The Shadow Rising (The Wheel of Time, Book 4)

It will be impossible to review each of these books separately, as the story has to be read from start to finish (yes, all fourteen books). This series really is a true epic fantasy, and I have loved it ever since I read my first part back in 1997. I got that book from my then boyfriend our first Christmas together, and I use to joke and say that was the reason we eventually got married (we're celebrating our 30th anniversary next year, and the books are still amazing). This series really is unique, and to me it has a little bit of everything. The characters are great and very well written, and the magic system really is one of a kind. The world building is amazing, and all the different cultures in the different countries are very well written. I love all of the different monsters, even though I find the Myrdraals particularly spooky. The story is such an adventure, and the books are fantastic. Every fantasy fan that likes a long epos should really read all of them.

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? SPOILER But 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.

This has always been my favorite book of the series. That it should never have come to pass and that this series should have ended at three is something I have mentioned in my series of reviews before. The backstory of this particular book, or the set-up takes a full third of the book to get thru. We have a technique that Jordan has used before, in this book which shows us that often no amount of read and find out, his RAFO term that is a disservice to fans of the series and if he were still being raised you could scold him for it by some authority figure that Jordan might listen to. Instead Jordan's Hubris is such that he would use RAFO often and it is clear at least here, that he does things for which he does not think of the consequence. Men can channel, so why do we have our male lead hero (we have several by now) lose it with a miasma of the power leaking thru. (If you are afraid of spoilers in these reviews, my reviews are of my many times reread, and this being the fourth book of the series (fifth with the prequel) you should have some idea of what has happened and what will happen.) Oh the Aes Sedai covers the gaff and says that these things happen. Rand has been able to channel since book 1, and this is the first time it has happened. And it will not happen again. So a better name for the problem and better explanation should have been done. But why do I think this book is so good... Perrin and the Two Rivers. Here Perrin really develops. In the very first book and the others since, we break up our questers into various groups, once again three as one group is Rand, one is the near Aes Sedai girls searching for the Black Ajah, and Perrin. The sequence that takes place in the Two Rivers has always been amongst the best best i felt that was written, still (I have read all of it up to the 11th book.) Rand and his walk through the Aiel Waste could have been better I think, why just clan chiefs and a small honor guard. Why not the dream messages to the clan chiefs summoning the entire clans on the move. Rand wants an army to use. He has learned a little in two years away from being a sheepherder, and he has more to learn. But as he talks to himself he wants to assemble a force. He knows he wants an army, he has delayed the sense of urgency he keeps harking on. With the third leg of the quest we begin the world is so large I forget who I have whose met who problem. Thom Merrilin spent several days aboard Bayle Domon's boat, and they both know Floran Gelb. It would seem that they should acknowledge each other, why keep it secret, they can trust each other, and a run in with Gelb would surely have been a resolution to that bad person, who is just bad and not a Darkfriend. Then there is Byar and Bornhold. Perrin emerges as a good leader but he is shortsighted when it comes to these two. Bornhold also is not written convincingly. First he cares about the people he is charged to protect then he doesn't. Certainly does not have any of his fathers genes... These little quibbles are something that Jordan, or someone who could have talked to Jordan, could have made better. Life does have inconsistencies, but not so significant ones. Overall, the series is still worth constant rereading. and a very good time of it. Worth the price of admission and then some. And now rumors of movies... I hope that transition to the screen is handled as well as Tolkein. It is all worth it.

The Stone of Tear has fallen. Ishamael has been defeated by Rand. Be'lal has been balefired out of existence by Moraine. The Dragon has been reborn. So ended the previous book. Rand rules Tear but all across the world nations are at war and people are on the move. Now Rand must somehow learn to channel while all around him the Forsaken plot his downfall and others merely plot his death so the way things were can return. In The Shadow Rising, the protagonists of the series all find themselves in Tear for a brief interlude before they once again disperse. This seems to be one of the ways Jordan liked to write. Every so often the protagonists would come together before going off in small groups to different parts of the world. It made the narrative coherent for small bits of the book, but the dispersal mechanism allowed Jordan to explore his world building more. Not that I am complaining. The descriptions are informative, if overly verbose. Seriously, his editor should have done a better job. Still, the section on Tear is pretty good stuff. Trollocs. Battles. Kissing in corners. Not too many descriptions of dress materials. Lanfear makes an appearance and there is a lot of diplomatic maneuvering. Now Rand, Mat, Egwene, Moraine, and the Aiel head to Rhuidean via the portal stones. Rhuidean where Rand means to bind the Aiel to himself by proving that he is He Who Comes With the Dawn. Rhuidean where Mat must go or he will surely die. Rhuidean where Egwene will go to find answers from the Wise Ones about how she can become a dreamwalker. And Rhuidean where Moiraine will do what she must to ensure that Rand stays alive to face the Dark One. The parts of the book that take place in the Aiel Waste are some of my favorite of the entire series. In particular, Rand going through the ter'angreal that shows him his ancestors' past all the way to the boring of the hole during the Age of the Legends and the beginning of the Collapse. Those two chapters are probably my favorite of the entire series and the reason I give this book five stars. It is also here in the Aiel Waste that we learn about the customs and history of the Aiel. And what an interesting people, especially given the past. Here it is where we see Aviendha again (you met her in The Dragon Reborn). She is one of the new protagonists added to the series. Just be happy that there is really only one main protagonist added to the series here. I've purposely left out what happens to Mat and Egwene in the Waste because honestly, their plot lines are really not that important or that interesting. As per usual since The Great Hunt, Lanfear stalks Rand's dreams, wants him as her own, and plots to get him to be hers. New antagonists are introduced and the climax of the book occurs in Rhuidean against a Forsaken. And a chora tree gets hurt. Sadness. There are two other sections to the book. One finds us following Elayne, Nynaeve and Thom as they journey to Tanchico hunting for the Black Ajah. Forsaken in this plot line too - Moghedian. What does that mean to you? Nothing yet. The other plot line follows Perrin, Loial, and Faile in the Two Rivers where they journey to protect Perrin's home from Trollocs, Whitecloaks, and worse. It is here that Perrin transforms into one of the stronger leaders of the series. It is also here that Faile becomes even more annoying. How is that even possible when she was so annoying in The Dragon Reborn? You've been warned. Again. Oh and I suppose there is one tiny other section of note concerning Min, The White Tower and the Aes Sedai there. I suppose its important. ;) I've been keeping track of the sniffs in the book because Jordan has his women sniff way too much. Jordan does a lot of things way too much. For this book, Faile - IIIII Nynaeve - IIIII II Egwene - II Jorin - I Moiraine - I Marin al'Vere - I Adine - I Bair - I Melaine - II Liandrin - I Jeaine - I Elayne - II Leane - II Rendra - I Lanfear - I And for the four books so far, Nynaeve - IIIII IIIII IIIII I Moiraine - IIIII II Elayne - IIIII II Egwene - IIIII I Faile - IIIII Leane - IIII Min - II Elaida - II Liandrin - II Laras, Mistress of the Kitchens - II Cook at Inn - II Melaine - II Females in Crowd - I Woman in Fal Dara - I Suian Sanche (the Amyrlin) - I Selene - I Suroth - I Bornhold - I Women of Emonds Field - I Verin - I Tavern Wenches at the Woman of Tanchico Inn - I Aludra - I Ailhuin - I Jorin - I Marin al'Vere - I Adine - I Bair - I Jeaine - I Rendra - I Looks like Nynaeve is clearly winning. I don't know if any of the others will overtake her.

It’s the continuation of The Wheel of Time series. It’s Robert Jordan. Of course it’s epic!

Whew. This one took me a while. But clocking in at a little over 1000 pages (and according to Wikipedia's word counts), it's the longest one yet. Don't be fooled though, into thinking my long read time was due to the book itself. No, real life simply got in the way. The Shadow Rising, much like The Great Hunt, was entertaining all the way through. And like The Dragon Reborn it felt very complete. I felt that it accomplished a lot for being the fourth of a fourteen book series. There was a particularly satisfying amount of worldbuilding in this one, still Jordan's greatest strength I'd say. We especially learned a lot about the Fremen- er, the Aiel, in this one, through some really excellent Rand scenes. I've always said that Brandon Sanderson is very accomplished at answering reader questions through his books, while at the same time using those answers to raise greater, and even more complex, questions. I now see that this was a tactic he'd had some inspiration for in the form of Robert Jordan. Jordan does exactly that in this book, showing the reader a glimpse, giving us a taste, of the vast, deep mysteries surrounding certain elements of this story. He gives us some answers. And I have a whole lot more questions. I'm also consistently pleased with just how.. cosmic, and mystical, this series can be. For a traditional Fantasy story, the Wheel of Time has some truly trippy moments brought about through the One Power. To the point of me wondering how multiverse theory could fit in with the Power and the True Source. Exciting stuff. Beyond that, there was some very solid character development in this installment, and unfortunately some areas where I'd like to see improvement. Perrin's plot line took center stage for me in this one. Perrin is a character in turmoil. A man struggling between the life he'd choose and the life duty has seen fit to give him. Ta'veren can only stray so far from the Pattern.. And as he wrestles with this internal battle, Perrin is growing. I won't give anything away, but the events surrounding him in this book are really fun, and I'm looking forward to seeing him progress. Now, the other side of the coin. I'm a little put out at some of the female characters. Specifically Nynaeve and Elayne's plot line. Don't mistake me, I really enjoyed it. It was a worthwhile segment of the story. But at times Jordan's female characters do feel a little underdeveloped. Not all of them mind you, but some. Many of them seem to be driven by nothing more than either unending desire for men, or hatred of the same. Aspects of Nynaeve's character for example are really well done, and very interesting. And then there's the part of her that seems to be perpetually spiteful to everything moving. It's a little.. stale. So as I said, it isn't that I didn't enjoy it, but I'd like to see improvement there. As for our 'main' character.. Rand's chapters were some of the most interesting in the book. It's hard to review these and mention specifics, because the characters and their situations have changed so much from the first book. Rand has come a long way from sheepherder in the Two Rivers. Watching him do so has been exciting, and I'm eager to see what he'll do next. Hell, I'm eager to see what all of them will do next. I am loving this story, and the journey so far. Book five up next.

Let me just start this review by saying that 2/3 rd of read I was convinced that this book was 4.5 stars for me but the way in which <i>Jordan</i> has ended the book for all the three parallel pov's was enough to convince me that this book was a 5 stars for me.The best part of the book for me was the three parallel ways in which the story seems to be going forward in this book and the seamless way in which <i>Jordan</i> has managed to switch the pov's, I had no issues remembering as to where he had left the story to progress forward. The book started with a bang for me when all three protagonist <i>Perrin,Mat and Rand</i> have an admonition of sort especially Rand when his own image attacks him, I sort of visualized the scene from <i>Cannon the barbarian</i> where in <i>Arnold</i> destroys the mirrors to save himself.The story continues in <i>Tear</i> where in <i>Rand</i> after establishing himself as the dragon reborn is trying to determine what his next step will be, he also comes to know during this time back stabbing politics of ruling and helped in this by <i>Thom Merillin</i>.<i>Perrin</i> is holed up with <i>Faile</i> when he hears some rumors regarding <i>White cloaks</i> and <i>Two rivers</i> and determines where he will go based on that rumors. <img src="http://www.galaraf.net/ficwrlds/WheelofTime/Art/terangreal.jpg" alt="terangreal" height="480" width="360"> <i>Mat</i> tries his luck with terangreal in the palace of tear to fill gaps in his memory where in he encounters some snake like people who tell him to go to <i>Rhuidean</i>, the same thing happens with <i>Rand</i> who decides to go to <i>Rhuidean</i>. <img src="http://folk.uio.no/morters/wot/Graphics/ter%27angreal.jpg" alt="terangreal" height="260" width="180"> Regarding <i>Nynaeve</i> and <i>Elyane</i> they decide to go to <i>Tanichio</i> accompanies by <i>Thom Merillin</i> and <i>Julian</i>.<i>Egwene</i> decides to go <i>Rhuidean</i> with <i>Rand</i> and Morarine</i> so that she learn more about dreaming from the Aiel wise ones. The story after this is basically divided into the following pov's 1. <i>Min and her story at tar valon</i> 2. <i>Rand and his story with Aiel accompanied by Egwene, Morarine,Mat and Lan </i> 3. <i>Perrin and his story at two rivers</i> 4. <i>Elayne and Nyaneve in Tanichio</i> <img src="http://www.galaraf.net/ficwrlds/WheelofTime/Art/Tar_Valon.jpg" alt="tarvalon" height="500" width="281"> The <i>Tar Valon</i> part of the story sees <i>Min</i> reaching the tower and told by <i>Siuan</i> to stay in tower so that she can help her regarding more of black ajah holed up in the tower.The final part of <i>Tar Valon</i> story was a big surprise for me. If this book can be called anything it can be called as definitive guide into Aiel history <img src="http://zunft.mordor.ch/bestiarium/aiel.jpg" alt="aiel" height="572" width="572"> because we basically come to know many things regarding the Aiel, and this is through <i>Rand's</i> visions inside <i>Rhuidean</i> <img src="http://wot.wikia.com/wiki/Rhuidean?file=Rhuidean.jpg" alt="aiel" height="258" width="197"> <i>Rand</i> after traveling to waste is told by wise ones to go into <i>Rhuidean</i> so that the prophecy can be fulfilled by him he is accompanied there along with <i>Mat</i>The visions <i>Rand</i> has over there basically tell us about the history of aiel, I did not get all the visions in one read but after searching internet I cam across re read of this book on tor.com which explained me these visions clearly.We come to know how the aiel are basically linked to the tinkers, why they use the spear the beginning of maidens of spear and many more through these visions. After fulfilling the prophecy regarding <i>He who comes with dawn</i>,<i>Rand</i> has his work cut out for him where in he has to unite all the tribes of Aiel to follow him.<i>Rand</i> travels to cold rocks hold from <i>Rhuidean</i> <img src="http://www.dragonmount.com/forums/uploads/gallery/album_191/gallery_12282_191_14658.jpg" alt="aiel" height="604" width="453"> there he basically attacked by trollocs and draghakar as a diversion.The <i>Rand</i> part of the story was most fascinating part for me in this book. The <i>Perrin</i> part of the story finds him traveling to the two rivers where he sees that white cloaks have lain a siege to two rivers and on the top of that there are trollocs and fade who are attacking <i>Edmond's field</i>.Perrin basically rallies the whole <i>Edmond's field</i> behind him and help them fight against trollocs and fade, he has to deal with white cloaks at the same time. We also have <i>Nyaneve & Egwene</i> traveling to <i>Tanichio</i> in search of black sisters and finding more than just black sisters holed up there. The only irritating part of the book for me was basically <i>Jordan</i> all his female characters behave in the same foolish way otherwise the book was flawless for me.5/5 stars I rate this book.

The Shadow Rising...the longest book in the entire Wheel of Time series, and perhaps the best installment yet in the series. As with the Dragon Reborn, the plot is divided across three primary threads. This time, however, Rand has come back into the limelight and taken one of those. He heads off to the Aiel waste with Moiraine, Egwene, and Mat. In the second thread, Nynaeve and Elayne journey to Tanchico to continue their quest to thwart the Black Ajah. In the third, Perrin Aybara returns to the Two Rivers with Faile, Loial, Gaul, and several Maidens of the Spear. In the fourth, Min is at the tower, where she witnesses some seismic events in the tower's history. Of the characters, Perrin has the most individual POV, but the largest portion of the book is spent on Rand's thread, which is dominated by Rand himself but also contains the POVs of each of his major companions. Min's portion of the book was, thankfully, the smallest. Of these three, I enjoyed Rand's the most. The other two major ones were definitely good, but both got a little side-tracked at times. Min is far from high in my opinion, but at least she wasn't given more than a minor amount of page-time. In terms of character development, The Shadow Rising proves to be even better than the first three books. The best of it all has to be Rand's character interaction with Elayne and Egwene. "Playing with Fire" and "Hard Heads" had some of the best conversations and funniest moments in the book. It's too bad that these three don't spend more time together. The plot has an excellent premise and resolution, though it tends to drag a bit in the middle. The earliest and latest parts of this book and indisputably the best. I really liked the ending of TSR. We get a lot of plot points tied up, some very intense action scenes, and Rand's Channeling makes a leap into the next level. Jordan's worldbuilding is also at it's best in this book. We really start to see the finer points of the magic-system in this book, and Rand's powers are(thank the Creator) growing stronger and more developed in every book. I'm beginning to get seriously annoyed by Jordan's portrayal of women, though. Half of them seem to have the same personality, or at least the same unpleasant traits. It would have been interesting if the novel had explored the ramifications of a world where women have traditionally been socially dominant, as opposed to this behavior just being portrayed as "how women are." I'm not really entertained by the whole "battle of the sexes" stereotype that these books keep repeating. It's not just the women, either. Thom's behavior was really quite inexcusable. Why does Elayne even put up with that old s**t, anyway? All in all, the Shadow Rising is another good book, if still perhaps a little over-detailed, like the rest of the series.

The Book series is awesome, find it better than the TV series.

Muito bom.

Mat is my favourite character and he really gets to shine in this novel! A reread for me, I read it a long time ago and am slowly picking the books back up in Japan! WoT always will have my 5 stars :)

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