Review - The Shadow Rising by Robert Jordan (The Wheel Of Time #4)

Preamble

I am listening to all of these through Audible, the readings by Michael Kramer and Kate Reading. Their voices have become all-too familiar at this point, owing to the dozens of hours of their speech that I have heard. It’s strange, how comforting this becomes after a time. Still loving The Wheel Of Time.

A note about my reviews: I consider myself an appreciator, not a critic. I know first-hand what goes into the creation of art – the blood, the sweat, the tears, the risk. I also know that art appreciation is subjective and lernt good what mama tell’t me – if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. I’m not a school marm grading a spelling test – I’m a reader who enjoys reading. If a book is entertaining, well-written, and I get absorbed into it, five out of five. I have gone as low as three stars – anything less than that and I will not review a book (chances are I DNFed anyway). Regardless, I wouldn’t even put a star rating system on my reviews but for the reality of storefronts like Amazon.

Take from that what you will.

Review – 5/5

I really don’t know what to say about this series except that I am loving it. Truly, it is some of the finest fantasy I’ve enjoyed. I don’t know if I would have said that after book one – and in fact, I did not think book one was this amazing. But slowly, inexorably, Robert Jordan has displayed himself as a writer of tremendous skill.

On its face, this story split between a few different settings. There is Rand and Mat in the Aiel waste, there is Perrin and Faile in the Two Rivers, there is Nynaeve and Elaine in Tanchico, there is Min and the Amyrlin Seat in the White Tower. There are other characters, of course, a whole host of them, all with stories of their own. The sheer scope and immensity of the story is part of what makes it interesting, but I would be lying if I said I did not find that there is a serious emotional investment here. I actually was moved to tears at a few point in the book, blubbering at a wedding and the indomitable spirit of characters I cared about who seemed to be an unwinnable battle in equal measure.

There’s no real way of speaking about this story without spoiling too much of it, but suffice it to say that the magnitude of the magic is another part that was enjoyable. It’s hard to describe magic – I mean, really, what do you say except “dang, man, this stuff be strong, yo.” Jordan chooses other words, like saying that flows of magic that were being exchanged in a wizard battle could destroy mountains, but I did ponder on that piece a while.

There’s magic everywhere, and it has touched everyone. Except those from whom it has been torn, ripped out after they’re stilled or gentled. There is a genuine sense of loss for the characters to whom this happens, and one can understand why, based on the description of their experience of the One Power as addicting. Rand in particular seems to have a troubled relationship with the power, given that he knows it will eventually drive him mad. But he’s also able to do things that go beyond all reckoning, like step through alternate dimensions and explode stuff good.

But all of that is secondary to the emotional impact. When I was younger and, quite frankly, cut off from some of my emotions, I used to think that the cool shit was what a story was about. But the cool shit is just window dressing. It doesn’t really matter, not for me, not anymore. The stuff I care about is the intensity of feeling that I connect with. Robert Jordan wields the One Power with his writing, making your hackles rise and you feel something beyond what you would expect with the written word. That, to me, is a real sign of mastery. His flow is graceful and deliberate, with none of the bull-in-china-shop type of maneuvering that you’d expect from a writer of different skill.

If you’re in this deep, chances are you’ve already made up your mind about The Wheel Of Time. Perhaps you’re working through it out of a sense of duty, since you’ve already sunk so much into the series to get this far. More likely, you’re this far because you like the story and it connects with you. This, to me, is the promise of art. I’ve heard Jordan described as the American Tolkien and I think that’s as apt a description as any.

Let that shadow rise.

Check it out on Amazon here.