The Shadow Rising

As I read these books, each one is getting progressively better! I will do my best to make a spoiler free review! First off I want to say that the history of the Aiel was an amazing read. I started putting pieces together before I reached the end of it and I went, no way! I love how Jordan went into great detail because it helped me understand their culture better. They have a very complex honor structure that I am still puzzling out a bit though. The transformation Rand is undergoing both in power and the way he thinks/manipulates is startling when I think back to who he was in book one. I at first found his storyline boring, but it certainly has picked up the pace! A few characters are beginning to annoy me, Elayne being one of them. She is supposed to be the daughter-heir yet still acts like a love sick puppy when it comes to Rand. Her overall disposition is grating on my nerves, including how she deals with Nynaeve. Egwene is another who is beginning to annoy me. She acts like a spoiled brat thinking she can get away with whatever she wants. I was glad to see her begin training under a few new teachers who I hope will teach her respect. She sorely lacks any of it, then again most women in this series do at least when it comes to males. Then we have Nynaeve, seeing the ability she has now with her block in place, holy crap! I would love to see what she can do if she ever lets go of the block. At first I did not like her, but she is at least starting to learn control over her anger in certain situations. Her character still has a long way to go I think. I would have to say the character I am most interested in however is Mat. I want to know more about the consequences for his actions in the waste and what changes are going to occur. I also am curious as to the purpose of his newly acquired accessories. Then we have Perrin. His story kept me on the edge of my seat, fearing that he would not prevail, and I smiled when he found his love for Faile. I want to know more about Faile and what Perrin has gotten himself into now! A very long book but a good read. I can't wait to start the next!

Het wordt moeilijker en moeilijker om iets over de Wheel of Time-boeken te zeggen zonder spoilers boven spoilers te doen, maar alla.

Rand al'Thor heeft een belangrijk element van de voorspellingen rond de Dragon Reborn vervuld. Hij en Mat (met Egwene en Moiraine mee) gaan naar het thuisland van de Aiel, terwijl Perrin terug naar hun geboortedorp gaat, en Emayne en Nynaeve op jacht naar slechteriken gaan. 

Volgt nog wat uitdieping van personages, en van de wereld waarin de personages zich bewegen, met een Age of Legends die –kijk nu!– zowaar technologisch blijkt geweest te zijn, met wolkenkrabbers en vliegtuigen en auto's, komt meer en meer tot zijn recht.

Wat tot ver in boek twee een onhandige afgeleide van Lord of the Rings leek, krijgt er nu bovendien meer en meer aspecten van Dune bij.

De Aiel zijn de Fremen (compleet met de Zensunni achtergrond, spoiler!), de Aiel Wise Ones zijn zowat één op één de Fremen Reverend Mothers (compleet met de complexe relatie met Aes Sedai / Bene Gesserit), Rand is ook eigenlijk een Kwisatz Haderach (compleet met het aspect “gekweekt voor de positie, spoiler!). Oh, en het speelt zich ook af in de woestijn en zo, met waterreserves onder de grond, met Aiel in Sietch-achtige gemeenschappen, etc., etc.

Boek vier sluit volledig naadloos aan op boek drie, en zo heb ik het ook gelezen: als één boek. Spannend en geen moment vervelend.

Ik houd mijn hart vast voor het vervolg.

If by the end of book 4, you find that the author is managing to still make sense then that in itself is a huge achievement. Robert not only makes sense but he is sure and steadily unfolding the over arching plot. We now know that the forsaken will have a role and that there is a reason that there are three Tavernan. We follow three separate trails in this one but unlike the previous iterations, these three do not converge to one place. We dig deeper into some characters and some are hardly mentioned (eg Lan). Yet its a highly satisfying book and a slow but sure filling of the holes in the ages. Onward!

Sigh For some reason I thought I was signing on for a trilogy, but this is getting long. I'll keep going, to see how the whole thing ends, but I'm afraid I'll have to endure several thousand more mentions of “skirts divided for riding” (Ooo, fancy!), “arms crossed beneath breasts” (can't a woman just cross her arms, already?), and more “Women!—geez!” from the menfolk and “Men!—geez!” from the women. Oh, and more of these episodes:
“Things sure are dangerous— we'd better be really really careful!”
“Right! Careful!”
“I wonder why X is acting so strangely?”
“Eh, probably nothing.”
Oh well, the price I pay for curiosity, I guess.

Book 4 is something like book 3. There are hints of what's to come (referring to the tedium warning I mentioned in book 1 review). The plot and storyline advance at different paces in the book. The number of characters that are now present as well as the number of plot lines that are going on at the same time is starting to become difficult to juggle, for both the reader and, seemingly, the author. There have been hints of that in book 3 and it's more obvious here - resolutions to critical problems just so happens to present itself conveniently. It's like a cheap surprise plot twist. Once in a while is ok, but it's starting to become rather often - felt like the author suddenly had to tie certain things together and didn't plan far ahead enough. Anyway, aside from the sometimes slow pacing and the jumping around the plot lines, there has been great character development for the main male characters - interesting stuff that makes for a good read; it just needs to be read with a little patience.