Review : The Shadow Rising by Robert Jordan

Title : The Shadow Reborn Author : Robert Jordan Reading Dates : 16 Jan 2012 - 22 Jan 2012 Total Pages :1001
The Wheel of Time The Eye of the World The Great Hunt The Dragon Reborn The Shadow Rising The Fires of Heaven Lord of Chaos A Crown of Swords The Path of Daggers Winter's Heart Crossroads of Twilight Knife of Dreams The Gathering Storm Towers of Midnight
From Amazon : The seals of Shayol Ghul are weak now, and the Dark One reaches out. The Shadow is rising to cover humankind. In Tar Valon, Min sees portents of hideous doom. Will the White Tower itself be broken? In the Two Rivers, the Whitecloaks ride in pursuit of a man with golden eyes, and in pursuit of the Dragon Reborn. In Cantorin, among the Sea Folk, High Lady Suroth plans the return of the Seanchan armies to the mainland. In the Stone of Tear, the Lord Dragon considers his next move. It will be something no one expects, not the Black Ajah, not Tairen nobles, not Aes Sedai, not Egwene or Elayne or Nynaeve. Against the Shadow rising stands the Dragon Reborn.....

Book Review of The Shadow Rising.

The Shadow Rising splits the focus between Rand’s plans to win the Aiel’s support and Perrin’s attempts to rid the Two Rivers of invaders. In addition, there is also Elayne and Nynaeve’s hunt for the Black Ajah.

But while the women’s task is the most dangerous, I consider it among the most boring bits of the book. By contrast, while Rand doesn’t really do much, I found his story and Perrin’s to be the most engrossing. The reason being the conceit all female characters share in The Wheel of Time’s series, that men are idiots and only women know what needs to be done. As far as I can tell, it is often their meddling which causes everyone’s plans to go awry. Worst, it is that very attitude which leads to everyone being unwilling to discuss their plans.

Of course, the funniest and most irritating part was how everyone, especially the Aes Sedai, wanted to guide The Dragon Reborn, resorting to any tactic to get their way. All these people who believe they know the Prophecies of the Dragon better, and yet forgetting that most important detail of all. If these prophecies foretell of the one who will lead them in battle against The Dark One, then why is it that he should follow their instructions and not the other way around ?

My conclusions :

• Would I re-read the book ? Definitely.
• Would I want to read the next book in the series ? Yes.
• Would I want to own my personal copy if I didn’t already own it ? Yes.
• Who would I recommend this too? All fantasy readers.
• For those looking to read the book, would I recommend buying or borrowing the book? Buy it. The series is a keeper.

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Challenges : 2012 Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge; Tea & Books Reading Challenge