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A review by daumari
Lord of Chaos by Robert Jordan
4.0
It feels like I've been attempting to reread this for a while but really only two months (I remember when I would spend a matter of days on these as a teen, but I had significantly fewer responsibilities then).
Lord of Chaos is a pivotal book for many reasons in the series, which is why I'm fascinated when my husband remembers it as largely being boring. I believe that comes from so many moments of awesome (specifically, beats for Nynaeve and Egwene come to mind for me plus Mat stepping into the role most know him as) being surrounded by lots of chapters of characters investigating, or figuring things out. Rand in particular is very reactive, and we see him juggling a lot on his plate but feeling like he's spinning wheels, hopping between location to location. Perrin is briefly seen in the prologue before reappearing 800 pages later. If there's anything the adaptation can do better, it's to juggle an ensemble cast and trim what's needed.
The iconic Dumai's Wells chapter and the leadup to it is all in the last 100 pages of a 1011 page mass-market, which surprised me. It looms so large in fandom memory but the chapter itself is maybe 25 pages at most. The lines "Asha'man, kill" and "Kneel and swear to the Lord Dragon," he said softly, "or you will be knelt." often come up as favorite quotes, or lines that made readers feel goosebumps, and for the mostly-male crowd who posts them (and the bias could be because Facebook groups) I wonder if it's because Taim is unleashing raw violence on the world and punching down women who until recently were the most powerful humans in the world. There's no 'correct' way to feel about a scene, but I'll err on the side of Perrin and dislike the mechanism. It's a pivotal line in what feels to me like a Vietnam War flashback, and Robert Jordan has previously discussed his Vietnam experience and how his killer self couldn't come back stateside.
Also: definitely one of the worst original covers as it looks like a romance novel. I'm not sure who the Blue sister is supposed to be, and maybe that's rand on the cover but why does he have a blouse when I definitely figure he's probably shirtless in the box? idk. This is one where the Tor ebook redesign in the 2010s was excellent.
Lord of Chaos is a pivotal book for many reasons in the series, which is why I'm fascinated when my husband remembers it as largely being boring. I believe that comes from so many moments of awesome (specifically, beats for Nynaeve and Egwene come to mind for me plus Mat stepping into the role most know him as) being surrounded by lots of chapters of characters investigating, or figuring things out. Rand in particular is very reactive, and we see him juggling a lot on his plate but feeling like he's spinning wheels, hopping between location to location. Perrin is briefly seen in the prologue before reappearing 800 pages later. If there's anything the adaptation can do better, it's to juggle an ensemble cast and trim what's needed.
The iconic Dumai's Wells chapter and the leadup to it is all in the last 100 pages of a 1011 page mass-market, which surprised me. It looms so large in fandom memory but the chapter itself is maybe 25 pages at most. The lines "Asha'man, kill" and "Kneel and swear to the Lord Dragon," he said softly, "or you will be knelt." often come up as favorite quotes, or lines that made readers feel goosebumps, and for the mostly-male crowd who posts them (and the bias could be because Facebook groups) I wonder if it's because Taim is unleashing raw violence on the world and punching down women who until recently were the most powerful humans in the world. There's no 'correct' way to feel about a scene, but I'll err on the side of Perrin and dislike the mechanism. It's a pivotal line in what feels to me like a Vietnam War flashback, and Robert Jordan has previously discussed his Vietnam experience and how his killer self couldn't come back stateside.
Also: definitely one of the worst original covers as it looks like a romance novel. I'm not sure who the Blue sister is supposed to be, and maybe that's rand on the cover but why does he have a blouse when I definitely figure he's probably shirtless in the box? idk. This is one where the Tor ebook redesign in the 2010s was excellent.