The Dragon Reborn

by Robert Jordan

Other authorsDarrell K. Sweet (Cover artist), Thomas Canty (Maps), Elissa Martin (Illustrator), Matthew C. Nielsen (Illustrator), Carol Russo (Cover designer)
Hardcover, 1991-11

Status

Available

Call number

PS3560.O7617 D7

Publication

Tor Fantasy (New York, 1991). 1st edition, 1st printing. 624 pages. $22.95.

Description

Fiction. Science Fiction. When the Dark One's forces attack Rand's encampment, Rand loses his nerve, escaping under the cover of battle. After a journey of soul-searching and self-discovery, Rand emerges as the Dragon Reborn â?? able to touch the One Power, yet unable to control a force that will eventually drive him mad. Before it does, Rand must battle the Dark One to the death. He must marshal the courage to accept his calling. All civilization depends on

User reviews

LibraryThing member atimco
The Dragon Reborn, third in Robert Jordan's epic Wheel of Time series, has yet more sprawling storylines, cultures, and quests. The action this time revolves around Callandor, a sword that only the Dragon can pluck from its place in the Stone of Tear. This very Arthurian sword-in-the-stone motif
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doesn't preclude plenty of other plotlines, however. Perrin, Moiraine, and Loial are chasing Rand, who abandoned the Shienaran camp early in the story. Nynaeve, Egwene, and Elayne are commissioned by the Amyrlin Seat herself to hunt down the Black Ajah and events lead them to Tear, just in time for Rand to claim Callandor. Mat is there too, trailed by an uncanny string of luck and doing his best to convince himself he's not concerned about anyone but himself. Mmhmm.

A lot happens for the characters in this installment. Rand is finally beginning to accept that he is indeed the Dragon Reborn — though that doesn't mean he trusts Moiraine and the other Aes Sedai a single bit more than he did before. Though Rand is the title character, he is distant in this book; most of the story is told from the perspectives of other characters. Much of it is Mat, which is a lot of fun as we haven't seen his perspective really at all in the first two books. He is finally fully healed from from the corruption of the Shadar Logoth blade — it's about time! Elayne and Egwene pass through the arches at the White Tower and we see how their experiences in the previous book shape their characters now. We have more new characters, as usual. I think Faile will turn out quite well; she has some engaging flaws and makes a nice counterpart to Perrin.

Events thicken in the larger world: the Forsaken are starting to take an active part in the story rather than being whispered rumors. Add to this assassination plots, skirmishes with the Children of the Light, the World of Dreams, the revelation that the Aiel are the People of the Dragon, and you have a classic Robert Jordan fantasy. This really is more of the same as the first two books, and whether or not that sounds like a negative observation depends on how much you like Jordan's epic style. I think I would be happy to immerse myself in it, were it not for some disturbing polygamous relationships looming ahead (yep, I've inadvertently bumped into some spoilers). So I'm hesitant to jump in too deeply, in case I should wish to get back to shore...

I read too fast. This is a complicated series, but this is just the third book and already the plotlines are blurring together for me. I will need to make a concerted effort to slow my pace; there's just too much going on to blaze through. It will be interesting to see where things go from here. The Shadow Rising, here I come!
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LibraryThing member AdamBourke
This has to be the best book in the series so far. Although there is still a prologue, it is much more readable and integral to the plot of the book than in the second in the series (although the prologue of that book is relavant to the plot of this one). Other than that there seems to be a pattern
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developing here, fulfill a prophecy and defeat the dark one. For that we'll have to wait until book four for more information.

In this book, as well written as the others if not better, there is everything that a fantasy of this kind should have; magic, swordery and political strife. Although it doesn't quite get 10/10, since I was able to put it down to do other things, this is amongst the best epic fantasy books i've read. It sets a high standard for future authors to reach for, and which few have reached in the genre. I eagerly look forward to reading the next books.

Apologies for the shorter review here, but it's difficult to describe the thrill of the story in this book. Read it, and you will understand. This is one of the first times I have been unable to say much about a book, and to be frank, I hope to be in this position again in the series...
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LibraryThing member kayceel
Rand al'Thor must seize Callandor - a powerful sa'angreal prophesied to herald the Dragon Reborn - in order to declare himself, but there are a hell of a lot of distractions and roadblocks in his way...

In this third book in the Wheel of Time series, things start moving along more quickly, though
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all the characters seem to be scattered all over the map. The Amrylin Seat herself sends Nynaeve and Egwene after the Black Ajah (and ultimately into Tear, with Elayne along, of course); Mat runs from Tar Valon with a letter for the queen of Andor from Elayne and begins to discover just how lucky her really is; Perrin, with Moiraine, Lan and Loyal, chases after Rand, fearing for his life, and meets the "falcon" about whom Min has warned him; and we meet more of the Aiel, whom I adore.

Things are becoming much more sinister: more Black Ajah, more Forsaken, and the Seanchan are gearing up for another shot at invading.

I love this series!

Recommended.
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LibraryThing member NicolBolas
This book picks up the story from The Great Hunt almost seamlessly. The book hints at even more possibilities and twists. Rand is hardly present in this self-titled book! Lanfear is not the only Forsaken loose, and we are introduced to many new aspects of the shadow. The Forsaken seem like they are
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rebelling against Shai Tan, the dark one, Ba’alzamon. This book is a race to retrieve Callandor. However, the campanions from Emond’s Field, separated and scattered about the globe find themselves together by the end of the text. The world of dreams is further explored by Perrin in his “wolf-dreams” (accompanied by Hopper his wolf friend that died protecting him in book two), and Egwene, with a ter-angreal ring made of twisted stone, explores the limits of the dream world Ter al athoid. The majority of the action revolves around Matt and the three younger women (Nynaeve, Egwene, and Elayne).

The action was slow, and with the exception of introductions to new pieces of legend or magical beasts, mostly boring character development fills the seven hundred pages of this fantasy brick. New additions include Grey men and Darkhounds. The Darkhounds are more interesting, being oversized hell-hounds that are harder to kill than Myrddraal (the eyeless half-men) and even more deadly. Grey men are almost totally normal, they are soulless, and they are the dark one’s personal assassins.

I think the reason I was so disappointed in this book is that Matt adnt he three girls were the main characters…not Rand. Rand made very brief appearances and I missed him as a character. On the bright side, Matt is much more interesting now. The three girls become more powerful, yet still pretty darn snippy. It was an “OK” read, but very disappointing compared to the first two in the series. I will have to shelve this series for a while.
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LibraryThing member DWWilkin
As I go through my 2009 reread before the publication of the Gathering Storm, I have been noting how this series really could have been the Trilogy we were led to believe that it was going to be. Let me reiterate that concept. Those of us who were there when the books were initially released back
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in 1990 to begin with, had hoped that such a series with so much depth would have been finished in 3 books.

Here in book 3 you can still see how that is possible, but you can also see how the ever growing popularity led away from that. There is a giant world that Jordan created and as we continue on we begin to believe that the man wanted to ensure that every country, every culture got some time on the page. As he was getting a great deal of money for the success of his writing he let this go to his head.

He committed the sin of Vanity. How else do you account for his constant saying RAFO when many readers tear apart sentences and individual words looking for clues. Clues that it seems obvious after his death that he had no idea where he was going in many parts of the story.

With a critical eye to my many previous impressions of this book, I see its faults. Where was our protagonist. Throughout most of the book the story builds up the secondary characters and leaves out the main hero from the previous two books.

The final battle, another final battle, once again has the hero thinking he kills the ultimate evil once more. Well, with a few more pages of writing that could have been the case. Instead we have writing that adds new prophecy that was not in The Eye of The World and thus gives Jordan the reasons he seeks to continue the story. But again that was a mercenary decision.

So having got the qualms out of the way. The discussion of how this series could have ended at 3 books and between 2000 and 2500 pages, a very respectable page count. How the writer with trying to include so much detail ends up contradicting the details, what is wonderful about this book and series.

Well we do see the world from the eyes of the secondary characters who now become protagonists also. The series becomes so large that each of the characters become major protagonists with their own full stories within the entirety of the encompassing series.

We find a world so rich and vibrant that it is like traveling throughout Europe and finding many cultures that are different and giving you the feeling that you have visited each one. Not like a homogenized America where it is just shades of color of the same thing.

You get such a large perspective that you find that within the whole of the series, this book works to further the series. As a stand alone book, not many of these will hold up. But if you had one series to read and reread, this is still by far the best fantasy series to do so.

Briefly the story takes us from where our Hero, Rand has come to terms with being the ultimate Good guy destined to fight the ultimate Bad guy to dealing with the rest of the road that will take him to the final battle. He runs away from his friends and companions to go face the next part of the prophecy on his own. His friends Mat, Perrin, Nyneave, Egwene and all the others, have adventures of their own but all roads lead to Tear.

Are those stories that turn our secondary characters into major characters worth their own book. Well for the many who dropped the series because it would not ever end, perhaps not. But for everyone else who has the patience and puts the effort in, their is no disappointment with the material we are actually given. This is a series that is worth reading. And thus this book is a great part of the Wheel of Time Canon.
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LibraryThing member PaddySheridan
Boring and repetitive. I now realise that this 10 book fantasy saga should have been a trilogy. What a disappointment and indeed a rip-off. I won't be reading any further books in this series.
LibraryThing member molliewatts
Rand al'Thor has been proclaimed the Dragon Reborn, but not everyone knows or believes. In Tear, where channeling and anything to do with the One Power is outlawed, lies the Heart of Stone, an impregnable fortress housing the mysterious sword Callandor - the taking of Callandor and the fall of the
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Stone are two of the many signs of the return of the Dragon. It is to Tear that Rand travels alone, abandoning the friends he fears to harm, along the way battling the forces of the Dark, both in his dreams and in real life. Moiraine, Lan, and Perrin follow Rand to Tear, hoping to meet him there. On the other side of the world, Egwene, Nynaeve, and Elayne are in the White Tower training as Accepted, but soon they find themselves journeying to Tear, as well, on the trail of the Black Ajah and most certainly headed for a trap.

Jordan's third book in his Wheel of Time series finds the cast of characters again traveling the world over as they move ever forward in their destinies of fighting the Shadow. Rand is still conflicted, as are Perrin and Matt, but all three seem to be slowly succombing to their fates. New characters are introduced, such as the Aiel, who will play much bigger roles in the coming books.
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LibraryThing member JechtShot
The Wheel of Time spins hastily onwards... The Dragon Reborn is the third installment in Robert Jordan's fantasy series. In this novel, the main characters split off into three groups very early on and we follow them until the requisite character convergence occurs for the final epic battle. I was
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a bit disappointed that the focus shifts away from Rand al'Thor for a great majority of the story, but the book still delivers. Next stop: The Shadow Rising.
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LibraryThing member opinion8dsngr
While still interesting and worth reading, this episode in the series just didn't seem as entertaining as the first, second, and fourth (no word on the later issues yet). Still, it does introduce some new characters and character developments and is a necessary stepping stone, so make of it what
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you will.
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LibraryThing member DaddyPupcake
I enjoyed this book and couldn't wait to finish it to start on the next book in the series. I was surprised that the book didn't really deal that much with Rand, but rather the actions of the others from Emond's Field. I am looking forward to seeing how the people in Jordan's fantasy world will
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view Rand now that he will be more well known as the Dragon Reborn.
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LibraryThing member rbtwinky
Not as enjoyable as The Great Hunt for my third time through. I enjoyed seeing so much of Perrin and his perdicament with Faile. The girls from the White Tower were less of a draw this time, although it's nice to see them on the hunt for the Black Ajah, and to try to figure out who is and who
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isn't. Also, the final event in the Stone made a lot more sense to me this time (again because of slowing down I think).
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LibraryThing member jpsnow
Book three in the Wheel of Time series. The characters succeed in separate adventures, ultimately meeting together again at the end.
LibraryThing member Karlstar
This is the 3rd book in the original Wheel of Time series. The action starts to pick up here, as Rand and his companions start striking at the Aiel, the Forsaken, and various other enemies. There's still many factions, many personalities, and many characters to develop. This is epic fantasy on a
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truly epic scale, and very well done.
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LibraryThing member SonicQuack
The Dragon Reborn is an intimidatng fantasy book to emerge yourself in unless you've read the previous Wheel of Time books. Although the first fifty pages are a disguised recap, I'd seriously suggest starting with book one. The second book meandered along the story and in retrospect it was really a
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great set up for book three. Here we follow the divergent storylines of the company, which is fragmented and either running towards danger, running away from it, or just plain creating it. There's more urgent feel to the story here, especially in the last third of the book, where the entwined lives of the chracters create a web which draws the reader in. It's well written fantasy, further enlarging a world in which an epic battle between good and evil rages and creates a feeling of dread not apparent in the earlier books. It closes off a central storyline, to ensure the series is not just teasing the reader, and creates some more hooks which will leave you anticipating the following books.
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LibraryThing member EssFair
Looks like the series is not going to be a trilogy.
LibraryThing member whiskerkid
Epic. Thats the only words I have to describe it. A work so in depth and vast, Jordan must have been looking in on it from the sky, like a kid staring at ants. Jordan was a master of fantasy, and the world is all the more dull without him.
LibraryThing member SRumzi
I listened to this part of the Saga on tape also. Wonderfully dark and inspiring at the same time. It was exciting and the pace was good steady and very enjoyable. Loved it. I have not gone past this one. Still have the rest to read.
LibraryThing member darcy36
It was good, but not as satisfying as the others. I'm sure that has to do with the fact that, being the third book in a very long series, it is a part of the rising action of the series, so it can have no real resolution at the end. I found the characters' separation from each other and Rand's
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almost total disappearance from most of the story to be dissatisfying. Everyone seemed so unhappy and dispirited. Even the three girls, who did stay together, are experiencing conflict within their relationships, which adds to the sense of isolation in the book. Well, on to Book Four!
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LibraryThing member DWWilkin
As I go through my 2009 reread before the publication of the Gathering Storm, I have been noting how this series really could have been the Trilogy we were led to believe that it was going to be. Let me reiterate that concept. Those of us who were there when the books were initially released back
Show More
in 1990 to begin with, had hoped that such a series with so much depth would have been finished in 3 books.

Here in book 3 you can still see how that is possible, but you can also see how the ever growing popularity led away from that. There is a giant world that Jordan created and as we continue on we begin to believe that the man wanted to ensure that every country, every culture got some time on the page. As he was getting a great deal of money for the success of his writing he let this go to his head.

He committed the sin of Vanity. How else do you account for his constant saying RAFO when many readers tear apart sentences and individual words looking for clues. Clues that it seems obvious after his death that he had no idea where he was going in many parts of the story.

With a critical eye to my many previous impressions of this book, I see its faults. Where was our protagonist. Throughout most of the book the story builds up the secondary characters and leaves out the main hero from the previous two books.

The final battle, another final battle, once again has the hero thinking he kills the ultimate evil once more. Well, with a few more pages of writing that could have been the case. Instead we have writing that adds new prophecy that was not in The Eye of The World and thus gives Jordan the reasons he seeks to continue the story. But again that was a mercenary decision.

So having got the qualms out of the way. The discussion of how this series could have ended at 3 books and between 2000 and 2500 pages, a very respectable page count. How the writer with trying to include so much detail ends up contradicting the details, what is wonderful about this book and series.

Well we do see the world from the eyes of the secondary characters who now become protagonists also. The series becomes so large that each of the characters become major protagonists with their own full stories within the entirety of the encompassing series.

We find a world so rich and vibrant that it is like traveling throughout Europe and finding many cultures that are different and giving you the feeling that you have visited each one. Not like a homogenized America where it is just shades of color of the same thing.

You get such a large perspective that you find that within the whole of the series, this book works to further the series. As a stand alone book, not many of these will hold up. But if you had one series to read and reread, this is still by far the best fantasy series to do so.

Briefly the story takes us from where our Hero, Rand has come to terms with being the ultimate Good guy destined to fight the ultimate Bad guy to dealing with the rest of the road that will take him to the final battle. He runs away from his friends and companions to go face the next part of the prophecy on his own. His friends Mat, Perrin, Nyneave, Egwene and all the others, have adventures of their own but all roads lead to Tear.

Are those stories that turn our secondary characters into major characters worth their own book. Well for the many who dropped the series because it would not ever end, perhaps not. But for everyone else who has the patience and puts the effort in, their is no disappointment with the material we are actually given. This is a series that is worth reading. And thus this book is a great part of the Wheel of Time Canon.
Show Less
LibraryThing member draigwen
This is the third book in the series and I found quite disappointing compared to the first two. I began to find I didn't really care about half the characters and only one or two did I really like. It was still a good book though, and I look forward to the next one. It just follows after two
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excellent books and had a lot to live up to.
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LibraryThing member towo
A further novel in the Wheel of Time series, and as gripping as the previous. No noticable improvements in style, again motives of uncertainty and things of novelty, the like. Not much to say here; read it if you've read the previous novels, or leave it and start reading "The Eye of the Wold".
LibraryThing member mattries37315
When one sees the title, The Dragon Reborn, one instantly thinks that Rand al'Thor will once again provide the majority of perspective of how the story is viewed by the characters. However, Robert Jordan throws the readers a curve by hardly allowing us to see through Rand's eyes until the climax of
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the book. As a result The Dragon Reborn gives us a grander sense of the story that Jordan is writing as Egwene, Perrin, and Mat dominate the book to show that as the whole epic progresses they will have a majority impact on events.

While some that have reviewed this book dislike the turn from Rand, I think it was a masterful move because we learn that the Dark One's forces are growing in numbers and dangers from Black Ajah to more Foresaken on the loose. Focusing the majority of the book on Rand would have made these revelations come out of the blue without much explanation or forced into exposition. Instead we're treated with Egwene navigating the World of Dreams, Perrin's internal battle with his wolf-self along externally with Faile, and to finally see things through Mat's eyes and get his perspective of everything that has happened. None of these dominating new points-of-view undermine the story

Given how fast I raced through this book and how fun it was to read, I recommend this book!
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LibraryThing member BooksForDinner
This was the last of the series that I thought was excellent. Started to stretch after this.
LibraryThing member JeremyPreacher
The Dragon Reborn is almost - almost - the third book of a trilogy. It wraps up the major emotional arc of the first three books - Rand dealing with his identity - and gives us some great moments for all of the characters.

Note: In general, I can't review this series with any objectivity. I've been
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reading it since I was eleven years old, and it's thoroughly embedded in my brain.
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LibraryThing member davebessom
Currently re-reading this one, in conjunction with Leigh Butler's WoT Re-read blog over on Tor.com.

Awards

Audie Award (Finalist — Fantasy — 2024)
Science Fiction Book Club Award (Nominee — Book of the Year — 1992)

Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

1991-09-15

Physical description

595 p.; 9.5 x 6.5 inches

ISBN

0312852487 / 9780312852481

Local notes

Embossed on title page under pencilled "9/91": "Library of Teri L. DeFrancisco"
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