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4.5
As always, if I get the spellings of names and places wrong, just let me know. Don't flame, don't hate, just let me know. Thank you.As I wrote an extremely lengthy review for book two, but failed to write one for the equally mediocre book three, I will try to keep this one brief. Sorry if I’ve failed in that endeavor, but these are long books, and require long reviews. Up to this point The Wheel of Time has been a long disjointed disappointment, occasionally flashing me with brief glimpses of greatness such as the Seanchan plot line in book two, but as a whole has been one long wordy mess after another. I can only read so many chapters of long pointless descriptions strung together with horribly sexist female characters and the bland male counterparts who put up with them. Book three took a step in the right direction when it carted all the female characters off into their own plot line so I could skim over their parts. As far as I'm concerned the quality of these books is judged entirely on one thing: Mat/Perrin> Nynave/Egwene/Elayne. The more Mat and Perrin, and the less of those three wenches, the better the book. Simple.TSR starts as all Wheel books do, with an improbable and unbelievable attack by darkfriends. In this case, it’s a small army of Trollocs and Fades sneaking into the most powerful fortress in the world by hiding in barrels (yeah, barrels, You read that right) and nearly capturing the "most powerful fort in the world" for the second time in a week. Note to Jordan, if he wants me to think this Stone of Tear is so damn strong, don't make it so easy to take. Just saying. Upon the completion of the obligatory opening fight scene, Rand, Mat, and Egwene are off to the Aiel Waste to meet with the Wise Ones and hopefully raise an army while Perrin returns to Emonds Field to confront the Whitecloacks who've taken up residence there. Nynaeve /Elayne meanwhile travel to Tanchico to find the Black Ajah while Min- what little we see of her- returns to Tar Valon to help the Amyrlin Seat hunt down traitors in her midst.As I said, this book starts out like all of Jordan’s previous ones, but as page after endless page goes by (yeah, these books are way too long) the story started getting better. The further from Tear the characters traveled the better the story got. One of my all-time favorite moments in all the series takes place when Rand travels to a ruined city in the Waste and discovers the shocking truth behind the Aiel. Not since Nynaeve went through the Ter'Angreal in Tar Valon to become accepted has such an awe inspiring moment occurred (a true feat considering how long these books are). It’s truly amazing some of the backstory that went into this series. That chapter alone would earn this book at least a three even if the rest was nothing but Nynaeve tugging her braid. Not even Egwene manages to ruin it. She does make her usual annoying comments here and there, but Mat and Rand have grown accustomed to ignoring her. Good for them.Though Rand has always been the main character/Jesus figure in the series I've never really liked him. He's always come off to me as a leaf blowing about aimlessly with no real idea where he wants to go or how he would get there. People, circumstances, and simple madness tug him about and he goes along with it. TSR is the first book where he becomes a leader in his own right and starts take the story into his own hands. He even stops listening to the female characters, which in all honesty he should have done somewhere near the beginning of book two. Character growth isn't Jordan's strong suit, but at last he's decided to try.Perrins story, meanwhile, is easily my favorite. Even though it starts out pretty rough with his girlfriend Faile (the only female character I actually like) trying her best to make me unlike her, but once they get back to Emonds Field all her transgressions were quickly forgiven and I was treated to the best story arch of the entire series thus far. Trollocs and Whitecloacks infest The Two Rivers and it is up to Perrin and his merry band of plucky farm folk to fight them off. It’s a crime that we had to wait four books for an honest to God battle but we’ve finally gotten it, and it is glorious. OK, maybe the First Battle if Emonds Field wasn’t so great, but the skirmishes that proceeded it, and the siege that followed, were all grade A stuff. Not only that, but we finally see a worthwhile romantic relationship develop between the ONLY likeable-dare I say loveable- female character, Fail, and her hairy blacksmith Perrin. I cannot tell you how happy I am to have a female character I actually like. Before Fail came along I cringed every time a female in this series open her mouth. Now I only cringe when a female who isn’t Fail opens her mouth. PROGRESS.On a side note, TSR is the first book in the series to acknowledge that sex exists, and that it’s something young people might want to do. With each other. This isn’t A Song of Ice and Fire; there are few nude scenes and no sex scenes, but it really helps mature the series to at least admit sex is a thing. I half suspected people reproduced via cuddling.And then we get to the Tanchico subplot. There is a cancer in this series, a cancer eating away at its very soul. A disease that if not cut out will forever ruin any enjoyment this series might give me. I’m speaking of course about. Nynaeve, Nynaeve, Nynaeve, why is this woman still a main character? Why is she still hanging around, infecting good story lines with her crap? I swear if I have to listen to her whine and complain about how mull headed men are, or tug on her braid, or act out in that arrogant way she does, I’m going to start skipping over every chapter she appears in. I’m serious, I’m that sick of this woman. I’d take Joffery from Song of Ice and Fire over Nynaeve. That's how much I hate her. Wheelers, for the love of God, please tell me Jordan kills this woman off . I might have liked the Tanchico plot if not for her,even Elayne didn’t bother me TOO much. But my God people, did Jordan hate women or was he really just that out of touch?SPOILERBut for all the Nynaeve hate I’ve expressed, even I have to admit this book ended with a bang. From Perrins heroic last stand in the Second Battle of Emonds Field, to Rand outsmarting Lanfear, and even Nynaeve’s extremely epic magic battle with one of the Forsaken, its, dare I say, even better than the ending to book two. Hell, even Min, who only appears for a few brief chapters (well, at least what could be considered brief for a Wheel of Time book) has some really amazing moments that had me on the edge of my seat. The ending is what really gets this book a five star rating for me.In conclusion, I’m happy to see Wheel of Time finally, in my mind, drag itself out of mediocrity and become something truly great. The series as a whole may be less than stellar, but this book is amazing. Let’s hope the follow up, The Fires of Heaven, can live up to this one.
