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rorikae's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A slower installment in the Wheel of Time series with an explosive ending. This book has less battles and character movement than the previous installments though we do get some quality time with a number of the characters. This is the first installment where one of our main characters is completely absent, which felt strange but made sense given the context of the wider story. Despite a relatively slow plot for a majority of the book, the ending includes some big moments, including some heartbreaking ones. I am interested to see how this ripples out into the wider plot. I hope that the next book has a bit more going on though I know there are a few books where not a ton happens. The characters are what continue to keep my interest.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Violence, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Murder, Grief, and Death
Minor: Sexual content
rikuson1's review against another edition
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
It Was Okay ๐ซค
-โ โ โฎโโ - (2.50/5.00)
My Grading Score = 50% (D+)
I am just going to have to accept and come to the conclusion that when it comes to this series, I need to stay as honest about my thoughts as I possibly can. Maybe in hindsight, I'll like The Fires of Heaven more, but as of right now, I can not say that I did that much.
The Fires of Heaven felt like it tried to have a similar pacing as The Great Hunt where it tries to be sporadic but the issue is that when it came to The Great Hunt it had fewer moments that were unengaging to me than The Fires of Heaven.
The story starts off focusing heavily on the POV that takes up more of this book than it probably should have, and it is with Siuan Sanche on the run. The start of this book was very odd and did not fully pull me into it, starting with such a character and crew.
The next POV consisted of Elayane and Nynaeve encountering the circus/menagerie and the character Valan Luca. When it transitioned to this portion, it started to lose me even more, especially since it overstayed its welcome. Speaking of Nynaeve, I feel like her character in this book is the most infuriating and annoying she has ever been. Throughout this book, she was non-stop nagging and whining about everything under the sun to literally everyone. Additionally, when it came to the inner monologue and overall dialogue for basically every female character in this book, at some point, it was riddled to the rim with overwhelming misandry. The books leading up to this one had their fair share of this, but this one did reach a point where it did get a bit too annoying and started to sully my experience, especially like I said, it's coming from basically every single female. I understand that this is the world that they live in, and it's probably normal to take down about men, but that doesn't change the fact that it was just not enjoyable to any degree.
Another portion of the Elayane and Nynaeve portion consisted of them going in and out of the dreamworld to contact Egwene, Siuan Sanche and meeting with Birgitte who is there and assists them in spying on the Forsaken who are discussing about how they should leave Rand alone, which did not make that much sense to me. Especially since continuously throughout this book, it is stated that thirteen ajah can overpower any man, including the dragon reborn (if I'm not mistaken). You would assume the best thing to do is for all of them to ambush him at once, but instead, they conclude that the one who would be in charge of observing Rand and going after him, alone, is Lanfear, the person who was in love with Rand's previous reincarnation, that did not seem like a good idea to have her do that alone, conflict of interests should have raised questions in that decisions and it started to raise my suspicions that the Forsaken overall are not that competent of villains. When they found out this information Nynaeve and Birgitte are ambushed by Moghedien, this is a villain who was easily defeated in the last book by Nynaeve and at the start of this book RJ tries to redeem how much of a threat she is by having her torture Liandrin, which somewhat worked and it almost did here as well during the ambush. But with her failing to capture them and Birgitte shooting her and them getting away, it just felt like it undermined how competent and powerful she's supposed to be. Additionally, on top of the fact that the next time they encounter her, she is once again easily subdued because Nynaeve imagines a linking chain around her neck. It felt anti-climatic once again for a build-up to an enemy the book spent so much time hyping up.
The Rand POV was the best of the three. We simply are picking up where The Shadow Rising left. And probably my favorite part in the book comes in the fashion with the explanation of Bale-Fire. I thought how it was executed and explained was very impressive and creative. Then it transitions to the story focusing on Rand deciding that their next move is to chase down Couladin, who took the Shaido Aiel west to raid towns along the Spine of the World and attempt to take Cairhien. This issue I had with everything leading up to the Couladin conflict is that, firstly, it was very, very slow-paced, building up to Couladin himself. And then, when it's finally time to give us the reader some sort of payoff to the Couladin conflict, he gets off-paged killed by Matt. At first, I thought I genuinely dozed off while reading and completely missed the fight, which would have been bad if I had been so bored that I completely missed such an important encounter. But when I doubled back to realize I did not miss anything, it was skipped over and we were just told that Matt killed him, severely disappointed me as someone who was looking forward to his end, and I felt cheated out of a fight that I felt was built up to for a nice chunk of this book.
The other part of the Rand portion that was heavily focused on was the romance between him and Aviendha. I heard that Robert Jordan was not that good at romance, and up to this point, I didn't fully agree or care to debate against that point. For how sloppy Perrin and Faile's relationship started in The Dragon Reborn I was sold on it by the end of The Shadow Rising and she was quite annoying there too, so I was going into this dynamic with the same expectation. I am still trying to wrap my head around the irrational decision of creating a way gate to a location far off in the freezing cold and running through it naked to get away from Rand. I understand that she wanted to get away from him as far as possible but this was just a bit too unreasonable, even for me, to take seriously even from an irrational standpoint, she basically said with her actions that she was ready to kill herself if it meant she could get away from him in that moment. And if that was her mindset then I do not understand how one could go from such a mindset in one moment to having sex with him, to me it just felt way too forced and I was not convinced. At least I wasn't bored, I just thought such a scene could have been handled better.
Another POV we got around the first half of the book that dealt with Morgase and her relationship with Gabriel. These weren't bad or too boring. They were engaging enough but were mainly and simply here to set up Rahvin as a main conflict for the climax of this book.
At the end of the Rand POV, a spy tells Lanfear that Rand had been with another woman, and she flips out to go to him and causes a rampage. This, to me, showcases that Lanfear knows where Rand is located essentially at most, if not all, times. Once again, if she was going to ambush him, you would assume that she'd tell literally any of the other Forsaken to come with her it on this mission for better success. One could say she was too much in rage to think about such a thing and ran off, but once again this just brings the Forsakens' level of competence in question, especially since up to this point Lanfear I felt was one of the main Forsaken that felt like they always moved in a way that had a lot of thought put into every detail, her fall from grace over such a thing I understand to some degree and plus she is very powerful and probably was under the impression that she's stronger than anyone that could get in her way but still once again you'd assume she would have a back up plan in some fashion given by how much planning and scheming she's done up to this point. I don't know. Once again, it just did not sit well with me on this action from her. Her and Moraine clash and end up killing each other, which was another conflict I'm not sure how to feel about since it happened so quickly. This once again just brings up one of my gripes with RJ, I just feel like he spends too much time detailing out so many other things but when it comes to fight scenes and the written choreography that could be done it leaves so much to be desired and it makes basically fight and climatic conflict just not feel rewarding to me.
In the last portion of the Rand POV, he is made aware that Rahvin has killed Morgase in Caemlyn. He, basically like Lanfear, gets enraged and heads down to Caemlyn to kill Rahvin. He gets there and falls into a lighting trap that kills Matt, Aviendha, and another person I can't remember right now ( it doesn't matter tbh). And Rand rushes into the palace to fight Rahvin. Ravhin creates a way-gate and runs away inside of it, and Rand follows him. This brings up another issue I have with basically most of these Forsaken climax fights. They are suppose to be these all powerful enemies but most of these end book fights consist of them running away while Rand chases them down and defeats them, riddled with abstractive action scenes that are extremely difficult to imagine fully. We come to the conclusion that the way-gate Rahvin made was one to the dreamworld, and it is not explained why Rahvin does this. The plot reason is to connect Rand's POV with Nyneave's who shows up there to distract Rahvin giving Rand enough time to shoot him with balefire, which causes his actions to be erased, thus brining back Matt and Aviendha. At the start of the book, when the balefire was executed and explained, I thought it was (and still is) very creative, bad ass and powerful. The potential for creative ways this could possibly be used in a fight I felt is only limited by how RJ writes it. And here I did not feel like the execution of such a creative element was utilized in an impressive or creative way.
Lastly, the book ends with a mysterious person meeting Asmodean and killing him.
Verdict
If you manage to read everything I wrote above, you can see the many issues I personally had with this book entry. On paper, a lot happened, and debatably, some of the coolest events in the series thus far occurred. I can understand how someone could come out of The Fires of Heaven, absolutely loving it despite its flaws. But for me, the execution of so many of these moments that should have been cool for me fell from the Fires of Heaven down to the Pools in Hell. I do not think overall that this is a bad book or even the weakest entry for me thus far, that still goes to The Dragon Reborn. But it was not that good to me,
It Was Okay
-โ โ โฎโโ - (2.50/5.00)
My Grading Score = 50% (D+)
I am just going to have to accept and come to the conclusion that when it comes to this series, I need to stay as honest about my thoughts as I possibly can. Maybe in hindsight, I'll like The Fires of Heaven more, but as of right now, I can not say that I did that much.
The Fires of Heaven felt like it tried to have a similar pacing as The Great Hunt where it tries to be sporadic but the issue is that when it came to The Great Hunt it had fewer moments that were unengaging to me than The Fires of Heaven.
The story starts off focusing heavily on the POV that takes up more of this book than it probably should have, and it is with Siuan Sanche on the run. The start of this book was very odd and did not fully pull me into it, starting with such a character and crew.
The next POV consisted of Elayane and Nynaeve encountering the circus/menagerie and the character Valan Luca. When it transitioned to this portion, it started to lose me even more, especially since it overstayed its welcome. Speaking of Nynaeve, I feel like her character in this book is the most infuriating and annoying she has ever been. Throughout this book, she was non-stop nagging and whining about everything under the sun to literally everyone. Additionally, when it came to the inner monologue and overall dialogue for basically every female character in this book, at some point, it was riddled to the rim with overwhelming misandry. The books leading up to this one had their fair share of this, but this one did reach a point where it did get a bit too annoying and started to sully my experience, especially like I said, it's coming from basically every single female. I understand that this is the world that they live in, and it's probably normal to take down about men, but that doesn't change the fact that it was just not enjoyable to any degree.
Another portion of the Elayane and Nynaeve portion consisted of them going in and out of the dreamworld to contact Egwene, Siuan Sanche and meeting with Birgitte who is there and assists them in spying on the Forsaken who are discussing about how they should leave Rand alone, which did not make that much sense to me. Especially since continuously throughout this book, it is stated that thirteen ajah can overpower any man, including the dragon reborn (if I'm not mistaken). You would assume the best thing to do is for all of them to ambush him at once, but instead, they conclude that the one who would be in charge of observing Rand and going after him, alone, is Lanfear, the person who was in love with Rand's previous reincarnation, that did not seem like a good idea to have her do that alone, conflict of interests should have raised questions in that decisions and it started to raise my suspicions that the Forsaken overall are not that competent of villains. When they found out this information Nynaeve and Birgitte are ambushed by Moghedien, this is a villain who was easily defeated in the last book by Nynaeve and at the start of this book RJ tries to redeem how much of a threat she is by having her torture Liandrin, which somewhat worked and it almost did here as well during the ambush. But with her failing to capture them and Birgitte shooting her and them getting away, it just felt like it undermined how competent and powerful she's supposed to be. Additionally, on top of the fact that the next time they encounter her, she is once again easily subdued because Nynaeve imagines a linking chain around her neck. It felt anti-climatic once again for a build-up to an enemy the book spent so much time hyping up.
The Rand POV was the best of the three. We simply are picking up where The Shadow Rising left. And probably my favorite part in the book comes in the fashion with the explanation of Bale-Fire. I thought how it was executed and explained was very impressive and creative. Then it transitions to the story focusing on Rand deciding that their next move is to chase down Couladin, who took the Shaido Aiel west to raid towns along the Spine of the World and attempt to take Cairhien. This issue I had with everything leading up to the Couladin conflict is that, firstly, it was very, very slow-paced, building up to Couladin himself. And then, when it's finally time to give us the reader some sort of payoff to the Couladin conflict, he gets off-paged killed by Matt. At first, I thought I genuinely dozed off while reading and completely missed the fight, which would have been bad if I had been so bored that I completely missed such an important encounter. But when I doubled back to realize I did not miss anything, it was skipped over and we were just told that Matt killed him, severely disappointed me as someone who was looking forward to his end, and I felt cheated out of a fight that I felt was built up to for a nice chunk of this book.
The other part of the Rand portion that was heavily focused on was the romance between him and Aviendha. I heard that Robert Jordan was not that good at romance, and up to this point, I didn't fully agree or care to debate against that point. For how sloppy Perrin and Faile's relationship started in The Dragon Reborn I was sold on it by the end of The Shadow Rising and she was quite annoying there too, so I was going into this dynamic with the same expectation. I am still trying to wrap my head around the irrational decision of creating a way gate to a location far off in the freezing cold and running through it naked to get away from Rand. I understand that she wanted to get away from him as far as possible but this was just a bit too unreasonable, even for me, to take seriously even from an irrational standpoint, she basically said with her actions that she was ready to kill herself if it meant she could get away from him in that moment. And if that was her mindset then I do not understand how one could go from such a mindset in one moment to having sex with him, to me it just felt way too forced and I was not convinced. At least I wasn't bored, I just thought such a scene could have been handled better.
Another POV we got around the first half of the book that dealt with Morgase and her relationship with Gabriel. These weren't bad or too boring. They were engaging enough but were mainly and simply here to set up Rahvin as a main conflict for the climax of this book.
At the end of the Rand POV, a spy tells Lanfear that Rand had been with another woman, and she flips out to go to him and causes a rampage. This, to me, showcases that Lanfear knows where Rand is located essentially at most, if not all, times. Once again, if she was going to ambush him, you would assume that she'd tell literally any of the other Forsaken to come with her it on this mission for better success. One could say she was too much in rage to think about such a thing and ran off, but once again this just brings the Forsakens' level of competence in question, especially since up to this point Lanfear I felt was one of the main Forsaken that felt like they always moved in a way that had a lot of thought put into every detail, her fall from grace over such a thing I understand to some degree and plus she is very powerful and probably was under the impression that she's stronger than anyone that could get in her way but still once again you'd assume she would have a back up plan in some fashion given by how much planning and scheming she's done up to this point. I don't know. Once again, it just did not sit well with me on this action from her. Her and Moraine clash and end up killing each other, which was another conflict I'm not sure how to feel about since it happened so quickly. This once again just brings up one of my gripes with RJ, I just feel like he spends too much time detailing out so many other things but when it comes to fight scenes and the written choreography that could be done it leaves so much to be desired and it makes basically fight and climatic conflict just not feel rewarding to me.
In the last portion of the Rand POV, he is made aware that Rahvin has killed Morgase in Caemlyn. He, basically like Lanfear, gets enraged and heads down to Caemlyn to kill Rahvin. He gets there and falls into a lighting trap that kills Matt, Aviendha, and another person I can't remember right now ( it doesn't matter tbh). And Rand rushes into the palace to fight Rahvin. Ravhin creates a way-gate and runs away inside of it, and Rand follows him. This brings up another issue I have with basically most of these Forsaken climax fights. They are suppose to be these all powerful enemies but most of these end book fights consist of them running away while Rand chases them down and defeats them, riddled with abstractive action scenes that are extremely difficult to imagine fully. We come to the conclusion that the way-gate Rahvin made was one to the dreamworld, and it is not explained why Rahvin does this. The plot reason is to connect Rand's POV with Nyneave's who shows up there to distract Rahvin giving Rand enough time to shoot him with balefire, which causes his actions to be erased, thus brining back Matt and Aviendha. At the start of the book, when the balefire was executed and explained, I thought it was (and still is) very creative, bad ass and powerful. The potential for creative ways this could possibly be used in a fight I felt is only limited by how RJ writes it. And here I did not feel like the execution of such a creative element was utilized in an impressive or creative way.
Lastly, the book ends with a mysterious person meeting Asmodean and killing him.
Verdict
If you manage to read everything I wrote above, you can see the many issues I personally had with this book entry. On paper, a lot happened, and debatably, some of the coolest events in the series thus far occurred. I can understand how someone could come out of The Fires of Heaven, absolutely loving it despite its flaws. But for me, the execution of so many of these moments that should have been cool for me fell from the Fires of Heaven down to the Pools in Hell. I do not think overall that this is a bad book or even the weakest entry for me thus far, that still goes to The Dragon Reborn. But it was not that good to me,
It Was Okay
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexism, Bullying, Grief, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Misogyny, and Toxic friendship
rexpostfacto's review
4.75
Fires of Heaven, alternatively titled: wow men are so dumb for real
Also AVIENDHA ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐
Also AVIENDHA ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐
Content Warnings
Moderate: Xenophobia, Violence, and War
Minor: Sexual content
david_vercauteren's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: War and Death
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Toxic friendship
Minor: Torture, Sexual content, and Blood
josiah17's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
First of all, the lack of Perrin for the entirety of the novel brings the rating down. Perrin's my favorite character by far, so I was disappointed he was completely left out, although it does make sense with the context of the story.
Anyways, this is still a very good entry for the Wheel of Time. So far, Jordan's strengths are definitely worldbuilding and plotting. This book is a great example of those strengths. I don't particularly connect to his characters on a super emotional level right now, which is a little frustrating because I consider myself a character-first reader, but the elements in the story and the world Jordan is building is really quite spectacular.
And I can only imagine the characters continue to get better, which is the case with Mat, Aviendha, Rand, and Nynaeve in this book. ESPECIALLY Mat. I couldn't stand him in Eye of The World, and now he's becoming a favorite. Great arc so far.
The Shadow Rising is still my favorite entry so far, but this one is surprisingly a very close second considering my favorite character is completely absent.
Edit 8/7/23: Bumping down to 4.25
Anyways, this is still a very good entry for the Wheel of Time. So far, Jordan's strengths are definitely worldbuilding and plotting. This book is a great example of those strengths. I don't particularly connect to his characters on a super emotional level right now, which is a little frustrating because I consider myself a character-first reader, but the elements in the story and the world Jordan is building is really quite spectacular.
And I can only imagine the characters continue to get better, which is the case with Mat, Aviendha, Rand, and Nynaeve in this book. ESPECIALLY Mat. I couldn't stand him in Eye of The World, and now he's becoming a favorite. Great arc so far.
The Shadow Rising is still my favorite entry so far, but this one is surprisingly a very close second considering my favorite character is completely absent.
Edit 8/7/23: Bumping down to 4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Sexual content
surdiablo's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? Yes
4.0
The first half of this book is slow in the sense that nothing substantial happens and it's mainly character development for Nynaeve and Elayne. While I wasn't bored at all reading it and it was easy enough to go through, it had some <b>huh?</b> moments, like Elayne and Thom flirting, what??? Lack of Perrin wasn't noticeable at all and I love how Rand becomes more and more badass in each book. I am starting to be fond of Nynaeve, annoyed further by Egwene and Mat is hilarious just like in Shadow Rising. I don't think I loved this book, but the last five chapters had me going through the most impactful rollercoaster in the series for me so far, besides the 'What might be' chapter in Great Hunt.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Slavery and Violence
Minor: Sexual content
foxwish's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Death, Sexism, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Sexual content and Alcohol
thesinginglights's review against another edition
slow-paced
4.0
GOTTA READ THE WHEEL OF TIME, BABY.
So, er, this was a Wheel of Time book. Like, I should know what I'm getting myself into: interesting world, magic, and characters with dogshit pacing and explosive final act. Look, I am going to stick my neck out and say that I like, nay, love the Wheel of Time (baby), but with every passing volume, its flaws are apparent. I think that is what to love is, to accept flaws and qualities in equal stead, not just blanket acceptance or ignorance of the latter. Overall, the Wheel of Time is a case of the whole being better than the parts: set-pieces with huge scope and frustrating character interactions.
Jordan also seems cognisant of the chapter structure issues of last book and alternated perspectives more frequently, rather than 150 pages of one character. The scope of this volume feels large, and I am seeing the development of the world wonderfully.
Even with the shoddy pacing, the story progression we do get is legitimately solid, with special focus on Rand and Nynaeve, the latter I've found difficult to identify with until recently. This book, however, developed her character a lot in interesting ways. Nynaeve is a compassionate but ultimately not very self-aware person, who always leaps before she looks. It gets her in a lot of trouble and her life now in danger as she's running, has made her evaluate herself and her actions, as well as what she wants from her life.
We get a lot of development of Aviendha & Rand's relationship, too, to the benefit of the story. Rand for me is one of the most interesting and most heart-breaking characterisations of the series. With each growing threat, the pressure for him to succeed mounts. This man, scant a year out of his farmboy life has seen cities, Trollocs, and other darkspawn, as well as learning he is a man who can use magic, which is a death sentence in this world, essentially; he is certain to go mad. Not only that, his newfound allies in the Aiel are still divided, with other nations of the world going into war. He can't trust the people closest to him, including his closest friends, and he is constantly in new and unfamiliar territory. Oh, and let's not forget the Forsaken and the fact that another consciousness is fighting him for supremacy. All these, though, are the precursor to the greatest battle of all, the Last Battle, where he must face the Dark Lord of All Dark Lords. And the only one who can help teach him about his powers is one of his former enemies. It's a lot. To be honest, I don't blame Rand for developing the Void which is basically him stuffing his doubt, insecurity, and sense of incompetence into a box and hardening his heart. It's a common thing for men to do when they don't feel like they fears would be listened to: compartmentalise until they are emotionless; keep pushing and step into responsibility, even at great cost to one's mental health. A lot of readers and characters are frustrated by Rand but everyone wants something from him without properly checking in on the man himself. No-one asks him how he is: they just belittle or distance themselves. The closest he gets is the Aiel and the Maidens of the Spear, who do baby him more than not, but look out of him, urging him to sleep and eat, etc.
So while I'm not saying the Void is a good coping mechanism, (as his outbursts of anger inevitably spill outโagain, common for men to do. I will put my hand up to say this when I've felt the pressure and not felt I would be listened to. It's not good, but it's a thing. Honestly, that's probably why it resonated a lot), he gets scant opportunity to be vulnerable without great cost. Without delving into spoilers, there is a scene towards the end of the book that was really touching. Worried for his loved ones, he embraces them, overjoyed they're okay. It's a fantastic scene and is one of the major strengths of this volume.
I really think Jordan is conveying the effects of war on people well. These characters are being forced to face their new realities with fresh eyes and it's well-drawn and very uncomfortable. This is something Jordan would have known and seen, having fought in a war himself.
All this being said, it's too damn long. Despite me appreciating real character growth, this has some many superfluous scenes and plot points. Valan Luca's circus caravan should have been a shorter arc. It just resulted in the tiresome bickering and catty girl fights and low-cut dresses of the series of yore. And while I like the group make-up, Elayne, Thom, and Juilin get very little to do this volume. Just weird sexism ("Men can't be trusted!"; "Women are so silly") over and over! It's exhausting. We do get some great stuff with the Whitecloaks and one of my personal faves: Uno. And Nynaeve's end of arc is solid. She could have been in her destination by the midpoint of this book.
And how could I not mention best boy Mat? He's one of the MVPs of this book. But he, Rand, Nynaeve, and Moiraine need special mention.
Anyway, this book has a lot of expanded scope and it really feels like this grand tale: lots of factions and problems to manage. Avast! Spoilers ahead:
The Many Wives of Rand al'Thor
I'm not against a polyamory plot. In the Aiel culture, polyamory is a thing and an interesting facet, at that, though usually centred around men having multiple partners. The thing that I have issue with is that not all of Rand's respective love interests have a developed enough sense. Rand's harem is so weird. Rand and Min, and Rand and Elayne are two relationships he's not had much chance to foster. You could drop Min but have the distance with Elayne be a complicating factor for his life. And it is. Because enter Aviendha, the most fleshed out of any of his love interests, but is representative of his new world. It's clear from Book 4 that she had some feelings for him and resenting being assigned to him. But as the two spend time together, they realise they have a strong attraction. They have good chemistry, especially after they have sex. A lot of their tension was sexual and there was conflicting emotions going on: as they realised their attraction to each other but there is Elayne between them to contend with. Rand is promised to Elayne and Aviendha doesn't want to get between them, and Rand is conflicted about being attracted to women in tandem with Elayne.
After Rand defeats Rahvin and sees Aveindha alive after balefire, he embraces and lifts her. It's a real intimate moment. Normally never stumped for words, she doesn't know what to do. It's one of my favourite scenes. No pretence there, just care and concern. They have the best relationship.
To reiterate: not all the relationships have equal standing in this love square? Pentagon, if you include Lanfear. *sighs*
Mat
Mat is best boy and love. Again, to the point of Rand's hardening, the scene where Mat decides to leave, realising he doesn't want to live the life of war, Rand shakes his hand and thanks him. We don't see this from his perspective but Rand would want to embrace him, one of the last people he can trust. Mat has been carrying the team with his new knowledge of war he got from the doorway. His begrudging return to battle and subsequent victory over Couladin is great. I don't like how Rand is using him as well, but it's how it goes.
The fact that Melindhra is a Darkfriend is a bad twist. Not because it's a "evil pa~artner" plot, but because it's also a little too subtle. There are details of this scattered in the book but could have done with some forewarning. Melindhra being a Darkfriend cheapens are legitimately good relationship. They have a strong connection and complementary energy. I don't know, I feel a little cheated.
Moiraine
Has gone through some subtle changes. In hindsight, her composure here as opposed to last book where she is almost at the point of fits of rage, makes sense: she saw her death. Also her actions make a lot of sense. Her begging Rand to listen to her, teaching him as much as she knew ... it's because she knew she had to sacrifice herself to protect everyone from Lanfear. It's a great scene and heart-breaking. Moiraine has been one of my favourite characters here and proves ultimately her selflessness and willingness to fight for the greater good, what she's said all along but failed many times to express. Beyond that, her letter to Rand is great. Less of that characteristic cool distance, but pure faith. She even praises him for his application of her lessons at one point, smiling at him. It's unusual to see and on reflection makes a lot of sense. It's great. Moiraine is great.
And I don't think for a second that she is gone for good. We'll be seeing her again, before long.
The Trials of Nynaeve and Valan Luca
I didn't like most of Nynaeve's story as it focused too much on how much bosom was showing or her fighting with literally any woman. I understand it's actually done so that later a mirror is held up to her and she reflects a little, trying to move past her combativeness as she thinks her actions led to Birgitte being taken out of the Wheel's reincarnation and into the real world. She shows her strengths this book and her willingness to protect people. Nynaeve before has lacked in self-awareness a lot but seems to be developing that more now. She is slowly becoming one of my favourite characters.
Elayne really has nothing to do this book and she is just not that fleshed out a character, in my opinion. Not much to say about her.
The Decaying of Egwene
I get the desire to one-up Nynaeve, but Egwene has been incredibly selfish and cruel this book. She's hard to read because she bends readily. She is under a lot of pressure to perform her duties, especially with her deception to the Wise Ones, making them think she is a full Aes Sedai. She does get some great scenes with Aviendha as their relationship develops, as well as Moiraine, who seems to trust her more. Her treatment of Rand and Nynaeve bothers me though, problems the story is honouring, when they could just be discussed like adults. She could connect with the three about their mounting pressure but chooses to distance herself from them. Especially Rand. She is so callous to him, not realising why he's so guarded. He doesn't treat her much better but he's reacting. It's a big problem of the series, but alas. I hope she improves as she and Nynaeve have flipped in my preferred characters.
I'll leave it there. Clearly there is a lot to unpack. I enjoy this series a lot, but it has some things that frustrate me.
So, er, this was a Wheel of Time book. Like, I should know what I'm getting myself into: interesting world, magic, and characters with dogshit pacing and explosive final act. Look, I am going to stick my neck out and say that I like, nay, love the Wheel of Time (baby), but with every passing volume, its flaws are apparent. I think that is what to love is, to accept flaws and qualities in equal stead, not just blanket acceptance or ignorance of the latter. Overall, the Wheel of Time is a case of the whole being better than the parts: set-pieces with huge scope and frustrating character interactions.
Jordan also seems cognisant of the chapter structure issues of last book and alternated perspectives more frequently, rather than 150 pages of one character. The scope of this volume feels large, and I am seeing the development of the world wonderfully.
Even with the shoddy pacing, the story progression we do get is legitimately solid, with special focus on Rand and Nynaeve, the latter I've found difficult to identify with until recently. This book, however, developed her character a lot in interesting ways. Nynaeve is a compassionate but ultimately not very self-aware person, who always leaps before she looks. It gets her in a lot of trouble and her life now in danger as she's running, has made her evaluate herself and her actions, as well as what she wants from her life.
We get a lot of development of Aviendha & Rand's relationship, too, to the benefit of the story. Rand for me is one of the most interesting and most heart-breaking characterisations of the series. With each growing threat, the pressure for him to succeed mounts. This man, scant a year out of his farmboy life has seen cities, Trollocs, and other darkspawn, as well as learning he is a man who can use magic, which is a death sentence in this world, essentially; he is certain to go mad. Not only that, his newfound allies in the Aiel are still divided, with other nations of the world going into war. He can't trust the people closest to him, including his closest friends, and he is constantly in new and unfamiliar territory. Oh, and let's not forget the Forsaken and the fact that another consciousness is fighting him for supremacy. All these, though, are the precursor to the greatest battle of all, the Last Battle, where he must face the Dark Lord of All Dark Lords. And the only one who can help teach him about his powers is one of his former enemies. It's a lot. To be honest, I don't blame Rand for developing the Void which is basically him stuffing his doubt, insecurity, and sense of incompetence into a box and hardening his heart. It's a common thing for men to do when they don't feel like they fears would be listened to: compartmentalise until they are emotionless; keep pushing and step into responsibility, even at great cost to one's mental health. A lot of readers and characters are frustrated by Rand but everyone wants something from him without properly checking in on the man himself. No-one asks him how he is: they just belittle or distance themselves. The closest he gets is the Aiel and the Maidens of the Spear, who do baby him more than not, but look out of him, urging him to sleep and eat, etc.
So while I'm not saying the Void is a good coping mechanism, (as his outbursts of anger inevitably spill outโagain, common for men to do. I will put my hand up to say this when I've felt the pressure and not felt I would be listened to. It's not good, but it's a thing. Honestly, that's probably why it resonated a lot), he gets scant opportunity to be vulnerable without great cost. Without delving into spoilers, there is a scene towards the end of the book that was really touching. Worried for his loved ones, he embraces them, overjoyed they're okay. It's a fantastic scene and is one of the major strengths of this volume.
I really think Jordan is conveying the effects of war on people well. These characters are being forced to face their new realities with fresh eyes and it's well-drawn and very uncomfortable. This is something Jordan would have known and seen, having fought in a war himself.
All this being said, it's too damn long. Despite me appreciating real character growth, this has some many superfluous scenes and plot points. Valan Luca's circus caravan should have been a shorter arc. It just resulted in the tiresome bickering and catty girl fights and low-cut dresses of the series of yore. And while I like the group make-up, Elayne, Thom, and Juilin get very little to do this volume. Just weird sexism ("Men can't be trusted!"; "Women are so silly") over and over! It's exhausting. We do get some great stuff with the Whitecloaks and one of my personal faves: Uno. And Nynaeve's end of arc is solid. She could have been in her destination by the midpoint of this book.
And how could I not mention best boy Mat? He's one of the MVPs of this book. But he, Rand, Nynaeve, and Moiraine need special mention.
Anyway, this book has a lot of expanded scope and it really feels like this grand tale: lots of factions and problems to manage. Avast! Spoilers ahead:
Spoiler
So lets get into some specific discussions and criticisms.The Many Wives of Rand al'Thor
I'm not against a polyamory plot. In the Aiel culture, polyamory is a thing and an interesting facet, at that, though usually centred around men having multiple partners. The thing that I have issue with is that not all of Rand's respective love interests have a developed enough sense. Rand's harem is so weird. Rand and Min, and Rand and Elayne are two relationships he's not had much chance to foster. You could drop Min but have the distance with Elayne be a complicating factor for his life. And it is. Because enter Aviendha, the most fleshed out of any of his love interests, but is representative of his new world. It's clear from Book 4 that she had some feelings for him and resenting being assigned to him. But as the two spend time together, they realise they have a strong attraction. They have good chemistry, especially after they have sex. A lot of their tension was sexual and there was conflicting emotions going on: as they realised their attraction to each other but there is Elayne between them to contend with. Rand is promised to Elayne and Aviendha doesn't want to get between them, and Rand is conflicted about being attracted to women in tandem with Elayne.
After Rand defeats Rahvin and sees Aveindha alive after balefire, he embraces and lifts her. It's a real intimate moment. Normally never stumped for words, she doesn't know what to do. It's one of my favourite scenes. No pretence there, just care and concern. They have the best relationship.
To reiterate: not all the relationships have equal standing in this love square? Pentagon, if you include Lanfear. *sighs*
Mat
Mat is best boy and love. Again, to the point of Rand's hardening, the scene where Mat decides to leave, realising he doesn't want to live the life of war, Rand shakes his hand and thanks him. We don't see this from his perspective but Rand would want to embrace him, one of the last people he can trust. Mat has been carrying the team with his new knowledge of war he got from the doorway. His begrudging return to battle and subsequent victory over Couladin is great. I don't like how Rand is using him as well, but it's how it goes.
The fact that Melindhra is a Darkfriend is a bad twist. Not because it's a "evil pa~artner" plot, but because it's also a little too subtle. There are details of this scattered in the book but could have done with some forewarning. Melindhra being a Darkfriend cheapens are legitimately good relationship. They have a strong connection and complementary energy. I don't know, I feel a little cheated.
Moiraine
Has gone through some subtle changes. In hindsight, her composure here as opposed to last book where she is almost at the point of fits of rage, makes sense: she saw her death. Also her actions make a lot of sense. Her begging Rand to listen to her, teaching him as much as she knew ... it's because she knew she had to sacrifice herself to protect everyone from Lanfear. It's a great scene and heart-breaking. Moiraine has been one of my favourite characters here and proves ultimately her selflessness and willingness to fight for the greater good, what she's said all along but failed many times to express. Beyond that, her letter to Rand is great. Less of that characteristic cool distance, but pure faith. She even praises him for his application of her lessons at one point, smiling at him. It's unusual to see and on reflection makes a lot of sense. It's great. Moiraine is great.
And I don't think for a second that she is gone for good. We'll be seeing her again, before long.
The Trials of Nynaeve and Valan Luca
I didn't like most of Nynaeve's story as it focused too much on how much bosom was showing or her fighting with literally any woman. I understand it's actually done so that later a mirror is held up to her and she reflects a little, trying to move past her combativeness as she thinks her actions led to Birgitte being taken out of the Wheel's reincarnation and into the real world. She shows her strengths this book and her willingness to protect people. Nynaeve before has lacked in self-awareness a lot but seems to be developing that more now. She is slowly becoming one of my favourite characters.
Elayne really has nothing to do this book and she is just not that fleshed out a character, in my opinion. Not much to say about her.
The Decaying of Egwene
I get the desire to one-up Nynaeve, but Egwene has been incredibly selfish and cruel this book. She's hard to read because she bends readily. She is under a lot of pressure to perform her duties, especially with her deception to the Wise Ones, making them think she is a full Aes Sedai. She does get some great scenes with Aviendha as their relationship develops, as well as Moiraine, who seems to trust her more. Her treatment of Rand and Nynaeve bothers me though, problems the story is honouring, when they could just be discussed like adults. She could connect with the three about their mounting pressure but chooses to distance herself from them. Especially Rand. She is so callous to him, not realising why he's so guarded. He doesn't treat her much better but he's reacting. It's a big problem of the series, but alas. I hope she improves as she and Nynaeve have flipped in my preferred characters.
I'll leave it there. Clearly there is a lot to unpack. I enjoy this series a lot, but it has some things that frustrate me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Sexual content
fionac326's review
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore, Murder, and Violence
Minor: Sexual content
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