Genre: Fantasy Age Range: Adult Star Rating: 2.5 stars Series: yes - book 11
*SPOILER ALERT: contains SPOILERS for 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, and CROSSROADS OF TWILIGHT*
Synopsis:
The dead are walking, men die impossible deaths, and it seems as though reality itself has become unstable: All are signs of the imminence of Tarmon Gai’don, the Last Battle, when Rand al’Thor, the Dragon Reborn, must confront the Dark One as humanity’s only hope. But Rand dares not fight until he possesses all the surviving seals on the Dark One’s prison and has dealt with the Seanchan, who threaten to overrun all nations this side of the Aryth Ocean and increasingly seem too entrenched to be fought off. But his attempt to make a truce with the Seanchan is shadowed by treachery that may cost him everything. Whatever the price, though, he must have that truce. And he faces other dangers.
The winds of time have become a storm, and things that everyone believes are fixed in place forever are changing before their eyes. Even the White Tower itself is no longer a place of safety. Now Rand, Perrin and Mat, Egwene and Elayne, Nynaeve and Lan, and even Loial, must ride those storm winds, or the Dark One will triumph
Synopsis taken from Goodreads. Add to your shelves here.
Review:
The KNIFE OF DREAMS is a book where I can actually name two major plot lines that get some sort of progress (vs the last few books where nothing of any importance has happened, which are thousands of pages of nothingness.) I am so relieved about that (haha!) that I gave the book 2.5 stars.
Faile is finally rescued (almost 700 pages into the 790 page book!) I had to check on the wiki site for the series, because the lack of tangible progress and plot development for most characters in the last half dozen books (or so!) meant I’ve forgotten what happened in which book. Apparently, it was all the way back at the end of THE PATH OF DAGGERS (book 8, this is 11) that she was captured. It is over 2700 pages until she’s actually rescued. That’s a lot of time for nothing to really happen with her or Perrin’s story lines!
There is also a minor kidnapping of Elayne. She’s rescued the next chapter, and those two chapters contain no tension as she’s convinced she’ll be fine. But, because she then wins a battle in that same rescue chapter (not that it was much of a battle/well explained chapter), she then gets her throne and thus gets the resolution of that uncertainty for the past few books.
Other than that, though. Yeah, it’s again chapters of plodding along without clear goals or a sense of progression. Apparently Egwene was captured last book, and she spends a few chapters in the Tower getting hit for refusing to recant about being the head Aes Sedai. Rand pops up for a chapter or two, but I couldn’t say what he did. Nyaneve I’m guessing was here somewhere too? And I think that’s all the main characters? Might be forgetting some.
The blurb mentions zombies, not that I found any in the book beyond the odd reference. Another bad blurb and let down for content, then.
Almost done! Just three more books now, the ones completed by Brandon Sanderson. I am somewhat hoping he is able to make them more engaging. After all, he is writing the finale, so fingers crossed (but not much hope if he’s trying to style match.)
Read my reviews of other books by Robert Jordan:
The Wheel of Time (this series):
- NEW SPRING (#0)
- THE EYE OF THE WORLD (#1)
- THE GREAT HUNT (#2)
- THE DRAGON REBORN (#3)
- THE SHADOW RISING (#4)
- THE FIRES OF HEAVEN (#5)
- LORD OF CHAOS (#6)
- A CROWN OF SWORDS (#7)
- THE PATH OF DAGGERS (#8)
- WINTER’S HEART (#9)
- CROSSROADS OF TWILIGHT (#10)
- THE GATHERING STORM (#12)
- TOWERS OF MIDNIGHT (#13)
- A MEMORY OF LIGHT (#14)
Sifa Elizabeth Reads 