The Dragon Reborn: Book Three of The Wheel of Time
| Date: 14 April 2011, 07:29
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Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series is legendary in its length (11 books, so far, and still not over), so why care about what happens in lowly Book 3? Because ee have some neat plot points, the overall story arc starts to crystallise, and mainly, it is the most enjoyable read of the first three books. I was reminded of Star Wars Ep. 1 - the book has a resolution of it's main plotline, but it is obvious that there is lots more of the saga to go, especially since we know that, at the end of the book, certain baddies are still on the loose.
After bringing most of the main characters together for the climax of Book 2, Jordan cleaves the group again for separate journeys to the city of Tear. Prophesy says that only the Dragon Reborn can wield the magic sword stored in the vault of that city's fortress. Some have complained that it takes a series of unbearable coincidences to get everyone to the final battle, which would be a valid complaint except that Jordan's world is designed in such a way that unbelievable coincidences can (and often do) occur, because of the overriding "will" of the Wheel of Time. This is a standard literary device, well-known to the ancient Greeks (the Fates) and Arabs (Kismet). It could potentially become a crutch, but in this book Jordan convincingly brings the threads of a number of seemingly diverse storylines together. The reason everyone ends up in Tear? - they all know (or are chasing people who know) that the Dragon Reborn will show up in Tear to claim the magic sword. It's only a matter of timing (they all arrive at the final battle simultaneously) that needs invocation of the Wheel's influence.
Curiously, this book focusses on 3 characters, two of whom are my least favourite in the series (Nynaeve, the petulant bully, and Mat, the selfish prankster). Fortunately, Jordan mostly steers clear of the constant and irritating internal editorialising by these characters that so plagued Book 2. Jordan also finally reveals Mat's "special power" (of the three "Ta'vern," we already know that Perrin can speak to wolves and Rand can channel the One Power). I will not reveal it in this review, but it is an ingenious and well-designed power that (so far) is correctly limited in its scope.
Book 1 was very good, but was clearly a travelogue to get us oriented with Jordan's world. Book 2 was a 400-page story trapped in a 600 page book, becoming unbearably repititious in places. Book 3 finally lives up to the promise of the series - we are now well underway with the adventure of the reborn Dragon.
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