Knife of Dreams (Wheel of Time): 11/12 (The Wheel of Time, 11)

Product Information

This re-read post contains spoilers for all currently published Wheel of Time novels, up to and including Book 13, Towers of Midnight . If you haven’t read, read at your own risk. And yet, I want to know what happens in this long, drawn out series. Having struggled my way to book eleven, I think I will eventually conquer it. Now I must hope that the ending isn't a complete let down (and I realize that Jordan didn't write the conclusion, but please tell me that he left notes or an outline of how he intended things to go). In the meantime, I have to say this was one of the better books in the series. Rand isn't being a complete a-hole, although one wonders how trustworthy his Asha'man are. Elayne gets her hold on Andor, without Rand's intervention. Go, Elayne! We learn that Lan is much more than we have been led to believe (and that Nynaeve is more pragmatic that I would have given

Galad confronts Eamon Valda, accusing him of murdering Morgase. Galad defeats Valda in single combat, killing him and becoming Lord Captain Commander of the Whitecloaks. Bera Harkin enters, and reports that all the other High Lords and Ladies Rand had left in Cairhien were now on their way to Tear as well. Rand leaps up in a fury, and thunders that they’re to return immediately or be hanged. Cadsuane says, “Two.” Bera goes on to tell him that the rebels have reached an agreement: Darlin remains Steward in Tear for Rand, but only if the rebels have their titles and lands restored and can swear fealty to Darlin as King of Tear. The rebels will also feed the city for a year as a fine. Darlin is astounded, and Rand even more angry; he hurls his goblet to the floor and growls that they can stay commoners and swear to Rand. Cadsuane says “Three,” and switches Rand with Air on his bottom. Jordan was on a mission with this book and it shows in it's pacing. It very much felt like the shorter New Spring in terms of how the plot kept moving and he wouldn't let my interest drop. I can't say Knife of Dreams has the epic final act like Winter's Heart or Lord of Chaos, but he wraps up all of the threads with heart pounding finales in the last 25% while adding momentous reveals and comeuppances for certain villains that made me smile. Also, I just want to say... Thom's Letter... yeah... I think I might have uttered some weird sound of excitement. If I was more emotional, I might have cried. The possibilities have me on the edge of my seat for what's to come. This book concluded so many plot threads that have been sitting out there for a while, and the delayed gratification that came from finally seeing these all come together was amazing. I can't go into detail about what these conclusions were, or even what they pertained to as I do not want to spoil anything for future readers, but rest assured they are extremely satisfying.The plot itself is extremely rewarding – it felt like payoff galore after a few books who presented mostly progress toward that payoff. Especially satisfying was the accursed Shaido being defeated in a clever plot of Perrin‘s. (Which made up for his annoying mantra of “only Faile matters.”) Not only was it cool to see forkroot used in that large scale to render the Wise Ones useless, but finally, freaking finally, to see Galina and Sevanna, both horrible in their own right, get their due. I will note, however, that I was outraged that after helping/saving Faile and company, Roland and the other two Mera‘din were killed for their efforts. I’m all for poetic justice, like Galina, Sevanna, even Suroth experience, but that ain‘t it. Rand's chapters were interesting as well. But the numbness he experience is beginning to worry me. The fact that even Lews Therin thinks he is a harder man than he was is bad. The revelation about this mental illness he is suffering felt like a death blow. For so long I assumed that Lews Therin's voice in his head is the result of the taint but now things seem pretty hopeless. I thought that it could be something like that after the cleansing didn't help but knowing that it'll eventually kill him is too much. The guy deserves to live after all the sacrifices he made and have a happy little (or not so little) family with Elayne, Aviendha, Min and all the little munchkins they can give him. Less nice was that Aviendah sorta just walked out of the story. I'm sure she'll return but considering how I'm cooling more and more towards Elayne (such a shame), I was sad to see it happen.

Nonetheless, in the 11th volume of the series, Robert Jordan suddenly returned to the top form of his writing. He stopped stalling and dissembling, and the effect is almost, almost as good as in “The Shadow Rising.” There are definitely fewer loooooooong descriptions. The book reads much faster than previous volumes, which was a pleasant surprise after the last somnambulic triplets. Especially the final chapters are boredom-free (it is still Mr Jordan, of course, and so fear not! we will still be informed who’s wearing what in which scene, but blessedly with less detail). My issue with the book covers as they turned out is about the figures, who most often are just plain weird-looking in stance, and frequently fail to convey age-appropriateness for the well-established characters.All is in flux as established powers falter . . . In Caemlyn, Elayne fights to gain the Lion Throne while trying to avert civil war and Egwene finds that even the White Tower is no longer a place of safety. He described himself as a "High Church" Episcopalian and received communion more than once a week. He lived with his wife Harriet McDougal, who works as a book editor (currently with Tor Books; she was also Jordan's editor) in a house built in 1797. This is not the first rape in the series, but this one is the most pointless and impossible to overlook. When Morgase was raped, it was portrayed as an evil act, and it had further consequences. When Mat was raped, it was distasteful, but one might see how Jordan as a man of a certain age and culture might not have understood it as rape, and fortunately we are evolving as a society. Myrdraal sometimes rape their victims but they are literally evil monsters who serve Satan. This book’s instance is unforgivable in its tacit expectation of audience approval.