Book Review – The Shadow Rising

11 Oct 2023 Leave a comment

by Clare in Books, Reviews Tags: , , , , , , , ,

The Shadow Rising is book #4 (of 14) in The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. I had originally read up through book #7 or 8 as they were published, but then I felt like I wasn’t remembering enough of the details between the books and put them aside to read the entire series once it was complete.

Reviews of other books in the series:

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Here is the blurb:

The seals of Shayol Ghul are weak now, and the Dark One reaches out. The Shadow is rising to cover humankind.

In Tar Valon, Min sees portents of hideous doom. Will the White Tower itself be broken?

In the Two Rivers, the Whitecloaks ride in pursuit of a man with golden eyes, and in pursuit of the Dragon Reborn.

In Cantorin, among the Sea Folk, High Lady Suroth plans the return of the Seanchan armies to the mainland.

In the Stone of Tear, the Lord Dragon considers his next move. It will be something no one expects, not the Black Ajah, not Tairen nobles, not Aes Sedai, not Egwene or Elayne or Nynaeve.

Against the Shadow rising stands the Dragon Reborn…..

Goodreads tells me that this book took me nine months to read. I was also distracted by reading other books, but still — this one was a slog. This aligned with my memory of my previous read through and was not a surprise though.

In any case, Rand al’Thor has proclaimed himself as the Dragon Reborn, but then all of the characters sit around in the Stone of Tear and wait for him to do something. Rand is uncertain how to proceed and doesn’t trust anyone and so he debates his options for much of the book before anything more interesting happens.

Once our viewpoint characters leave Tear, the story picks up again, with Rand having to prove himself again to a different group of people. Meanwhile, many of our core characters split up and embark on different threads of the plot. Nynaeve and Elayne continue to ignore the rules of the White Tower while they pretend to be full Aes Sedai, and Egwene learns about a new aspect of her own power.

The scenes with Perrin are some of my favorite, but I felt like these also dragged on for longer than they needed to. I had to put the series down for a few months, but still plan on reading on soon.

Did you read the entire series? Did the pacing slow down for you at a specific point? Let me know in the comments (above).

Find more of my reviews here.

Book Review – The Dragon Reborn

29 Mar 2022 Leave a comment

by Clare in Books, Reviews Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

I’ve been a bit slower to complete my reading over the past few weeks, but maybe choosing books that are over 600 pages long is part of the reason why. The Dragon Reborn is the third book (of 14) in Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series. I read this as an e-book.

For my reviews of earlier books in the series, look here:

  • Book 1 – The Eye of the World (oh, I skipped reviewing this one, might do it later)
  • Book 2 – The Great Hunt
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Here is the blurb:

The Dragon Reborn—the leader long prophesied who will save the world, but in the saving destroy it; the savior who will run mad and kill all those dearest to him—is on the run from his destiny.

Able to touch the One Power, but unable to control it, and with no one to teach him how—for no man has done it in three thousand years—Rand al’Thor knows only that he must face the Dark One. But how?

Winter has stopped the war—almost—yet men are dying, calling out for the Dragon. But where is he?

Perrin Aybara is in pursuit with Moiraine Sedai, her Warder Lan, and Loial the Ogier. Bedeviled by dreams, Perrin is grappling with another deadly problem—how is he to escape the loss of his own humanity?

Egwene, Elayne and Nynaeve are approaching Tar Valon, where Mat will be healed—if he lives until they arrive. But who will tell the Amyrlin their news—that the Black Ajah, long thought only a hideous rumor, is all too real? They cannot know that in Tar Valon far worse awaits…

Ahead, for all of them, in the Heart of the Stone, lies the next great test of the Dragon reborn….

Even though this book’s title implies that it will be about Rand, it follows a lot more of the other characters’ stories. With the storyline split through several point-of-view characters, it makes the overall action move more slowly as well.

So while I enjoyed this book, it felt more simple than I remember. We do get to see some new important characters introduced and seeing ancient powers (like balefire) return and an expansion of Egwene’s dreamer powers add to the mythic character of this story.

I’ll probably take a week or two off from The Wheel of Time before I jump into book 4, The Shadow Rising, next month.

Find more of my book reviews here.

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