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4.5
I am still reeling from that ending. And sucker for a good ending that I am, this one earns an easy five stars; it would likely have earned them anyway.It's hard to look at the book as a whole at the moment rather than just gush about that ending, and it is increasingly hard to review these without gushing in general about a bunch of spoiler material.Lord of Chaos, the sixth installment in the Wheel of Time. I remain heavily immersed in this story and world. Though it may take a little time to really sink back in when I take a multi-book break, getting comfortable again within this world is very rewarding. In fact I noticed with this book, though it was true in some if not all of the ones before it, that the Wheel of Time rewards readers for dedicating solid chunks of time to reading it consecutively; and that reward is a more immersive experience of course. I find that I enjoy Jordan's series more when I sit down and dedicate three or four chapter's time to it; rather than when I read only one, or less even, and set it down.This book had a notably slow pace in the first half or so. It did. There was scheming, and posturing, planning, thinking, talking. Politics. This was noticeable. However it really didn't take away from my enjoyment of the story. Because while the aforementioned activities may be a bit slower, they are very interesting. Especially when those things center around Rand al'Thor, as his situation at this point in the books is just so enticing to me. He has come a long, long way from the farm boy from the Two Rivers. A long way. His chapters were truly excellent in this one, and his character growth has been the most intense, and the most believable.I was also pleased to see the girls' plot lines pick up in this installment, after a few relatively major developments. For a long time it felt like Egwene, Nynaeve, and Elayne were treading water, and shuffling their feet. But Jordan definitely has them back on track, and is steering their sections of the story in a way that is fun to read; which wasn't always the case with them, especially when compared to events like those surrounding Rand and Mat, or Perrin. Speaking of Perrin, I was glad of his re-entrance into the story (even if it did take an entire book, and a good chunk of this one as well). Nynaeve's story arc is especially interesting to me, and is building toward big things, I think, and Jordan is fleshing her out well. At the beginning of this story Nynaeve comes across as an unlikable woman full of anger, annoying almost everyone around her. Jordan gives us a bit of understanding as to her motivations, but not a lot. Now though, spending more time with her, we get a deeper understanding of her. Of her anger. Of her drives. I'm enjoying it. Egwene also has her time to shine in this one, and seemingly will have much more time to do so in the future. Elayne has yet to grow on me much; and while I'm being critical, Rand's relationship(s) is clumsily done at best. It really is. And it's just odd. It's not as strange as it could be, given the amount of foreshadowing that went into it, but still it's odd.One more down, and eight more to go, I'm left feeling like I don't have any idea where the series will go. If that is the punch that the end of the sixth book throws.. Where can it go from here? Only one way to found out.
