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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
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.
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
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
slow-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
There were maybe three points of the book that really captured my attention, one of which is the final 50 pages, which isn’t the highest praise considering how much is covered in this installment. The rest isn’t bad or anything, I just felt myself wanting more from what I’ve come to care about in this fiction. That being said it gets low-hanging-fruit-points because I am invested in the characters and there are moments for each of them that are notable milestones. Base on some of what was teased in this novel, I am hopeful for some of the elements of what I imagine the next one to cover.
adventurous
dark
funny
informative
sad
tense
slow-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:
Complicated
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
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:
No
Felt like a frustrating entry, you could cut the first 2/3 of the entire book and be left with the same outcome in terms of character and plot development.
I enjoyed Mat and Nynaeves development though which recovers this a lot.
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
slow-paced
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
adventurous
emotional
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:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Better than I thought it would be. I don't know how people consider this part of the slog. Might be my favorite book so far, since The Great Hunt.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts