Rage in the Page: Three Stories for the Price of One

Saturday, May 07, 2011

Title: The Shadow Rising (a.k.a. the longest book in the Wheel of Time series)
Author: Robert Jordan

Well, this book was so long (and I lost the first part of April to doing our taxes) that I didn't finish it in the month allotted. I'm only a week behind though, and ready to start flying through The Fires of Heaven (which is almost as long).

So, let's see, what happened in this massive book....

SPOILERS

Word reaches Rand, Mat, and Perrin that Whitecloaks (devout hunters who root out followers of the Dark One - in the extreme) are besieging their hometown, Emond's Field. Rand has other plans to follow through, and Mat is drawn to follow him, which leaves Perrin to journey to the Two Rivers and defend their town. Perrin feels it is his fault that the Whitecloaks are invading - they are looking for him because he killed several of them and they have concluded he is a Darkfriend (follower of the Dark One). Faile, Loial, Gaul, Chiad, and Bain go with him (the latter 3 are Aiel).

Rand and Mat travel to Rhuidean, the sacred city of the Aiel located in the Waste (a dessert where only Aiel reside). Rand goes to prove he is the Aiel's long-awaited "He Who Comes with the Dawn" and Mat goes because these weird people whom he spoke to when he went through a ter'angreal (magical thing that uses the One Power - in this case, kind of a portal) told him he had to.

Nynaeve and Elayne head to Tanchico where they suspect that thirteen Aes Sedai of the Black Ajah are up to no good. Along the way they run into Egeanin, whom they befriend before discovering that she is a member of an enemy people. Realizing she is not that much different than they are, they stick together and she helps them out of a tight spot.

The book ends with climax after climax after climax as first Perrin, then Elayne and Nynaeve, and finally Rand work to accomplish what they set out to do.

All in all, another excellent book. Jordan jumps between the different plot lines, but not so much so that I can't remember what is happening in each. I remember this becoming an issue in books 5 and 6, so we'll see how that goes.

Labels: epic, fantasy, series