The Dragon Reborn

Incredible.

This book was everything I wanted it to be and more. Less broody Rand and more of Nynaeve, Egwene, and Elayne being badasses. Of course Rand and Mat are wool-headed at the end thinking it's all over (there are still 11 more books!)

I'm really starting to like Perrin, and I'm looking forward to how he evolves in the next books.

Very excited to read book 4.

More of a journey book

I've used the word “journey” rather than filler because there is good world building and a lot of character building in this book. But this does not feel like a book where Jordan intended to tell a complete tale. It feels more like he wanted to introduce us to more cultures, lands, towns, peoples and then in the last 200/150 pages he wanted to wrap it up so started making it really interesting. I'm not keen on the whole “ooh I've killed Ba'alzamon” “ooooh no you haven't” thing that's happened three times now. These happen with little reason either.

However, I like Jordan's writing style and its very immersive.

The third book is where you start getting a preview of the warning I gave in the first book's review. The plot is still very epic in nature and immense in scope, so that's still a plus. The pacing is starting to stagger a little, where Robert Jordan seems to start going off in tangents away from the main plot. The overall progress in terms of the storyline is still pretty evident, and his flowing style still reads smoothly. Readers with a better memory or who read the books back to back will find that there are very many things in here that the author keeps highlighting and repeating in very many sections of the book - this is likely annoying to those who've already read them in the 2 books. But as I've read them months apart, it's wasn't particularly noticeable - I'd say it's just the way he does it and at this point, I didn't have any problems with it.

The author does something interesting with Rand, as we as readers don't follow his perspective for 95% of the book but instead we see how the world reacts towards Rand and the ramifications that it entails. It's a pretty bold decision by the author, but he superbly pulled it off.

It's my favorite of the series so far because it handles the different perspectives and interwoven narratives so well that it allows you to have a clear picture of everything that goes on in the story; our protagonists are once again separated, but they inevitably converge once again by the climax of the story (following the established formula), yet I find it way more compelling this time around due to how the author manages to balance the perspective of each character and how it plays out in the world. For instance, we can have one of our parties encounter something that halts their journey, while another party encounters that same thing along the way, but they go about it differently; it allows each “cause & effect” (a recurring theme) to make the world seem more “alive”.

Mat became my favorite character and I can't wait to see more of him as well as the disadventures he may end up in; He brings something completely different to the table, as he doesn't necessarily aspire to be a hero, accomplish something grandiose or help save the world, but rather acts through self-interest and whether there is money involved...or does he? He might appear to act selfishly, but we learn throughout his journey that he truly has a heart of gold. Also, he not only brought us the best fight of the series so far but also almost every moment/interaction/dialogue coming from him is either hilarious, cool, or charming. To bad that almost everyone doesn't give him the time of day (and most often than not, it works for his advantage).

I really liked the ending, not because of the sheer epicness of it all, but because it served as the “closure” to the lingering feelings of the previous book, while also allowing Rand to overcome his fear and truly accept his destiny without being pushed to do so.

Aside from a few obvious plot-wagons, I enjoyed this one. It is lovely to be in Nynaeve's POV - she is exactly the ass-kicking lady I like to see in my fantasy. I loved that we barely saw Rand at all, and I wonder how unusual this device was when Jordan wrote the book. I also really enjoyed getting POVs from Mat, since he was a really unlikeable character in the first two novels because of Plot Device. Surprisingly, his 'luck' didn't bother me either even with the potential for it to become an abused trope. In fact, I'm interested to see how both Jordan and Mat handle it's removal in the future.

The only part that really stood out was that, having come through the whole book without Rand, he gets the climactic scene. The rest of Rand's story in this book was told by other people, and it would have been cool if they could have told his fight and 'killing' of Ba'alzamon. Maybe it didn't make sense to do it that way, but it really annoyed me that I had come so far with everyone else, only to have Rand have the ‘glory' at the end, rather than everyone else's reactions to it.

The third installation of the series delves deeper into the supporting characters, particularly Mat who spent half of the first book and most of the second sick. 

I liked the way Jordan weaves the tale in this book, bringing the individual stories to the end of the book. The world continues to grow. There is still a lot still in mystery and lots of room to grow. That said, I still find myself wondering how this story manages to go another eleven books to conclude the epic tale. 

Better than book 2. The Jordan quirks are still there and still annoying. But the different story arcs were more consistently interesting compared to the first 2 books, and the finale was also better. I was definitely impressed with the quality improvements in some areas, I felt much more balanced and there was an improved pace to the story. But it still has long plain descriptions, juvenile relationships and conflict, a weird gender dynamic with heavy undertones of repressed sexuality, and the main plot is just good and evil. It can still be fun despite all this. I'll say I hope future books have setting/culture changes because each place feels the same and the people act the same with paper-thin cosmetic changes.

Boek één was op de keper beschouwd echt niet zo goed, boek twee viel beter mee dan verwacht, en dit is het boek waarvan ik dacht: het wordt écht iets met deze reeks.

Het nominale hoofdpersonage, Rand al'Thor, komt niet eens zo enorm veel in het stuk voor, maar de nevenpersonages – en dan vooral Matt, Perrin en Nynaeve, worden behoorlijk degelijk uitgevleesd.

Geen verkeerd boek. Ik weet dat het binnenkort minder wordt, maar hey. 

This book was amazing! Unlike the previous two books this one caught me from the prologue. I loved how Jordan finally focused on Mat and Perrin more, showcasing their abilities! Rand had such a large part by the end of the book I wish he had been focused on a bit more. It was kind of a quick and exciting ending but satisfying nonetheless. It is very hard to take the amount of characters Jordan has and give them a sizable piece in each book. I think Jordan does a decent job juggling them. I am looking forward to the next!

4.00/5.00

The Dragon Reborn is a journey of the characters, their self-discovery, their emotional growth, of adventure, and of learning their own power. It is in this part of the book where Robert Jordan has delivered an exceptional story. The worldbuilding/magic system development has some jaw dropping moments, just as I hoped. The story of Nyneave, Egwene and Elayne is the most interesting and the most satisfying, with Mat's character development being quite spectacular.

On the down side, Robert Jordan really cannot write Romance.... and I didn't get the glorious ending that I wanted, it was good, but not as glorious as the Great Hunt.

WorldbuildingThere is a ton of magic system development in this, balefire, the FUCKING quantum mechanics of Mat!, Black Ajah, dream world, tar-angreal... there is so much here! This book deserves the high score. Story/PlotWhile I think Nyneave-Egwene-Elayne and Mat-Thom story lines were very impressive, I think the Perrin plot is a big miss. It started off great but went into boring territory and slid into downright cringe moments where the Falcon romance started.. Ughhhh... Robert Jordan cannot write romance. And how many are we going to "kill" Ba'alzamon? And how many will we split and rejoin and try again ? Dialogue/ProseThe prose in this book is similar to the books before, but I didn't feel any particular example stood out to me. I also noticed a lot of repetitive descriptions..... I always enjoy Robert Jordan's painting a picture with words approach, and I get that he wants us to experience this story as we would if we were a third person observer of events. I am mostly okay with this.. but the writing could have been better.. the last couple chapters could have been more glorious and more poetic.. Character DevSolid character development for all character development for all! Even if Rand's POV is like only 3% of the book I though his state of mind and his "madness" was so well depicted. I loved the scene where he just attacks some people with a flaming sword in paranoia! I also totally get his anger and frustration at the end and how his defeat of Ishamael finally made him accept himself. "I am the Dragon Reborn!" MAT MAT MAT, I loved this character! no more words needed. Emotional ImpactI would say my emotional impact is a bit low, I was really thrown off by the Perrin storyline and the cringe-worthy romance, and the repetitive killing of Ba'alzamon... And I am a bit disappointed at how the last few chapters didn't really deliver the glory of the Great Hunt, but it could have!

Jak na razie wszystkie 3 książki miały taki sam schemat. Przez pierwsze 80-90% jest kilka drobnych, ciekawych momentów, a pomiędzy nimi oceany szlamu, w których nic się nie dzieje. Potem przez ostatnie 10-20% fabuła płynie wartko i naprawdę dobrze się to czyta. Nadal uważam, że te książki można by o wiele skrócić i byłyby tylko lepsze.
Gdyby nie to, że słucham ich jako audiobooki, gdy chodzę na zakupy albo gdy jadę gdzieś tramwajem, nie kontynuowałbym.

“Remember that any meal can be your last. You chose to travel with us, so tonight you will eat fish. Tomorrow, you may die.”

How many ways can I say I love the Wheel of time? Three books in (four with the prequel) and each one builds more and more on the last, the characters are brilliant (each with there own flaws) the plot is one well traveled but has never been done to this level before (in my opinion).

Read the Wheel of time, read it now!

Executive Summary: This one didn't quite live up to my memory, or maybe it's just that my criteria for giving out 5 stars has become more stringent. There were a few slow parts earlier on, but the latter half of the book just flew by. 4.5 stars.Audiobook: Another excellent job by Michael Kramer and Kate Reading. One of my main reasons for doing this reread is to experience the audio book version, and it has yet to disappoint.Full ReviewOn my first read, this was one of my favorites in the series, certainly top 5. It still remains there after my reread. It just wasn't quite up to my current standards for 5 star reads, so unlike [b:The Eye of the World 228665 The Eye of the World (Wheel of Time, #1) Robert Jordan https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1337818095s/228665.jpg 2008238], I couldn't justify keeping it at 5 stars.For a book named The Dragon Reborn, there is very little of the Dragon himself. Instead it focuses on several of the characters that were more secondary in the first two books. Apart from Perrin, the others didn't get nearly so much page time as they do in this book.My personal favorite, at least on this reread is Mat. I still found him kind of annoying and whiny at the start of the series, but in this book he finally starts down the path on his way to my favorite character. There are parts I'm just itching to get to again, but I'm enjoying the journey there a lot sooner than I did on my first read.Perrin was my clear favorite for much of my first read, and I again enjoyed his sections here. However, some of the things that came to annoy me about him later in the series were more noticeable this time around.Nynaeve is already displaying both some of her most obnoxious tendencies (tugging the braid), but I also found she's showing some of the characteristics that made me come to really like her by the end of the series too. I hope that continues with my reread, because I found her one of the worst parts of the middle books the first time through.Overall the pace of this book is still pretty good compared to my recollection of later books, and there is a lot of great character development for the supporting cast, in particular Mat.I'm still going strong for my reread and plan to jump into the 4th book at some point soon.

Loved it! The pace of the last half dozen chapters almost gave me whiplash. The characters are definitely explored more in depth throughout this book, minus maybe Rand, who's more like a supporting character. Egwene, Elayne, and Nynaeve all definitely come more into their own, learning new things about their powers with every obstacle they tackle. Perrin and Mat are shown to quickly be turning from boys to men; though both do have quite a bit more maturing to do. I feel really that Mat shines in this book. It's nice to finally have him doing something other than being coke-addict level paranoid or knocking on death's door.

Oh man, this one was a bit of a struggle. I've heard if people don't like this one, it's usually because of the lack of Rand. But that was a feature, not a bug, for me. Bland could be his Rand self off screen just fine. But the stuff we did get had a lot that didn't work for me. The Aiel are super interesting, and I'm glad Mat and Perrin got some much needed development, but that's my major positives here.

The inter-gender relationships in this series are beginning to really bother me. The yada-yada of action/important scenes after long chapters of nothing happening was disappointing. I fundamentally don't believe any of these characters act like friends at any point and either Jordan didn't have friends or he had bad friends because I'm not willing to pretend these people are actually friends at this point.

The ending of all three books up to this point has been exactly the same, to a laughable level. All the villains of this series are chumps that are built up to be frightening and then as soon as they see a main character, they slip on a banana peel or something and are immediately dispatched.

Finally, the character of Faile is the worst and made it hard for me to enjoy anything happening in the second half.

The first two books of WoT I enjoyed, and I'm told the series reached new levels in book 4, so I will definitely be continuing. There was a lot of character development and world-building in this one (Jordan's continued highlight is worldbuilding) and I think in retrospect, I could appreciate what it does for the long term.

5.5/10

OOF this one was kind of a miss for me. I won't get too far into the plot to avoid spoilers for the previous books.

I was so bored through the majority of this book. I did not understand why it was so long. The entire book felt like it was just the characters all travelling to Tear. While this allowed Jordan to dial into some of the dream magic found in this world, I didn't feel like it needed to be as long as it was. I also felt like maybe the reader shouldn't follow so many POVs. Knowing that everyone was going to Tear but didn't know the rest were felt more annoying than fun. Also, we hardly got any of Rand's POV, which I'm a little more conflicted on. For most of the book, I was incredibly annoyed by this. However by the end, I kind of understood more while this happened.

This book is getting 3 stars instead of 2 solely because of the last chunk. I felt like the ending kind of redeemed itself. The action ramped up and we got to see some pretty cool magic. I really hope the next book is faster paced.

TW: animal abuse, animal death, anxiety, assault, attempted murder, blood, death, emesis, fire, hallucinations, hostages, kidnapping, murder, torture (mentioned), violence, war (mentioned)