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Fiction. Science Fiction. HTML:The Wheel of Time turns, and Robert Jordan delivers the eleventh volume of his extraordinary masterwork of fantasy�?� The dead are walking, men die impossible deaths, and it seems as though reality itself has become unstable: All are signs of the imminence of the Last Battle, when Rand al'Thor, the Dragon Reborn, confronts the Dark One as humanity's only hope. But Rand dare not fight until he possesses all the surviving seals on the Dark One's prison, and until he has dealt with the Seanchan, who threaten to overrun all nations this side of the Aryth Ocean. The winds of time have become a storm, and things that everyone believes are fixed in place forever are changing before their eyes. Not even the White Tower itself is any longer a place of safety. Now Rand, Perrin and Mat, Egwene and Elayne, Nynaeve and Lan, and even Loial, must ride those storm winds, or the Dark One will triumph. "Robert Jordan has come to dominate the world Tolkien began to reveal." �??The New York Time… (more)
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During this reading, I was focusing on the details. There are many side- and sub-plots to this series. Jordan certainly has an effective way of moving from scene to scene in a manner that is effective, rather then jarring. (As compared to, say, Martin's Fire and Ice series. I'm not sure what quality of his writing it is that bugs me, but every change of scene there makes me feel like it's a whole new book.) Perhaps it's the way Jordan blends people from different groups into some of the same scenes, though various means, be it the dreams of the women, or the "colors" that have entered the latest books through the men. It's just a much more smooth transisition each time.
I'm enjoying the way that many lines are being tied, while others are continuing and even a few beginning. I'm going to hate to see the end of this book, and, honestly, I don't get the feeling at all that it's being "dragged on". I'm much more worried that as the end nears, too many lines will have unfinished or rushed endings... An abrupt, pasted-together final book, just to have an END, would be a disappointment after such a wonderful series.
While there were negatives, one being unnecessary padding early in the book, they were quickly forgotten as events in the book picked up. Of the last four books before Knife of Dreams, only Winter's Heart provided anything substantial (at least to me) while the others seemed mostly a collection of story lines with little happening. With Knife of Dreams, events seemed to be building and three words kept on appearing, more so further along in the book, the Last Battle. After finishing Knife of Dreams, it felt like the series had completed it's long 2nd Act and was gearing up for the 3rd and final Act.
Perrin saves Faile (just as she's about to escape, heh), Rand
This is a very different kind of fantasy than you would get from Martin or Erikson. In Jordan's world the good guys always win in the end, and the bad guys ultimately prove to be surprisingly incompetent. The prose still wanders at times. There is still plenty of the stereotyping characterization that some people find objectionable in Jordan’s writing. But the man shows that he hasn’t completely forgotten how to weave a story to a satisfying conclusion.
I would probably have given the book an overall rating of 7, but as it's soooo much better than recent books in the series, and I loved the superbly moving “Golden Crane” chapter, I'm going to give it a 8/10. I am left with some hope that Jordan will be able to bring the series to a reasonably satisfying conclusion, though it is hard to see how he will pull that off in only a single additional book.
And I wasn't disappointed. A lot of the lag was still in this book, but there were moments that were very, very good. Some of the more annoying characters did some wonderful things. I wouldn't say this was the best book in this series, but it is certainly much better than the previous, oh, six books.
I am very sad that Robert Jordan passed away before he could finish the series. Good luck to whomever is saddled with the task of wrapping the whole thing up.
In the reread before The Gathering Storm, and after 20 years, new perspective on the series has come to light. One that Jordan was dying as the final books were generated.
We also learn that as the series
Still errors exist in the grammar. Then the errors of characters who have met previously running across one another, the fans did a much better job for free then the paid staff. The Hubris of Jordan, and the horrible description of battles in what is a series that is to culminate in a battle. By a man who went to the Citadel. Perhaps that claim is false. The teach military history at the Citadel, tough perhaps Jordan flunked all the medieval history elements which is where fantasy battles reside.
But why stick with a series for so many books. I have told how the author breaks the rule of Show don't Tell, by telling and telling and telling even more. We have POV errors though maybe not as bad as others. (Listen to the Audio Books where they try to keep each chapter by the sex of the first POV character. That becomes confusing, especially trying to hear when each of the readers tries to sound like Rand or another character from a different POV.)
The answer is that 1800 named characters make a rich story. The Travelogue and history fest of this prophecy coming to fruition, even where it does not make sense in so many places, is full and enrapts you in its depth.
Knife of Dreams does have too much Tell again. The chapters of each of the Protagonists (more than one, another rule broken) get started and pick up speed, and then switch across the world to the next... A few Arcs are tied up, but too many are left hanging.
The time frame again is too much is happening all at once, when before months were given to developing the growth of the characters. These are all still young people who are making decisions way beyond their years and experience.
But better then several of the last, and the end may be in end sight... If left to Jordan, he was probably told to finish it at 12. With his death, stretching the 12th book into 3 books, so 14 books may be a sop to his memory. Just being content that it is nearly finished, and nearly complete means getting through this book, finally there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
It occurred to me that the use of gateways is that world's equivalent of mobile phones...
On to The
Note: In general, I can't review this series with any objectivity. I've been reading it since I was eleven years old, and it's thoroughly embedded in my brain.