The Shadow Rising
Ratings454
Average rating4.2
It's the fourth in this big fat Turkey leg of a fantasy series. I'll keep listening to em (40 hours gets my money's worth from that there Audible)
Cool stuff in the Wheel of Time:
- The way magic works (sort of dangerously pull from the essence of the Earth)
- varied cultures
- hangout-style pacing
- main characters are compelling
- the character Perrin
Bad Stuff in the Wheel of Time:
- prudish
- villains feels a big mustache-whirly and “disposable-henchmany”
- the female characters are very much written by a man. it's not always awful but it's not not always awful
4.5/5
The Shadow Rising felt like the fruition of previous efforts, and continues Jordan's trend of each book being better than its successor in the Wheel of Time series. Despite the overall story actually finishing up as a set-up for future events, I was moved by both the scope and successful payoff within this book's events.
Read my full review on Life of Karrot.
Book 4 is something like book 3. There are hints of what's to come (referring to the tedium warning I mentioned in book 1 review). The plot and storyline advance at different paces in the book. The number of characters that are now present as well as the number of plot lines that are going on at the same time is starting to become difficult to juggle, for both the reader and, seemingly, the author. There have been hints of that in book 3 and it's more obvious here - resolutions to critical problems just so happens to present itself conveniently. It's like a cheap surprise plot twist. Once in a while is ok, but it's starting to become rather often - felt like the author suddenly had to tie certain things together and didn't plan far ahead enough. Anyway, aside from the sometimes slow pacing and the jumping around the plot lines, there has been great character development for the main male characters - interesting stuff that makes for a good read; it just needs to be read with a little patience.
Shaping up to be an absolute cracker of a series. Just wish it wasn't a 14 part series of really thick, 1000+ pages tomes.
5.00/5.00
The shadow rising sets the standard for worldbuilding. The complexity and the intricacy of this epic is hard to believe. The book shocks and awes at moments, and fearlessly wades into places the first three books dare not venture. The book provides so many answers to the numerous questions raised so far, and somehow explodes with new questions. This is unquestionably one of the best fantasy books I have read so far.
WorldbuildingI am starting with an easy one here. My mind is in pieces with all the facts I learned in this book! Tel' aran'rhiod OMG, Rhuidean OMG, the bubbles, the history of Aiel is probably the best worldbuilding moment of the series. I don't know what could beat this. Plot/StoryComing in hot with the most complex and innovative plot lines! Finally a satisfying and interesting Perrin arc, a fascinating Nynaeve-Elayne arc, Rhuidean-Aiel-Rand is fascinating! so many things happened in this book, and I could not predict anything. I had no idea WTF was happening most of the time. I did actually enjoy the Perrin-Faile romance in this book, I though it was funny and it heartfelt at moments. Although I cringed at their romantic reunion at the end.. kind of killed the mood for the battle. But the Elayne-Egwene-Rand romance is hard to swallow, so I am docking a point for this. What a crazy moment when Rand tries to resurrect the dead child!Dialogue/ProsePerrin and Nynaeve's story arcs were written very well. However, I found Rand's story was lacking the necessary details and pacing. Rand's story was often hard to follow, as the sentence structure was weird in some places... I think Robert Jordan deliberately left things hazy.. so we can remain in the same level of confusion as the characters in the book. Maybe this is how it is to read Malazan lol. Also, it looks like Jordan has given up on writing poetic prose.. I doubt any of the books going forward will read like the Great Hunt. I will give RJ a higher score here, as I think the worldbuilding was handled so well. I am getting a tired of Robert Jordan's never ending commentary on the stereotypical behavior of women and men. I get that these books were written 30 years ago and we cannot expect any modern day ideas here.. but his comments are hard to read sometimes. But I see his good intentions. He writes about a world where women and men sharing the power, and how that is the best way to go. But people have character that are not defined or limited by their gender.... Character Dev Perrin easily takes this category. Followed closely by Nyneave. Rand is pretty fascinating too, but he is cloaked in mystery as usual. I don't feel as connected to Rand's character as much as other four. Egwene does a lot of good stuff in the book but takes a back seat along with Mat. The cringe part is the Egwene-Rand-Elayne romance meeting. OMG. So cringe. But I decided to accept this for what it is, a realistic look into how young adults would behave. Emotional ImpactThe book scores high here as well. Very satisfying read. Not quite the same as reading the ending of Great Hunt, but I really enjoyed the worldbuilding and the Nynaeve-Mohidean battle, as well as the story of Lord Perrin. The history of Aiel moment is one of the greatest fantasy chapters I have ever read. For that reason, this book scored high.
Whenever I read a Wheel of Time book, I think: wow, this is the best book so far!
It is no different with the fourth part. I feel like Robert Jordan wanted to create this elaborate fantasy world with deep characters and an intriguing magic and political system. And so far, he is doing a good job.
However, I feel like I have to have read all the books to be able to give a real rating for each single one as it all feels so connected and like one huge story. Concludingly, I would say the books are for people who are ready to commit to reading the whole series, but I don't think it is possible to read them as standalone books.
Het wordt moeilijker en moeilijker om iets over de Wheel of Time-boeken te zeggen zonder spoilers boven spoilers te doen, maar alla.
Rand al'Thor heeft een belangrijk element van de voorspellingen rond de Dragon Reborn vervuld. Hij en Mat (met Egwene en Moiraine mee) gaan naar het thuisland van de Aiel, terwijl Perrin terug naar hun geboortedorp gaat, en Emayne en Nynaeve op jacht naar slechteriken gaan.
Volgt nog wat uitdieping van personages, en van de wereld waarin de personages zich bewegen, met een Age of Legends die –kijk nu!– zowaar technologisch blijkt geweest te zijn, met wolkenkrabbers en vliegtuigen en auto's, komt meer en meer tot zijn recht.
Wat tot ver in boek twee een onhandige afgeleide van Lord of the Rings leek, krijgt er nu bovendien meer en meer aspecten van Dune bij.
De Aiel zijn de Fremen (compleet met de Zensunni achtergrond, spoiler!), de Aiel Wise Ones zijn zowat één op één de Fremen Reverend Mothers (compleet met de complexe relatie met Aes Sedai / Bene Gesserit), Rand is ook eigenlijk een Kwisatz Haderach (compleet met het aspect “gekweekt voor de positie, spoiler!). Oh, en het speelt zich ook af in de woestijn en zo, met waterreserves onder de grond, met Aiel in Sietch-achtige gemeenschappen, etc., etc.
Boek vier sluit volledig naadloos aan op boek drie, en zo heb ik het ook gelezen: als één boek. Spannend en geen moment vervelend.
Ik houd mijn hart vast voor het vervolg.
As I read these books, each one is getting progressively better! I will do my best to make a spoiler free review! First off I want to say that the history of the Aiel was an amazing read. I started putting pieces together before I reached the end of it and I went, no way! I love how Jordan went into great detail because it helped me understand their culture better. They have a very complex honor structure that I am still puzzling out a bit though. The transformation Rand is undergoing both in power and the way he thinks/manipulates is startling when I think back to who he was in book one. I at first found his storyline boring, but it certainly has picked up the pace! A few characters are beginning to annoy me, Elayne being one of them. She is supposed to be the daughter-heir yet still acts like a love sick puppy when it comes to Rand. Her overall disposition is grating on my nerves, including how she deals with Nynaeve. Egwene is another who is beginning to annoy me. She acts like a spoiled brat thinking she can get away with whatever she wants. I was glad to see her begin training under a few new teachers who I hope will teach her respect. She sorely lacks any of it, then again most women in this series do at least when it comes to males. Then we have Nynaeve, seeing the ability she has now with her block in place, holy crap! I would love to see what she can do if she ever lets go of the block. At first I did not like her, but she is at least starting to learn control over her anger in certain situations. Her character still has a long way to go I think. I would have to say the character I am most interested in however is Mat. I want to know more about the consequences for his actions in the waste and what changes are going to occur. I also am curious as to the purpose of his newly acquired accessories. Then we have Perrin. His story kept me on the edge of my seat, fearing that he would not prevail, and I smiled when he found his love for Faile. I want to know more about Faile and what Perrin has gotten himself into now! A very long book but a good read. I can't wait to start the next!
“Never think I have abandoned you. When the sun shines on you, it is my smile. When you hear the breeze stir through the apple blossoms, it is my whisper that I love you. My love is yours forever.”
This series is so underrated it's criminal!
The character arc from book one to the end of book four is insane but it works so well! I won't go into the story to avoid any of the dreaded spoilers but I will say the action really came through for me in the Shadow Rising especially through Perrin. Diving into the history of the Aiel was fascinating and honestly made me love them even more.
Perrin became one of my favourite all-time fantasy characters and Rand grew in ways I never would have expected, Matt as always was brilliant and I can't wait to hear more of his building story.
Also, I love Faile.
“If you ask the lion to protect you from wolves, you have only chosen to end in one belly instead of another.”
Executive Summary: This is a pretty good book, but it could have been a really good book if the first 20% of this book wasn't so slow. Nothing happened. For like 8 hours of audio. A sign of things to come. 3.5 stars rounded up for the much stronger 80%.
Audiobook: Another fantastic audio book by Micheal Kramer and Kate Reading. I doubt I could have gotten through the first 20% again if not for doing it in audio.
Full Review
My original review from my first read complained about a slow start. It was vastly understating that. My recollection had been this series didn't get slow until the the middle books. I think most of the first 20% could have been thrown away, or trimmed down to just a few chapters.
Once I got past it though, things picked up dramatically. A lot of this book focuses on Perrin. I found him and Faile super annoying in that first 20%, but much better as the story went on. His arc was really good. Eventually. Sensing a theme? I can remember now why he was my favorite of the series for so long though.
My favorite parts on this reread was Mat. I had been waiting for some of these events to happen, thinking they occurred in books 2 or 3. They were even better to experience on a reread because I know what a lot of the cryptic foreshadowing really means. I think I like Mat a lot earlier on in the series than I did originally. He only gets better as the series progresses too.
I was surprised to find myself enjoying Nynaeve so much in this book. I recall finding her very annoying until quite late in the series. However we get a lot of the stuff that I come to love about her later in this book. It's too bad Mr. Jordan had to make her so irritating for so long.
Egywene's story is pretty interesting too, but the best part are the wise ones. For as bad as Mr. Jordan seems to make the Aes Sedai, the Wise Ones are great. I think the Aiel women in general often save this series from itself in terms of the female characters.
Finally of course there is Rand himself. He's got more of a role in this book than the last one, but he still kind of takes a back seat to some of the other characters. I don't feel like we get a good sense about what he's feeling/planning. We're just as in the dark as everyone else.
Overall, I enjoyed this book, but that first 20% is really a sign of things to come, and why I went from telling everyone and their brother to read this series, to struggling to get through the middle to when things finally get good again.
I still really like this series, but feel like it could have used a better editing sometimes. I'm looking forward to continuing my audio reread, but I'm dreading some of those slow parts to come.
Love it! Wonderfully paced, and the world-building is still so EPIC!!! The characters continue to grow and mature; new scars, both physical and emotional, abound. Jordan has a really great grasp of how men and women tend to think differently, and how that difference manifests itself in each culture. Pretty much ANY interaction between two characters with chemistry has a laugh-out-loud moment in it for me. I'm a sucker for vague romances that leave plenty to my overactive imagination. I'm so glad we got to see more of the world Jordan has set out to immerse us in. His ability to make you feel like YOU'RE the one trudging through mud in Tanchico or having your skin baked off in the Three-Fold Land, is truly a gift. I can't wait to see where this goes. I'm for sure absorbing MUCH more than I did on my first read-through; I feel like I can't rest til the whole epic series is under my belt!
I understand why they say that this fourth book is what makes the Wheel of Time such a special series
Idk guys this is the hardest won four star of my life. Robbie Jords and I see the world in fundamentally different ways but dude also made me want to know what happens despite not caring if 97% of these characters all immediately died. I'd really like to finish this series but people always point to this one as the bee's knees, the farmer's factory, the fish's foundry, the bobcat's catbob, whatever the kids are saying these days. They tell me it's the best. And it didn't feel like the best of something. Mostly it felt like the same but also with plot. And “Same but also with plot” might not get me through.
I'm going to do a dedicated review for this on my YouTube channel, so I won't get too far into this review.
This book definitely made up for how much I disliked the last one in the series. The plot didn't drag like the last one, and I feel like we got some good character development throughout. This one so far is probably the best one of the series plot-wise.
However, we still had some annoying things. There is so much stuff that is repeated throughout, i.e. someone not understand people of another gender, or Nynaeve tugging her braid, or making it abundantly clear how much weaker women are than men physically. It all got very tedious and annoying. Every time one of these phrases came up, I just rolled my eyes. It was nonstop. Also, since there's so many characters in this book, Jordan tries to give them all some distinguishing mannerism or trait so we remember who he's talking about, but at some point, it gets to just feel like all of the side characters are 2 dimensional.
Complaints aside, I actually did really enjoy the plot and lore of this book. We got to explore the Aiel a lot more and that was great. Overall, a good book with some annoying writing mixed in.
TW: attempted murder, blood, bones, death, decapitation, violence
The series overall is still holding me firm in its grip, but this particular book fell just a little bit flat for me.
It just felt like by this whole volume (how else would you call 1000+ pages?) Jordan was paving the way for something great coming (hopefully) in the next book, so there's no feeling of it being completed like the previous three were. I always knew that the story would go on, but the plot arc within a book used to have some kind of resolution, the story felt finished, tentacles to the next one were satisfactorily stretched out.
In this case, none of the three climaxes gave me such a vibe, it was more like “OK, this level was passed, welcome to the next level, here's your new quest”. Maybe it's because of the simple fact that there were three “smaller” climaxes, instead of one, where all the POVs converged. Most likely it was done on purpose, but for me personally, this way does not purport to starting the next book the second I finished the current one. So, most likely, I'll get back to the WOT some time next year.
THE WHEEL OF TIME
1) The Eye of the World ★★★★
2) The Great Hunt ★★★★★
3) The Dragon Reborn ★★★★★
4) The Shadow Rising ★★★★★
5) The Fires of Heaven ★★★★★
6) Lord of Chaos ★★★★★
7) A Crown of Swords ★★★★
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The cast of characters is growing fast and I have to say I was a little bit confused while reading, but it didn't take away from my enjoyment.
My favourite characters are still Nynaeve and Elayne, especially Nynaeve, and I can't wait to see more of them when I pick up The Fires of Heaven!
W końcu inny schemat. Podział na 3 główne wątki, niezależne od siebie mi się podobał. Niestety, szczerze nienawidzę Nynaeve, a Elayne toleruję. Ich wątek był dosyć nudny. Początek wątku Perrina też nie był szczególnie interesujący, ale z czasem się rozkręcił. Wszystko z Randem i Matem mi się podobało. Najgorszym fragmentem książki był zdecydowanie początek, bo dużo czasu spędzono na rozdzielanie postaci i na taki jakby mini recap co się działo wcześniej.
Oooo mama this was a good one. I loved the battle sequences and the world building. Learning about the Aiel was cool and learning about Rand's true heritage was cool but I wish it was more climactic like a Jon Snow bombshell. My only complaint with Jordan's books is Loial is my favorite character yet he barely is ever in these dang books!
If by the end of book 4, you find that the author is managing to still make sense then that in itself is a huge achievement. Robert not only makes sense but he is sure and steadily unfolding the over arching plot. We now know that the forsaken will have a role and that there is a reason that there are three Tavernan. We follow three separate trails in this one but unlike the previous iterations, these three do not converge to one place. We dig deeper into some characters and some are hardly mentioned (eg Lan). Yet its a highly satisfying book and a slow but sure filling of the holes in the ages. Onward!
Another great book in an amazing series. I just love hearing these characters come to life.
Look. This wasn't bad. But people are telling me it's pretty much the best WoT gets and I find myself looking for excuses to do anything but listen to it.
...see you again in three years when my guilt over buying these in pretty hardcover outweighs my memory of actually reading them.
