The Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan

Summary

The third book of the Wheel of Time series picks up shortly after the last book left off.

Perrin is camped in the mountains with Loial, Lan, Moirainne, and their small group of Shienaran soldiers. Rand is there too, but he's kind of sullen and seems to be going a little crazy. And then he runs away. Perrin, Loial, Lan, and Moirainne go after him, chasing him back across the continent. They suspect he is going to Tear where the next Dragon prophecy is supposed to be fulfilled. Along the way, a girl named Zarine decides to follow Perrin because he has broad shoulders and a strong back.

Mat wakes up in Tar Valon, ravenously hungry and incredibly lucky. The rulers of Tar Valon take precautions against his escaping but Mat is kind of stubborn. And lucky. So he hatches some kind of hare brained plan and goes off gambling and wins more money than he can carry in his wallet. Then he finds Thom Merrilin, the gleeman from book one, and convinces him to accompany him. Together, and with a letter they sneakily acquired from the Amirlyn Seat, they leave Tar Valon, heading for Caemlyn to deliver a letter from the Daughter-Heir of Andor to her mother, the Queen. In Caemlyn, Mat (by chance) discovers a vile plot and turns south, to Tear, to warn his friends about a terrible trap.

Egwene, Nynaeve, and Elayne are ordered by the Amirlyn Seat to find and bring to justice the members of the Black Ajah that kidnapped them in book two. The trail leads them south towards Tear.

This book has considerably less action than the previous two. Instead it is filled with intrigue, a little politics, and plenty of drama. The pace is much slower than the previous, there is more thinking and planning and unfolding than there is action.

What I liked

It was interesting and kept me reading. And a little suspenseful, though less so than the previous two.

It was funny, in many places. For example, Rand passes through a village on his way to Tear and as he goes by everyone in the village decides to get married. Rand ends up playing the pipes at the wedding celebrations that last all day long and leave the poor villagers all exhausted. When Moirraine, Perrin, Lan, and Loial come through the village on Rand's trail, Moirraine's explanation is: the pattern of the ages shifts around Rand.

Another example: The bunch following Rand stop in an inn in Illian where a girl is dancing and singing and playing the harp. All her songs involve either a man who makes a complete idiot of himself by the end or a woman who ends up completely naked. Sometimes both. And in improbable and hilarious circumstances. Very clever.

I also liked the character development in this book.

It's also a little scary, what with all the creepy gray men skulking in shadows and trying to stick knives in peoples backs or shoot them with crossbows.

And the dream world is a pretty imaginative and cool idea.

What I didn't like

Oh the drama. Same as the last two in that respect. The series is kind of frustrating with all its drama. Part of me wants to give it up altogether but I'm just curious enough to crack open the next book... And once I have, the suspense in that one keeps me reading.

Conclusion

I guess I have to rate it the same as the previous one. 4/5 shadowy assassins.