Lady of Avalon

Lady of Avalon is one of the books in the Mists of Avalon series.  That being said, it doesn't seem to matter what order you read these books in.  They jump around in time and were written in random order so they all can stand on their own.  It does help to have read Mists of Avalon for some of the background stories, but it is not necessary.

Lady of Avalon tells the stories of three of the High Priestesses of Avalon.  There is Caillean, who left the Forest House to start a new life for the order in Avalon and her struggles with keeping it safe from the outside world.  Dierna, who loses her sister but gains another and wishes for Avalon and Britain to be protected from Roman rule.  And Viviane, who will orchestrate the birth of Arthur and see him made High King over the land.  All three women have their struggles and opposition despite their strong will to do what they believe best for Britain.

All of these women are strong women, stubborn, prideful, and thinking they know what's best ultimately leads to their downfall.  It happens in every single book.  You would think there would be one who is meek and mild, but there's not.  So I guess only a certain type of person is called into the role of a Lady of Avalon.  The other characters live to support them as well.  It doesn't matter who the other priestesses are, sometimes the druids are rarely mentioned by name, and you can tell the ultimate focus is on these women.  Which is fine, it is their story.  But it'd be nice to see them through the eyes of others more often than you do.

It does seem a theme that nothing ever goes as plan.  This carries across all the books.  And it makes you wonder why their Goddess keeps pressing them to do these things if it isn't working.  Or that a more active role could be taken to preserve the knowledge and keep the faith alive rather than setting a path and letting each person screw it up in their own way.  Just once I would have liked to have seen them succeed and I never really feel as if they do.  I'd also like more back story on the past lives they live as it is mentioned here and there in the books but never really fully expanded on.  But for all my complaining it is still a compelling story and does provide a lot of history for those who have read the other books.  You want to see Avalon, to step through the mists and learn the Mysteries.  So great detail in making you believe the book.

Not a bad one but it certainly isn't as developed as the original book in the series.  I do plan on continuing to read the other books though to have all my questions (hopefully) answered.

Lady of Avalon
Copyright 1997
456 pages

Priestess of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley

The Mists of Avalon took the story of Arthur and changed it so that the perspective was from a woman.  And then a series was spawned from it.  Priestess of Avalon is one of those books in the series, although I couldn't tell you what order they should be in as it doesn't seem to matter what order you read them in.

Helena, also known as Eilan, was born of the Lady of Avalon and also caused her death.  She is sent to her father as a child and only returns to Avalon ten years later, to start her training as a priestess.  There she clashes with the new Lady of Avalon, who is her aunt, and it comes to a head when she substitutes herself as his priestess at a ritual.  She is cast out of Avalon and travels with this Roman man as his companion, becoming his wife in all but name and eventually bearing his son Constantine, who will be a great man in his own right some day.  But she still feels the call of Avalon from time to time, and misses her sisterhood of priestesses.

Helena is mostly Helena in this book and not really her British side.  She spends the majority of her life with the Romans and as a wife and a mother rather than a priestess.  She does call upon her powers from time to time but this is more the story of a noble lady rather than an Avalon priestess.  I do appreciate that she liked her dogs though and had many throughout the story.  I really couldn't care either way about any of the other characters.  They weren't described as much as Helena and seemed only there to prop her up on her journey rather than be their own persons.  Except for her son Constantine, he was so fervent in his desires that it was hard to like him.  Although he did get a lot done.

Despite this being a large book it was exceptionally fast paced.  The course of eighty years is told in it and it flies by with big jumps in time with each chapter.  It was a little confusing because of that, but luckily at the start of each chapter the year was given so that helped a little.  This being a story about a cast out priestess was different from the rest of the series too as most usually take place close to Avalon and Helena traveled all over the Roman empire.  I can't say that it held quite the same charm and power that Mists of Avalon did, but it was still a pretty good story in its own right.

If you like the works of Bradley, you'll like this one in the series.  It follows a strong woman and her adventures in a world that doesn't always appreciate strong women.

Priestess of Avalon
Copyright 2002
394 pages

The Neverending Story by Michael Ende

If this movie wasn't a part of your childhood, I feel really really bad for you.  Because the Neverending Story was fantastic (I heard they made sequels, I wouldn't know about those).  But this review isn't actually for the movie, this is for the book!  I'm ashamed to say I never knew a book even existed until recently.  But since it did, I knew I had to read it.

What will surprise most is that this book goes far beyond what the movie did, this is Bastian's total adventure to Fantastica and not just Atreyu's story.  Bastian is a picked on little boy, who, drawn to a book in a cranky man's bookstore, steals a book and holes up in his school's attic to read it.  There he is swept into the world of Fantastica where the Childlike Empress is dying and only a young hero named Atreyu can save her.  He is set on a quest to find the cure for her, and Bastian is a key to that cure and will have many adventures himself as a result of the mysterious book.

Bastian is a typical nerdy little boy.  Other kids pick on him and he retreats into a world of fantasy.  It's something that many can identify with.  Atreyu on the other hand, is the opposite of shy Bastian.  He is an adventurer, brave and strong, and the type of person little Bastian's want to be.  He also has a lot of wisdom for a person as young as he is, which is slightly unbelievable at times.  But I do have to say I enjoyed Atreyu's character far more than some of Bastian's antics.  There are so many side characters that you can get lost with all of them, but at least they're wildly imaginative.

I enjoyed the first half of this book and didn't really care for the second half.  This may have been because the first half encompassed the movie I so fondly remember and the second was Bastian's adventure and a bit more bizarre.  It just seemed that things happened a little too easy for Bastian and I grew bored even as I was introduced to more of Fantasia.  Atreyu's journey was more selfless and interesting.  There was an actual purpose and an outside force to be fighting against whereas Bastian's journey was more introspective and meandering.  The description for all was quite good though and the author sure had an imagination.  Some of the creatures he dreamed up were nothing that I'd ever heard of before.

A good book that's not only for children it will bring adults back to their childhood memories and introduce a new generation to the wonders of Fantastica and the possibility of a never-ending story.

The Neverending Story
Copyright 1979
396 pages

The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley

Arthurian Legends.  They're a whole genre unto themselves.  But Bradley does a few things different with her rendition of the famous Arthur and his court.  She tells it from the eyes of the women involved. 

We start with Igraine, married by her sister the Lady of the Lake to a man for political reasons. She has a daughter she names Morgaine, but later the Lady decides a different fate for her and she bears a son named Arthur to the new King of the land.  Morgaine's and Arthur's fates intertwine in ways not expected and will be friends, family, enemies and more.  With Morgaine as a Priestess of Avalon and Arthur drawn to the Christian faith, their relationship is as contentious as any out there, especially since both believe they are doing right by their people.

Morgaine is complicated.  And I like that Bradley didn't paint her as the evil witch so many of the Arthur legends portray her as.  She has depth, flaws, and caring in this book.  And she's probably the main character, which is a relief as I didn't really enjoy the first part of the book that involved her mother.  Igraine wasn't nearly as interesting and tiresome in her complaining.  Arthur was somewhat weak in character in this book.  I don't mean that he wasn't a strong King and did well for his people to the best of his ability, but more that he was easily led by the people around him.  Mordred was involved in this book, but I didn't really find him that menacing or compelling.  He was kind of just there.

I had forgotten just how dialogue driven this book is.  Sure the characters more around do stuff, but they talk and think about things more.  And some of the conversations can get repetitive whether it be about lineage or the difference between Christianity and the Priestesses of the Goddess.  There will be some who are offended by the references to Christianity in this book as well.  They don't have a good relationship with the people of Avalon and the distaste is clearly shown in the book.  You have been warned.  But I do think that Bradley does a great job of capturing some complex characters in this book.  It may be wordy, but for good reason, this is a tale drawn out over half a century with several key players and intrigues that every detail has to count on. 

If you like complicated books, this is one to read.  The movie isn't half bad either.  And, if you do like it, it became a series and there are more books to read that coincide with this one.

The Mists of Avalon
Copyright 1982
876 pages

Pegasus by Robin McKinley

And this is why I like to wait until all books are out in a series before I read them. Because authors like cliffhangers and no resolution. Which is exactly what happens in this book, you're plugging along reading it and then "BAM", it ends.

Sylvi is the fourth child to the King and Queen and the last heir. Which makes her pretty unimportant in the grand scheme of things. But she's still important enough to be bonded to a Pegasus on her twelfth birthday. Of course most nobility are bound, but none have the connection that Sylvi and Ebon share. But it's a connection that threatens the alliance between humans and Pegasi and upsets quite a few people who want things to remain the same.

You'll get to know these characters really well. Because most of the book is about describing them. For instance, Ebon is black. With a shiny black mane and tail. And Sylvi is short and can talk to Pegasi like no other person can. Don't worry if you forget that, it's all there over and over. There's a large cast of characters in this book too so a new face is always lurking in another chapter. It's actually hard to keep track of sometimes, especially since a lot of the names are long and nonsensical. And the way they are written you are supposed to like the Pegasi better, which I did. So I actually have to applaud that. They were interesting creatures and much more noble than their human counterparts. Ebon especially has a wonderful sense of humor.

There's a lot of things I don't understand about this book. Which is surprising because of the amount of time and effort the author put forth into describing and world-building. I actually found the book to drag at times because there was so much description going on. And some of it was sort of disturbing as I just can't picture the hand-things she gives the Pegasi without being creeped out. But as the book moved along the pace got better until you got to the abrupt ending. Meaning that you have to read the next book if you want to know what happens. But there were still a lot of unanswered questions in this one. Like the deal with the magicians, some of the things Sylvi saw, and what exactly happened at the magical Caves Sylvi visited as that part was so fast paced the whole sense of what happened eluded me. I even tried to go back and read it again and was still a bit confused. I know it was supposed to seem alien, so maybe that was the effect it was supposed to have though. The writing, in addition to being descriptive, is easy to read. I would actually rate the level of it as a middle-school age rather than young adult. It was simplistic without being dull.

I'll read the next book of course. I want to know what happens. But I hope it's just a tad more polished than this one was. And that the numerous questions this book leaves hanging are answered.

Pegasus
Copyright 2010
404 pages

Gravelight by Marion Zimmer Bradley

Well, this book was better than the first in the series, but still not that great. As the third book in the "Light" series, it doesn't necessarily have to be read in order, but it does help with some of the background.

Sinah has come back to where she was born to try to rediscover some of her past. The problem is, the townsfolk vehemently deny that she belongs there or that her relatives have ever lived there. Wycherly too is there, trying to escape nightmares and slowly drowning himself in alcohol. And Truth and a gang of people from the Bidney Institute that researches the paranormal are also in town. And there's something aside from the location that connects them altogether. A powerful magic, one that's out of control, and that's slowly claiming the lives around it.

Truth is usually a good character. But she was just different in this book. Colder in some ways and more prone to temper in others. Her fiance Dylan, I absolutely detested in this book. He was nothing like he was in the previous two books and it seemed that the author just randomly changed his personality to cause some strife in the book even if it wasn't the way he would have normally acted. Sinah I didn't really care for either. She was too weak a character and despite this, used entirely too much. And then there's Wycherly. Aside from wondering what the heck was going on with his name (as a first name it is just not working), he was a constant stream of drunkeness and bad decisions and his redeemable qualities just weren't authentic.

For a plot there wasn't a bad one. Untapped magic, evil powers, people trying to get on with their lives despite conflict; there's enough here to make it interesting. But because of the less than stellar characters it just didn't make it into that realm of being a great book. It's very readable though, and despite some of the magic and occult references being beyond me, I found myself becoming somewhat immersed in the story. Unlike the other two, there were references to sex in this one, which surprised me since it wasn't that style of writing in the rest of the series, but it wasn't very graphic or offensive so I don't see it being a problem for most readers.

I can't say that I'm going to go out of my way to find the fourth book in the series. I'm just not invested enough in any of the characters or the plotline as a whole. This is just an average fantasy series.

Gravelight
Copyright 1997
350 pages

Witchlight by Marion Zimmer Bradley

After the mess that was Ghostlight (book one in the Light series) I was relieved to find this one was written a little better. It isn't really necessary to read them in order, although you will miss out a little on the backstory of some characters. And there's been some uproar about the fact that this book was co-authored (ghostwritten, completely written, noone seems to know for sure) by someone other than Marion Zimmer Bradley, despite her name being on the cover.

When Winter Musgrave finds herself in an old house all she remembers is that she released herself from a mental institution. The rest of her past is fuzzy, and strange occurrences keep happening around her, the worst of which being the mutilated animals on her doorstep. Having been a powerful trader on the stock exchange, Winter is surprised to learn that she once went to the local college and was studying the arts, but left before she was to have graduated. Realizing that the phenomena happening is getting more violent though, she desperately seeks her friends from back then, hoping they can fill in the gaps before it is too late.

Winter bounces all over the place in personality. She goes from being cold to hopeful to reminiscent and back again over the spectrum. This is to be expected, she's undergone a lot of stress. But it just didn't feel genuine at times. In fact, the only character who really felt real was Truth, and maybe that's because she was in the first book. The rest were just flat characters who were there to serve a purpose. At least they had some interesting histories though, so you did care about where they came from.

This book started out great. You really wanted to know what happened to Winter and cheered for her when she started making discoveries about herself. But by the end of the book, the pace was all off and things started happening too quickly. The author also assumes that the reader has more than a base knowledge of the occult/magic/etc. and if you don't, it can make the concepts of this book difficult to understand. I had a general idea of what was going on, but I suspect I missed a lot of the nuances that having a broader knowledge depth would have given me. It just made the book more difficult to read.

I think someone more familiar with the occult and magic in different forms might enjoy this book more than the average person. It definitely has a specific audience unlike some of the other books with Bradley's name on the cover. I've got one more of the Light series at home that I'll probably read, but they're definitely not books I would seek out otherwise.

Witchlight
Copyright 1996
303 pages

Ghostlight by Marion Zimmer Bradley or Rosemary Edghill

Ok, well aside from the fact that Bradley did not truly write this series (apparently an author named Rosemary Edghill did), I can find plenty of other faults with it. What should be an interesting look into magick and rituals, instead becomes a drama with weak characters. And considering this is the first book in a series of 4, there's a whole lot of mess to wade through.

Truth is a researcher. She puts everything forward in cold logic, well aside from the fact that she works with the paranormal. But she has a bit of a dark past. Her father, who disappeared when she was a toddler on the same night her mother died, was associated with the occult and had been leading a ritual that went terribly wrong. But, with certain things being brought to light, Truth decides to research and write his biography and to do so, she goes back to the house where everything went down.

Truth is a weak character. She claims to be logical and disbelieving of so many things. But then she immediately starts to "see" things and wonder what's going on. All while still claiming she doesn't believe any of it. It's quite maddening actually. And she does that same waffling on her feelings about the other characters in the book too. And Julian, how she couldn't see his true character is beyond me. It's quite obvious even without the heavy handed hints the author gives as to his background. All the other characters are filler and really aren't that interesting. Which is a shame, because I bet their stories would have been just as interesting as Truth's.

For most of the book the plot is slow-paced. But then, immediately at the end it speeds up and is way too fast. Add in the fact that the author thinks you understand what's going on without having been given any description or explanation, and it can leave you thoroughly confused. I'm still trying to figure out what's going on with the Michael character. While I thought the instances of magick were interesting, the character's conversations about it are repetitive and dull. If not for that little bit of action, the rest of the book would be Truth wandering around thinking about different things and being indecisive.

It just wasn't a well written book which is unfortunate because I have the next two books in the series waiting on my bookshelf to be read. And now I don't really want to. But alas, I intend to finish what I start. I can only hope they'll be better than this one.

Ghostlight
Copyright 1995
304 pages

Untimed by Andy Gavin

Untimed was an interesting book.  It had a lot of unique elements to its concept of time travel.  But unfortunately it also had a couple flaws I couldn't get past.

Charlie has gone about life quite unnoticed.  Even his mother can't remember his name, although she still loves him.  His dad is gone on business quite often, so he spends most of his days in solitude.  So when a strange man opens some weird kind of portal, he can't help but let curiosity overcome him and jump through as well.  Which takes him back in time where he discovers he is a time traveler.  But Charlie isn't prepared for the responsibility and accidentally alters time, which has drastic consequences for the world.

Charlie is your average kid personality wise.  He doesn't think with his brain too often and lets his hormones guide him.  So he's pretty realistic in that sense.  Although I do think he's a little too accepting of the situation he's thrust into.  Yvaine is another weird one.  She grew up in a different time but isn't quite as proper as you'd imagine her to be.  She's definitely more of a gutter rat.  And Charlie's dad; well let's just say I don't care for him at all.  He has little redeeming qualities.  The bad guys were clockwork men and so they didn't have any personality at all.  Nor were they really that menacing in my opinion.

I like Gavin's concept of time and travelers through time.  He gives a unique spin on it with the difference between the sexes.  He also writes a good pace through the book and you're never bored with it.  That being said, this book isn't sure what age group it wants to cater to.  The chapter size, text size and pictures all point to this being a young adult to middle school chapter book.  But the content is actually much more mature with sexual themes, cussing, and other heavy topics.  I'd worry that someone would flip through the book, look at the pictures, and give it to their sixth grader without really knowing the content of the book.  Some kind of hint in the description wouldn't go amiss.  I also found it hard to figure out how the logic of one of the time changes worked.  This may be a spoiler but Charlie visits a future in which his mother is barren and has no children.  Shouldn't the immediate consequence of this be that he doesn't exist?  At the very least time could have altered it so that she had a one night stand and gave a baby up for adoption just to give plausibility to Charlie existing in that time loop.  Maybe I'm just not understanding it right, but it bothered me.

An interesting book and beginning to a series.  I can't say I'd seek the next books out with voracious appetite, but I'd read them if I stumbled upon them.

**This book was received as a free advanced reader's copy**

Untimed
Copyright 2012
326 pages

A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson

I feel like I've been punched in the stomach. The wind is completely out of me, I'm gasping for breath, and I feel surprised and hurt. Part of this is due to the fact that a series I've been following since I was in middle school is now over, part of it is because it didn't resolve anything for me. But anyways, I need to through my usual spiel of this being part of a series. This is the fourteenth and final book in the Wheel of Time series. Start at the beginning if you wish to tackle this mammoth collection of words, do not start at this book.

The Last Battle is here. Everyone who can fight is and they are holding back the forces of the Dark Lord. Rand, meanwhile, has gone to face the Dark One, confident in his ability to destroy him forever. Elayne, Egwene, Mat, Perrin and others all have their own duties and battles to fight. Something must remain if Rand wins his battle, and they have to keep people alive.

I don't know what happened to my beloved characters in this book. Sanderson was doing so well with them (excepting Mat) that it seemed odd he would switch them up at a time like this. They were all shells of their former selves. Perrin was probably the best overall. He at least had interesting things to do and they were believable based on the previous actions of his in the series. Mat, well he's still a gambler, still the comedian, but it's forced and like the previous two books, just not in line with his character as Jordan created him. Egwene was ok, I was disappointed with where the book took her plot-line but at least she's as strong as she's ever been. Aviendha and Min had minimal roles, so I'm still not sure if I'm pleased with their performance or not.

This book was mostly battles. Sure, they were well done descriptions of battles, but it wasn't what I expected a nine-hundred page book to be dominated by. Some unfinished business was resolved, but a lot of it was still open. And the ending? Well, let's just say that it felt incomplete and wrong to me. But I won't give away any more than that. Compared to the other two books that Sanderson co-authored this one lagged a bit in pace because of all those battles. I think a lot of it was extraneous and could have been cut out to provide more time for the important resolution of the series type of writing. We were so eagerly waiting for the end of this series, that it is easy to see why a lot of people would be disappointed by a lot of things. But I do think that a lot of that disappointment could have been avoided by better paying attention to Jordan's tone of the original books. That was something that just wasn't in this one.

I'm probably going to go bury myself in another book just to escape the release of emotions this one gave me. I'm sorry it's over and I almost wish I wouldn't have read the last book so I could still have my own ending in my head. But at least I have some sort of ending.

A Memory of Light
Copyright 2012
909 pages

Towers of Midnight by Brandon Sanderson & Robert Jordan

Towers of Midnight is the thirteenth book in the Wheel of Time series, and the 2nd written by Brandon Sanderson after Robert Jordan's death. If you haven't read the series up until this point, I highly suggest you start at the beginning as you will be hopelessly lost otherwise. For those who have stuck with the series, you've already noticed with the last book, that Sanderson has taken over the Wheel of Time, but he hasn't changed the core of it.

Rand has learned a valuable lesson, and one that will serve him well as he attempts to bring armies together to defeat the evil that is rising in the North. He has a good backing; Perrin, having resolved some of his past issues is starting to learn more about the wolf that is a part of him and Mat, who is a joker by nature but very serious when it comes to the people he cares about, and Elayne, who is ruling from the throne of Andor. Egwene, the new Amrilyn of the Aes Sedai is not necessarily an ally, but someone who understands Rand and the importance of the tasks he will have to face.

I think that Sanderson has done a great job of taking over the characters. Except for one. I'm not sure I like the way he writes Mat. While he's still funny as ever, he seems more of a caricature of himself. A little more light-hearted than the character Jordan made him out to be. I just haven't really resigned myself to this new, not as dark, Mat. Rand and Perrin though, they are much improved and even though I know it was part of the storyline for Rand to be better, I just thought the way Sanderson handled it was well done. The same with the women in the book too. They are more believable and not as prone to fits of temper that seem out of character.

I don't think that this book was quite as good as the twelfth. It still moves the story along quite nicely and has plenty of action, but the characters were maybe a little less of themselves. I also wasn't that fond of the storyline for the Arad Doman General fighting in the Borderlands. I understand all that was going on, and as a background it is important to the story, but I don't think the amount of time that was spent describing it was needed. That time could have been put to better use describing the main characters and their actions. But luckily that seemed to be the only unneeded detail. The rest of it was tying up previous plotlines or setting up for the final book.

I'm eager to see what happens but a little apprehensive on the last book. There are still so many questions to be answered. And it's still a little sad that Jordan is gone and wasn't here to witness the end of his series.

Towers of Midnight
Copyright 2010
861 pages

The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan

I almost feel like it's blasphemy saying this, but I would probably rate this the best book out of the Wheel of Time series so far.  And Jordan didn't write it.  Well, not entirely anyway.  This being the twelfth book in the Wheel of Time series, a lot has happened, and if this is your first visit, you need to go to the beginning.  But anyways, back to my horrible words of this being the best book.  Jordan was a master at creating worlds, but Sanderson appears to be the master at breathing life into them.

Faile is saved but Perrin now has to determine what his next course of action will be.  The end battle is coming near and he is growing into someone he doesn't want to be.  Meanwhile, Mat has many obligations but first he has to get his army to Andor, which is proving difficult with so many Seanchan around.  Rand is harder than ever and securing kingdoms is becoming easier for him, but at a great price.  And he is still troubled by every turn by the Forsaken.  Egwene is still a captive of the White Tower, but she is using it to her advantage, desperate to bring all the Aes Sedai together before it is too late.

Egwene is turning out to be a fantastic character.  She does a lot of things they you just think in your head "you go girl" and she has a resolve that won't be broken.  Nynaeve was quite a bit better in this book too.  Actually, all of the characters were.  You could tell they weren't written by the same author, but it was like Sanderson took the essence of what Jordan was going for and really developed the characters to their full potential.  Yes, they still have flaws, but they grow within the book and they are like real people, instead of cardboard cutouts with repetitive mannerisms. 

The same goes with the storyline.  It is developed.  There is still a lot of detail, but Sanderson handles all the multiple plots and characters with ease but still gets a lot accomplished.  And the pacing is much better as a result.  I think that there still are a lot of mysteries there that could be resolved and haven't been yet, but that's very small compared to what Sanderson was able to accomplish in this one.  He, like Jordan, brings in a lot of characters that we don't necessarily care about, but he also doesn't give enormous lengths of pages to them either.  This story is really focused on the main characters for once, and that helps.  The tone is much closer to what it was in the first book, rather than what the series had turned into.  And while you can tell it is a different voice, it is not disturbing or unwelcome.

I'm very excited to read the next two books in the series (haven't up to this point and decided to reread everything before tackling them).  I know the adventure is almost at a close, but I have to know what happens!

The Gathering Storm
Copyright 2009
783 pages

Knife of Dreams by Robert Jordan

This is the last book to be written completely by Jordan in this series.  As you well know by now (at least you should if you've kept up with the series, and if you haven't, go start at book one) Jordan passed away before he complete his series.  Luckily, he left notes and another author took up the reins to continue where he left off, but that is next book.  This one, it is still all Jordan.

Faile is still a prisoner of the Shaido Aiel and Perrin will stop at nothing to save her.  This means he has aligned himself with the Seanchan in order to rescue her, which is much like dealing with the Dark Lord himself in many people's eyes.  Rand is taking care of things in Tear and Cairhien and is still troubled by sickness.  But he too has to deal with the Seanchan as he seeks out an uneasy truce until the last battle.  Egwene is coming into her own as Amrilyn, but something unexpected happens that will force her to reevaluate her battle plans.  And Elayne, well she is still trying to gain the throne of Andor.

I really am not that fond of Elayne.  I can't quite pinpoint why, but I just find her uninteresting.  And all this talk about her pregnancy in the book doesn't help matters.  Sure it's an important thing, but not one that needs such devoted detail.  Nynaeve isn't much a part of this book or Aviendha, and I missed both characters quite a bit.  At least Egwene is always an interesting and redeeming character.  She's strong, stubborn, and quite wonderful at times.  Rand is as weird as ever.  I know he's supposed to be and I know I say this in nearly every review of the book, but I miss the Rand from the first book.  Perrin is also nothing like himself and while I used to like him, I don't in this book.  Luckily for the boys, Mat is as charming as ever and really comes into his own in this book.

The prologue of this book is a hundred pages long.  Just the prologue.  So that should tell you something.  There is a lot of detail here as in all of Jordan's books.  But thankfully, he actually had a little bit of action in this one as well.  Not as much as there used to be in the book, but enough to finally start moving the plot along.  And he even resolved some of the stories that he already had going, which is very rare for him.  That's not to say there aren't still plenty of mysteries though, because there are.  This is one complicated mess of characters and intrigues and it takes some sorting out to keep up. 

It will be interesting to see what the next books hold.  Jordan was a great writer and it's my hope that Sanderson, his replacement, can keep true to his story and world.

Knife of Dreams
Copyright 2005
783 pages

Crossroads of Twilight by Robert Jordan

Again, a book that does nothing and goes nowhere.  Good thing Jordan makes interesting characters or even the faithful fans would duck out of the series after this book.  This is the 10th book in The Wheel of Time series and they should be read in order.  If you haven't read the previous nine in the series you need to turn around and start from the beginning. 

This book actually starts before the events at the end of the last book took place.  So it's going back in time a little bit.  It mainly deals with what everyone else was doing while Rand and Nynaeve were cleansing Saidin.  Mat is struggling to get out of Ebou Dar.  A task made more complicated by his kidnapping of the Seanchan heir to the throne.  Egwene is still leading her army to the White Tower to take back the Aes Sedai seat of power.  And Elayne is still trying to gain her own seat of power on the throne of Andor.

Nynaeve isn't really in this book, which was disappointing to me.  And Rand really wasn't in it that much either.  Perrin was, but he was deadset on one task and didn't have a lot of growth or development to his character.  Mat was really the one redeeming character of the book.  He's always interesting and has a lot of adventure even when he isn't doing something.  He's also probably the most relatable character, at least to me.  And he travels with interesting companions.

For being one of the shortest books in the series (but still well over six hundred pages) you would think maybe the pace would be faster in this book.  But it's not.  There's still a lot of detail, and the characters don't do anything of any importance in this book.  But there's a lot of backstory and world building done and that counts for something.  Even Jordan's bad writing is still better compared to some fantasy authors out there.  So while I'm whining now I still ultimately enjoy the series.  I just wish his editor had held the reins a bit better on him.  And the time line, because it did go back in time a bit was confusing.  It's the only book at this point to really do that.

Well, we're moving into the end of the series, or at least the home stretch.  It should be interesting (hopefully) from here on out.

Crossroads of Twilight
Copyright 2003
700 pages

Winter's Heart by Robert Jordan

Winter's Heart is one of the odder books in the Wheel of Time series.  The 9th book, it is definitely not a beginning point, in fact, this is a series that HAS to be read in order.  Otherwise you will have no clue what's going on (and even those who have read it in order are confused sometimes). 

Rand is in hiding.  Well not hiding exactly, he is more hunting obtrusively and has a secret that he's not willing to share with anyone but Nynaeve if he can help it.  She meanwhile is at the palace with Elayne as Elayne tries to win support from the rest of her country so she can take the throne.  Perrin is dealing with the Prophet of the Dragon and having numerous troubles besides, and Mat is stuck in Ebou Dar, where the Seanchan has just taken over and he is a lapdog for the Queen there.  So all in all, everybody is in a heap of trouble and over their heads.

Nynaeve improved a little bit with this book.  If you haven't read my reviews on the series before, she is my favorite and for awhile Jordan absolutely butchered her character.  But she's starting to improve and it hasn't lessened my liking of her any.  Elayne on the other hand I still don't care for.  Yeah she's the daughter-heir to the throne and she acts like, and I really just can't handle her ego at times.  Egwene is still strong and determined.  Rand is a little lighter this time around.  Not the Rand from the first book by any means, but not quite as distant as he was in the last few books.  Mat is still as charming and funny as ever and I enjoy his side story quite a bit.

That being said, I still like Perrin's character but not his story in this book.  I thought it was unnecessary and frustrating as it didn't really add anything to the book.  Mat at least is entertaining and he has a good backstory, but Perrin didn't have much of anything in this book.  The pacing is also a bit slower in this one as well.  Jordan is known for his detail, but there's too much of it here and while there's action, there is not enough action.  It just doesn't move along like the first half of the series did and keep you interested.  In this book, I could set it down and come back to it instead of reading it in one sitting (which is still a long time due to the length of these books).  There's too much focus on side characters and not enough on the ones that were with us from the beginning.

If you're this far in the series, this book will not make you give up by any means, but it will slow down your fervor for reading the next one.  Even so, Jordan's bad writing is still entertaining than a lot of other fantasy authors out there, so it's still worth reading.

Winter's Heart
Copyright 2000
668 pages

The Path of Daggers by Robert Jordan

And so we begin the descent into the books that don't do much or go anywhere.  For those of you who have read some of the Wheel of Time series before, you know what I'm talking about.  For those of you who haven't, what are you looking at this review for?  This is the eighth book in the series and they are definitely meant to be read in order.  You're doing yourself a huge disservice if you try to start here.

Having found the powerful artifact that will change the weather, Nynaeve and Elayne have gathered a large amount of women who can channel the one power and plan to use it.  But with the notorious Seanchan close on their tails, using that much power will be a beacon for where they are.  But the world can't survive the drought much longer.  Meanwhile, Rand is settling into his role as King of Illian and also has to take care of the Seanchan invaders.  Having fought them before, he knows what lies ahead, but he's not sure he really trusts anyone on his side to not betray him.  And Egwene too prepares for her own battle.  Having played the puppet on the Amrilyn Seat (Aes Sedai leader position) long enough, she means to show her group that she is a leader, regardless if they like it or not.

Nynaeve's character pleased me in this book.  She's always been my favorite and she seems to be coming into her own again.  That's not to say she doesn't do silly things still; all of Jordan's characters seem to.  Actually all of Jordan's female characters seem to want power or control in some way, it would be refreshing to see one who's just content with her place in life.  Mat didn't appear in this book at all and that upset me a bit, he's also one of my favorites and adds a bit of levity to the series.  Rand is stranger than ever and it appears that Jordan is trying to distance him from anything remotely normal anymore.  Perrin barely appeared but he's so overrun by the women that accompany him that its hard to read about him sometimes.

Not a lot happens in this book.  Sure there are battles and the attempt at the weather change, but compared to the action the books normally have, it just kind of falls flat.  If it were a heart rate monitor it would be rather steady without any dips or lulls or anything exciting.  It's still written well, with plenty of detail, almost too much for some people I would hazard a guess, but it just isn't a book that draws you in like a lot of the other books do.  The detail ranges from battles to dresses (oh a lot of dresses) and I'm still trying to figure out what a slash of color in the dress means.  I can't picture it in my head.  Not that it's a real problem, but every time I hear it, it drives me nuts.

I won't stop reading the books, even though I know the next few are going to be excruciating.  There's still a lot of plot and detail to wade through, but I've got to know how the series ends.

The Path of Daggers
Copyright 1998
604 pages

A Crown of Swords by Robert Jordan

Ah Jordan, your wordiness,  your massive detail, your thick books that could easily injure someone if thrown at them.  If you've come this far you realize that Crown of Swords is the seventh book in the Wheel of Time series.  Or at least I hope you realize that.  If you've somehow stumbled along this far without starting at the first book you need to turn around or become hopelessly lost.

Bad things happened to Rand in the sixth book, and he's trying to recover from them and sort out some new world order in this book.  Which means the Aes Sedai have no idea what is in store for them.  Nynaeve and Elayne are still in Ebou Dar, hoping to find an artifact that will restore the weather.  But they've been running into dead ends all over the place, and having power struggles with the other Aes Sedai in residence.  And Egwene, she's just trying to get herself out of the mire that she's been placed into as head of the Aes Sedai.

All of the characters are a little better this time around, at least compared to how they were in the first book.  I don't think we'll ever get our sweet innocent Emond's Fielder's from the first book back, but at least we have glimmers of them every once in awhile.  Rand is still distant, and I actually found his story in this one not as compelling as the others, but luckily he's surrounded by good characters.  Like Min, who is spunky and assured of herself.  Nynaeve is still my favorite, if only because I remember how she originally was.  I think she'll get better as the series go on, at least she seems to be improving.  But it does anger me that Jordan sunk her character a little too low.  Elayne I've never been overly fond of.  I recognize she's important, but she's not relatable at all.  Egwene is a good character though, and holds up well under pressure.

Jordan's book seem to be a lot of detail at the beginning, and then a climactic scene at the end whether it be a battle, or mystery, or cliffhanger.  There's always enough to keep you going to the next book though.  This book is no different, you had to wade through a massive amount of detail about dresses, culture, war, etc. with the plot line woven in with it.  Some might not care for that amount of detail, but I like the way Jordan does it so it hasn't been a problem for me.  It's also notable that there are so many things going on it's easy to miss something.  Every time I reread this series I find a new clue I hadn't noticed the previous time, and it makes the series really come together.

The series is still running pretty smoothly.  I know it starts to lag coming up, but I can't help but still like it quite a bit at this point.

A Crown of Swords
Copyright 1996
684 pages

New Spring by Robert Jordan

New Spring is a prequel to the Wheel of Time series.  Surprisingly, it is not near as massive as most of the books are.  However, you do want to read at least three of the regular books in the series first.  That should be sufficient enough to give you background on this one and the characters within it.

It is nearly twenty years before Rand Al'Thor leaves Emond's Field, and Siuan and Moiraine are just Accepted, doing their best to complete their studies and become Aes Sedai.  However, they are in attendance when another Aes Sedai has a foretelling in which the Dragon Reborn has been born.  This unleashes a series of events that will have the White Tower, home of the Aes Sedai, frantic in its attempt to control events before they go too far.

I liked that we got to see Siuan and Moiraine before they became Aes Sedai.  It really opened up their characters and made the reader understand why they did what they did.  And you were also introduced to a lot of other Aes Sedai that you only saw briefly mentioned in some of the books.  Lan I wasn't as thrilled with.  His personality seemed too different than what it was in the main series.  I just didn't see it matching up with what we already knew about him.

I enjoyed that we got to learn more about the Tower and training that is done for Aes Sedai.  We also learn a lot more about the Ajas, which was interesting.  But I wish he hadn't of put as much as he did in because again, it doesn't line up with the series.  Especially the testing of Aes Sedai to obtain the shawl.  I know that the main series doesn't allow for certain things to happen, but we don't even get a whiff of Egwene, Elayne or Nynaeve training for it and in this book, Siuan and Moiraine are obsessed with it.  It just seemed odd.  I also thought that after the Tower, the book went a little too swiftly.  None of the regular detail was there and it made things a bit haphazard.

Interesting for the background but not among the best of Jordan's work.  Especially when it comes to the Wheel of Time series.  I think he just wanted to get background out there but didn't concentrate on the story so much.

New Spring
Copyright 2004
334 pages

Lord of Chaos by Robert Jordan

Being the sixth book in a massive series, it actually comes as a surprise that so much happens.  But, as with all the other books in this series, you need to read them in order.  There's just too much you'd miss if you tried to read them out of order.  And I should warn you, reading this review, that there could be some spoilers, it's impossible to write about it without giving a few, although I try to keep it to things that happen in the beginning of the book.

Rand is in Andor, the White Tower is split, and Met is leading an army.  Things couldn't be any more different than when the adventure first started for the young people from Emond's Field.  But a couple more new twists have been added in.  The Aes Sedai are determined to bring Rand over to their ways and gain control of them, and that is the last thing that he intends to happen.  So he's formed his own school for teaching the power, but he's opened it to all men who can channel, and that raises possibilities and fears for everyone.

Rand is further and further away from what he used to be.  And his sanity, well it's definitely starting to become debatable.  He's an interesting character, but at times I think Jordan is a little heavy handed with him.  Surely not every speck of his original personality is gone.  But it seems that way sometimes.  Mat is still very likable.  He gets himself in a lot of trouble but you can't help but cheer for him and like his gambles.  And Perrin was actually in this book, but not very much, and he's henpecked most of the time that he is.  I admire his calm demeanor but was a little frustrated with him in this book.  At least all the girls were better.  While they still act a little petty they seem to be coming to their senses.  And Jordan didn't write Nynaeve (my favorite character) as badly as he did in the previous couple of books.

With the addition of the men who can channel Jordan opened up a whole new can of worms.  I can't say I like the addition, but it was a logical step to go and his use of them is interesting.  Aside from that though this book contains a massive amount of detail.  It's one of the bigger ones in the series again and a bit too wordy I think.  Some details are important, but there are a lot contained that are just unneeded.  But, as always, there was still enough good story here to captivate me for the most part, even if I did have to shake my head at some of it.

I'm still eager to read the next in the series again (and maybe make it to the end of the series this go around since all the books are out now).  It's one of my favorites and it definitely is a good way to kill a lot of time.

Lord of Chaos
Copyright 1994
1011 pages

The Fires of Heaven by Robert Jordan

It's hard to believe that even with the fifth book, you're still not even half-ways through the massive telling that is The Wheel of Time series. And it's important that they all be read in order, you'd be hopelessly lost otherwise. So if you haven't started at the beginning, you need to go back.

Rand has been declared He Who Comes With The Dawn, The Dragon Reborn and several other titles after he fulfills some prophecies. He's expected to fight the last battle against the Dark Lord, and while he's reluctant, he knows it is destiny. Unfortunately, not all of the Aiel believe in him and they have flooded over the mountains to invade the "wetlanders" as they call them, and he must do something to stop them. But powerful minions of the Dark Lord are about as well, and he must constantly watch his back lest he be destroyed.

Rand is probably the primary character in this book, as he is in most of the books. He definitely is losing more and more of himself though. And he's barely anything like he was in the first book. A lot of that was done intentionally I know, but it would still be nice if he held onto a few glimmers of his original personality. Mat had a smaller role in this book, and while it was nice to see him, I wish it had been more than in just battles. I don't have the attention span for battle scenes and so didn't enjoy his role as much. And Perrin, well he wasn't in this book at all, which was disappointing. All the girls were as annoying as ever. They started out such good characters but Jordan has them squabbling all the time and it's distracting and somewhat insulting. Nynaeve is my favorite character, but what Jordan has done to her makes me seethe at times.

There are so many stories in this book that are weaved together that it can be hard to keep track of them sometimes. And a few are some that I didn't particularly care about. The side story for Min, while probably somewhat important, just wasn't that interesting and I would have rather it be recounted in a few paragraphs than as a primary story. Nynaeve and Elayne were a little more interesting, but as said before, their character traits made it less enjoyable than it could have been. Anything with Rand in it was strong though, and kept the story moving. Jordan has a penchant for detail and he uses it a lot in his books. So much so that this is one of the larger books in the series, and that's saying something. It isn't as much filler as you would expect for it being a middle book of the series though, a lot happens and I appreciated that. Jordan can get bogged down at times but it didn't seem to happen here.

A lot of flaws but still a very enjoyable read. If it wasn't so late I'd be diving into the next book already because I want to continue on with the story. Definitely a series for those who like detail and adventure.

The Fires of Heaven
Copyright 1993
964 pages