Robert Jordan

The Wheel of Time — (1990-2009)  Publisher: The peaceful villagers of Emond's Field pay little heed to rumors of war in the western lands until a savage attack by troll-like minions of the Dark One forces three young men to confront a destiny which has its origins in the time known as The Breaking of the World. This richly detailed fantasy presents a fully realized, complex adventure which will appeal to fans of classic quests.

Available for download at Audible.com. 
Forthcoming: A Memory of Light

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New Spring — (2004) New Spring is a prequel. Publisher: For three days battle has raged in the snow around the great city of Tar Valon. In the city, a Foretelling of the future is uttered. On the slopes of Dragonmount, the immense mountain that looms over the city, is born an infant prophesied to change the world. That child must be found before the forces of the Shadow have an opportunity to kill him. Moiraine Damodred, a young Accepted soon to be raised to Aes Sedai, and Lan Mandragoran, a soldier fighting in the battle, are set on paths that will bind their lives together. But those paths are filled with complications and dangers, for Moiraine, of the Royal House of Cairhien, whose king has just died, and Lan, considered the uncrowned king of a nation long dead, find their lives threatened by the plots of those seeking power. "New Spring," the novella first published in Legends, related some of these events, in compressed form; New Spring: The Novel tells the whole story.

The Eye of the World

Years ago I read the Wheel of Time series up through book 10. Now it's late 2008, Robert Jordan has passed on, and we're expecting the last Wheel of Time book, A Memory of Light in about one year. Brandon Sanderson will be writing it with the help of notes and taped messages left by Jordan, and in consultation with Harriet, Jordan's widow and confidante.

When I read it the first time, I really enjoyed WOT until it bogged down in the middle of the series. In fact, I stopped reading it after Crossroads of Twilight. But the story was interesting and exciting (though excruciatingly slow at times) and now I'm quite curious to see how Brandon Sanderson will bring it to an end. So, because I need a refresher on the story, but mainly because I found these books in audio formats, I've decided to re-read them. I would not have had the patience for actually reading them again in print, but I have much more time for listening than reading (and I don't have anything else to listen to right now). So, here goes:

The Eye of the World was just as fun as I remembered it. I still like long adventures where ordinary folks find out that they’ve got special talents and destinies and that they have to stop the bad guys from taking over the world. And I still enjoy a bildungsroman [bildungsroman: a kind of novel that follows the development of the hero or heroine from childhood or adolescence into adulthood, through a troubled quest for identity]. If you're the type who rolls your eyes at these types of stories, then skip this series.

The Wheel of Time is truly epic in scope — there's a huge cast of characters, each with their own (though often over-the-top) personalities. Jordan doesn't tell us everything up front — we're not sure which side some of the characters are on. He also unfolds the history and magic systems little by little, which helps to avoid weighty info-dumps and makes us slowly realize how rich and well-thought out his world is (though I suspect that there are some inconsistencies).

Jordan is mostly a smooth writer. His style is slow and very descriptive (for example, he frequently gives us the minute details of each character's garb). He uses the third-person intense narrative voice, giving us the internal thoughts of several of the main characters, which produces good characterization. He's got a few annoying habits, however: sometimes words (especially adverbs) are imprecisely used, and he tends to repeat things: there are way too many sniffing ladies, blushing farmboys, hands scrubbing through hair, smiles that don't touch the eyes, people muttering to themselves, skirts being gathered, and innkeepers wiping their hands on their aprons. And how could we forget that Lan's face is all stony planes and that Aes Sedai never lie but the truth they tell you may not be the truth you hear? These little things continue throughout all the books and start to become annoying to the reader.

But still, I was amazed to find myself looking forward to my commute, or folding laundry, or scrubbing toilets, because then I could turn on my MP3 player and listen to The Eye of the World. Even the second time, the story truly is exciting. So, though it's got faults, I've got to give The Eye of the World high marks just for keeping me thoroughly entertained.

By the way, if you need a refresher, but don't want to re-read the books before the last one comes out, you can find a recap of the books, including a glossary of characters and a synopsis of who’s alive, who’s dead, and who's neither, here. —Kat   Comments

The Great Hunt

Here's another really fun installment of The Wheel of Time. Like The Eye of the World, The Great Hunt kept me thoroughly entertained. Everything I said in the review above goes for this book, too. It's fast-paced and full of plot. I think this is the best book in the series.

We get to meet some excellent secondary heroes and villains in The Great Hunt — Egeanin and the Seanchan from across the sea who use captured and chained women with power to fight for them, and ship captain Bayle Doman, for example.

Also, in The Great Hunt, we start to get an inkling of just how well Robert Jordan has built his world and planned this series. There are aspects of the poetry, mythology, history, and stories of this world that we have been shown only tidbits of so far, but here we see them start to expand and we realize that there is so much more that he has left to show us. Since this is a re-read for me, I appreciate this aspect of The Wheel of Time much more than I could the first time through — it's quite impressive, really.

There was only one truly obnoxious scene in The Great Hunt: three women get possessive about Rand while he lays dying. I wonder if Robert Jordan thought that women really act like that in emergency situations?

One last thought: Too bad the cover art is so horrid. —Kat   Comments

The Dragon Reborn

In The Dragon Reborn, Rand finally starts to discover his new talents. Unfortunately, we don't get to watch that happen. We only see a few glimpses of him learning to use his power. It makes me wonder if it was just easier for Jordan to show us the newly developed Rand rather than to explain how he got that way.

A couple of times here (and in later books) we're told that Rand doesn't really know how he wields the power — he just does. In fact, this also happens with the girls from his village (Egwene and Nynaeve) who are learning to be Aes Sedai, and with their friend, princess Elayne. They supposedly are the most powerful women in years, but they don't really understand how they do it or how and why they are more powerful. If you appreciate a well-developed, creative, and well-explained magic system (e.g. Bujold or Wurts), you might find this disappointing.

But still, if you can ignore the unexplained magic, reminders of what has happened previously, and all of the braid tugging, sniffing, blushing, brooding, dress smoothing, and fishing metaphors, The Dragon Reborn is an entertaining adventure. It's one of the better books in the series because it actually manages to advance the plot and introduce some interesting new characters (for example, the Aiel). (Not Faile — I can't stand her). My four stars here is somewhat generous and is based on my fondness for many of these characters. Someone who does not already like them will neither come to like them in this book, nor find any other value in reading it — don't bother.

Again, I listened to this on audiobook, and the readers, Michael Kramer and Kate Reading, are excellent — they are some of the better audiobook readers around and Audio Renaissance always makes a good production. —Kat   Comments

The Shadow Rising

In The Shadow Rising, things start to slow down. In fact, it often feel like the reading of the story must take longer than it took for the events to actually occur.

Part of the problem is that Mr Jordan tells us nearly everything except when the characters make a bowel movement. Also, he regularly launches into pre-set spiels in which he re-describes something or someone who we've encountered numerous times before or re-explains something we've been told dozens of times (e.g., Loial sounds like a bumblebee, Perrin likes to think things through, wet bowstrings are bad, trollocs eat anything as long as it's meat, Aes Sedai never lie but... ). Every time a Tinker shows up, you may as well skip the next two paragraphs because they invariably describe first the "eye-jarring" wagons and then the even gaudier clothes. The format is nearly the same each time. This is especially noticeable when reading the novels one after the other, of course.

A similar problem is that although Mr Jordan's world is large, diverse, and interesting, there is not much realistic diversity within a culture or group. Every Aes Sedai of the red ajah hates men, all the greens love men, the whites are arrogant without exception, the browns love books and don't notice the ink on their noses. All Domani women are seductive, and people from Tear use fishing metaphors. It gets to the point of ridiculousness when, even though they've nearly been destroyed by enemies, Tinkers are still cringing at the swords of the people protecting them. And the Aiel, who use spears and knives and are the fiercest fighters on the planet look disapprovingly at another culture's choice of weapon (the sword) and transportation (the horse). Oh, come on — get over it.

Another device that's getting annoying is the technique of giving the reader (and other characters) information by having a character say something out loud that they didn't realize they'd said. Or stop in the middle of a sentence that they realize they shouldn't be saying. Or stupidly have an important and potentially damning conversation in front of someone who they just met.

In addition, some of the writing is overdone. We occasionally hear of measureless steps, heartbeats that take centuries, moments that last forever, infinite slowness, bottomless drops, razor edges of something or other.

Okay, that's a lot of complaining, but that's what happens when you read these books contiguously. You start to notice this stuff and it grates on the nerves. But, even so, the slowly advancing plot is still unpredictable and compelling and the characters are mostly enjoyable. The best parts of The Shadow Rising actually focus on the secondary characters of Siuan Sanche and Egeanin. I truly enjoyed their stories and look forward to hearing what happens to them.

So, even with all my gripes, The Shadow Rising is still keeping me entertained. —Kat   Comments

The Fires of Heaven

For being such a long book (nearly 1000 pages in my trade paperback copy), amazingly little happens in The Fires of Heaven, and this is why so many readers have abandoned this otherwise interesting story. Approximately the first third of the novel contains so much recap and repetition that, if I'd had "my hair in a proper braid," I would have been yanking it as often as Nynaeve does.

The formula for the first 100 pages or so goes something like this:  One or two lines of dialogue, two paragraphs of backstory, another line of dialogue, another couple of paragraphs of backstory... It felt like the proverbial "one step forward, two steps back!"

I managed to stick with it, though, only because I was listening to it on audiobook (and therefore only half listening while I accomplished something else at the same time) and because I wanted to write a review. Besides, I found it immensely entertaining when I could complete Robert Jordan's sentences for him... <<Heavy sigh>>...

In The Fires of Heaven, we never see Perrin or Faile, which is fine with me. There is an interesting plot-line involving Siuan Sanche, Logain, and Gareth Bryne. Rand's adoption of Asmodean is entertaining, too — I like that we're not really sure which side Asmodean and Lanfear are on. The plot does finally move forward a bit, but it takes way too long to do so. The book could have easily been cut to half its size and been better for it. If I had been the editor, I would have taken my blue pencil to all instances of:
• females obsessing about the modesty of their clothing
• males obsessing about the modesty of female clothing
• needless skirt smoothing and straightening
• silk clinging to hips and breasts
• shivering or sweating that has nothing to do with the weather
• characters of both sexes moaning about not understanding the opposite sex
• braid pulling, tugging, and yanking
• sniffing
• thoughts, discussion, and actual occurences of bottoms being switched or spanked
• bitchy women turning otherwise strong men into quivering lumps of Jello
• Nynaeve's cat fights

Also, I would have fixed these mangled sentences (because they don't mean what Mr Jordan meant them to mean):
• “From the shine in Siuan's blue eyes, she had learned something.”
• “From the horrified look on Mat's face, he was gathering his strength to run.”
• “From the noise roaring out of the inn, the crowd inside was big enough to hide an army.”
• “One man, a tall fellow in a ragged red coat that had belonged to someone else once by its green and gold embroidery, ran out in front of the others on long legs, shaking a wood axe overhead.”
• “More like a palace, by the number of pages.”

At this point, I'm quickly losing patience as The Wheel of Time quickly loses steam. That's a shame, because the story itself is very good — but it's just too hard to extract it from the dross. —Kat   Comments

The Fires of Heaven: Not as good a 1-3, but it's managing to keep me hooked

If weren't for Perrin's battle in the The Shadow Rising, I may have given up on this series. While The Fires of Heaven isn't the page-turner that the first three Wheel of Time books were, it does manage to pull me back into this long epic. My favorite character, Perrin, is barely mentioned in this book and I find the conniving, bossing and moodiness of the women characters terribly irritating (they also scare me because I fear that those traits could be all too real). It's the supporting characters, Thom Merrilen, Juilin, Lan, and others that make this story enjoyable.

The Wheel of Time is definitely a worthwhile read for fantasy fans and I do plan to read the next one. It's just too darn long, so it won't make it to the top of my must-read-list. While some huge epics out there — Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, for example — stay vividly exciting, Wheel of Time seems to have a lot of filler.

Note to authors: Did you know you can finish a storyline and start another in the same setting? These worlds are your own creations, for crying out loud. —Greg   Comments

Lord of Chaos

I could almost copy and paste my review for Fires of Heaven right here and it would be mostly suitable because Lord of Chaos is more of the same. This is another metropolitan-city-phonebook-sized novel with a potentially interesting story that is bogged down by its excruciatingly slow pace, regular insertions of backstory, constant descriptions of the garb of every major and minor character (garb which keeps getting smoothed, straightened, or otherwise adjusted), and too many mentions of expanses of bosoms, spankings, sitting on knees, sniffing, snorting, and braid yanking. (I swear, if I have to read "good stout Two-Rivers woolens" one more time...)

In Lord of Chaos some of the most interesting WOT characters are absent (e.g., Egeanin and Lan), some of the formerly interesting characters have become almost intolerable (e.g., Siuan and Aviendha), and some who should have grown up by now just won't (Nynaeve and Faile). At least we get to visit a new city — Ebou Dar... in which everyone looks and acts the same and all the women are looking for fights (with knives).

The only really entertaining parts of Lord of Chaos were Lews Therin's mumblings in Rand's head — I thought this was clever and amusing:

"Where are all the dead?" Lews Therin whispered. "Why will they not be silent?"
Rand chuckled grimly. Surely that had to be a joke.

There is a climax at the end of the book that truly changes the course of the story (and I hope will serve to pick up the pace in the next novel), but it took entirely too long to get there and involved a sudden change in some of the characters' normal behavior. Rand's got a hoard of Aiel maidens and wise ones around him everywhere he goes and then they suddenly decide to take a coffee break when a group of Aes Sedai come to visit? Huh? Well, I was puzzled, but at least there was finally some action, even if the events around it seemed contrived.

Robert Jordan is a smooth writer who's got an interesting story to tell (thus, three stars), but he dilutes its power by drawing it out. This book's plot should have been combined with the previous two books' plots and then 75% of the words should have been removed. (There was so much repetition that we probably wouldn't have missed anything!). Then, instead of three slow and repetitive novels, we'd have one great novel. —Kat   Comments

A Crown of Swords: Someone stuck a stick in the spokes of The Wheel of Time

My reviews of The Wheel of Time novels are getting just as repetitive as the actual books. There's really not much more to say. A Crown of Swords is another long slow installment in which there are too many detailed descriptions of clothing, references to spanking, concerns about bosoms, and people blushing. There are pages and pages which chronicle secondary characters' extensive internal thoughts. But what bugs me most, though, are the constant depictions of people and places as if they have a corporate personality:

Men strutted arrogantly along the streets with often ragged vests and no shirts, wearing great brass hoops in their ears and brass finger rings set with colored glass, one knife or sometimes two stuck behind their belts. Hands hovering near knives, they stared as though daring someone to give the wrong twist to a look. Others skulked from corner to corner, doorway to doorway with hooded eyes, imitating the slat-ribbed dogs that sometimes snarled from a dark alleyway barely wide enough for a man to squeeze into. Those men hunched over their knives and there was no way to tell which would run and which stab. By and large, the women made any of the men appear humble, parading in worn dresses and twice as much brass jewelry as the men. They carried knives too, of course, and their bold dark eyes sent ten sorts of challenge in every glance ... Children darted from every second door with chipped pottery cups of water, sent by their mothers in case the Wise Women wished a drink. Men with scarred faces and murder etched into their eyes stared openmouthed at seven Wise Women together, then bobbed jerky bows and inquired politely if they could be of assistance, was there anything that required carrying? Women, sometimes with as many scars and always eyes to make Tylin flinch, curtsied awkwardly and breathlessly asked whether they might supply directions, had anyone made a bother of themselves to bring so many Wise Women?

If I found myself in this place, I'd think it was The Twilight Zone!

I will say, however, that someone must have told Mr Jordan to quit with the braid yanking, because Nynaeve seems to be attempting to stop the habit. Now, if we could just get all of those ladies to stop adjusting their clothes every time they feel any sort of negative emotion... and I'll be happy on the day that an Aes Sedai can walk down the street without making someone flinch, cringe, jump, squeak, drop something, or run away.

With all this detailed description, there's not much time for action. There are only a few significant plot developments. The most important one is an event which we've been waiting for for the last 3 books (at least) which finally occurs very quickly and anti-climatically in the last chapter of this book. But, if you've read this far into The Wheel of Time, that's no surprise, is it? And, if you've read this far, you feel like it's too late to stop now, don't you?

I'm still listening to this on audiobook (no patience for the print versions) and I should mention that Michael Kramer and Kate Reading are amazing readers. After all this time, I suppose these characters are almost like family to them, and they've got the personalities down perfectly. Their voices and additions of droll humor really instill some much-needed life into these novels. —Kat   Comments

The Wheel of Time: The Eye of the World — A Crown of Swords

I couldn't tell you if I'm upset that I will never really find out the end to The Wheel of Time.

I'm sad about Robert Jordan's death. The world has definitely lost a talented and devoted writer. We will miss him. But whether or not we will miss The Wheel of Time is debatable.

I stuck with The Wheel of Time for six whole books. I am in the middle of the seventh. I have been in the middle of the seventh for at least 9 months now, and to tell you the truth I don't think i can force myself to pick it up and finish it. And these are not short books either. I guarantee (not that I have tried it *wink wink*) that one of the paperback copies of Lord of Chaos, his sixth book, will act not only as a novel, but a door stopper if you suddenly found yourself without one. I could hardly hold it up, it was so thick.

Not to say that the The Wheel of Time wasn't good. It definitely had its moments. The plot centers around Rand al'Thor and his friends Perrin and Mat. The boys are childhood friends from the same village which is suddenly shaken up one day by the appearance of an Aes Sedai (I am sure I spelled that wrong) or Jordan's version of a witch or mage. Morraine can see that the three boys are interwoven into "the Pattern" (eerily similar to "The Force") and have the ability to change and weave the Pattern to their will. Especially Rand, who has powers he has yet to realize.

Rand's ultimate goal is to bring on the Last Battle and defeat the Dark Lord, therefore restoring the Pattern to rightness by bringing about the Breaking of the World. Sounds simple right?

Well it's not. It's anything but. Evil Aes Sedai get involved, Rand's long-lost people and tribes come into the plot, his friends make friends who make friends who make friends who make enemies whose enemies are really friends with Rand and, oh yeah the three women Rand is in love with and who love him back too. Confused yet? No. Ok, I'll keep going.

Well one of the women who loves him is an Aes Sedai, and a princess whose mother is believed dead, but really not since she was put under an evil spell by one of the Chosen who are followers of the Dark Lord, who, oh yeah Rand has to kill off one by one as well and there are only about 100 of them who also have their own plots and schemes against each other and sort of have it out for Rand's friends as well and are really trying to take over the Dark Lord's job at the same time and then people from distant lands get involved and basically everyone is trying to kill everyone and control everything...before the Breaking of the World because when that happens everything has been for crap anyway because then the world will be born anew and destroy everyone anyway.

Confused now? Good, I'm confused myself. And you wondered why I put it down?

It's disappointing because this series started with such promise! I was interested and read nothing but Robert Jordan books for about 4 books or so, convinced that I would be a fan for life and would never get sick of him. I was wrong. He will always be on my list of favorites... because I know that it will always be there if I hit a fantasy dry spell to fall back on... I may not understand any of it, but I'll probably read it anyway.

If you are someone who hates it when a series comes to an end, Jordan's books are for you...
—Julie   Comments

The Path of Daggers

The best thing I can say about The Path of Daggers is that it is significantly shorter than the last few novels have been — only 700 pages (mass market paperback) compared to the 900-1100 page novels that have preceded it. There is much less of the repetitive backstory. I guess Mr. Jordan finally realized that new readers aren't jumping in at this point.

However, that's not to say that there are 700 pages of plot here, either. For again, most of the pages are devoted to minutia such as nearly every word spoken during one of Elayne's 3 hour long rides, every thought that Perrin has while walking around his camp, etc. Most of the significant action is squeezed into the last couple of chapters. The story is still interesting, but The Path of Daggers doesn't advance it far enough.

But what's annoying me most is that the female WOT characters are the cattiest bunch of women I've ever encountered. Supposedly the Aes Sedai are dignified, cool-headed, and calm, but yet we see them constantly bickering, back-biting, squabbling, thinking about their positions relative to others, and worried about what everyone else is thinking. For such powerful women, they are continually showing their shock, getting into petty disagreements, trying to out-wit each other, widening their eyes, adjusting their shawls, and smoothing their skirts (apparently this is an indication of uneasiness, though I have never actually seen an uneasy woman smoothing her skirt). And why the heck are adult women spanking each other?!?

I find it irritating that women leaders are portrayed this way while the powerful men are portrayed as hard, reserved, and distinguished. I'm sure that Mr. Jordan meant for his female characters to seem strong, but they just come across as bitchy. I really can't figure out why they all take each other so seriously. —Kat   Comments

Winter's Heart

The first six chapters of Winter's Heart follow Perrin and Faile after Faile is abducted by the Shaido Aiel. The next several chapters follow Elayne as she returns to Caemlyn and prepares to make a bid for her mother's crown. These two storylines are incredibly dull and I confess that I skimmed over a lot of it and read the excellent cross-referenced chapter summaries at Encyclopaedia WOT. I read Winter's Heart years ago and I just did not feel like once again sitting in on Elayne's steward's descriptions of the rats in the Caemlyn sewers or Perrin's angst about Faile (good riddance, I say!).

Mat's story, as usual, was entertaining, and we finally get to meet the Daughter of the Nine Moons (who turns out to be not nearly as exotic as her name suggests). Rand's storyline was side-tracked by his quest to hunt down the rogue Asha'man, so he doesn't really accomplish anything new (other than to acquire a harem) until the very last chapter.

There is the usual plodding pace, annoying references to women's clothing, and frighteningly frequent mentions of spanking. The only thing going for this series at this point is that it is truly epic in scope and I still want to know how it will end.  I just hope I can hang in there a little bit longer. —Kat   Comments

Crossroads of Twilight

Crossroads of Twilight was maddening. I read it years ago and ended up giving up on The Wheel of Time after this book. I tried again in my preparation for reading Memory of Light, and I just couldn't manage to do it again. So, as with Winter's Heart, I cheated by reading many of the chapter summaries at Encyclopaedia WOT. I skimmed the chapters involving Perrin's hunt for Faile because I remembered how slow, grueling, and painful they were when I read them the first time. And even though about 25% of the novel was about this storyline, it did not advance at all. I also skimmed a lot of Elayne's campaigning and dealing with the constantly whining Sea Folk because not much happened there, either. There were only two chapters (out of 30) from Rand's point of view. Mat was entertaining, but he didn't get anywhere either.

In Crossroads of Twilight, expect more politicking, planning, negotiating, committee discussions, bathing, dressing, shopping, and description of tapestries and seating arrangements than action. THE PLOT DOES NOT MOVE. There were very few significant occurrences — mostly the characters just talked to themselves and others. Only one major event happened, and that occurred in the last 3 minutes (on audio).

Here is a sample of some of the pulse-pounding action you'll encounter in Crossroads of Twilight:

“I see,” Egwene said slowly. She realized she was massaging the side of her head. The throb behind her eyes beat on. It would grow stronger. It always did. By nightfall, she was going to regret having sent Halima away. Bringing her hand down firmly, she moved the leather folder in front of her a half inch to the left, then slid it  back."

Riveting... But at least we didn't have to hear about Nynaeve's braid...

There are 1880 characters in The Wheel of Time and it's impossible for anyone who's not writing a dissertation on the series to keep them all straight. It doesn't help that so many of the names are similar, either. At this point, many of them are all just a big jumble and you have to use a resource like Encyclopaedia WOT (who have all 1880 characters listed, described, and tracked) to even begin to understand all of the politicking. It also doesn't help that Jordan made occasional mistakes along the way (nicely pointed out by Encyclopaedia WOT).

If it weren't for Brandon Sanderson's finale, I would absolutely give up at this point (I did once). By the way, let me say here and now (March 2009), for the record, that I don't believe Mr. Sanderson will be able to clean up this mess with only one volume. —Kat   Comment

edited March 31, 2009: TOR announced today that A Memory of Light will be a trilogy! The first novel, The Gathering Storm, will be released on October 27, 2009. See the announcement here.

Knife of Dreams: Improvement but middling quality, moves story forward

Knife of Dreams has several things going for it. It isn't as bad as the last few for one, no slight achievement. It is relatively crisp in prose and pace. It advances story and character at a more enjoyable pace. It even has a few (though too few) strong scenes that evoke fond memories of earlier (much earlier) books in the series. It is without a doubt an improvement on the past few and anyone who has put the time into this series and felt like they were scraping along will breathe a sigh of relief.

That said, though, there isn't much to praise beyond its improvement over the last few books and its more clear movement toward resolution. Knife of Dreams is a serviceable book. It does what it needs to do (finally) but does so without any real panache or aplomb, without any sense of passion or wonder. It's readable, but not compelling. You'll want to know what happens, but not by the end of the first night you picked it up. For those who remember their reactions to the first books in the series, that's a disappointment.

Many of the same flaws that have cropped up lately remain, though in more minimal fashion. There's still the incomprehensibly frequent (though less so) references to spanking, bottom switching, bottom pinching, and barely covered bosoms (I swear Jordan had a macro set up so he could use “with hands folded beneath her breasts” at the flick of a single key, again and again and again). Braid pulling luckily seems to have gone out of fashion. The (same) women veer maddeningly between strongly competent and simpering, whining, gossipy clichés. If we're told something once, we're told it twenty times — Perrin, for instance, really wants to rescue his wife and that's his one and only focus — “nothing else matters.” “Nothing.” “Nothing.” No matter how many things come up. Really,“nothing else matters.” Elayne's section bogs down over political gamesmanship. Minor characters are given too much time at the expense of major characters (Rand is barely present). Characters too easily walk into traps they admit could be traps. And so on. Again, all of these flaws are much less present than in recent books, so they simply mar an otherwise solid book rather than truly annoy the reader.

About storylines: there is a truly great scene involving Lan and Nynaeve, though sadly the only one with them and the only truly great scene in the book. Rand's story has many of the other strong moments and he remains the most interesting and complex character, as do his adversaries or maybe-adversaries, but we spend far too little time with him. Matt and Tuon's story is also interesting and laced with some needed humor, though it could have been streamlined a bit. It does come to a good close, though not a resolution. Perrin and Faile's plotline is, in my mind, just not interesting enough. As mentioned, we're burdened too often with reminders of Perrin's single focus, and there's never any real sense that things won't work out as planned so there's little suspense to the story. Elayne's sometimes bogs down in House jargon, pregnancy details, or asides concerning the sea-people, Aes Sedai, etc., but Jordan throws a welcome jolt into that sidestory to liven things up. The Forsaken make a relatively weak cameo, a wasted opportunity. Some of these plots resolve, many open up possibilities (but ones that are nicely tethered to the base story as opposed to tangential), and all lends themselves to a sense of urgency with regard to the upcoming Last Battle.

It's hard to imagine how Robert Jordan wraps it all up in one book but Knife at least moves him clearly and smoothly and crisply to that home stretch. It pales in comparison to the first five or six books, but it's much, much better than the last few on the basic level. One hopes with some of the underbrush cleared away through this book, Jordan can aim a bit more at the heights, casting that same old spell on the reader. Recommended. —Bill   Comments

Knife of Dreams: Oh, Light! The end is near!

Knife of Dreams is another huge installment (1.3 days worth of audio!) which suffers the same faults as the last several WOT novels. But, if you've made it this far, perhaps that won't bug you.

I have to say that Robert Jordan can surely set a scene; indeed, each chapter begins with a very detailed description of the setting, including such minutia as the style and oiliness of men's beards, the height of ladies' boots, every knickknack on every plinth, every bit of jewelry worn by each character, how much bosom is exposed, how tight the pants are, etc. The reader certainly feels immersed in the setting, but for those who have other books they hope to read this year, this may be aggravating.

By this point in the series, I can no longer keep track of the characters. In the chapters about Elayne, we find Pelivar, high seat of House Coelan, and Perival, high seat of house Mantear. Ack!! And here are the names of the characters whose names begin with "An": Anaiya, Anaiyella, Ananda, Anath, Andaya Forae, Andaya Murasaka, Ander Corl, Ander Tol, Andhilin, Andil, Andra, Andric, Andris, Andro, Androl Genhald, Mistress Andscale, Anemara, Mistress Anford, Anghar, Angla, Anjen, Ankaer, Anlee, Annharid, Annoura Larisen, Anthelle Sharplyn, Antol, Anvaere, Anya. You'll find a list like this for every letter of the alphabet (see them at Encyclopaedia WOT). Did he expect us to study? I feel like I need flashcards.

Again, there's so much stuff in Knife of Dreams that we've already heard before: eyes a man could drown in, rosebud mouth, seductive copper-skinned domani, Aes Sedai don't show emotions (but they do), Loial sounds like a bumblebee, damp bowstrings don't work, arms folded beneath breasts, unnecessary adjustment of clothes, smiles that don't touch eyes, Mat worries about his men's influences on Olver (wink, wink — yeah, we got it already!). I could go on and on and on. And don't even get me started on the spanking. There was more spanking in Knife of Dreams than any of the previous novels. Why are adults spanking each other?? (It's not for fun.) I rolled my eyes so often, I started to worry they'd stick.

There was one major redeeming factor here, though, and that's that the plot actually moves forward in Knife of Dreams. There are some big events that occur (each surrounded by a lot of fluff). I got the impression that after the last book (in which nothing happened for 900 pages), Mr Jordan woke up and said "oh, Light! Tarmon Gai'don's got to happen in the next book and I've got to get everyone there and on the same side!" And so we see that starting to happen — alliances are being made, people are getting in position. In fact, some of it happens much too quickly and easily to be believed (e.g., Egwene's storyline, Whitecloak storyline). But that's fine with me — let's get this over with.

Since Knife of Dreams was Robert Jordan's last book published before his death, let me say that I have enjoyed the world, the story, and the characters he created — The Wheel of Time is truly epic and I respect Mr Jordan's work. My complaint is that it became aggravatingly slow and repetitive for the last several novels. But I eagerly look forward to finding out how it all ends.

You're up, Mr Sanderson!! —Kat   Comment

New Spring: Solid fill-in-the-gaps book but not up to par

With New Spring, Robert Jordan offers himself up to two major criticisms up front. One is for releasing a prequel when you haven't finished the first series yet and the other is for trying to grab a quick book by just padding out an already published first story. With regard to the first, I think it's pretty silly to complain about an author's choice of subject — perhaps he became inspired with something in terms of the back story and is excited to write it, perhaps he needs to flesh out the backstory before continuing with the original series, maybe he just has writer's block and is using this as a tool to work through it. Whatever his reasons, fans have no claim as to what an author writes, frustrating as that choice may be.

As for the second criticism, I haven't read the original short, so I can't speak as to how much this is "padded" and how much is really new, but since it's the first book of a projected three-book prequel, it seems the criticism once again isn't valid. Perhaps he could have made this one longer and made it a two book series, maybe he was caught by deadline, but he's obviously going well beyond the original if he's going to end up with over a thousand pages. And since many people new to Jordan might begin with this storyline, why not give them a standalone book since it's likely they haven't read the original.

So does the book stand up when considered by itself and not as a quick buck or a slap at the faithful? Yes, though in workaday rather than exciting fashion. If you haven't read any Jordan, this isn't a bad place to start as it is a much stripped down, easier read with a lot of good information. If you are in the midst of the original series, it serves the purpose of filling in some gaps and expanding a bit on the characters, but in book one at least there is nothing essential or particularly compelling.

The book follows Moraine and Siuan (among many other familiar Aes Sedai) through their later training, their acceptance into the sisterhood, and their race against the Black Ajah to find the Dragon Reborn (it begins with the prophecy of his birth). A parallel story which eventually, unsurprisingly to fans, converges with Moraine's is that of Lan, the king of the lost city as he works his way back home from the Aiel War. While fans obviously get a lot more information on Moraine, Siuan, and Lan, I can't say that it really deepens their characterizations much (with the single strong exception of one of the closing scenes involving Moraine). We have seen them through so many pages now in so many situations that it would be difficult to give us much more insight (as opposed to just more background information). And because we know them so well, or have heard much of this in some fashion if only in hints and bits, it doesn't read as compellingly as the other books, always a danger in writing prequels involving many of the same characters. For instance, how much anxiety can we really feel for Moraine as she faces a Black Ajah when we know she appears on the scene in book one of the original series relatively no worse for wear. The same for the other characters for whom we have no fear of death.

The characterizations themselves sometimes slide a bit into caricature or repetition. The bottom-pinching references in particular come a bit too frequently and trivialize the characters somewhat, especially if one knows them in later form. The story itself is a bit slim for three hundred plus pages in terms of action or character development. In the other books, Jordan's richness of detail combines with a lot of action to give us thousand-plus page books. Nearly the same level of detail in a book a third the normal length means not a lot really happens. It is a less complex read as it focuses only on two storylines which eventually come together. Less complex means it's more tight, but also not as rich or stimulating. And some of the detail on specific Aes Sedai rituals or Cairhien royalty I could have done without. When Moraine is facing the trial of a 100 weaves, I began to have panic attacks that Jordan would actually go through all one hundred, weave by weave by weave. He didn't, but you know he was tempted. This same level of detail may seem a matter of course in a much longer book, but here it stands out and bogs down the book a bit.

All in all, New Spring serves as a good, quick overview (almost like an outline relative to Robert Jordan's other works) to the backstories of several major characters. With much of the exposition and necessary "meeting up" of characters out of the way, there is more room for the typical richness and characterization of the original WOT books — I hope he attains it. Recommended, but not with a lot of excitement. —Bill   Comments

New Spring: The Wheel starts to (creeaak) turn ...

New Spring is a prologue to Robert Jordan's bestselling fantasy epic, The Wheel of Time, which, sadly, the author did not live to complete. (I won't comment at this time on the length of the series or the decision to release a prologue while many readers were hoping for a conclusion.) Brandon Sanderson, the author of Mistborn, has been tapped to expand Mr. Jordan's notes into the twelfth and final WOT novel, A Memory of Light, tentatively scheduled for release in 2009.

For those who are coming to the saga fresh: Stop. I strongly recommend reading at least the (very good) first book, The Eye of the World, before New Spring.

For those who have read one or more of the novels: New Spring is, overall, a good contribution to the saga through its illumination of Moiraine (before becoming a full-fledged Aes Sedai), Lan (before becoming her Warder), and other characters some twenty years before they meet those wool-headed boys and girls from Two Rivers. It presents in depth the secret rituals of the Aes Sedai (revealing the White Tower as both a university and sorority system) and lays the foundation for Moiraine's and the Black Ajah's actions. The writing is clear and solid, though the pacing is (as in the later books) often slower than it should be, despite the book's relative brevity, and the sheer number of female names and repetitive (strong-willed) behaviors is often distracting. On the plus side, the conclusion is surprisingly strong.

Recommended (but not necessarily required) reading for devoted fans of the WOT series. I may be waxing nostalgic for the pre-internet days (eighteen years ago?!) when The Eye of the World stormed triumphantly into bookstores, especially now that Mr. Jordan has gone to his reward in the Light; but I feel reasonably comfortable in giving New Spring three-and-a-half stars and giving the series one more look. —Rob R.   Comments

The Gathering Storm

That the twelfth book in a series is entitled The “Gathering” Storm probably points to a fundamental problem with the series. I mean, we’re eleven books (long, long books by the way) down and the storm is only just “gathering”? And anyone who has stuck with The Wheel of Time thus far (which I’m assuming is pretty much everyone reading this because otherwise why the heck are you reading this?), knows that pacing has been a big problem in Robert Jordan’s work, especially after the first few books. I wonder, in fact, if part of the reason for the title was a special publisher’s plea to wavering fans: “the end is coming! No, really! It’s almost here!” Though in that case, perhaps announcing that the final book was going to be split into three wasn’t such a smart idea…

Well, I can say that, whether intentional or not, The Gathering Storm does mostly deliver on its seeming promise of a quickening end. Brandon Sanderson, in place of Robert Jordan, has offered up a book that moves more quickly than its 800 pages would seem to indicate. It doesn’t match the compelling joyful pace of the first few WOT books, but it does mostly zip along, resolving plot events from earlier books, opening up new paths, clearing away some of the narrative and character underbrush. I’d say it’s a somewhat stronger version of Knife of Dreams in that regard (though I consider KoD a pale version of the first 3 or 4 novels). While The Gathering Storm does still have some side-plots that dilute the potential impact of major storylines, new narrative lines seem a bit more focused on getting us where we need to get to. And some of the more repetitive aspects of previous plots have been dropped, though a big one — Rand’s hardening of himself — has been wearing a bit thin and continues to do so in The Gathering Storm. Not that it isn’t a good arc; it’s just been too stretched out.

That said, while lots of separate things happen in The Gathering Storm, and while I’d say most of them need to happen in order for us to reach the end, it feels like the narrative moves along more speedily on the micro rather than the macro level. What I mean is that you feel the whoosh of singular events, but I can’t say by the end you feel any closer to the final confrontation, despite the crossed Ts and dotted I’s of prophecy and the unshackling of certain characters.

Beyond pacing, the plot is mostly serviceable, another similarity to Knife of Dreams. I can’t say there are any particularly stirring scenes, nor any particularly emotional ones save one nicely quiet one. There are a few pleasant surprises (which I won’t mention, of course) that feel well set-up and fully necessary to the plot as opposed to a twist for a twist’s sake. We don’t spend much time with Perrin, for which I’m quite thankful, as I’ve found his subplots to be by far the weakest. Matt’s storyline is semi-interesting but feels quite detached, more as if he’s simply being kept busy to remind us he’s around rather than being an integral part of the story. Egwene’s story was for me the least plausible, though I won’t go into specifics to avoid spoilers. I’ll just say I had a hard time accepting the premise of her situation, the length of it, and its resolution. Actually, the single most implausible scene involved a Forsaken: painfully, laughably implausible, and an example of one of the infuriating ways these books can be so inconsistent and so bad at points (a later scene involving that same Forsaken was better, though it could have been mined a bit more for impact). The ending — no spoilers, don’t worry — is a big jump forward in many ways and makes sense in terms of plot and character, but I found it far too abrupt and a bit too easy. I’m assuming and hoping that it turns out to be not as easy as it appeared.

There is mostly slight movement in characters (and one welcome change); some are humbled, some strengthened, some finally choose a side or change sides, most of them grow a little wiser, which is good to see. Development is slight, and self-awareness only burgeoning, in some, but believably so. And there is a lot less inconsistency in characterization — much less leaping from adamantine to simpering in a single bound.

Power has always been a major thematic element in the series and that continues in The Gathering Storm. What is power, where does it lie, who should wield it, what is the impact on those who do so, what lines (if any) are drawn, when do the ends justify the means, what are the responsibilities of those who wield it or give it up, etc. are explored through character and sometimes through interior monologue. This has always been, I think, one of Jordan’s strongest and most subtle (usually) aspects and it remains a strength here as characters and readers alike wrestle with these and similar questions.

The prose, like the plot, is adequate. There aren’t any truly memorable or beautiful lines, but overall I’d say Brandon Sanderson’s prose is an improvement on Robert Jordan’s. Unfortunately, we still experience some of those same tics which I’m guessing are from Jordan’s own passages. Thus we get the “hands folded beneath her breasts,” some braid-pulling, “flimsy” and “diaphanous” gowns, various busts and bosoms, and bottoms being spanked. It feels like there’s less of all this, but it still stands out. In general Sanderson has kept the flavor of Jordan’s prose, for all its good and bad points, but has streamlined, and thus improved, it.

Overall, The Gathering Storm is better than many books in the series, though nowhere near as good as the best ones. It lacks the major flaws of earlier books and has reduced the minor niggling ones to only a few occasions. And it leaves us ready, it appears, to move (let’s hope) more quickly toward the end. There’s no reason for a recommendation as — let’s face it — if you’re reading this review you’re going to be reading The Gathering Storm (if not, you really need to find a better way of entertaining yourself), but I do think The Gathering Storm will leave most readers feeling that WOT is in good hands and is pulling itself out of that hole it dug for itself. —Bill   Comments

The Gathering Storm

Since Bill has extensively reviewed The Gathering Storm (above) I'll just add a few of my impressions and address the audio version.

First of all, I'm happy to report that THE WHEEL OF TIME is slowly getting somewhere. Though The Gathering Storm is excessively and needlessly lengthy (why do I, after all this time, still need the clothing styles of each country detailed?), a few things actually happen. And a few important things! Some storylines are mercifully wrapped up and it finally appears that the "storm" is truly "gathering" and that perhaps we might actually see some rain or lightning in the next volume.

Also importantly, the transition from Robert Jordan to Brandon Sanderson has been seamless. I have no idea how much of The Gathering Storm was written by Mr. Jordan before his death, but it all felt like Mr. Jordan. A couple of times I thought I detected Brandon Sanderson in the background during the Mat chapters, but this is a good thing because I like Sanderson's sense of humor. Good job, Mr. Sanderson!

The seamless transition is mainly a good thing, but it means that most of the issues I've had with THE WHEEL OF TIME are still there — the pace is excruciatingly slow (for all the pages in this big book and all the traveling going on, there's not much overall plot movement), there are too many characters with similar names (I had to look up several of them at Encyclopedia WOT), and each of the cultures is unrealistically stereotyped (e.g., the Aiel still won't look at horses, the Domani women are seductive, etc). There are fewer braid pulls this time, though spanking is still the preferred method of punishment.

As Bill said (above), The Gathering Storm is very much like Knife of Dreams. The plot is moving toward resolution, but there's a lot of filler along the way. Bill reported that Sanderson had streamlined the prose, but honestly I couldn't detect that; it sounded the same to me. However, this may be because I was listening to The Gathering Storm on audio with the familiar voices of husband-and-wife team Michael Kramer and Kate Reading.

And speaking of the audio, here's a confession: Listening to a WHEEL OF TIME novel on audio is a massive undertaking: 33 hours of life in this case. Not only is the pace of the novel too slow, but Kramer and Reading read it too slowly, also. But I have a trick for this: I speed up the audio to 1.4 times normal speed and then it's tolerable. In fact, it sounds like a normal reading rate at this speed. I recommend the audio version if you have the capability of speeding it up. If you don't, make sure you're up to 33 hours of leisurely listening or else get the print version. —Kat   Comment