[Books] The Wheel of Time: The Fires of Heaven

The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that fade 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, an Age yet to come, and Age long past, a wind rose in the great forest called Braem Wood. 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.

It's taken me a while to finish book five of the Wheel of Time. That's not because it was a drag, far from it. But I've been very busy recently, and have been catching up on some other reading that's got in the way a little. Nonetheless, I still hooked on the story, and just about on course with my goal to finish by the end of the year. 

The revelations continue to pile up, and this book has some truly shocking events in it, including the death of one of a major character. It's hard to talk about the book without discussing these, so fair warning - Spoiler Alert!

Something that I neglected to mention in my review of the previous volume, 'The Shadow Rising', was the events that occur near the end of the book involving the White Tower, and how it fragments. The ramifications of that split in the Aes Sedai continue to reverberate through the world in this novel, with various characters trying to figure out the new power structure, work out their place within it, and figure out how to come to terms with it. This leads to some interesting situations, and some interesting new information about the Aes Sedai via our first major plot, which involves Min and Siuan Sanche seeking out the rebels and joining their cause.

Speaking of whom, the death of Moiraine close to the end of book is a hammer blow. It's been foreshadowed since she, Rand, and Matt entered Rhuidean with her vague hints about not being around forever, but Jordan still throws it at you almost out of no where. It's truly shocking, but marks one of the moments where my prior knowledge actually detracted from my enjoyment of the book. I knew that Moiraine was going to die at some point around books 4-7, and had almost been waiting for it, which robbed the moment of some of its emotion.

In 'The Fires of Heaven' we start to get a glimpse of the wider world, and how Rand's declaration as the Dragon Reborn is throwing it into turmoil. One of the great things about the characters being scattered is, as I've alluded to before, the way that we get to see different cities and cultures through the eyes of those characters. In this book we get a further glimpse into the underbelly of a city at war with itself, and it's not pretty. We also get our first glimpse of a returning character, who's been transformed into a dangerous religious zealot, throwing fuel on the flames. That plot thread, involving Nynaeve (who I still find incredibly annoying) and Elayne (who's also becoming slightly grating), is the glue that binds half of this novel together, as it gives us a fair amount of political intrigue and manoeuvring. The third major plot involves Rand himself, his efforts to drag his conquests into some form of control, his attempts to out think the various cadres of nobles, and his quest to avenge Moiraine's death. Which he does by eliminating another of the Forsaken.

The Darrell K. Sweet cover art for the original paperback edition of 'The Fires of Heaven'. Its one of his better efforts in my opinion. (Credit: benjaminrose.com)

There are a couple of downsides to the book. This is the first entry in the Wheel of Time epic where I felt that there wasn't really a self-contained story. I felt it a little with book 4, but it's very apparent here that there are effectively three separate stories going on. This book also marks the first noticeable slowing of the pace of the series. Yes, there's a lot that happens. But there are also lots of pages of what seems like filler, and story arcs that take slightly longer than they perhaps need to. It's not too egregious yet, but I can see it getting worse before it gets better!

The Wheel of Time continues to turn, and book 6 is already partly done. How will Rand cope without Moiraine, and with yet another city/state to deal with? Which way will the Aes Sedai rebels run? Lots of questions remain unanswered.