[Books] The Wheel of Time: Lord of Chaos

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, an Age yet to come, and Age long past, a wind rose among brown-thicketed hills in Cairhein. 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.

Book six of the Wheel of Time saga is entitled "Lord of Chaos". It's an apt title in many ways, as the sheer number of plots and counter-plots, secret machinations, and intrigues that are going in is mind-boggling. In fact by the end of the book the source of some of them is still not entirely clear, and I'm sure that for some of them it will remain that way by the end of the series. There's almost no point to some of the things that go on, other than to cause havoc, which they certainly do.

The pace of the series has definitely slowed down now. No longer are the character travelling vast distances. Well, ok, they are, but we don't see it. Instead that happens either off-screen, or instantaneously using the One Power. This book is very much about the mental journeys and hardships that the characters undergo, rather than the physical ones.

That slower pace isn't to say that not much happens. There's actually quite a lot going on in this book still, particularly in the last 200 or so pages where everything comes to a head an goes a bit crazy. But the characters are playing mind games with each other now, trying to work out where everyone stands. It's very much turned into a political game that Rand al'Thor, the Dragon Reborn, is playing, and has become fascinating because of that.

Despite what I've said so far, there are still several big events that occur in book 6. Nynaeve and Elayne  discover the whereabouts of something that can solve the unnatural heat wave embracing the world, Egwene is forced to leave the Aiel and raised to the Amyrlin Seat of the rebel Aes Sedai, Nynaeve discovers how to heal stilling, and that's just the half of it! We get to see more of the Forsaken, including two that seem to be newly created and not all that they seem - I'm sure one of them is a previously male spirit in a female body. But they stay very much in the shadows still, pulling at strings and manoeuvering amongst themselves.

Then there's Rand. He spends a good half to two-thirds of the book putting off the Aes Sedai, and showing them that he's no pushover. But in the end it comes to naught, and he's captured and tortured by the representatives of the White Tower. By that point he's already in a fragile mental state, so it will be interesting to see how his ordeal affects his pyschology. It's clearly going to change how he deals with any Aes Sedai from now on, which is sure to cause sparks when he reunites with Egwene.

Darrell K Sweet's original cover art for "Lord of Chaos". I'm note entirely sure which scene in the book

this is supposed to be representing to be honest. (Credit: bejaminrose.com)

Finally, we get some more husband-wife tension via Perrin and Faile, which is interesting but only really because we get to see more of Perrin and his wolves, who I've missed a bit. I feel like he's being underused compared to Matt, and I vastly prefer him as a character to the incredibly annoying leader of the Band of the Red Hand. 

It's interesting that this book still ends with a big battle, albeit one that's described in a far more hurried and confused manner than those in previous books. Even with the relatively inaction of the previous 800 pages, Robert Jordan still feels the need to get a climactic battle in.

This book took me a while to read, but that's just because of my two holidays this month. I'm still very much enjoying the series, and looking forward to seeing what comes next. There are still a couple of things that I remember that I haven't encountered yet, so I will be interested to see where those crop up. From what I remember they're big deals too, so I can't wait.