getting raped, which was so strange because the series is pretty tame with regard to sex and violence. It didn't explicitly describe anything, but the extreme level of coercion and threat of violence that preceded the event made it almost worse. Or, what made it worse was that no one treated the rape seriously. The man who was raped by a woman was mostly mocked for it, and then the story just glides past the moment.
It's jsut strange.
The novel takes place over the course of about a week, but it feels like much longer. One of the biggest issues with this series is how it uses time. Every day that's recounted that moves action forward in one POV must be then recounted from a different POV. Literally the first 100 pages of this book just look at the last thirty pages of the previous book from several different POVs.
It's an astounding waste of the reader's time.
One of the other big problems is that there are simply too many POVs. While this book is nearly 900 pages, each character only gets about 20-100 pages of their narrative, and so the narrative seems to shuffle forward at an obscenely slow pace, since every minute of every day from every possible perspective must be accounted for.
It's why the minor problems become big problems. Like his characterization of women, or how certain characters seem to spend the entire book pulling their braid, rearranging their skirts, and putting their fists on their hips. Also, people have the most bizarre habit of stating their name and title dramatically, as if that, in and of itself, should be enough to persuade someone.
In the earlier books, this wasn't as noticeable because, you know, characters were doing other things. They were going on adventures, fighting monsters, or whatever else. Now, they seem to mostly just be talking awkwardly and as inhumanly as possible.
I also get the impression that Robert Jordan either truly hates women or just has never spoken to a women that didn't berate him for how he was dressed. It's shocking, really, how contentious every single woman in the series is. Again, this was less noticeable when things were happening, but now that the novels are spent with people arguing in rooms about inane things it becomes glaringly problematic. Not just in, like, a human way, but in a narrative way.
It actually confounds the work he's done in worldbuilding, since the whole world is sort of matriarchal. But we get the sense, more and more, that the natural state of men and women is for men to be in charge and women to fight them for that supremacy. If these societies were truly matriarchal, we'd see some sense that men don't feel entitled to power in every interaction they have. But instead men behave like patriarchal assholes and women argue with them about why they should have power. Which is really not interesting, since the worldbuilding leads us to believe that women would naturally take roles of power, considering how many countries are matrilineal and matriarchal.
There's also the issue with how women can be badasses, but only until they fall in love. Then all they care about is their cleavage and how its shown or not shown, and the material of their clothing. It's like women can be amazing generals and leaders, but once they fall in love, they become ten year old pageant contestants.
But, yeah. This one is dumb. It ends with a lot of interesting threads hanging, but it's still mostly dumb. I know this is the bad section of the series, but I think I'm nearly through it, so I may soldier on for another one. Maybe because I hate myself and want to suffer through terrible fantasy.
Edit:
Just remembered that this book includes a character getting raped, which was so strange because the series is pretty tame with regard to sex and violence. It didn't explicitly describe anything, but the extreme level of coercion and threat of violence that preceded the event made it almost worse. Or, what made it worse was that no one treated the rape seriously. The man who was raped by a woman was mostly mocked for it, and then the story just glides past the moment.
It's jsut strange.