• Rebel Aes Sedai found
• Birgette is in the real world now
• Morgase abandons her throne and flees her country
• A huge battle with tons of Aiel against each other
• Mat displays his exceptional ability at strategery
• Rand Egwene and Avienda fighting with the One Power
• Three Forsaken dead. One captured
• Caerhein and Camelyn are now under the Dragon Banner

Wow – this book was action packed. And you know what the best part was? No Perrin!  Sorry man, but your storyline sucks right now.  In fact, it has sucked since the beginning.  In The Eye of the World, Perrin learned he can communicate with wolves, and soon after he was forced to kill a couple of men in self defence.  Since then, he has whined and moaned about everything he’s been forced to do.  I’m glad he wasn’t in this book because it would have added suckiness to a great addition to the Wheel of Time.

Beyond that, this was just a fun book to read.  The Rand, Mat, and Nynavea/Elayne plotlines moved forward quite a bit.  It was odd that Egwene was not involved in more of Rand’s plotline, but as I mentioned in my post on the last book, her path is much different even though she’s physically in the same location as Rand.

Looking ahead, I can see why she didn’t take too much of a part in this book.  Elayne and Nynavea needed to get to Salidar before Egwene’s next actions can happen – and I’m really looking forward to that.  In fact, I remember the maneuvering in Salidar as one of the most well-written pieces in the entire series.  Can’t wait to get there.

On to the next one: Lord of Chaos.  And oh man, I’ve only got a few short months to finish the series before A Memory of Light: The Gathering Storm is released (slated for November 3, 2009).  I better get reading.

But what can I say?  Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed this book, but there was very little that really moved the story forward.  And by story I mean Rand.  He’s in it for a chapter or two in the beginning and a chapter or two at the end and that’s it. (ok, maybe a little more than that, but come on)

The real page hog was Perrin’s story line.  It was good, but I don’t see how it relates back to Rand.  In fact, when I think back to the other read-throughs I’ve done, I don’t recall when his storyline ever makes a real difference for any of the other major characters we started with in tEotW.  The entire middle of the book was dedicated to Perrin, and it was really nice to see so much of one plotline in one place instead of jumping back and forth after only a couple of chapters.  There was only one major break where Jordan took us to visit Elayne and Nynavae, but overall it was good to sit down and read Perrin’s part straight through.

This is probably the fourth time I’ve read this book over the past ten years, and for some reason each time I get to Tanchico where Thom, Julian, Elayne and Nynavae are, I seemed to skip over a few pages.  Can’t tell you why, it just happened.  Either that or I’ve drawn a blank.  But this time I slowed down and deliberately focused on comprehension. (Remember, the 12th book comes out this fall, so I want to be completley refreshed on all points of the story by then.) As it turns out, I didn’t miss much.  Ha ha! Eagenin, the Seanchan, made an appearance.  I always liked her because she’s one of the only Seanchan that has any sense at all.

Egwene also has a good amount of time in this book.  Although she’s with Rand’s group in the Aiel Waste, her storyline is quite different.  It’s here where she really begins to grow in power and knowledge and I am looking forward to following her story throughout the rest of the books.  Egwene’s growth from a simple farmgirl to the XXXXXXX (no spoiler, sorry) seemed like one of the most natural progressions of any character in the book.  She moves around the world map and interacts with many of the other plot lines quite often.  And in the later books (unlike Perrin) her actions have the potential to greatly affect Rand and the other characters.

Overall, the overall theme of The Shadow Rising is advance-the-side-plots-while-barely-touching-on-the-main-plot.  But that’s ok – you’ll enjoy the read.  If nothing else, it makes you anticipate the coming story even more.

Oh, the story is far from being complete; it’s not that kind of resolution.  But there are two reasons that this book jump-starts development:

1. Major characters stopped acting like children and started acting like heroes.
2. Several important plotlines were resolved.

First off, Perrin finally found his falcon.  And he seemed happy about it.  I liked the way Jordan had all parties slowly making their way to Tear, all for different reasons.  There were also very few scenes from an opponent’s point of view.  Overall, it was a well crafted book.

Nynaeve, Egwene and Elayne

Let’s start with Nynaeve, Egwene and Elayne.  All three are finally raised to Accepted (Nynaeve was raised in the last book, but didn’t really do anything special).  This is when their plotlined really start to take shape.  Being Accepted, they don’t have to grovel about and kiss everyone else’s butt.  In addition, the Amyrlin gives them the task of hunting down thirteen members the Black Ajah led by Liandrin.  This hunt leads them to Tear, and during their journey they actually act like real Aes Sedai rather than a couple of farmgirls and a spoiled princess. These three have been set up as important characters in the series, and now then finally they have come to terms with their future of being Aes Sedai, something especially Nynaeve was uncertain about, and they are using the Power with skill beyond a bunch of newbies.  But most importantly, they see themselves capable of taking down Liandrin and the other Black Ajah.  So no major plotlines are resolved with these three characters, but at least they are coming into their own.

Mat

Not even halfway through The Eye of the World, Mat was afflicted with a sickness when he took the dagger from Aridohl.  Since then he’s been paranoid, whining, lazy or too sick to help out anyone.  The few times we saw him in Emonds’s Field he seemed like a little kid with nothing better than mischief to do.  But Mat is cleaned, finally, from the disease a few chapters into the book.  About time – all his negativity and whining was starting to get annoying. It’s at this point that Jordan does an excellent job of turning the tables.  From the minute Mat wakes up after his healing, he’s a different person than he has been in over two books.  His negativity takes a humorous tone, and he’s actually got some motivation now.  It’s quite a different Mat than we’ve seen before. Mat’s clensing from the dagger is one of the major resolutions Jordan completes in this book.  As one of my favorite characters, and I felt like the real Mat finally showed up once that was completed. His scenes were flat enjoyable to read because he’s got a different outlook.   I mentioned in an earlier post that I expected his character to change after the trip through a special doorway (no spoiler here), but after reading The Dragon Reborn my memory proved to be wrong.

Rand

Rand had only a few pages of first-person action in this book.  In Rand’s mind, the only way he could be rid of his doubts that he is the Dragon Reborn (hence the title) was if he could take Callandor from the Stone of Tear.  That idea was put into motion in the first pages of The Great Hunt when Siuan Sanche explicitly told him, and Rand’s obsession with proving that true or not was sell developed by the first few pages of this novel.  By bookending with Rand and leaving him out of the middle of the book (minus a few words of Rand’s half-mad rambling and visions), Jordan let our own imaginations take over.  It was incredibly effective.  Rand’s unseen drive, his speed of travel staying ahead of Moraine and group, and the snippets that we caught of him all added to the image of a crazed Rand.

Callandor

The Dragon Reborn has been announced to the world.  Like Mat’s rebirth, this is where the entire series really begins.  All the characters are on their respective paths they will follow through the rest of the series.  And Rand is the Dragon Reborn, proven to himself and all others by taking Callandor and the Stone of Tear.

Now we can begin preparing for the Last Battle.

Upcoming: The Shadow Rising

The first few read-throughs of this book didn’t leave much of an impression on me, but I thoroughly enjoyed it this time.  I feel that this book deeply explores with a couple of main characters – Rand and Perrin – and rounded out their personalities that, honestly, were somewhat superficial in The Eye of the World.

(Don’t get me wrong, there were plenty of character development in the first book for Perrin and Rand, but I have the advantage of knowing the entire story for the full eleven books at this point, and the depth of these characters was NOT explored in tEotW.)

It is the internal struggle that specifically stood out.  Jordan does an excellent job of getting inside their heads while both caracters deal with the new changes they are going through.

Rand already knows he can channel – a talent that has been a death sentence for every other male for the past three thousand years.  In addition, he learns at the beginning of the book that he is the Dragon Reborn.  The Amarylin, an Aes Sedai who cannot lie, tells this to Rand without mincing words.  Rand spends the rest of the book trying accept this about himself, deciding if he believes it or not, fighting with the alluring call of True Source, and vowing not to be used by the White Tower.

Perrin is a Wolfbrother and is forced into a position where he can ignore it no longer.  His eyes are turned yellow, he sees in the dark, can track as well as Hurin, and can smell feelings in other people.  And in order to track Padan Fain and Rand, he is forced to use his new talent and talk to the wolves while he leads a group of Sheinarans.  But even with all of these new abilities, Perrin is ashamed of himself.  Jordan sets the tone that Perrin feels through the rest of the series.

The only main character we don’t know much about yet is Mat.  We know he’s a trouble maker, a gambler, and shows disdain for authority.  But that is about it.  Mat has consistently been one of my favorite characters, so I’m looking forward to reading more about him.  If I remember correctly, his character won’t really start developing until he goes through a certain doorway in a couple more books (no spoiler here, sorry).

I also liked these points:

• the Damane and Sul’dam and the capture of Egwene – she will be important later in the series and I imagine that much of her strength comes from surviving her capture.
• the scenes with High Lord Turak – we get a lot of foreshadowing about the Seanchan, although you wouldn’t know it if you are reading WoT for the first time.

On to The Dragon Reborn.

Check ya later.

I finished reading The Eye of the World a couple of days ago.  I think Jordan does a great job of:

• weaving in historical events and the current climate of the world in which the characters live.
• introducing many of the main characters and giving them distinct personalities.
• Tying in quite a few of the sub characters (e.g. Morgase, Elidia, several Children of the Light, etc)
• beginning the major plotlines (or even just hinting at them) that will run throughout the series.
• giving us just enough information about each character to create suspense, or anticipation for the next book.

This last point struck me the most.  In fact, I was a little surprised.  After a couple of read-throughs of the series – especially an 11-book series – you really get to know each of these characters. But during this re-read, what struck me the most was how little of each character you really get to see.  I’m talking about Rand, Mat, Perrin, Elayne, Nynaeve, Moraine – the whole group who went to the Eye of the World.  Except one…

Lan.  I was honestly surprised at the depth of Lan’s character that we learn in comparison to the other characters. In Fal Dara, we learn the history of Lan’s family, the destruction of Malkier, and why Lan does not accept his crown.  There are a number of episodes between Moraine and him that allude to their history.

The connection between Nynaeve and Lan developed much faster than I remember, too.  Maybe I just wasn’t paying attention last time.  Maybe I didn’t care or was just annoyed at all the times Nynaevegot pissed for no reason and pulled her hair (what a stupid reaction).

In fact, I think almost all of Lan’s character traits, history, relationships with other characters, and feelings (especially towards Nynaeve) that are repeated over and over during the rest of the story are introduced in this first book. And although Lan is a supporting character (even a primary one), the amount we learn about him in comparison to every other character in the book.

I will be paying very close attention to him as I read further to see what other details are revealed about Lan that are not mentioned here.

A Little WoT History

1990-2005: The first eleven novels beginning with The Eye of the World and ending with Knife of Dreams, are written and released by Robert Jordan.   Since the release of book 11, thousands of WoT fans have anticipated the final book, A Memory of Light.

September of 2007: The WoT community, the fantasy genre, and Jordan’s family experienced a great loss when Jordan passed away.  Fans have expressed their condolences over the past two years, and I want to add my voice to say we appreciate the work Jordan was able to complete before his passing.

December 2007: Jordan’s wife and editor of his books, Harriet, continued to honor him after his death through her commitment o see the WoT series completed.  Harriet passed the torch to Brandon Sanderson, an accomplished author in his own right, to complete the final book of the series. (Harriet will edit the final books just like she did for her husband)

Jan/Feb 2008: Brandon did his own re-read of Jordan’s books, and he had the pleasure of Jordan’s notes for the final book and the knowledge of how the series would end.

March 2009: After writing for almost a year, Brandon estimated the length of AMoL to possibly be 800k words.  That makes sense to me because of the number of characters and plotlines that need to be completed.  But a book at that length is pretty much impossible to bind, so Brandon, Harriet and TOR decided to split the final book into three volumes.  You can see Brandon’s post about it here.

April 2009: Matt Mauldin begins his own re-read of The Wheel of Time series in anticipation for the release of the first part of the twelfth book to be released (hopefully) November of 2009.

So what does all of this mean?

It means that I’ll be posting my thoughts on each book as I complete them.  This will be my second, third, or fourth read of the books depending on how long they have been released.  I’ll update this page with the link to the new post each time I finish a book.

1. The Eye of the World – read the review
2. The Great Hunt – finished reading on May 5th, 2009. Read the review
3. The Dragon Reborn – finished reading on May 23rd, 2009. Here’s the review
4. The Shadow Rising – finished reading on June 22nd – Read my review
5. The Fires of Heaven – finished reading on July 28th – The review is here
6. Lord of Chaos -
7. A Crown of Swords -
8. The Path of Daggers -
9. Winter’s Heart -
10. Crossroads of Twilight -
11. Knife of Dreams -