| Date: 14 April 2011, 07:29
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Wow. Action, adventure, romance, mystery, humor - this book (and the entire series) has it all. I can't even begin to describe it. I love these books so much, when I'm not reading one I go through a sort of depression, in which the world around me seems drab and dull...until I pick up the next Wheel of Time book. Jordan describes everything so well, making the land rich in detail AND history/lore. You can picture the great White Tower of Tar Valon, and this image also brings to mind the history and current affairs of the Tower...it's just amazing. I've heard that Robert Jordan made ten pages of notes for each country in the Wheel of Time...and it shows! All the history is very consistent, and believable. But, don't get the idea that it bogs the books down - it's just the opposite. It makes the land much more believable and enjoyable.
You really care about the characters. Each one treats the situations he/she gets in differently - Jordan doesn't go by stereotypes, he actually creates "real" people, that are very easy to believe in and identify with. There is a large cast of characters, and each one basically has different adventures that appeal to different people. This makes the books rather complex - the Shadow Rising is the first book where all the seperate threads didn't come together at the end. But this just makes the books more interesting. For example: Some people thought Rand's adventures in the Aiel waste were the best scenes in the book. I didn't like them at all, and would have found them pretty boring if Moiraine hadn't been there. (Moiraine's my favorite character.) Instead, I was hooked on Elayne and Nynaeve's quest in Tanchico.
There are three main plotlines in this book, with a fourth (Min and the White Tower) popping up occasionally...which was funny, because I thought that was more important to the series as a whole then, oh say, Perrin's adventures in Emond's Field: population 10. But there were several good battles with Perrin and Faile - the last one brought tears to my eyes, and the note he left her was sooo sweet! All four are all resolved (somewhat) at the end, but like I said before - they aren't connected.
Once again, there were several humorous scenes in this book. Incredibly, I heard some people complaining about them, saying that they're "immature" and a "waste of time." I, personally, am very glad that Jordan puts them in, because they certainly help you care about the characters more. Remember that this is a STORY, not a TEXTBOOK. If Jordan suddenly made every character not make ANY mistakes, and ALWAYS say just the right thing, then the series would get drab and dull, fast.
The Wheel of Time books are the best that I've ever read. But if you haven't read the first three, then by all means do so now, because they MUST be read in the right order to get the best enjoyment out of them. And if you choose not to read them at all? It's a pity, because you're missing out on the best fantasy series (no, the best series, period) ever created.
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