The Shadow Rising by Robert Jordan

Genre: Epic Fantasy Main characters: Rand al’Thor, Nynaeve al’Meara, Egwene al’Vere, Perrin Aybara, Al’Lan Mandragoran, Matrim Cauthon, Moiraine Damodred, Min Farshaw, Elayne Trakand, Aviendha, Siuan Sanche, Faile Bashere Time and place: a fantasy world, of course First sentence: “The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend.” Summary: The Stone of Tear has fallen in Aiel hands, and now Rand is the ruler supreme. After reading all he could regarding the Dragon Reborn prophecies, he has decided to go to the Aiel lands himself, in order to find support there. The three girls, Elayne, Nynaeve and Elayne, are still hot on the tracks of the Black Ajah, and they decide they should head to Tanchico, as one of the captured Aes Sedai told them about a plot being hatched there. However Egwene does not go with them, because, when visiting Tel’aran’rhiod she met at last a woman who seemed to know the rules of that strange world, and the woman was Aiel. Last but not least, the Two Rivers are said to be threatened by the Children of the Light that have come there searching for one Perrin Aybara, so Perrin decides to drop everything and go home to surrender, in hopes of saving as many of the lives of his former neighbors as possible.

This has been the longest book so far. I am not sure about the number of pages (although there’s over 1000 of them too), but it definitely took me the longest time to read. A far cry from the first book that I have nearly devoured, I didn’t have any problem in putting this book down, and forgetting to pick it back up now and then. A bit sad for me, as, while I knew the series were going to become boring later on, I hoped it will not happen or at least will not happen this soon.

At least I do love the complexity of the characters. Although my oh my, there are so many of them it’s getting hard to keep track of at times. I always love seeing the old ones, seeing how they have grown and developed, but truth be told I am starting to get a bit overwhelmed about the fact that new ones always pop up. I don’t think I have ever read another book/series with that many characters, and I don’t think it will stop here either. Which isn’t to say I don’t like it, of course.

Speaking of the characters, here are my thoughts on them, grouped by plot thread/destination:
The Tanchico party
Tanchico sounds like an awful city, and I am not sure I understand why that is. People are always coming and always trying to leave (or at least that’s how I understood it). But why are people coming since everything is so bad there? Also, the idea of veiled men was quite novel and I had fun imagining them.

Elayne: I liked her a bit less in this book. She didn’t do anything to make me dislike her but she lacked the sense of humor I thought she displayed in the previous books. I like the way she applies her knowledge in the matter of ruling people. A promising character, but she’s starting to behave a bit like (the part I don’t like of) Nynaeve(‘s) at times.

Nynaeve: My feelings towards her have not changed. At least she stopped being that obsessed with Moiraine. I still find her temper a bit annoying, as it flares up sometimes with no actual reason. At least I very much liked the way we parted from her (she very hopeful about making her relationship with Lan work).

Egeanin: New character, so far very promising and cool. She can fight and she is also the owner of a sharp mind and collected wits. I’m looking forward to see how she’ll develop in the future (she’s a Seanchan and as such things are bound to get interesting around her).

Thom Merrilin: A very interesting character. I very much like the idea of a person well versed in the Game of the Houses, and playing it masterfully, at that. Who would have thought it when we first met him :)

Tar Valon
One of the most interesting aspects, especially as it very much affects the fates of everyone, and none of the other characters has any idea of it.

Min: Her name is actually Elmindreda :) :) I like her and I liked her in this book too. She had way too little “screen time” for my taste.

Siuan Sanche: The part regarding her interested me the most in this book and is the one I am most curious about in the future books. I wasn’t that impressed with Siuan before, but after this book I positively love her.

Logain: I have found him interesting ever since first meeting him in the first book, and I am glad to see there’s still a place for him in the future books. Looking forward to see how he’ll develop too.

The Two Rivers
I was of course very happy to get to see that place (and some of the people, Tam included) again, and in reality not in someone’s visions or dreams. The place seems to be changing too, its quiet life interrupted, and I am kinda feeling sorry for it because I liked it very much the way it was before.

Perrin: I like Perrin a lot, he’s one of my favorite characters, and this goes for this book too. Here he is the ultimate reluctant hero, and yet he manages to lead his people to victory each and every time.

Loial: I also like Loial a lot but his character seems to be not developing at all, as he’s practically unchanged. He still reads and writes a lot, and I’ll always like him for that though :)

Gaul: Promising. I’d like to see him again.

Faile: There are no words to say how annoyed I was by Faile’s behaviour at the beginning of the book. If I could have slapped her, I would have. As the book progressed and her stubbornness wore off, I started liking her again (with a bit of reserve this time though). But Perrin loves her so she must be good, I keep thinking.

Aram: I really did not like him at first, but now that he’s turned into a capable warrior he just might get interesting enough.

The Three-fold Land
For some reason my least favorite part in the book (and since it’s the longest it might explain the fact that this book is my least favorite so far). I did find interesting the way Rand was shown things in Rhuidean, by being sent in the minds of the people farther and farther back in time. Speaking of which, the world before the Breaking seems to have been quite cool: the Aiel being a peaceful people, singing to their crops in order for them to grow, and following the Way of the Leaf; not to mention there were flying machines and a sort of cars too. Speaking of the Aiel, I loved their expression “dancing the spears”, meaning fighting, and also their pet name between husband and wife, “shade of my heart” — because, of course, every people holds dear that that they have little of; this reminded me of the way the Shienaran always mentioned peace.

Rand: Oficially the Dragon Reborn, by now he is accepting his fate, and I love the way he’s trying to make the best of it both for him and for everyone else involved. He has changed a lot and became more mysterious, and I am not sure whether I liked him more before or I like him the way he is now. I’m looking forward to see what happens to him next. He is a bit flighty when women are involved, but that may be because he doesn’t have his heart set on anyone just yet.

Mat: Ooooh, I so like what Mat has become. All the ancient memories in his head, and his familiarity with the Old Tongue are very promising and cool. And there’s a prophecy stating he’ll marry a Seanchan princess! I cannot wait :) (well, he’s still quite shallow, thinking mostly on dice and pretty women, but now he has some interesting traits too).

Aviendha: Her motivations are quite unclear to me so I cannot decide whether I like her or not.

Egwene: Nothing new regarding her. As always, I love her thirst for knowledge, and the fact that she’s starting to get the hang of Tel’aran’rhiod is so much for the better.

Moiraine: Not up to her usual things, in this book she simply follows the Dragon Reborn wherever he goes. Same goes for Lan.

Lanfear: I find her quite cool because of her not being fully pledged to one side or another. Sure, she has sworn loyalty to the Dark One, but she’s also very much in love with Lews Therin/Rand and so she even helps him a bit now and then. I love the fact that she’s neither fully negative nor positive.

Asmodean/Jasin Natael: One of the Forsaken, who now has no choice but to be teaching Rand what he needs to know to survive. I love the idea and I’m very curious to see how his (Jasin’s) feelings will develop next.

In this book I have managed to discern, at last, the way people felt about the Aes Sedai — up until now I didn’t quite get the way the people of Tar Valon were both proud about Aes Sedai being there but also afraid of them — but this sentence explains it very well: “There was a difference between being proud of a grand fireplace in your hall and walking into the flames.”

Also, here’s a quote that I liked:

“Moiraine sometimes talked of the complexity of Age Lace, the Pattern of an Age, woven by the Wheel of Time from the thread of human lives. If the ancestors of the Cairhienin had not allowed the Aiel to have water three thousand years ago, then Cairhien would never have been given the right to use the Silk Path across the Waste, with a cutting from Avendesora for a pledge. No pledge, and King Laman would have had no Tree to cut down; there would have been no Aiel War; and he could not have been born on the side of Dragonmount to be carried off and raised in the Two Rivers. How many more points like that had there been, where a single decision one way or another affected the weave of the Pattern for thousands of years? A thousand times a thousand tiny branching points, a thousand times that many, all twitching the Pattern into a different design. He himself was a walking branching point, and maybe Mat and Perrin, too. What they did or did not do would send ripples ahead through the years, through the Ages.”

Thoughts on the ending: Up until now all endings had the whole cast gathered in the same place, although they spent the whole book wandering in different directions. A thing that I have very much liked, because it allowed them to exchange information, so that they all started the next book knowing everything there was to know. With this book the situation has changed, the character remaining in their locations even after their part of the plot was done. While this does not particularly bother me, I worry a bit about having to keep track of who knows what at the beginning of Book the Five.

What I liked most: The “bubbles of evil”, as Moiraine explained it, for their cinematic value. The cards growing and attacking Mat was one of my favorites, and Rand being attacked by his reflections, big or small, was another.

What I liked least: That was most likely a personal problem, but I had a hard time trying to keep track of all the Aiel tribes, and who was who. I had no problem with the Aiel characters, but whenever they started mentioning tribes I got confused. Well, hopefully it will become somewhat clearer in some future book :)

Recommend it to? Anyone who has read the previous three books and enjoys the Wheel of Time universe. Do not get discouraged by what I wrote so far as I have seem many people declaring this book their favorite in the series.

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This book is a sequel to:
The Eye of the World | The Great Hunt | The Dragon Reborn

Next in the series:
The Fires of Heaven | Lord of Chaos | A Crown of Swords


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