The Dragon Reborn (The Wheel of Time, Book 3)

Rating:
Summary: No More Nynaeve and Egwene!
Review: Even though the Wheel of Time series is essentially supermarket pop fiction, I really enjoyed the first two books. The continent and its legends, plus the great story of seeing the Dragon Reborn, make the series a lot of fun. You're just drawn to pick up the next book because it's a world you want to return to.

That said, Robert Jordan is a frustrating writer who's capable of the most glaringly juvenile characterization and mannerisms in his writing. It can become very, very difficult to read someone who is utterly incapable of writing female characters. Half of The Dragon Reborn follows Nynaeve, Egwene, and Elayne, and their adventure at the White Tower (I'll avoid spoilers) as they progress to become Aes Sedai. This subplot really hurt the book, for me at least, keeping it from being anywhere near as good as the first two books.

The White Tower mystery was excruciating. The primary conflict comes from the girls being faced by an Aes Sedai who looks at them crossly and scolds them. The girls curtsy and scrape, then leave, only to be faced with another cold Aes Sedai who looks down on them. Repeat again and again, ad nauseum. The feeling of being flustered before someone with position or respectability is a common scene in the WoT books. It happens on almost every page. In the Great Hunt, at least, Jordan uses it well by having Rand stand up for himself, earning the reader's respect. But in this third book, it annoyed the hell out of me.

With Min gone, not a single woman in the White Tower was interesting. Is it just me? And the female characters the reader is stuck with have an annoying habit of "sniffing," as in "'Men are all fools,' she sniffed." I counted it used 23 times. 23 times!

In addition to the sniffing, the Amyrlin Seat can't speak without using a fishing metaphor (she's a fisherman's daughter). Someone tell Jordan that a mannerism is a poor substitute for genuine character. And in this book, Jordan introduces Nynaeve's habit of tugging on her braid when she's angry or nervous, which is always. Again and again, Nynaeve tugs on her braid and sniffs.

I missed Rand. He was hardly in the book. The path of Perrin and Moirane was enjoyable; I wish they'd been given more pages, and the White Tower less. But I was growing tired of the familiar scene of going to an inn and meeting the innkeeper, which has been done many many times in the first three books of the series. And then having to escape in the middle of the night. Since we're on the topic of repeating things, the ending of this book is the same ending we've seen in the first two books. Time for something new!

So Robert Jordan repeats things a little too much. If you read this book, keep a running tally of the braid-tugs, sniffs, and fishing metaphors. And being flustered around someone glaring. The dream sequences in the first two WoT books were really boring to me, so I was dismayed to find out that now it's going to be a major point in the stories from now on. Ugh. Enough with the dreaming!

Still, the WoT is a lot of fun despite Jordan's poor judgement. I've read on Amazon that Faile becomes another really annoying female character later on, but I can say she's a lot of fun in this volume. Let's hope the next book has more Rand and less White Tower. If you don't mind corny fantasy, you won't mind this third book in the WoT series.

Rating:
Summary: BEST in the Series. Did Jordan peak too soon?
Review: I Promise: I'm going to be spoiler free.

This is the third and BEST book in the Wheel of Time (WOT) series. All of the tenants of excellent fantasy are there. Jordan is a great writer who builds an incredible world with a compelling history. In this book, Jordan gets the balance of history, character, exposition and action right.

Dragon Reborn is a treasure, but be warned: as of this writing Jordan hasn't finished WOT. By the end of this book, the series stands on its head and you are riding through this series at a great clip. You cannot WAIT to find out what happens next, so you HAVE to continue.

My guess is the end of this series isn't going to happen until 2006 (I believe there are going to be 12 books, but I don't think there's an official word).

Is it going to be worth it? I don't think so. WOT has gotten very complicated and is becoming turgid. Sometime around Book 6, the action began to crawl. Book 8 (the last one I read) was almost 700 pages and took place over three days!

I've read the first five books twice now beacuse it is too difficult to wait a year between reading books. (And he's coming out with them once every other year at this point).

My advice: Wait until Jordan's finished them all. It's best to read them one after another. By then we'll know if it was worth the wait.

You've been warned!

My grade for the series:
1. Wheel of Time: A-
2. Great Hunt: A
3. Dragon Reborn: A+
4. Shadow Rising: A+
5. Fires of Heaven: A
6. Lord of Chaos: B
7. Crown of Swords: C+
8. Path of Daggars: C
9. Winter's Heart (haven't read, waiting for Jordon to finish)

Rating:
Summary: READ THIS CLASSIC!!!!
Review: The Dragon Reborn is the third book in The Wheel of Time series, after The Eye of the World and The Great Hunt. This book is a great addition to this series. I enjoyed the whole book and thought that nothing in it was bad. If you like fantasy, you will definitely enjoy this series and this book. This book has action, mystery, and even magic.
Rand al'Thor is the Dragon Reborn, and he is unable to control his ability to channel the True Source, the power that turns The Wheel of Time. He knows he must face the Dark One when the Last Battle comes, but he is afraid. He also knows he must fulfill the prphecies written about him. This book also includes the corresponding adventures of the other characters:Mat, Perrin, Egwene, Nynaeve, Elayne, Moiraine, Lan, Min, Thom, and Loial. This book is good throughout all of the pages, and the action at the end really ties the book together.
If you've read Tolkien and Harry Potter, pick this book up.

Rating:
Summary: The Dragon Reborn - A Bestseller, or Too Long to Enjoy?
Review: The Dragon Reborn really is a good book. Now, lots of people would be discoraged with this book, due to the fact that it's HUGE! Some have commented that the book needs a better editor. Now in past books, Robert's done some of that too. It's huge, but it's all neccary. I think Tolken is master of reduntant things, although Jordan can do some odd things. (In the Eye of the World, he screws around with time so bad my sense of the book was mangled!) Of course, this shouldn't discorage you. There are great FAQs, and the Guide book "The World of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time", which is amazingly helpful. Further more, the details are wonderful. The characters clash, and it gets pretty annoying at times, but they're in character. The only qualms I have about this book, and the whole series, is that as the books go by, Rand, Egwene, and Nyvane all get slowly meaner. Nyvane and Egwene have very good reasons, which you'll have to read about, but even if Rand is in character, he's awful! And he just gets worse. Other than that, the chracters are great, the story is great, the setting is wonderful. Read this, or I'll send the forsaken out after you!

Rating:
Summary: excellent, if a bit drawn out
Review: This is a great book, but moves somewhat slower than the first two. I read it first a couple years ago, and now I'm kind of re-reading it and am about halfway through it. Unlike the first two in the series, the focus lifts off Rand as well as giving us a somewhat clearer view of events outside the knowledge of the protagonists.

The scheming of the Forsaken becomes less muddled, although the reader is still very much in the dark as to what alliances have formed among the Forsaken. It becomes obvious for the first time that the Aiel will play a MAJOR role in Rand's destiny and he will need their help.

As far as the main characters are concerned, Rand himself is in flight practically the entire book and Jordan doesn't spend much time on him. The pacing seems a bit off; Rand should be out-distancing the rest of the companions (because they have several adventures along the way, i.e. Perrin and Faile, the wolf-man, etc.), yet Moiraine manages to end up in Tear at about the same time as Rand! Maybe I need to finish re-reading it to understand how that worked.

As usual, Jordan shows his mastery of immersing the reader in the setting. The descriptions of the Stone of Tear and the final battle within are outstanding. The conclusion is very satisfying and henceforth Rand begins a widely recognized ascendancy as the Dragon Reborn, with promises of a gripping saga ahead!