[Books] The Wheel of Time: The Shadow Rising

The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one age, called the Third Age by some, and Age yet to come, and Age long past, a wind rose on the great plain called the Caralain Grass. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was a beginning.

The Wheel of Time continues to turn, and it's starting to get serious. Book 4, 'The Shadow Rising', is an extra 50% longer than longest of the volumes that precede it.  Not only that, but Robert Jordan once again ups the stakes with some astonishing revelations, whole new areas of the world explored, and some events that could (and probably will) have massive implications. 

Robert Jordan once again manages the difficult job of telling a complete story, whilst simultaneously weaving this story into the broader series. Something that I noticed with this book (and which in hindsight was also present in book 3 to some extent) is to have the main story take up the majority of the book, with the side plots involving other characters in different locations serving to drive along the overarching plot. In this book Jordan manages this with aplomb, and actually succeeds in having two self-contained stories as well as the driving side-plots. There's Rand's expedition to the Aiel waste to investigate his past, fulfil further prophecies, and bind the Aiel to his cause. Then there's Perrin's campaign to liberate the Two Rivers from both the Whitecloaks and the Trollocs. As a sideplot, we have the continued chase of the Black Ajah by Nynaeve and Elayne.

Lets talk about the last of those first. The Black Ajah plot continues to move very slowly. Every time it seems like the two women are getting close to their quarry, something happens that puts them further behind again. Admittedly they do seem to be having some small success, and here manage to steal away something from under the nose of the Black Ajah. But it's somewhat frustrating, and Nynaeve continues to really, really annoy me as a character. She displays all the worst character traits that she assigns to other people, and is immensely frustrating to read as she refuses to learn.

Fortunately this side-story sees the return of some supporting cast that I'd never thought would become important, some excellent additional screen-time for Thom, and some interesting developments in the Seanchan arc. Not to mention another of the Forsaken being revealed (and beaten), once more with no prior information about them or their existence other than possibly a name drop in book 1. It also gives us a glimpse of yet another new city and culture, which has some interesting differences to those seen so far. Not to mention some interesting parallels to Earthly cultures.

Cover art for 'The Shadow Rising', depicting the characters relaxing at the peddlers' wagon 

on their journey through the Aiel waste. (Credit: benjaminrose.com)

The Two Rivers story is my favourite of the three in this book I think. It's nice to go back to where the whole thing started, see some of the characters from the town again, and watch as Perrin realises how much has changed in such a short space of time. It's probably the most simple story in the book, but all the more enjoyable for that. There are few hidden agendas, few back room deals, few secret plans other than those meant to keep others from danger. Ordeith/Padan Fain/whatever the hell he is once again hides in the background, puling strings and being mad, but he's less prominent here for which I'm glad.

If the Two Rivers story is the most enjoyable, the Aiel Waste tale is the most epic. There's yet another Forsaken (I've lost track of how many that is now!) hiding in the background, but I think that this one will prove very important as he gets tied into the fate of the Dragon Reborn. We also get some fantastic information about the history of the world and the events that led to the situation as it is now, events that have heretofore only been referred to as legend. But this shows that they actually happened, and not that many generations ago. We also see the evolution of the Aiel as a people, and how they turned from almost the polar opposite into the warrior culture Robert Jordan presents us with now. Speaking of which, the sheer scale of the gulf in culture between the Aiel and the 'wetlanders' has some excellent comic possibilities, some of which are exploited to great effect. 

After 'The Eye of the World' I think this is my favourite book of the series so far. A lot happens, but it never feels overwhelming, and Robert Jordan does a good job keeping things moving. The pace is starting to slow a little bit, but it's not yet becoming onerous. I'm still getting moment where I remember an event (there's one involving Matt in this book, as well as the interaction between Perrin and the Whitecloaks), but I've completely lost all sense of when the things I remember will happen.

Five books down, ten to go. The Wheel of time continues to turn...